What’s Happening at Cheshire Library (virtually) in June

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“Virtual” library programs are going to be the new normal for a while, but Cheshire Library is up to the challenge! We’ve been working on online programming steadily since March, and are coming up with new ways discover, create, and connect with our patrons all the time. Check out our June programs and participate from home with us!

Sofa Sing-Along (for all ages)

A virtual sing-along for all ages! Listen in  and sing along with our different musical themes, accompanied live by acoustic guitar. There are two options to view: either join us on Zoom (check on our Event Calendar for the link) or watch  on Facebook Live (https://www.facebook.com/cheshirelibrary/).

Jackbox Games with Zoom

Mondays, 4:00 – 5:00pm

Looking for ways to connect with friends? Tired of only talking to your pet all day? Let’s play a Jackbox Party Pack! Fibbage, Drawful and more! lease register through our Event Calendar, and we will email you before start time with a link to join this Zoom Virtual program. THEN go to https://jackbox.tv/ on your mobile device, enter the 4-letter Room Code, your name, and click PLAY! For grades 6-12.

Virtual Storytime

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 10:00 -10:30am

The library might be closed, but storytime is still on! Join us virtually for interactive songs, stories, and other fun activities for little ones with Miss Ali (Tues), Miss Andrea (Wed) and Miss Lauren (Thurs). No registration required, click the link in our Event Calendar to join the fun!

Support Through Meditation

Tuesdays 2:00 – 3:00pm

This introductory meditation class presented by Tia Mandrozos is geared towards helping you through these anxious and challenging times. You will learn various meditation techniques that you will practice in session and guidance to perform meditation on your own. Please register via our Event Calendar. Registered participants will receive an email link to the Zoom meeting on the day of the program.

Switch it up with CPL!

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons, (check Event Calendar for dates and times)

Teens: add us on  Nintendo Switch and let’s play! Our Friend Code is: SW-2591-8360-3045 under CheshirePL. We’re playing Animal Crossing on Tuesdays, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Wednesdays, and Thursday games are TBA. No registration required! Info on how to join in is on our Event Calendar. For grades 6-12. (A Nintendo Online Account required to connect with others and play online.)

Cope During COVID Virtual Discussion Group

Wednesdays, 7:00 – 8:00pm

This virtual program will be an hour-long discussion to talk about fears and concerns along with ways to cope and deal with the stress of this unprecedented situation.  Cheshire Human Services Director, Michelle Piccerillo, MS, LMFT; Chesprocott Health District Public Health Specialist, Kathryn Glendon, MPH, CHES, CPS; and Cheshire Library Director, Beth Crowley will facilitate the discussions. Registration for each evening is required, registered participants will receive a link to the Zoom meeting one hour prior to the program.

Sing Me a Fairytale

Fridays, 10:00 – 10:45am

Your family will love this hilarious retelling of these classic tales, presented by Michele Urban from My Music Room. Michele shows you how to make instruments using everyday household items in this video. Please register via our Event Calendar, and we will email you before start time with a link to join this program.

Virtual Cheshire Anime Club

Fridays, 3:00 – 5:00pm

Konnichiwa, minna-san! Can’t get enough Anime and Manga? Be an “Otaku” and join the Cheshire Anime Club! We’ll meet on Zoom and watch Anime movies together! The link to this Zoom Virtual Program will be posted on Cheshire Anime Club’s facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/13673851607/) OR you can register via our Event Calendar, and we will email you before start time with a link to join this program. For grades 7-12.

Color Yourself Calm

Fridays, 3:30 – 4:30pm

De-Stress from this stressful time and color. Coloring sheets will be available to print out from home.  Please feel free to join us with any craft you wish to work on.  Relaxing  video and conversation will be provided.    Registration required for this adult program, please register once per computer. Registered participants will receive an email before start time with a link to join the program.

Lunchtime Sing-Along (for kids and their grownups)

Mondays,  June 8 and 22, 2020, 12:00 – 12:30pm

Start your week on a good note with a family-friendly lunchtime sing-along! Listen in and sing along to storytime favorites with Miss Andrea or Miss Ali! There are two options to view: either join us on Zoom (link in our Event Calendar)or watch us on Facebook Live https://www.facebook.com/cheshirelibrary/.

Nature as Mentor

Wednesday, June 10, 2020, 2:00 – 4:00pm

Learn the magnificent language of nature in this powerful workshop with Marlow Shami, M.S. Discover your unique niche as part of our planet’s restoration plan. This 90-minute program includes an informative talk enhanced by beautiful illustrations, a compelling activity, and a deep relaxing guided meditation. No meditation experience required. Registration required, please register once per computer. Registered participants will receive an email before start time with a link to join the program.

