Library Event: Summer Movie in the Park

The Perrot Memorial Library is pleased to host a summer movie in the park in Binney Park in Old Greenwich! We will be showing the film Tea with Mussolini in the park on Saturday, August 4th, 2007, at 8 P.M. [Rain date is Sunday, August 5th.] The movie is suitable for all ages, and the audience is invited to bring blankets and enjoy the show!


More about the film:
Tea with Mussolini (1999) is a semi-autobiographical film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, telling the story of young Italian boy Luca's upbringing by a kind Englishwoman and her circle of friends. Set in 1935 Florence, a group of diverse and distinguished English expatriate women known as the Scorpioni make it a habit of meeting for tea each afternoon. Their proud members are Lady Hester Random, widow of the former British Ambassador to Italy; Arabella, an artist; and Mary Wallace, a secretary to an Italian businessman. They are sometimes joined by two Americans, Georgie, a lively archaeologist, and Elsa, a wealthy art collector. When Mary becomes a guardian to Luca, a young boy, she turns to the ladies for help. But the onset of Fascism has irrevocable consequences for all of them. In order to help, Luca must confront the challenge of becoming a man and embrace his independence.

For more information about this program, please call 203-637-3870, or comment on this post.

The Storycrafters Perform at Perrot

Storytelling and musical duo The Storycrafters gave two performances at Perrot last night. Their 4 P.M. performance was for pre-schoolers, and their 7 P.M. performance was for school-age kids. The audience loved the Storycrafters' fun and participatory musical storytelling! You can see photos from the event here.

What's So Funny About Downloadable Books?

Zits Comic for 7/23/07

Check out our selection of downloadable audiobooks here.

Our Picks!: Picture Book Sports Biographies

Get inspired with Youth Services' Our Picks! list for August 2007-- picture book biographies of sports greats from history! You can view the full list here.

In addition, we recently updated our sports collection with biographies of current sports figures-- look for them in the Non-Fiction section of our New Book Bin.

A New York Times Article About the Personal Libraries of CEOs

C.E.O. Libraries Reveal Keys to Success, by Harriet Rubin
The New York Times, July 21, 2007

“Almost everything I have read has been useful to me — science, poetry, politics, novels. I have a lifelong interest in epistemology and learning. My books have helped me develop a way of thinking critically in business..." --Sidney Harman, founder of Harman Industries

Youth Services Summer Reading Contest-- Final Week!

This is the fourth and final week of the Youth Services Summer Reading Contest! This year, you have to guess which book the Perrot bears are reading. They will be reading a different book each week in July. You can go here to check, or come in to the Library. Once you know which book they're reading, come into the Library (and check out some books!!) to receive a guess slip. You can guess as many times as you check out books during the week!

Each week, we will put all of our correct guesses in a hat, and draw a winner. They will receive a super-cool prize! After this week is over, we will draw from among all the correct guess slips from all four weeks to select a GRAND PRIZE winner. See our winners so far here.

Also, there is a very special BONUS answer for your guess slip that you can ONLY see here at Perrot's blog! Look at the picture below, and figure out what the difference is between THIS picture and the picture on our website and at the circulation desk. [You can click on the picture to see a larger version.]

Do you see it? Make sure you fill in the answer on your guess slip. You will be entered to win a special BONUS prize if you answer the blog bonus question correctly! Have questions? Ask us at the desk or call us at 637-8802. Or you can comment on this post.

Have an item for our Information Center?

Please bring items for Perrot's bulletin board to our Administrative Office (located to your left when you are standing in front of the bulletin board). Library staff maintains the board and will post your flyer as space permits. Library and local events will be given priority. Non-profit organizations only, please.

A Book Recommendation from the Young Young Critics' Club

Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy
An incredible piece of writing that is lively and wild! Humor, adventure, magic and suspense are all in this piece of writing! A nice break from the dull, realistic or overly imaginative books of the 21st century. Down to the ground, but still in the air kind of book. You CANNOT miss this one! I give it 5 stars!! -J.B., YCC member

Picture Book Art Exhibit at the Katonah Museum of Art

An exhibition called "Children Should Be Seen: The Image of the Child in American Picture-Book Art" has opened at the Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, New York. It was organized collaboratively by the KMA and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts. The show presents a survey of the best American picture book art of the last decade; according to its curators, it is the first exhibition on the theme of the image of the child in picture book art ever to be presented in the United States.

Katonah is only about a 30 minute drive for Greenwich, so check it out! The exhibit runs through October 27th. More information on the exhibit is available here.

