What’s Happening at Cheshire Library in April

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We’re springing into April with so many great programs for kids, teens & adults, we can’t fit them all here! Check our event calendar for the full list of programs coming up this month.

indexGeology of Cheshire

Monday Apr 3, 2017, 6:30  –  7:30 PM

Ever wonder how Cheshire got its ridges?  Learn about the geologic changes that have shaped the diverse and interesting topography of Cheshire.  Presented by Dr. Charles Dimmick, Professor of Geology, Emeritus.  Sponsored by the Cheshire Planning Department and Cheshire Public Library. Registration is required.

robin-mccahill-e1486659456246-225x300Kids Puppet Making Series

Wednesdays,  April 5, 12, 19, and 26, 4:00  –  5:00 PM

Learn to make puppets using unique and everyday items.  Robin McCahill, local artist at Artsplace, will be our artist in residence leading this workshop on puppet making.  Visit www.artsplacecheshirect.org/ to learn more about Artsplace and the other programs artists like Robin McCahill offer.  This is a 4-week long series, meeting April 5, 12, 19, and 26.  You only need to sign up once to attend all four.  Due to the cost of this program please try to attend all four sessions.  For students in grades K-2, registration is required beginning March 22 for Cheshire residents and March 29 for all others.

poetry-open-micPoetry Open Mic Morning

Saturday Apr 8, 2017, 10:00 AM  –  12:00 PM

Celebrate National Poetry Month with an open mic morning! Teens and adults are welcome to bring their own original poetry to share, recite a poem by a classic author, or just sit back and enjoy the verses. We’ll have tea and coffee available, and we’ll set out some poetry books and resources to peruse for inspiration. No registration required.

bill_96Pysanky Egg Decorating Workshop

Saturday Apr 8, 2017, 2:00  –  4:00 PM

Come learn the art of Pysanky Egg decorating from the egg lady Sharon Leonard. This form of Ukrainian egg decorating uses special wax and color to make beautiful eggs.  Each participant will be able to go home with one decorated egg.  This program is for adults and has limited seating, registration is required.

captureCurious George Party

Monday Apr 10, 2017, 10:30  –  11:30 AM

Join us for a party to celebrate our favorite little monkey, Curious George! We will sing, dance, and read some stories about George and his adventures. Curious George will make a special appearance and pose for photos with his friends! For children of all ages and their families. Registration required beginning Monday March 20.

opener-720x487Foraging and Eating Invasive Plants

Tuesday Apr 11, 2017, 6:30  –  7:30 PM

Join The 3 Foragers, a family that forages for wild, natural, organic food.  This program will highlight edible invasive plants.  Do your part to reduce invasive plants by eating them! The 3 Foragers eat garlic mustard, Japanese knotweed, Rugosa roses, autumn olives, wineberry, sheep sorrel, dandelions, black locust blossoms, and yellow groove bamboo.  Never eat anything from the wild without first consulting an expert! Please forage responsibly. Educate yourself, and have fun. Registration is required.

Community Connections

Wednesday Apr 19, 2017, 12:00  –  2:00 PM

The Cheshire Public Library is pleased to announce a new program that we have started entitled Community Connections. This program connects civic minded individuals with community agencies to perform skilled volunteer projects.  Enjoy lunch provided by the Friends of the Cheshire Public Library while you meet other civic minded folks and talk with local non-profits and government agencies about volunteer opportunities available. Please register in advance (so we know how much food to get!).

back-pain-1911009_1280Exercises to Treat and Manage Low Back Pain

Saturday Apr 22, 2017, 2:00 PM

Whether mild or severe, short-term or long-term, low back pain can greatly affect your daily life. If low back pain is affecting your daily life or if you want to learn the top causes of back pain join Kirsten Albrecht as she explains common causes of back pain and shares exercises to stretch and strengthen your back. Registration is required.

jacket-aspxBirds; Their Side of the Story…

Tuesday Apr 25, 2017, 6:30  –  7:30 PM

John Himmelman is a children’s book/natural history author and illustrator, who has written and illustrated about 80 books since 1981.  He is an avid bird watcher and served as president of the New Haven Bird Club for two years. He will share light-hearted stories of birds and bird watching – from cuisine to cartoons, ornaments to icons, murmurs to murders. Registration is required.

