Youth Services' Holiday Gift-Buying Guide 2011

Each year our Youth Services Librarian and young readers put together a list of recommended books to buy for holiday gifts. Our list features picture books, books for beginning readers, books for middle graders, and books for ages 12 and up.

View the list online, or pick up a paper copy at the Youth Services Desk.

Perrot Presents The Grace Notes on Dec. 3

Perrot Memorial Library is pleased to host a musical performance of carols by the Grace Notes in the Radcliffe Children's Wing on Saturday, December 3rd, 2011, from 3:30 PM-4:30 PM.

The Grace Notes, a women's a cappella group, has been dedicated to providing music to our community for more than 40 years. The free performance will be followed by A Stroll Among the Luminaries in Binney Park at 4:30 PM. The Luminaries is a project of Boy Scout Troop 11 with Family Centers of Greenwich, and will feature a brilliant candlelight display throughout the Park. 

The Old Greenwich First Light Festival, sponsored by the Old Greenwich Merchants' Association, follows later that evening. The festival transforms Old Greenwich into a winter wonderland, decked out in its finest holiday trimmings! Other attractions will include horse-drawn carriage rides, activities and food hosted in the local shops, and of course, a visit from Santa Claus himself. Bring the whole family!

Hugo, the Movie Adaptation of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Opens Soon!

Hugo, the film adaptation of Brian Selznick's award-winning book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, opens in theaters on Wednesday, November 23rd. Be sure to read the book before you see the movie! Hugo was directed by Martin Scorsese, and stars Asa Butterfield as Hugo, along with Chloë Grace Moretz, Jude Law, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Ben Kingsley.

You can read more about the movie at Publishers Weekly, and view the trailer on the movie's website. You can also view some video clips of Brian Selznick talking about the book when he visited Perrot's book clubs in 2007.

Changes in the Watt (Media) Room

The Library has had many requests for Blu-rays, and, as a result, our Blu-ray collection has grown. Please note the following: All children's Blu-ray movies will now be located with the regular children's DVDs and all non-fiction Blu-rays will now be located with the regular non-fiction DVD collection.

NEW Museum Pass- The Bruce Museum

Now available to borrow from the Youth Services Desk-- two museum passes for the Bruce Museum, right here in Greenwich! You may borrow a pass for 3 days, and it entitles you to free admission for up to 2 adults and 2 children under the age of 18.

Consistently voted the "Best Museum" by area media, the Bruce Museum is a regionally based, world-class institution highlighting art, science and natural history in more than a dozen changing exhibitions annually. The permanent galleries feature the natural sciences encompassing regional to global perspectives.


More information at: http://www.brucemuseum.org/

[See a list of all the museum passes you can borrow from Perrot]

Family Program at the Greenwich Historical Society

Greenwich Historical Society Family Program

How Do You Know a Hero?

Paper Crafts Workshop with Timothy Bellavia

Sunday, November 13th, 2011

Kids of all ages will enjoy this paper crafts workshop led by award-winning children's author, illustrator and educator Timothy D. Bellavia. How Do You Know a Hero? will challenge boys and girls to design their very own action figures by transforming plain templates into police officers, firefighters and paramedics. Kids can deck out their heroes with uniforms, badges and other pintsized accoutrements replicated from objects and photos showcased in the Historical Society’s current exhibition, Everyday Heroes: Greenwich First Responders. They’ll then set their creations’ heroic feats against scenes from the exhibition. The How Do You Know a Hero? workshop was designed to promote understanding of the importantrole first responders play in daily life. This workshop is a new spin on Bellavia’s well known franchise We Are All The Same Inside® workshop in which children create individual characters with the goal of learning to recognize our common humanity while embracing diversity.

Workshops will be held at 1:00, 2:30 and 4:00 PM

Vanderbilt Education Center, 39 Strickland Road, Cos Cob, CT

$10 for members; $15 for nonmembers.

Reservations required: http://www.greenwichhistory.org/children.php

For additional information, please call 203-869-6899, Ext. 10.

Upcoming Event: Our Old Stones, A Talk with Andrew Pighills

Our Old Stones: A Talk with Andrew Pighills
Monday, November 7th, 2011, at 7:30 PM
Radcliffe Children's Wing, Perrot Memorial Library

Andrew Pighills, an accomplished stone artisan, gardener, and horticulturalist, will give a talk on old stone walls, accompanied by photographs of walls in and around Greenwich. Mr. Pighills received his formal horticulture training with The Royal Horticultural Society. He has spent 31 years creating gardens and building dry stone walls in his native England, in and around the spectacular Yorkshire Dales and the English Lake District.

Dreaming of Chanel- A Talk with Charlotte Smith

Dreaming of Chanel: A Wardrobe Full of Stories- A Talk with Charlotte Smith
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011, 7:30 PM
Radcliffe Children's Wing, Perrot Memorial Library

The Chanel suit: it is one of the 20th century's most iconic garments. Seen by many as the epitome of style, its classic silhouette is instantly recognizable, and yet owning one is, for most women, only a dream.

