Healthyville: Traveling Exhibit from Stepping Stones Museum in Youth Services

Perrot's Youth Services Department is excited to host a traveling exhibit from The Stepping Stones Museum for Children. The interactive exhibit is called "Healthyville®—a Place for Every Body" and is home to residents of all ages who try every day to live active, healthy lifestyles. This exhibit provides children and adults with hands-on opportunities to explore nutrition and fitness in ways that help them understand their bodies, understand the importance of making healthy choices, and apply these concepts in everyday situations.

Stop by Youth Services to take a look-- the exhibit will be at will be at Perrot through June 14th.

School Visit Books-- Get some great recommendations!

During the month of May 2016, our Youth Services librarian, Mrs. Jarombek, visited 4th- and 5th-grade classes at local elementary schools to talk about new and exciting books and to promote our summer reading program and book clubs for kids.

Check out the full list for some great book recommendations!

Register Now for Summer Programs in Youth Services

Registration for Youth Services' Summer 2016 Program Session is going on now through Sunday, June 12th. [View the summer program schedule]

• Our preschool programs are drop-in during the summer, but registration is still required for our Stuff & Nonsense (for kids entering 1st grade), and Spotlight (for kids entering 2nd/3rd/4th grade) programs
• 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 (49¢)
• Drop off your card at the Youth Services Desk by June 12th
• Registration cards will be mailed back to you a few days after the close of registration with your registration status

Questions? Please give us a call at 203-637-8802.

Upcoming Event: Learning to Look: Family Art Program on Impressionism

Learning to Look: Family Art Program on American Impressionism

Sunday, May 22nd, 2016, at 2 PM 

Perrot's Children's Wing

Perrot Library is pleased to welcome back Alice Scovell Coleman, a lecturer with the Learning to Look program, for another afternoon of art. This program will focus on American Impressionism, particularly artists Childe Hassam and John Singer Sargent. After the presentation, children will have the opportunity to create their own Impressionist garden on paper. This program is recommended for families with children ages 5 and up. This event is a wonderful introduction or follow-up to the New York Botanical Garden's exhibit, Impressionism: American Gardens on Canvas, on view from May 14th through September 11th. More info: http://www.nybg.org/impressionism/ 

Learning to Look, an art history and appreciation program for students from kindergarten through high school, was created buy Greenwich residents Diane Darst and Sue Ann Williamson. It has been taught by Learning to Look-trained teachers to over 75,000 students at nearly 100 schools in the tri-state area alone.

Greenwich Reads Together 2016: Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel

Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel, has been chosen as the Greenwich Reads Together selection for 2016. Greenwich Reads Together is a community-wide reading experience which engages all of Greenwich in exploring a single book, culminating in a month-long series of special events and programs in the fall.

One snowy night, a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time-- from the actor's early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains-- this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor's first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet. Sometimes terrifying, sometimes tender, Station Eleven tells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it.

Companion Selections for Children:
For middle grade readers: The City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau
For younger readers: Blackout, by John Rocco

Visit Greenwich Library's website for more information on Greenwich Reads Together.

The Young Critics' Club's Favorite Book of 2015/2016 Is...

The Young Critics' Club (YCC), Perrot's book club for 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-graders, has declared that its favorite book of 2015/2016 is...

I AM PRINCESS X, by Cherie Priest

Once upon a time, two best friends created a princess together. Libby drew the pictures, May wrote the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons their imaginations could conjure. A few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her. Now May is sixteen and lonely, wandering the streets of Seattle, when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window. Princess X? When May looks around, she sees the Princess everywhere-- there's an entire underground culture, focused around a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the webcomic, the more she sees disturbing similarities between Libby's story and Princess X online. And that means that only one person could have started this phenomenon--- her best friend, Libby, who lives.

See the rest of YCC's favorite books for some great picks!

Teens: Looking for a summer volunteer opportunity?

. . .Perrot needs you! Perrot is looking for teen volunteers for its Youth Services department to help run the summer reading program for kids.

Who can be a Perrot Library Summer Teen Volunteer?
Anyone who is going into Grades 7 and up, and who can volunteer at least 5 hours during the summer.

When do volunteers work?
From June 22nd to July 29th, whenever the library is open. You can set your own schedule and sign up for shifts during mornings, afternoons, or evenings.