Mad Science

With experts from Mad Science, younger kids will  examine fossil casts and explore the differences in the teeth of herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs on June 10, while older kids will build ecosystem models and and use field journals for everyday explorations on June 17.  Registration via our Event Calendar is required, registered participants will receive a link to the Zoom meeting one hour prior to the program.

Baking with Old Bishop Farms

Wednesday, June 17, 2020, 3:00 – 4:30pm

Carolyn Torello from Old Bishop Farm will be showing us how to bake banana muffins. As anyone who has had any of Carolyn’s yummy treats will know she is an excellent baker! A question and answer segment will follow. Registration via our Event Calendar is required, registered participants will receive a link to the Zoom meeting one hour prior to the program.

Mood Boosting Foods

Thursday, June 18, 2020, :3:30 – 4:30pm

Feeling a little stressed, anxious or depressed lately? Aren’t we all! But did you know that some foods can actually help boost your mood and make you feel less stressed, anxious and depressed?! Join Marisa, your Shoprite of Southington and Wallingford registered dietitian in a zoom presentation to find out which foods actually give your mood a boost! Registration via our Event Calendar is required, registered participants will receive a link to the Zoom meeting one hour prior to the program.

CactusHead Puppets: Magnificent Monster Circus

Friday, June 26, 2020, 10:00 – 10:40am

CactusHead Puppets presents a circus like no other! Encounter magnificent creatures from the wilds of your imagination as their quirky human caretaker tries to teach them new tricks. This colorful, silly, multi-sensory show full of friendly monsters is a perfect match for young audiences. Advance registration required. Registered participants will receive a link to the Zoom meeting one hour prior to the program.

Check out Sync Audiobooks for Teens – Now available through Cheshire Public Library

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Sync Audiobooks are now available through the Cheshire Public Library for young adults and teens! SYNC is a free summer audiobook program for teens 13+. Returning April 30th and continuing 13 weeks until July 29,  SYNC gives participants two thematically paired audiobooks for free each week.   You can download these titles through Sora, the student reading app available through Overdrive, available on multiple different platforms, including Android, Apple, and tablets.

This is a great opportunity to keep teens reading during the summer, and to encourage a lifelong love of reading! Different free audiobooks are available every week, so if you’re not interested in what’s available for one week, just wait a week and try again. For the week of May 21st, there’s a mix of genres available to download. First up is Sister’s Matsumoto by Philip Kan Gotanda. Described as “Three Japanese-American sisters return to their California farm in 1945, after years in an internment camp. But the once prosperous family finds it’s not easy to pick up the pieces of their former lives.”  It’s a great title for those who are interested in historical fiction, and stories with strong female characters.

Next up is Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork, a mystery of criminal intrigue with  characters who are drawn up into a web of lies. The book description: “Four months ago… Sara Zapata’s best friend disappeared, kidnapped by the web of criminals who terrorize Juarez. Four hours ago… Sara received a death threat – and, with it, a clue to the place where her friend is locked away. Four weeks ago… Emiliano Zapata fell in love with Perla Rubi, who will never be his so long as he’s poor. Four minutes ago… Emiliano got the chance to make more money than he ever dreamed – just by joining the web. In the next four days, Sara and Emiliano will each face impossible choices, between life and justice, friends and family, truth and love.”

This is just a taste of the books that Sync offers, and if you’re not interested in any of these, just wait another week! This program will be going until July 29th, for a total of 26 titles. Each week has a different mood, one week mysteries, the next romance, so there’s plenty for everyone. Below is the full calendar of titles, so you can see what’s coming up next.

poster-2020-dates-8.5x11

If you’re worried about school ending and summer slide, this is a great way to combat the fear of learning ending when the school year ends. Encouraging a consistent love of reading and learning is a great way to keep your teens reading and discussing books throughout the summer months.

Need help downloading?  Our Librarians are working remotely to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We are still available by email or phone Monday through Friday between 9am and 5pm to answer your questions, help you download digital materials, or resolve issues with your library account.

Think eBooks are just for adults? Think again!

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As we venture through weeks of social isolation, more people are turning to ebooks to get new reading material. With libraries and bookstores closed, physical books are a bit harder to come by these days.  Kids are feeling the pinch, too, but many parents are now realizing that their libraries offer more digital items for kids than they originally thought.

Here at Cheshire Library, we’ve been redirecting some of our physical book budget to buy more ebooks and downloadable audiobooks, for all age groups. This isn’t as simple as it sounds, since downloadable books cost up 4x the price of physical books, and come with many other restrictions (read more about that here), but we are proud of the wide selection of digital titles we can offer our cardholders.  Are you a Cheshire resident without a library card? You can register for a temporary card online to start using our digital platforms.

Our OverDrive/Libby platform has over 2000 juvenile titles, from simple picture books to more challenging chapter books. The OverDrive Kids Page is a good place to start exploring this collection.