Author and curator Charlotte Smith will return to Perrot to discuss her latest book, Dreaming of Chanel, which reveals the backdrop and dreams attached to pieces of clothing, whether they are made by famous designers or unknown dressmakers. She chronicles the lives and times of the wearers, and what evolves is a fascinating history of style and couture throughout the ages. Ms. Smith is the curator of the Darnell Collection, Australia's largest private collection of over 3,000 items of vintage clothing and accessories, which she inherited from her American godmother, Doris Darnell. Ms. Smith will enhance her stories with examples of some of the fabulous pieces from the collection.

Elimination of Mailed Overdue Notices

Due to rising costs, Perrot and Greenwich Libraries have stopped mailing paper overdue notices, effective October 1st.

 

Currently, patrons with email addresses in their library card records receive courtesy notices (reminders of when books are due), notices of holds that are ready to be picked up, as well as overdue notices by email. We will continue to send out all of these notices. 

 

If you do not have an email address in your library card record, you will no longer receive overdue notices by mail.

 

If you would like to add an email address to your library account, please let us know at your next visit and we will be happy to assist you.

 

You can also add an email address by accessing your account from home. Log in to your account with your name and library card number, click Submit, and then click on the Modify Personal Info button. At this point you can either add or change your email address. When you are done, click Submit.

 

If you have any questions or concerns about this new policy, please comment on this post, or give us a call at 203-637-1066.

 

New Book Recommendations from the Reference Desk

What We're Reading at Perrot- New Book Recommendations from Our Reference Desk

BOTTOM OF THE 33RD: HOPE AND REDEMPTION IN BASEBALL'S LONGEST GAME, BY DAN BARRY

[Non-Fiction] "Getcha Beer heah!" For baseball’s longest game ever played, one would need more than just a beer. On April 18, 1981, Holy Saturday, just after dusk, the game between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings was underway. It played on and on into the night. What a good look into the lives of many people: umps, players, bat boys who carried on with the integrity of the game in the forefront. Enjoy this wonderful baseball book as our own baseball season is almost ending. Once reviewer writes: "…a pitch-perfect and seamless meditation on baseball and the human condition."

Read the rest of our list of recommendations!

Library E-Books Now Available on Your Kindle

You can now access free library e-books via your Kindle device!

“Libraries are a critical part of our communities,” Jay Marine, director of Kindle at Amazon, said in a statement. “And we’re excited to be making Kindle books available at more than 11,000 local libraries around the country.”  Read more at the New York Times.

The Greenwich Library System Overdrive downloadable eBook collection features over 8,000 titles that are compatible with the Kindle. Choose from a wide selection of fiction, nonfiction and children's titles, with more to come.

Greenwich and Branches Closed Sept. 26th / Perrot Will Be Open

Greenwich Library and the Byram and Cos Cob branches will be closed all day on Monday, September 26th so that staff may participate in a Strategic Planning session. Perrot WILL be open on the 26th for our regular hours, 9 AM to 6 PM.

Upcoming Event: Da Vinci's Sweet Tooth: Desserts of the Renaissance

Da Vinci's Sweet Tooth: Desserts of the Renaissance
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
7:30 P.M.
Radcliffe Children's Wing
Perrot Memorial Library

Celebrate Italian Heritage Month by learning about the history of Italy's sweets! Noted food historian and author Francine Segan will regale the audience with a fascinating presentation on the festivities of the Renaissance, featuring a tasting of classic Italian sweets. Hear about the lavish desserts, intriguing table manners, and unusual dining customs of the time.

Francine Segan is the author of four cookbooks, including Opera Lover's Cookbook: Menus for Elegant Entertaining, which was nominated for both the James Beard and IACP awards. Her latest book, Dolci: Italy's Sweets, will be available for purchase at the event. You can view several recipes from Ms. Segan's book in this article from the Wall Street Journal.

Spaces Available in 4s and 5s and Spotlight Programs for Kids

Spotlight, our after school story and crafts program for 2nd and 3rd graders, still has spaces available for the fall session! The theme for this session is Thrills and Chills. The program meets Wednesdays at 4 P.M. on September 21st, September 28th, October 5th, and October 19th. Participants also receive tickets to our evening of scary stories, NIGHTMARES, on October 26th at 7 P.M.

We also have spaces available in our Fun for 4s and 5s program, which meets on Mondays at 1 P.M. from September 12th through November 14th (there is no program on October 10th).
 
Please call the Youth Services Desk (203-637-8802) to sign up your child for either of these programs!

Perrot Will Be Open on Saturday, September 3rd

With several thousand Greenwich residents still without electricity, Perrot has decided to open the Library this Saturday, September 3rd, for our usual hours (9 AM to 5 PM)

We will be closed on Sunday, September 4th, and Monday, September 5th for Labor Day Weekend.

Greenwich Library will also be open on Saturday from 9 AM-5 PM, but the Cos Cob and Byram Branches will be closed Saturday through Monday.