Why volunteer?
• To help others
• To learn job skills
• To earn community service hours
• To meet other teens and have fun!

How do I become a Summer Teen Volunteer?
Easy! Just pick up an application at the Youth Services Desk (or download one here- PDF), have a parent or guardian sign it, and drop it off.

How do I learn what to do?
All volunteers must attend a 30-minute training session in June where we’ll teach you everything you need to know. (Even if you volunteered last summer, you must attend this year's training session.)

Have more questions?
Please call Kathy Jarombek, Director of Youth Services, at 203-637-8802.

Upcoming Event: Journalist Will Stolzenburg on his book, HEART OF A LION

Journalist Will Stolzenburg on his new book,

HEART OF A LION: A LONE CAT'S WALK ACROSS  AMERICA

Wednesday, May 25th, 2016

7:30 PM

Radcliffe Children's Wing

Late one June night in 2011, a large animal collided with an SUV cruising down a Connecticut parkway. The creature appeared as something out of New England's forgotten past. Beside the road lay a 140-pound mountain lion. Speculations ran wild, the wildest of which figured him a ghostly survivor from a bygone century when lions last roamed the eastern United States. But a more fantastic scenario of facts soon unfolded. The lion was three years old, with a DNA trail embarking from the Black Hills of South Dakota on a cross-country odyssey eventually passing within thirty miles of New York City. It was the farthest land-bound trek ever recorded for a wild animal in America, by a barely weaned teenager venturing solo through hostile terrain.

Stolzenburg retraces the lion's two-year journey-- from his embattled birthplace in the Black Hills, across the Great Plains and the Mississippi River, through Midwest metropolises and remote northern forests, to his tragic finale upon Connecticut's Gold Coast. Along the way, the lion traverses lands with people gunning for his kind, as well as those championing his cause. This is a story of one heroic creature pitting instinct against towering odds, coming home to a society deeply divided over his return. It is a testament to the resilience of nature, and a test of humanity's willingness to live again beside the ultimate symbol of wildness.

Will Stolzenburg has written hundreds of magazine articles about the science and spirit of saving wild creatures. A 2010 Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellow, he is the author of the books Where the Wild Things Were and Rat Island. He is also the screenwriter of the documentaries Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of Great Predators and Ocean Frontiers: The Dawn of a New Era in Ocean Stewardship. 

PerrotYouthServices- check us out on Bibliocommons!

Follow Perrot's Youth Services Department on Bibliocommons! We have a growing collection of useful booklists, including lists of picture books on various themes, book club picks, and read-alikes.

Some recent additions:

• An extensive list of Great Classroom Read-Alouds
• Easier novels for kids to try after they've moved on from Early Readers: Moving on from Beginning Readers- What's Next?
• Looking for longer books to read aloud to your kids? Check out Great Chapter Book Read-Alouds for the Whole Family

Have an idea for a booklist you'd like to see? Please share your thoughts with us!

Y2C2's Favorite Book of 2015/2016 Is...

The Young Young Critics' Club (Y2C2), Perrot's book club for 4th- and 5th-graders, has declared that its favorite book of 2015/2016 is...

THE BLACKTHORN KEY, by Kevin Sands

Tell no one what I’ve given you. Until he got that cryptic warning, Christopher Rowe was happy, learning how to solve complex codes and puzzles and creating powerful medicines, potions, and weapons as an apprentice to Master Benedict Blackthorn— with maybe an explosion or two along the way. But when a mysterious cult begins to prey on London’s apothecaries, the trail of murders grows closer and closer to Blackthorn’s shop. With time running out, Christopher must use every skill he’s learned to discover the key to a terrible secret with the power to tear the world apart.

See the rest of Y2C2's favorite books for some great picks!

Youth Services Summer Program Schedule Now Available

The Youth Services Summer 2016 Program Schedule is now available!

Please note that during our summer program session, all of our preschool programs are DROP-IN, and most are limited to the first 20 children and their caregivers to sign in before each program. Our Stuff & Nonsense and Spotlight programs will be by registration only.

Pick up a registration postcard for the program of your choice from the Youth Services Circulation Desk, beginning on Monday, May 23rd, 2016. Don't forget to bring a stamp! The registration period closes at 5 PM on Sunday, June 12th, 2016. Our programs are selected by lottery. You will receive your card back in the mail a few days after the close of regitration.

If you have questions about our programs or registration process, please call us at 203-637-8802.