Summer Reads from the Reference Librarians

The Reference Librarians suggested great summer reads at their event this past Friday. You can see their list of summer reading suggestions for 2007 here.

Book Recommendation: New England White

New England White, by Stephen L. Carter
The author's long-awaited second novel [his first was The Emperor of Ocean Park] is an absorbing, brilliantly written mystery set in a prestigious Ivy League University (not Yale) set in a New England city (not New Haven), insists the author, a Yale Law School professor. The story begins when the body of an Economics professor is found by University President Carlyle and his wife, Julia, who is a deputy Dean at the divinity school, and a one-time lover of the victim. All the richly drawn characters are somehow connected to the murdered man, who was in the process of solving a 30-year-old crime. A wonderful, captivating read depicting the successful African-American upper class living in the "heart of whiteness" and the political intrigue created by the motive behind the murder. --Jetty

Great Reads from the Reference Librarians for July

The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate, by Michael Wallis, with photographs by Michael S. Williamson
[Non-Fiction] The Lincoln Highway stretches 3,000 miles from Times Square in New York City to San Francisco Bay. This book takes a meandering trip down memory lane. The authors look at the architecture, the history, and the hokey landmarks along the way. It is a wonderfully fun trip that superimposes the new onto the old and vice versa.

To view this month's complete list of Great Reads from the Reference Librarians, click here.

DVD Diva: Epic Films

Epic Films often take a historical or imagined event, mythic, legendary, or heroic figure, and add an extravagant setting and lavish costumes, accompanied by grandeur and spectacle and a sweeping musical score. -- FilmSite.org Read more about at: http://www.filmsite.org/epicsfilms.html


Check out one of Perrot's Epic Films today. . .

Gone with the Wind
Focuses on the life and loves of the beautiful and selfish Scarlett O'Hara. The story begins on the O'Hara's Georgia plantation of Tara in antebellum days and moves through the Civil War and Reconstruction.


More at IMDb (Internet Movie Database)



Gladiator
The war against the Germans won, Emperor Aurelius chooses the victorious General Maximus as his successor to the Roman empire. Commodus, Aurelius' heir, is jealous of this and enslaves Maximus to the gladiatorial arenas.

More at IMDb






Titanic
Two people from different worlds meet and fall in love on the brief, tragic maiden voyage of the grand ocean liner Titanic.

More at IMDB







Mutiny on the Bounty
The Bounty leaves Portsmouth in 1787. Its destination: to sail to Tahiti and load bread-fruit. Captain Bligh will do anything to get there as fast as possible, using any means to keep up a strict discipline. When they arrive at Tahiti, it is like a paradise for the crew, something completely different than the living hell on the ship. On the way back to England, officer Fletcher Christian becomes the leader of a mutiny.

More at IMDb




Schindler's List
The story of a Catholic war profiteer, Oskar Schindler, who risked his life and went bankrupt in order to save more than 1,000 Jews from certain death in concentration camps. He employed Jews in his crockery factory manufacturing goods for the German army. At the same time he tries to stay solvent with the help of a Jewish accountant and negotiates business with a vicious Nazi commandant who enjoys shooting Jews as target practice from the balcony of his villa that overlooks the prison camp he commands.

More at IMDb


A few more notable epics at Perrot: The Ten Commandments, The Robe, Spartacus

Need a great vacation read?

. . . We can help! The Reference Department is planning a time for adults to choose some books for vacation and relaxation this summer. We will be out on the front patio of the Library on Friday, July 13th, 2007, from 10:30 A.M. to 12 P.M., with lots of titles for you to choose from-- some current and some past favorites that you might have missed. We will also have a list of some newly suggested books. Join us for some lemonade and a great summer read!

Library Event: Tuscan Travel: Off the Beaten Path

Upcoming Event: Tuscan Travel: Off the Beaten Path

Wednesday, July 18th, 2007, at 7:00 P.M. in the Library

Ann Reavis, a freelance travel writer who has made Florence, Italy her home for the past six years, will provide the secrets to enjoying the perfect day in the Chianti Classico region of Tuscany. With photos, she will describe the back roads, hill towns, markets, trattorias, artisans, farms and wineries. She will introduce Carmine (the painter), Dario (the butcher), Nora (the goat herder from New York), and many more of her friends. Come and participate in a lively discussion.

