Upcoming Event: Panel Discussion on Greenwich Community Gardens and Green Spaces

Panel Discussion on Greenwich Community Gardens and Green Spaces

Wednesday, May 7th, 2014

7:30 PM

Perrot Memorial Library Children's Wing

Perrot Memorial Library and the Greenwich League of Women Voters will present a panel discussion on Greenwich Community Gardens and Green Spaces, focusing on how the town utilizes, maintains, and beautifies its open spaces, and what we as citizens can do to help. 

Featuring the following panelists:

Patti Sechi: Founder and President of Greenwich Community Gardens
Terri Browne Kutzen: Chairman of Greenwich Community Gardens
Nancy Caplan: Chairman of the Greenwich Board of Parks and Recreation
Mary Hull: Executive Director of Greenwich Green and Clean, and Board Member of Greenwich Point Conservancy and Greenwich Tree Conservancy
Heidi Smith: Board Member of Greenwich Tree Conservancy

YCC's Favorite Book of 2013/2014 Is...

The Young Critics' Club (YCC), Perrot's book club for 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-graders, has declared that its favorite book of 2013/2014 is....

...It's a tie! The two winners are:


GOLDEN BOY
by Tara Sullivan

Thirteen-year-old Habo has always been different--light eyes, yellow hair and white skin. Not the good brown skin his family has, and not the white skin of tourists. Habo is strange and alone. His father, unable to accept Habo, abandons the family; his mother can scarcely look at him. His brothers are cruel and the other children never invite him to play. Only his sister Asu loves him well. When the family is forced from their small Tanzanian village, Habo knows he is to blame. Seeking refuge in Mwanza, Habo and his family journey across the Serengeti. His aunt is glad to open her home until she sees Habo for the first time, and then she is only afraid. Suddenly, Habo has a new word for himself: Albino. But they hunt Albinos in Mwanza, because Albino body parts are thought to bring good luck. And soon Habo is being hunted by a fearsome man with a machete. To survive, Habo must not only run, but find a way to love and accept himself.

AND

COUNTING BY 7s
by Holly Goldberg Sloan


Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life-- until now. Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read.

See the rest of YCC's favorite books from the last year!

Y2C2's Favorite Book of 2013/2014 Is...

The Young Young Critics' Club (Y2C2), Perrot's book club for 4th- and 5th-graders, has declared that its favorite book of 2013/2014 is...

ESCAPE FROM MR. LEMONCELLO'S LIBRARY, by Chris Grabenstein

Kyle Keeley is the class clown, popular with most kids, (if not the teachers), and an ardent fan of all games: board games, word games, and particularly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gamemaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the building of the new town library. Lucky Kyle wins a coveted spot to be one of the first 12 kids in the library for an overnight of fun, food, and lots and lots of games. But when morning comes, the doors remain locked. Kyle and the other winners must solve every clue and every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route. And the stakes are very high. Readers will become enthralled with the crafty twists and turns of this ultimate library experience.

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

New Catalog Interface Allows Patrons To Create Reading Lists, Organize Groups, Rate Materials And Contribute Content

The Greenwich Public Libraries have partnered with software company Bibliocommons to completely transform our current online catalog, making it easier to discover the Library’s collections while also giving users the power to create reading lists, rate the latest books, and organize groups. The Greenwich Library system is the first library in Connecticut to offer this service.

Features include:

•     Greatly improved search engine performance
•     Personal “shelves” of books and reading lists for users
•     The ability to contribute reviews, tags and ratings
•     Shared content with all libraries using Bibliocommons (so, for example, a user can read a review a book from someone in Ottawa or Boston)

The new catalog is also available in a new mobile browser and a Library app, available for Apple and Android devices. To download, search "Greenwich Library" in the App Store or the Google Play Store.

Explore the new, improved catalog today! http://greenwichlibrary.bibliocommons.com/

Golden Y Award Winners, Spring 2014

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

The winning team, The Bookworms (L-R): Samantha B., Samantha Y., Fiona, Pip, and Davies

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!)

Youth Services Summer Program Schedule Now Available

The Youth Services Summer 2014 Program Schedule is now available!

Please note that during our summer program session, all 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 still be by registration only.

Pick up a registration postcard for the program of your choice from the Youth Services Circulation Desk, beginning on Tuesday, May 27th, 2014. Don't forget to bring a stamp! The registration period closes at 5 PM on Saturday, June 21st, 2014. Our programs are selected by lottery. You may view our complete registration instructions online and see descriptions of our program offerings.

If you have questions about our programs or registration process, please comment on this post, or give us a call at 203-637-8802.

Upcoming Event: Ecologist and Author Tom Wessels on Sustainability

The Foundational Principles of Sustainability 

with Ecologist and Author Tom Wessels

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

7:30 PM

Perrot Library- Children's Wing

For 3.8 billion years, life has not only sustained itself, it has thrived on our planet. Ecologist and author Tom Wessels will discuss how our current path toward progress, based on continual economic expansion and inefficient use of resources, runs contrary to the foundational scientific laws that govern all natural, complex systems. It is a myth, he contends, that progress depends on a growing economy. Mr. Wessels makes scientific theory readily accessible, and will demonstrate how all environmental problems have their source in a disregard for the laws of sustainability based on the myth of progress. 

Tom Wessels is an ecologist and the founding director of the Master's Degree program in Conservation Biology at Antioch University New England. Tom has conducted landscape ecology and sustainability workshops throughout the United States for over 30 years.