Tompkins County Public Library

Monday, August 31, 2015

Library to Host Film Screening


Tompkins County Public Library will host a free screening of the award-winning film “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Wednesday, September 23 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the BorgWarner Community Room-East.

The 1962 film adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by the same name, “To Kill a Mockingbird” is the coming of age story of 7-year-old Jean Louise “Scout” Finch and an indictment of race relations in the deep south during the Depression Era.

The film is being shown in conjunction with the fall session of the Library’s “4 Seasons Book Club.”  The club will meet October 1 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss “Go Set A Watchman,” the recently-released novel by Harper Lee, which visits the characters of “To Kill a Mockingbird” some 20 years later.

The Library screening is free and open to the public.  The film is intended for an adult audience.

For more information, contact Tom Burns at tburns@tcpl.org.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Library to Host Sensory Storytime

Children ages 3 through 7 are invited to move, sing and play at Tompkins County Public Library’s “Sensory Storytime” Saturday, September 26 at 3:30 p.m. in the Thaler/Howell Programming Room.

This program is free and open to children of all abilities; however, it is especially designed for children with sensory integration challenges. “Sensory Storytime” features interactive books, songs and activities to stimulate the senses and promote learning. Children who have previously struggled to sit through other storytimes may find “Sensory Storytime” a better fit.

Participants who pre-register for the program will receive a free copy of “Is Everyone Ready for Fun?” by Jan Thomas. To register, call the Youth Services Department at (607) 272-4557 extension 275, or email Youth Services Librarian Kate DeVoe at kdevoe@tcpl.org.


“Sensory Storytime” has been made possible by the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation through a grant from Elmira Savings Bank and through funding provided by the Bernard Carl and Shirley Rosen Library Fund of the Community Foundation of Tompkins County and Tom and Maria Eisner’s Fund of the Community Foundation of Tompkins County.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Library to Host ESL Snack and Chat

Beginning September 23, non-native English speakers are invited to attend Tompkins County Public Library’s weekly “ESL Snack and Chat Conversation Groups.”

These informal, drop-in sessions will be held each Wednesday through November 18, from 3:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Library’s BorgWarner Community Room and offer a relaxed setting for practicing conversation and listening skills. Snack and Chat meetings will help participants discover and access language-learning resources at the Library and in the community and provide a forum for information sharing.

Snack and Chat sessions are free and open to individuals with the desire to improve their English or willing to serve as conversation partners for others. Participants of all ages and abilities are welcome. Light refreshments will be provided.

For more information, contact Teresa Vadakin at (607) 272-4557 extension 272 or tvadakin@tcpl.org or Stephen Salino at 607-272-4557 extension 249 or ssalino@tcpl.org .


Library to Offer Family Science Program

Tompkins County Public Library and Cornell University’s Center for Materials Research with host “What Floats Your Boat?” Saturday, September 12 from 1-2 p.m. in the Library’s BorgWarner Community Room.

Participants will test and classify different materials and see which ones float or sink. Participants will then use this knowledge to design their own boats and see how much weight they can carry. The concept of buoyancy will also be introduced. 

Families Learning Science Together is a free program designed to help children develop an early love of science through hands-on participation. These programs are offered at the Library on the second Saturday of each month.

Families Learning Science Together programs are free and open to the public, but space is limited. To register, email ccmr_outreach@cornell.edu, or call (607) 255-1486.

More information about Families Learning Science Together workshops can be found at https://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/lending-library-chemistry.



Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Library to Host Discussion of “Go Set a Watchman”

Tompkins County Public Library will host a discussion of Harper Lee’s controversial novel, “Go Set a Watchman,” during the fall session of its popular “4 Seasons Book Club,” Thursday, October 1 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the BorgWarner Community Room-West.

Originally written in the mid-1950s, “Go Set a Watchman” is said the have been the novel Harper Lee submitted to her publishers before the classic, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Assumed to have been lost, the manuscript was discovered in 2014. “Go Set a Watchman” revisits many of the characters from “To Kill a Mockingbird,” 20 years into the future. Returning home to Maycomb to visit her father, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch struggles with issues both personal and political, involving Atticus, society, and the small Alabama town where she was raised.

Participation in the “4 Seasons Book Club” is available online and in-person. Online discussions are ongoing and by invitation only.  The online “4 Seasons Book Club” is available through Goodreads.com, a "free website for book lovers.”  To register, visit http://www.goodreads.com.

For more information or to register, contact Adult Services Librarian Teresa Vadakin at (607) 272-4557 extension 272 or tvadakin@tcpl.org.