6daf3aa1b259c15f3e788bca1ac6b5a7Taekwondo

Wednesday Apr 26, 2017, 6:00 PM

Join Cheshire resident Master Jonguk Jang for an introductory Tae Kwon Do (also known as Taekwondo) class for adults. Learn about the fascinating history of Taekwondo and its physical and mental benefits such as focus, self-control, confidence, stress release, flexibility and self-defense, as well as an introduction to various fundamental skills and techniques. Registration is required.

dia-banner-imageDía de Los Niños Celebration

Friday Apr 28, 2017, 10:00  –  11:00 AM

Celebrate El día de los niños / El día de los libros (Children’s Day / Book Day) with a multicultural storytime! Día is celebrated on April 30 to emphasize the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Teach Yourself Technology

/ emily100101 / Leave a comment

technology support help me please!

At Cheshire Public Library’s weekly Drop-In Tech Help, I am often told that people don’t know where to begin with learning technology. They ask me what special resource of knowledge I use and where I went to school and how long it took me to learn all of these tricks and devices. The answer is simple: There is no secret knowledge! I use books and the internet, and you can, too.

If you recently got a new device or you feel overwhelmed by your device’s capabilities, start with a book. The library has a variety of books on popular devices, and we can always get something for you if we fail to carry it. Books are great for starting out with a new computer, smart phone, or tablet. You can look up topics like Setting Up Your Email or page through the whole book at your own pace. Most technology books are visual, and you can go through step-by-step instructions with your device at your side.

If you prefer video instruction, you can try Lynda.com, which is now available for all Cheshire Public Library resident cardholders. Lynda.com is an online learning site that hosts a constantly growing library of over 3,000 courses.

What are you waiting for? Here’s a small sample of the books we have available:

jacket-aspx iPhone: The Missing Manual by David Pogue

Covers all models with iOS 8.1 software, including iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

 

 

jacket-aspx iPad for Seniors by Nancy Muir

Learn about all the incredible things your iPad can do with this friendly guide. Learn to make video calls, navigate with maps, find almost anything with Siri, and more!

 

jacket-aspx Teach Yourself Visually: Android Phones and Tablets by Guy Hart-Davis

Includes customizing your phone or tablet, working with text and voice, making calls and instant messaging, enjoying social networking, working with apps, browsing the web and e-mailing, taking and using photos and videos, using maps, Google Earth, and clock, playing music and videos, troubleshooting your device.

jacket-aspx Kindle Fire HDX for Dummies by Nancy Muir

Also covers the Kindle Fire HD!

 

 

jacket-aspx My Windows 10 by Katherine Murray

An easy, full-color tutorial on the latest operating system from Microsoft.

 

 

Technology Help – Need device advice? Come to Drop-in Tech Help. No appointment necessary. We provide help with smartphones, laptops, tablets, ereaders, email, Facebook, social media, and more! Check out the calendar for our next session.

Get Informed, Take Action: The CT State Budget

/ Lauren / Leave a comment

3677257896_5bca862383.jpg

It’s no secret that our country has seen a surge in political awareness and activism after the last election, and we’ve been getting reference questions about how to get more involved on national, state, and local issues. Some of the biggest rumblings lately deal with Governor Dannel Malloy’s state budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, which is under review right now and contains millions of dollars’ worth of cuts for many municipalities, local and state agencies, and state-funded programs. If you’d like to get informed and take some action on the proposed budget, read on!

GET INFORMED

If you only have time to read one article on the new budget, though, the CT Mirror wrote an informative overview last month that hits some of the big parts of the budget.

TAKE ACTION

You can also send letters to the editors of local newspapers like the New Haven Register, Cheshire Herald, Hartford Courant, and Meriden’s Record-Journal.

Tom Colicchio – Chef Extraordinaire, TV Host, and Author

/ Linda / Leave a comment

tomTom Colicchio is a well-known American chef.  He co-founded the Gramercy Tavern in New York City and was the executive chef.  He also is the founder of Crafted Hospitality, which includes Craft, Riverpark, Fowler & Wells, Craftbar, Craftsteak, Beachcraft and Heritage Steak restaurants.  He is the recipient of five James Beard Foundation Awards.   I was introduced to him via the Emmy award winning television show on Bravo, Top Chef.  That I would be watching a cooking show is very funny because I don’t, and I can’t, cook.  I can read a recipe, but executing it becomes an inedible, unsightly disaster no matter how hard I try.  You would think I’d get frustrated or bored watching a cooking show, but Mr. Colicchio is the perfect host for this fast-paced competition among a varied collection of American chefs.