Ann Reavis swears that Italy saved her life. In 1998, she was a burnt-out lawyer in San Francisco, looking to make a change. She couldn’t figure out what the change would be, but she quit her job, put everything in storage and took off for a nine-month vacation in Florence. She looked at it as going back to school– language courses, art history seminars, classes on Dante and museums, museums, museums. Ann knew about school– she had a B.S. in Nursing from TCU, a MPH from U. of M., and a law degree for U.C. Hastings College of the Law. After five months in Florence, she was healthier, happier, and wondering why if going back to being a lawyer was such a good plan. . . Nine years later, she works as a travel writer and tour guide and still lives in Florence. Ann has written for Fodor’s, Salon.com, Fiberarts magazine, The Florentine, Vista magazine and others. She hopes to publish a novel, set in Florence, in the near future.

For more information about this program, call 203-637-3870, or comment on this post.

Library Event: Summer Movie in the Park

The Perrot Memorial Library is pleased to host a summer movie in the park in Binney Park in Old Greenwich! We will be showing the film Tea with Mussolini in the park on Saturday, August 4th, 2007, at 8 P.M. [Rain date is Sunday, August 5th.] The movie is suitable for all ages, and the audience is invited to bring blankets and enjoy the show!


More about the film:
Tea with Mussolini (1999) is a semi-autobiographical film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, telling the story of young Italian boy Luca's upbringing by a kind Englishwoman and her circle of friends. Set in 1935 Florence, a group of diverse and distinguished English expatriate women known as the Scorpioni make it a habit of meeting for tea each afternoon. Their proud members are Lady Hester Random, widow of the former British Ambassador to Italy; Arabella, an artist; and Mary Wallace, a secretary to an Italian businessman. They are sometimes joined by two Americans, Georgie, a lively archaeologist, and Elsa, a wealthy art collector. When Mary becomes a guardian to Luca, a young boy, she turns to the ladies for help. But the onset of Fascism has irrevocable consequences for all of them. In order to help, Luca must confront the challenge of becoming a man and embrace his independence.

For more information about this program, please call 203-637-3870, or comment on this post.

Book Recommendation: Infidel

Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Infidel is, by far, one of the most important books I’ve ever read. It is an eye-opening journey into the world of Fundamentalist Islam, through the truth-speaking mind and heart of an amazing and powerful woman. Ali is an excellent writer whose message is universal and whose work is a gift to the world. --Thalia

Youth Services Harry Potter Contest

The SEVENTH and FINAL collectible Harry Potter bookmark for our contest will be available at the Youth Services Desk TOMORROW, Saturday, July 7th.

If you’ve managed to collect all (or even most) of the bookmarks, bring them into the Library between July 7th and 14th. Then show them to the librarian at the Youth Services Desk, who will give you a raffle ticket to enter to win a MUCH-COVETED Harry Potter prize!!

Freezing Your Holds

Did you know that you can "freeze" holds on your library account until you're ready to pick them up? Say you're going on vacation for a few weeks, and your name is on the list for the new DVD release of Bridge to Terabithia. If you freeze your hold when you leave, you will be temporarily taken out of the list of patrons who would like that item. That way the DVD won't appear for you when you're not there to pick it up. When you return, you can unfreeze the hold, which will reinstate you into your previous spot in line.

To “Freeze” your holds:

• Log in to your library account here
• Click on the line of text that tells you how many holds you have
• Check the box in the far right column next to the titles you wish to “freeze”
• Press the “Update List” button
• Your frozen holds will now display with a white background.
  

When you are ready to pick up your holds again:

• Log in to your account
• Click on the line of text that tells you how many holds you have
• Uncheck the box in the far right column next to the titles you wish to “unfreeze”
• Press the “Update List” button
• Your holds should now display with a yellow background. When your hold is ready you will be contacted.

Questions? Please comment on this post.

Part-time Job Opening in Youth Services Department

Job Opening for Part-Time Circulation Desk Aide in Youth Services Department

Perrot Library is seeking a part-time employee for our busy Youth Services desk. Duties include: answering the phone, checking books in and out using the library’s automated circulation system, some collection development, and reference service (helping parents and children find library materials). Some experience with computers desirable. Friendly service orientation and a love of children and books are essential. Flexible schedule, up to fifteen hours per week including some evenings and weekends. $9.00-$13.00 per hour, depending on experience. To apply, fill out the Town of Greenwich application, available online here. Mail your completed application to: Town of Greenwich, Human Resources Department, Greenwich Town Hall, 101 Field Point Rd, Greenwich, CT 06830 EOE M/F/D/V