Library to Host Baby and Toddler Playtime

Families of babies and toddlers are invited to enjoy free play and socialization at the Tompkins County Public Library’s twice-weekly “Baby and Toddler Playtime.”

An hour-long, unstructured play and social time for children and adults, “Baby and Toddler Playtime” offers a warm, child-friendly play space with coloring supplies, books, music and a variety of age-appropriate toys.

Beginning September 1, Playtime will be held Tuesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Fridays from 11 a.m. to noon.  These programs are held in the Thaler/Howell Programming Room, which features a fairytale-themed mural, designed to encourage a love of books and imagination.

For more information, contact the Youth Services Department at (607) 272-4557 extension 275.


Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Library to Host Toy Exhibit

Tompkins County Public Library has announced the Thursday, August 27 opening of “Rhino Toys,” a thought-provoking exhibit featuring hand-crafted toys designed to highlight current events and social issues.

Created by Buffalo-based artist and public school art teacher, Rich Tomasello, “Rhino Toys” examines—through specially-designed toys reflecting traditional stereotypes and common media-messaging—issues of war, school shootings and social injustice.

Inspired by the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut school shooting, Tomasello created a series of dark, ironic and absurd action figures presented under the fictional toy company brand, Rhino Toys.  The series includes customized toys—made from existing playthings—packaged in meticulously designed boxes, complete with guns, bullets, clips, body armor, grenades, gas masks and human targets.

“Rhino Toys” will be on display at the library through October 31.

Teens are invited to explore the concepts behind the exhibit during an action figure-making workshop being held in conjunction with TCPL’s Saturday, August 29 Tomp-Con mini-comic convention.  Tomesello’s workshop will take place from noon to 1 p.m. and is open to participants ages 9 through 19. Attendees will be able to take home their personalized action figures.

“Tomp-Con” will also feature an illustration workshop, author/fan talks, a game room, a Super Smash Brothers tournament and a cosplay fashion show.

For more information about the exhibit, contact TCPL Exhibit Coordinator Sally Grubb at sgrubb@tcpl.org.  To learn more about Tomp-Con, contact Teen Services Librarian Regina DeMauro at rdemauro@tcpl.org.  To register for Tomp-Con, visit http://www.libraryinsight.com/EventSignUp.asp?t=206453443&jx=nnv&lmx=694590


Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Library to Host My First Day of Kindergarten Storytime

Boys and girls beginning kindergarten this fall are invited to shake out their first-day-of-school jitters before the school year begins during Tompkins County Public Library’s “My First Day of Kindergarten Storytime” Wednesday, August 26 at 11 a.m. in the Thaler/Howell Programming Room. 

"My First Day of Kindergarten Storytime" is open to all children entering kindergarten and will include stories, songs and crafts.

For more information, contact the Library’s Youth Services Department at (607) 272-4557 extension 275.

Library to Host Tomp-Con Comic Convention

Tompkins County Public Library invites teen comic enthusiasts to celebrate the art, costumes and camaraderie of comics during “Tomp-Con,” a mini comic convention, Saturday, August 29.

Being held from noon to 4:30 p.m., throughout the library, “Tomp-Con” will feature a teen artists’ alley, a comic book art workshop, a game room, a Super Smash Brothers tournament, provided by GameTruck Central New York, and a cosplay fashion show.

“Tomp-Con” is being held in conjunction with the Library’s 2015 Teen Summer Reading Program, “Unmask: Discover the Hero Within,” and is free and open to students 11 through 19.

Participants who pre-register will receive a pre-printed name badge and have an opportunity to sign-up for the cosplay fashion show and Super Smash Brothers tournament.  To register, visit http://www.libraryinsight.com/EventSignUp.asp?t=206453443&jx=nnv&lmx=694590

Support for the Library’s Summer Reading Program is provided by the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation through generous support from the Harmon Foundation, the Brooks Family Foundation, the Phyllis and Charles Brodhead Memorial Endowed Fund and the Michael Kammen Children’s Fund.


Monday, August 10, 2015

Library Announces Community Read Programs

Tompkins County Public Library, in celebration of the 2015 Community Read of Kurt Vonnegut’s classic novel, “Slaughterhouse-Five,” has announced plans for three exciting programs.

Community Read events kick-off Wednesday, September 9 with “All of This Happened, More or Less:  Telling the Truth in Fiction, Lying in Memoir,” a free workshop facilitated by local author Bob Proehl.  This enlightening program will explore the line between truth and fiction through lively discussions about whether everything in a memoir must be verifiable or every character in a novel must be made up.  Using “Slaughterhouse-Five” as a starting point, participants will complete short exercises designed to help writers understand the art of mixing fiction and non-fiction.