Mr. Colicchio has come out with a new cookbook that will appeal to the hearts of sandwich lovers.  It is listed below, along with a few other cookbooks he has had his hand in.  Also listed, a powerful documentary film he produced on hunger in America.

wich‘wichcraft: craft a sandwich into a meal…and a meal into a sandwich –  Shares the secrets behind the ‘wichcraft restaurant group’s spin on the sandwich, with recipes for their most popular offerings,essays on stocking the sandwich pantry, and an interview with the owners.

 

eatEat Like A Man: the only cookbook a man will ever need – “So long, dude food. Most men who love food have a roasting pan and a decent spice rack, but they’re still looking for that one book that has all the real food they love to eat and wish they could cook. Esquire food editor Ryan D’Agostino is here to change that with his unapologetically male-centric Eat Like a Man–a choice collection of 75 recipes and food writing for men who like to eat, cook, and read about great food. It’s the Esquire man’s repertoire of perfect recipes, essays on how food figures into the moments that define a man’s life, and all the useful kitchen points every man needs to know. Satisfying, sexy, definitive, and doable, these are recipes for slow Sunday mornings with family, end-of-the-week wind-down dinners with a lady, Saturday night show-off entertaining, poker night feeds, and game-day couch camping. Or, for when a man is just hungry”–

smartSmart Chefs Stay Slim: lessons in eating and living from America’s best chefs – Celebrity chefs including Michelle Bernstein, Eric Ripert, Tom Colicchio, and Giada de Laurentis provide answers to the often-asked question of how they stay so thin and fit when their occupation clearly is based on their love of indulging in food.

 

tecTen: All the foods we love and ten perfect recipes for each – Identifying thirty-two of our favorite foods, from roast chicken and burgers to mashed potatoes and cakes, a innovative cookbook presents ten variations of each food in a collection of more than three hundred recipes, many contributed by such leading chef s as Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Tom Colicchio, Anthony Bourdain, and others.

placeA Place At The Table (DVD) – 50 Million Americans—1 in 4 children—don’t know where their next meal is coming from. A Place at the Table tells the powerful stories of three such Americans, who maintain their dignity even as they struggle just to eat. In a riveting journey that will change forever how you think about the hungry, A Place at the Table shows how the issue could be solved forever, once the American public decides—as they have in the past—that ending hunger is in the best interests of us all.

What is the Next Book in This Series?

/ Sharon Tyler / 2 Comments

whats-nextIt is extremely frustrating to read a book only to discover it is part of a series, and there is no clear list of reading order. While some series are loosely tied together and allow for skipping around and reading out of order, others can only be fully enjoyed when read in order. To help ease your frustration, I am going to share the tools that I use to help determine the correct reading order. There are several routes to find the answer to this question, some are simple and easy, others require a little work.

The first way to find the answer of reading order is to find the author’s website. Many internet savvy authors, or their publishers, maintain websites with series listings in order and, in the case of multiple series, the suggested reading order for everything. Not all authors do this, but some have very helpful lists to help out their readers. Many include printable lists so you can easily keep track of titles you have read and what you should read next.

Some examples of authors that offer comprehensive lists or tools on their websites to find the reading order include Nora Roberts, Gail Carriger, James Patterson, Janet Evanovich, Charlaine Harris, and many more. I highly suggest checking with the author’s website first before branching out and trying other avenues, because who better to explain the best reading order than the person that wrote them?

goodrdsIf the author fails you, do not lose heart! My second choice for series order, and further reading suggestions, is Goodreads. If you search for a book title, Goodreads will give you a wonderful amount of information. On the book’s page you can follow links to the author page or a list of book in that series (both published and sometimes books that have not been released yet) in order. The bonus is you get suggestions for books that might appeal to you because some authors list what they are currently reading or their own recommendations. For instance, on the author page for one of my current favorites, Maria V. Snyder, you can see her books listed by series, in order, and what she is currently reading.

There are also a few websites dedicated to helping readers find the next book in a series, or the complete reading order of any given series.  One website that I often use is well titled as: Book Series in Order which you can search by author or character name.  Order of Books is a second site that can help you find the reading order of different authors and series. This site allows you to search by author or main character. If you are looking specifically for children’s series check out Juvenile Series and Sequels, and if you need young adult series listings I would suggest using Series and Sequels. whats-next-in-series1

If  you still are not sure about the series order of the books you are reading or want to read, please stop in and visit our Welcome Desk or give  the library a call. We are here to help.