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.

September is Library Card Sign-up Month

September is Library Card Sign-up Month, and Perrot wants to make sure that all children have the smartest card of all– a library card. Studies show that children who are read to in the home and who use the library perform better in school and are more likely to continue to use the library as a source of lifetime learning.

Sign up for a library card (or just check out a book) at the Youth Services Desk this month and you will receive a sweet treat!

Back-to-School Books

Youth Services has several lists of picture books to help your kids with the back-to-school process! Take a look at the lists below, or stop in to the library-- we have back-to-school books displayed in both our picture book area and our fiction section.

• Our latest staff picks list: Stories About School
• Books about riding the school bus
• Get Ready for School: Books About Starting Preschool, Kindergarten, and Grade School
• Ready, Set, Go! Books About Starting School

Have any of your own favorites you'd like to share? Please comment on this post!

Upcoming Event- Breaking In: How to Get Published in the 21st Century

Breaking In: How to Get Published in the 21st Century

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

7:30 P.M.

Radcliffe Children's Wing, Perrot Memorial Library

A panel of authors and a literary agents will share their experiences and advice on getting your book published.

Panelists include:

• Lucy Hedrick (moderator): fiction author of Premarital Assets as well as a five-time non-fiction author
• Jessica Bram: non-fiction author of Happily Ever After Divorce: Notes on a Joyful Journey
• Nina Nelson: author of middle-grade children's book, Bringing the Boy Home
• Denise Marcil: president and founder of Denise Marcil Literary Agency, New York, NY, who has sold almost 2,000 books to publishers

"Free Entertainment, for Life" at Your Public Library

Free Entertainment, For Life
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/08/21/greene.books/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

There are so many wonderful books that have been written over the centuries, books that will thrill you and make you cry and change you and bring laughter to you and keep you up all night. Even if you did nothing else for the rest of your life but read, you would only be able to get to the most infinitesimal percentage of books that you would be destined to adore. They're just waiting for you -- waiting to be found, right now.


And in most cases, even in these rugged and scary economic times, they're free.

Children's Program Registration Is Going on Now!

Registration for Youth Services' Fall 2011 Program Session is going on now through Friday, September 2nd, 2011. [View the fall program schedule.]

• Our program registration is by lottery
• You must have an active library card in good standing to register
• Obtain a registration postcard for the program of your choice from the Youth Services Circulation Desk
• Fill out ALL of the required information. Incomplete applications will not be considered
• Address the reverse of the card to yourself
• Affix a first-class stamp (44¢)
• Drop off your card at the Youth Services Desk by September 2nd
• Registration cards will be mailed back to you within a week of the close of registration

Questions? Please give us a call at 203-637-8802, or comment on this post.

Youth Services Graphic Novel Pick

A great new graphic novel we just had to share--


Bad Island, by Doug TenNapel

When Reese is forced to go on a boating trip with his family, the last thing he expects is to be shipwrecked on an island-- especially one swarming with weird plants and animals! What starts out as a bad vacation turns into a frantic adventure, as the castaways must find a way to escape while dodging the island's lethal inhabitants. With few resources, and a mysterious entity on the hunt, each secret unlocked could save them. . . or spell their doom.

New Graphic Novels in Youth Services

Sidekicks [ click here to place a hold on this book ] *****Staff Pick*****
Captain Amazing, hero of Metro City, is so busy catching criminals that he rarely has time for his pets at home. He doesn't even notice when they develop super powers of their own. So when he announces he needs a sidekick, his dog, hamster, and chameleon each decide to audition. Then archvillain Dr. Havoc returns to town, and suddenly the Captain's in serious trouble. Can the warring pets put their squabbles aside and work together to save their master?

Mameshiba: On the Loose! [ place hold ]
Meet Mameshiba, the cute little bean dogs with bite! Starring in their first ever adventures, they rescue friends, explore outer space, and offer interesting bits of trivia when you least expect it!

Atlas [ place hold ]
After commanding the Titans in their war against the Olympians, Atlas was forced to hold up the heavens on his shoulders. His life was a tragic story of a long God fighting boredom on Mount Olympus. While monitoring from above, Atlas tracked the emergence of super-powered beings donning capes and tights. Growing restless and craving adventure, Atlas decides to take the world in his hands and become one of the Earth's newest heroes!

The Never-Weres [ place hold ]
Late in the next century, the human race faces extinction. An incurable virus has left the world with no new births since the last generation. Doom is all but certain, yet three of the world's last surviving teens are determined to carry on. When the friends stumble upon the decades-old mystery of a missing girl, it leads them deep into a shocking secret. It will take all their skills to uncover the truth the just might save the world.

Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity [ place hold ]
Hakata Soy, former space hero, is doing his best to keep his head down at Astronaut Academy. Things aren't going so great, though. The most popular girl in school has it in for him. His best friend won't return his calls. And his new roommate is a complete jock. Hakata just wants to make a fresh start. But how will he find time to study Anti-Gravity Gymnastics and Tactical Randomness when he's got a robot doppelganger on its way to kill him?

Have a graphic novel or manga series you'd like to see at Perrot? Please comment on this post or e-mail webmaster@perrotlibrary.org!

Youth Services Fall Program Schedule Now Available

The Youth Services Fall 2011 Program Schedule (.PDF) is now available.

Our program registration is by lottery. Pick up a registration postcard for the program(s) of your choice from the Youth Services Circulation Desk, beginning on Monday, August 15th, 2011. The registration period ends on Friday, September 2nd, 2011, so make sure you have returned your card by that day.

[See detailed registration instructions]

If you have any questions, please comment on this post!

Summer Reading Wrap-Up

Thanks to everyone who participated in Youth Services's 2011 summer reading program and weekly contests! This year's theme was "BE A SUPER STAR- READ!"

Please take a look at the four happy winners of our weekly contests! They each won a neat prize pack for finding a little star that was hiding in a different spot in the children's room each week in July.

Over 300 kids signed up for our summer reading program and read over 900 books in total! This year, Perrot made a donation based on each book read by our summer readers to the Greenwich Alliance for Education. The Alliance helps get books to kids in Greenwich who can't afford them. So thanks, readers-- each book you read helped support a great cause!

If you were one of our very special signer-uppers, you can still keep track of the books you read, even though our "official" program has ended! You can either take your reading record home with you, or leave it here in the library. We will also continue to give out prizes for books read (while supplies last, so HURRY!).

We'd also like to give a special mention our teen volunteers, who helped record books for our reading program participants. This year we had 62 volunteers, who together worked nearly 500 volunteer hours. Thanks, guys!

And remember, we still have another month of summer left, so please KEEP READING!

Greenwich Time Article About Harry Potter

Kathy Jarombek, a.k.a Mrs. J, head of Youth Services at Perrot, was quoted in a recent article in the Greenwich Time about the final Harry Potter film: "Final Potter film works its magic in Greenwich theaters"