Winners of the Semi-Annual Y2C2 Jeopardy Tournament

Winners of the Semi-Annual Y2C2 Jeopardy Tournament

Golden Y Award Winners, Spring 2016

CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the Semi-Annual Young Young Critics' Club (Y2C2) Jeopardy Tournament!

The winning team, Team Kyle (L-R):  Leo, Elliot, Henry, Amrutha, and Ellie

They are the current holders of the coveted Wonderful Golden "Y" Award! The winners have demonstrated their mastery of trivia questions related to the books that the Young Young Critics' Club (our book club for 4th- and 5th-graders) has read during the past year. (Yes, it looks like a lobster, but trust us, it’s also a wonderful golden ‘Y’-- stop by the Youth Services Department and see for yourself!)

Mobile Printing Is Now Available at Perrot

With our new mobile printing service, you can now send documents to our public printer directly
from your laptop or mobile device!

How to print from a laptop or desktop computer:

• Visit the following website: http://www.printeron.net/pml/soundbeachavenue
• Select the printer and enter your email address
• Browse your computer to find and select the file you wish to print
• Click the green print icon (you will see the status of your print job and a reference number)
• Provide your email address at the Reference Desk or Youth Services Desk to identify your print job
• Pay for your print job (cost is 10¢/page)

Your print job will be printed!


How to print from tablet or smartphone app:

• Visit your device’s store for apps. Search for and install the (free) PrinterOn App
• Open the app
• Click “No printer selected”
• Click “Search”. Search for “perrot”
• Click on “PML Sound Beach Avenue- Black and White Printer
• To Print Documents: when viewing the document, click in the upper right corner and upload the document to the PrinterOn App 
• To print Photos: open the app, click on “photo” and select a photo to print 
• Select the printer and click the print icon 
• Enter an email address and click on the check mark (you will receive a notice that the job started, and shortly after another message stating “Job Success”) 
• Provide your email address at the Reference Desk or Youth Services Desk to identify your print job 
• Pay for your print job (cost is 10¢/page)

Your print job will be printed!


How to use email to send something directly to library print system:

• Email from any device directly to the library’s print system at pml-soundbeachavenue-bw@printspots.com
• Provide your email address AND the name of the file that you wish to print at the Reference Desk or Youth Services Desk to identify your print job
• Pay for your print job (cost is 10¢/page)

Your print job will be printed!

What We're Reading at Perrot: Book Recommendations from our Reference Desk

DID YOU EVER HAVE A FAMILY, BY BILL CLEGG

[Fiction] This is a story of extremes: happiness and sadness; marriage and divorce; forgiveness and resentment; youth and middle age. It is the story of a previously loosely connected group of individuals who are dealing with an unimaginable tragedy: a catastrophic accident that kills an entire family. This well-received debut novel, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, is the very model of a page-turner, drawing readers in and holding on to them through its completion. Set initially in a small town in northwestern Connecticut, the story expands and concludes in Washington State. We learn the story from the viewpoints of its participants, coming eventually to understand the many different factors that contributed to the tragedy at the heart of the novel. Ultimately a tribute to the human spirit, this is a great read and a perfect choice for book groups.

See the rest of our list of recommendations!

Upcoming Event: No Parent Left Behind: What's Really on the Minds of Middle School Girls?

The Perrot Memorial Library, in collaboration with the Junior League of Greenwich, proudly present the panel discussion: "No Parent Left Behind: What's Really on the Minds of Middle School Girls?"

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016

7:30 PM-9:00 PM

Perrot Memorial Library

Experts in the field of counseling and social media held full-day sessions with over 200 girls ages 11 and 12 concerning friendship, self-esteem, morality, decision-making, and social media. Hear what the girls had to say, and learn how you can partner with your middle-schooler as she embarks upon a new, and sometimes challenging, phase in her life. 

Featuring:

Meredith Gold

Domestic Abuse Services at the YWCA

Sara W. Rawson

Occupational Therapist

Beth O'Malley

LCSW/Psychotherapist

Jenny Byxbee

Youth Services Coordinator at the United Way

This event is part of the Junior League of Greenwich’s project, "Positively More," which aims to give preteen girls the tools to avoid questionable situations, lessen the consequences of potential conflicts, and identify lessons learned by those challenges.

For more info, visit: 

http://www.jlgreenwich.org/