“All of This Happened” is free and open to an adult audience and will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Library’s BorgWarner Community Room. Advance registration is appreciated.  To register, contact Carrie Wheeler-Carmenatty at (607) 272-4557 extension 248.

Readers and film enthusiasts will have an opportunity to explore how the 1972 film adaptation of “Slaughterhouse-Five” compares with the novel on Wednesday, September 16 at 6 p.m. in the BorgWarner Community Room-East.

Those who have read the book are also invited to join Community Read Coordinator Teresa Vadakin Thursday, September 17 at 6:30 p.m. for a fun-filled, hour-long discussion of “Slaughterhouse-Five.”  Participants will have an opportunity to share the bond of reading a common title during this judgment-free discussion group. 

Copies of the book are available to borrow at the Library.  To participate in the book discussion, contact Vadakin at (607) 272-4557 extension 272 or tvadakin@tcpl.org.


All Community Read events are free and open to the public.  Now in its 14th year, the Community Read is held in conjunction with Cornell University’s New Student Reading Program. 

Friday, August 7, 2015

Library to Host Vermont Author Elayne Clift for Reading and Signing

Tompkins County Public Library will host author Elayne Clift for a reading and signing of her award-winning book, “Children of the Chalet: New and Selected Stories,” Wednesday, August 26 at 6 p.m. in the BorgWarner Community Room. 

 Grand Prize Winner for Fiction in the Greyden Press 2014 Book Competition, the two-part “Children of The Chalet,” offers a series of connected stories, based on the year Clift spent as a residential counselor in a halfway house for troubled teens during the 1960s, and several previously-unpublished short stories. 

 “I had ruminated for years about the girls I worked with and what brought them to residential living and care,” Clift said. “Their stories, which I’ve fictionalized, were compelling, and I often wondered what had become of them as adults. 

Those two questions: why were they in the “chalet” and what became of them, inspired the work.”

 Clift, a Vermont Humanities Council Scholar, is an award-winning writer and journalist whose work has appeared in numerous publications internationally. In addition to “Children of the Chalet,” she has published two short story collections, two poetry collections, a memoir, and the 2014 novel “Hester’s Daughters,” based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter.” 

This program is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Carrie Wheeler-Carmenatty at (607) 272-4557 extension 248 or cwheeler@tcpl.org.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Library to Host Book Show and Tell for Adult Readers

Tompkins County Public Library will host “Escape the Ordinary Book Show and Tell,” an opportunity for adult readers to share information and reviews about the books they have read this summer,Wednesday, August 26 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the BorgWarner Community Room—West.

Being held in conjunction with the Library’s 2015 Adult Summer Reading Program, “Escape the Ordinary at TCPL,” this program is free and open to readers of books from all genres, including fiction, non-fiction, biography and history.

Chocolate treats will be provided.


To register, or for more information, contact Stephen Salino at ssalino@tcpl.org.

Library Announces Zinio Digital Magazine Service

Tompkins County Public Library, in collaboration with the Finger Lakes Library System, has announced the launch of Zinio, a digital service providing free access to current and back issues of more than 100 popular magazine titles.

With a valid library card and internet access, patrons will be able to read popular magazines like “Car and Driver,” “Better Homes and Gardens,” “Cosmopolitan,” “Field and Stream,” and “The Advocate” on their personal computer or Mac, or through a downloadable App on their iPhone, iPad, Kindle or Android device.

For more information or help downloading the Zinio app, contact the Library’s Information and Learning Services Department at (607) 272-4556 or askalibrarian@tcpl.org.


Saturday, August 1, 2015

Library to Host Sensory Storytime


Children ages 3 through 7 are invited to move, sing and play at Tompkins County Public Library’s “Sensory Storytime,” Saturday, August 22 at 3:30 p.m. in the Thaler/Howell Programming Room.

This program is free and open to children of all abilities; however, it is especially designed for children with sensory integration challenges. “Sensory Storytime” features interactive books, songs, and activities to stimulate the senses and promote learning. Children who have previously struggled to sit through other storytimes may find “Sensory Storytime” a better fit.

Participants who pre-register for the program will receive a free copy of “Say Hello Like This” by Mary Murphy. To register, call the Youth Services Department at (607) 272-4557 extension 275, or email Youth Services Librarian Kate DeVoe at kdevoe@tcpl.org.

“Sensory Storytime” has been made possible by the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation through a grant from Elmira Savings Bank and through funding provided by the Bernard Carl and Shirley Rosen Library Fund of the Community Foundation of Tompkins County and Tom and Maria Eisner’s Fund of the Community Foundation of Tompkins County.