 

There are hundreds more children’s ebook titles on RBdigital:

 

Not to mention audiobooks:

 

Tumblebooks has also provided free access to their streaming collection of children’s books through August 31. You’ll find tons of picture books, easy readers, and chapter books for all ages and interests:

  • Tumblebooks: Username: tumble735  Password: books (expires 8/31/20)
  • Tumblemath: Username: tumble2020  Password: A3b5c6 (expires 8/31/20)
  • Teen Book Cloud: Username: tumble2020  Password: A3b5c6 (expires 8/31/20)

If your kids are running out of new things to read, please take a look at our digital collections for kids to tide you over until the library is up and running again!

 

 

 

 

The Good and The Bad – Memorable Moms in Literature

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(We originally published this list in 2014, updated here to include links to the digital versions of each title where available.)

moms collage

Mothers play a lot of roles in literature, as in life. They can be protectors and nurturers,  oppressors and manipulators, or anything in between. One thing literary moms have in common, they are definitely memorable characters. For better or worse, here are some of literatures most memorable moms:

Sophie Zawistowski – Sophie’s Choice. Sophie, a Polish survivor of the German Nazi concentration camps, may be one of the most tragic characters in 20th century fiction.  The plot ultimately centers around a tragic decision involving her children which Sophie was forced to make upon entering the concentration camp.

Mrs. Bennet – Pride and Prejudice. Poor, misguided Mrs. Bennet. With 5 daughters to marry off, she’s got a lot of worries. Her priorities may not always be in the right place,  but she tries!

Charlotte Haze – Lolita. Falls squarely in the “bad” category.  She invites a pedophile to live in her home, doesn’t seem to think his avid interest in her young daughter is a little weird, then gets hit by a car and leaves said daughter with the world’s most inappropriate guardian. Lolita didn’t stand a chance.

Joan Crawford – Mommie Dearest. One of the yardsticks we measure bad mothers against, Ms. Crawford is probably known more for her poor parenting than for her lengthy film career. No Wire Hangers Ever!

Molly Weasley – Harry Potter series. Mother of Ron, Mrs. Weasley is a desperately needed mother figure for our hero Harry. She is the center of a large and raucous family, by turns gentle nurturer and fierce defender. A mom with a magic wand is formidable indeed!

Ma – Room. In this shocking and surprisingly tender story, woman and  her child are living in unspeakable circumstances. Jack’s mom, Ma, manages to make one small room feel like a whole world for her little boy, and is ultimately driven by her mother-love to try and break away from a very dangerous man.

Sarah Wheaton – Sarah, Plain and Tall. Sarah answers an ad for a mail-order bride, and travels from Maine to Kansas to meet her future husband and become and instant mother to his two children. A multiple award winner, including the 1986 Newbery Medal.

 

Charlotte – Charlotte’s Web.Charlotte the spider is very much a wise and loving mother figure to Wilbur the pig in this classic children’s book. She becomes his staunch defender, eventually saving his life. The end, with Charlotte’s life ending as her babies are coming into the world, is a total tearjerker.

Daenerys Targaryen – A Song of Ice and Fire series. A rather non-traditional mom, Daenerys is the Mother of Dragons in George R. R. Martin’s wildly popular fantasy series. She’s had her hands full raising these fiery children. Whether she’s a good or bad mother has been debated, but there’s no doubt she’s her hands full raising these little monsters.

Eleanor Iselin – The Manchurian Candidate. Bad mom, no debate here. Creepy and evil, this mom is the mastermind of a sinister plot that involves controlling her brainwashed son to unwittingly act as an assassin on orders from the KGB.

 

It’s Nutmeg Book time again!

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The Nutmeg Book Award is the “Children’s Choice” award for Connecticut, encouraging children across the state to read quality literature. Every year, on May 1, the new nominees for the award are announced. These nominees get grouped into four categories: Elementary (Grades 2-3), Intermediate (Grades 4-6), Middle School (Grades 7-8), and High School (Grades 9-12). Children then have a year to read the nominated titles and vote for their favorite.

Some things may look a bit different this time around, but we are still excited to announce the newest Nutmeg nominees! Many of the titles on these lists have ebook and/or audiobook versions available through RBdigital or Overdrive/Libby. In addition to the physical & digital copies of the Nutmeg nominees that CPL has purchased, the Connecticut State Library has also purchased all of the Nutmeg titles that were available in ebook and/ or audiobook (see them here). These copies are included in our library catalog, and can be checked out with your Cheshire Library Card.

Without further ado, here are the new 2021 Nutmeg Nominees!  How many have you read?

Elementary (Grades 2-3)

 

Intermediate (Grades 4-6)

 

Middle School (Grades 7-8)

 

High School (Grades 9-12)

For help accessing the library’s digital collection, try checking out the guides on our website. You can also email us, or call and leave a message for library staff at (203) 272-2245. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible.