Month: January 2009

Pember Presents

by

The following is a list of the planned Pember Presents programs. I will post detailed information on each program about two weeks before the date of the lecture/program.  All programs are free and open to the public.

Upcoming Pember Presents programs include:

February 5: a public information presentation on the 2010 US Census. George Demas will give a general explanation of how the US Census is organized, and information will be available on when and how to apply for census jobs.

February 26: Brad Zupp will bring to life financial concepts like the importance of saving, budgeting, needs versus wants, living within your means and more during his performance of “FUNance For Kids – Where Fun and Finance Collide.” This presentation is sponsored by the Pember Library and a grant from the Leo Cox Beach Foundation.

March 19: “From Rosie the Riveter to Harriet the Happy Homemaker: Women on Screen During and After World War II”, a NY Council for the Humanities lecture by Rob Edelman

April 9: “From Muscles to Motors on the Farm: Henry Ford and the Great American Tractor Wars, 1910-1930”, a NY Council for the Humanities lecture by Dr. Milton C. Sernett

April 30: Joe Peck, a semi-retired farmer will speak about life on the farm. This presentation is sponsored by the Pember Library and a grant from the Leo Cox Beach Foundation.

May 22: author and historic interpreter Don Thompson will portray Samuel de Champlain commemorating the 400-year anniversary of Champlain’s explorations. This presentation is sponsored by the Pember Library and a grant from the Leo Cox Beach Foundation.

June 12: “Traditional and Historical Songs of New York State”, a NY Council for the Humanities lecture by Dave Ruch

July 2: Summer Reading Program kick-off

July 23: Ann Rich Duncan will be here with her new book and the game based on the book. The newest Johnny Vic story will focus on the Lake Champlain area.

September 24: To be announced

Library Closed

by

We will be closed Wednesday, January 28, due to poor weather conditions.

Fines will be waived for items that become overdue because of the closing.

Gaiman’s book wins Newbery Award

by

One of the new books that was donated through our Pember Angel campaign in December was Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. It was announced yesterday that the book won the Newbery Award for excellence in children’s literature.

The story is a takeoff of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, with an orphaned boy being adopted by the inhabitants of a graveyard instead of a panther and a bear.

I haven’t had a chance to read it yet but all signs point to it being a spooky book for older children. There are thousands of internet articles and reviews if you do a search for the book. It had already been on best books lists for 2008 and, since being named an award winner, it has risen to a number five rank on Barnes and Noble and has the number six spot on Amazon.

The really cool thing, though, is that while Gaiman was on tour promoting the book shortly after it came out, he read a chapter each night of the tour. The reading was videotaped and all eight chapters are available online at The Official Neil Gaiman Website for Young Readers.

The book is shelved with the Young Adult “new” books.

Pember Presents

by

The Pember Library, in cooperation with the US Census Bureau, is pleased to announce that a public information presentation on the 2010 US Census will be held Thursday evening, February 5, at 6:30 PM .

In addition to a general explanation of how the US Census is organized, information will be available on when and how to apply for census jobs. Various informational brochures will be available, as well as copies of a practice test for Census jobs. If you are interested in a Census job, or just curious about the upcoming Decennial National Census, please join us at the Pember on February 5th.

What are you reading?

by

I just finished reading Stranger Room, a locked room mystery with two murders occurring 150 years apart. This is Frederick Ramsay’s fourth Ike Schwartz mystery taking place in Picketsville VA. I read a review of this a few months ago and put in a request for it. It was worth the wait.

The stranger room is a part of the main house with a separate entrance, kept for use by unknown travelers. Personal relationships, moral issues, racism and possible drug trafficking all make the story more interesting. I want to go back and read the other three books.

Also on my nightstand is Dancing with Werewolves, the first volume of a new series by Carole Nelson Douglas, the author of the Midnight Louie feline sleuth stories and Irene Adler mysteries. I don’t generally read other-worldly kind of stuff but I like the Midnight Louie series so I’ll give it a try.

Have you read anything recently that you’d like to share? Click on the post title or “no comment” and let us know.

Book Club

by

The book club decided to read any title by Robert Louis Stevenson. We have several on hand at the library or you may request one by inter library loan. Contact us at the library if you  need help with this.

The choices available at the Pember include:

My Shadow, a children’s book, an illustrated version of Stevenson’s popular poem in which a child tells about her relationship with her shadow
Treasure Island
The Master of Ballantrae : a Winter’s Tale
The Wrong Box
A Child’s Garden of Verses
Kidnapped :being memoirs of the adventures of David Balfour in the year 1751 … /written by himself and now set forth by Robert Louis Stevenson.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Also available through electronic resources (down-loadable audio books) are:

The Black Arrow
The Bottle Imp and Other Stories
The Body-snatchers
Treasure Island
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Kidnapped
The Amateur Emigrant

The new meeting time in the afternoon seems to be working out well. All readers are welcome at the book club meetings.

Story Time

by

Story time has been changed to Thursday evenings at 5:30. This week we will feature stories about Grampa’s Farm. Jo-Ann will read a couple of books and she and the children will use the flannel board to tell their own stories.

Library closed

by

We will be closed today because of bad weather and poor road conditions.

Fines will be waived for items that become overdue because of the closing.

Pember Angels

by

Our Pember Angel campaign for December was very successful.

The following items are being added to our collection:

Enigma: a Magical Mystery, by Graeme Base, JP

The Chronicles of Spiderwick: a Grand Tour of the Enchanted World, by Tony Di Terlizzi, JF

Over the Hedge, starring Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, William Shatner, 2006 DVD

Gone with the Wind DVD

Psycho DVD

Grapes of Wrath DVD

The Right Stuff DVD

Adirondack Birding: 60 Great Places to Find Birds by John M.C. Peterson & Gary N. Lee with color photographs by Jeff Nadler NF

Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley Fict

The US Constitution: a graphic adaptation

Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman YA

Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nichols JF

Old Bear by Kevin Henkes JP

Team Moon by Catherine Thimmesh J NF

Chester’s Back by Melanie Watt JP

Giants of Science: Sigmund Freud J NF

Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart JF

Fireside Cookbook by James Beard NF

Ellen, Pat, Susan, Barb, Mary, Mary Frances & Nicholas, Rosie, Bud, Jim & Judith, Linda, Joan, Dave & Nancy, Robyn & Neal, and a couple of anonymous friends donated money or bought the items we wished for.

Thank you all so very much!