Tompkins County Public Library

Monday, November 28, 2016

Teens Invited to Decorate Library Windows


Tompkins County Public Library invites young adults to help celebrate the arrival of winter by participating in a mural painting event, Friday, December 2 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Youth Services Department.

Area teens will join members of the Library’s Junior Library Advisory Council in painting a winter-themed design on Library windows.

This program is free and open to young adults in grades 6 through 12.  Free pizza and drinks will be provided.

After-hours access to the library will be available through the BorgWarner Community Room entrance, behind TCAT’s Green Street bus shelter.

Due to the popularity of previous window painting sessions and the limited number of windows available to paint, participation is limited to 25. Register at http://www.libraryinsight.com/EventSignUp.asp?t=906262629&jx=nnv&lmx=882357 to reserve a spot.

For more information, contact Teen Services Librarian Regina DeMauro at (607) 272-4557 extension 274 or rdemauro@tcpl.org.

Friday, November 18, 2016

Library to Host Community Conversations With Smithsonian Scientists


In celebration of its three month exploration of what it means to be human, Tompkins County Public Library will host scientists from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History for two enlightening and educational community programs.

Being held in conjunction with the Smithsonian and American Library Association exhibit, “Exploring Human Origins: What Does It Mean to Be Human?,” these presentations are designed to showcase the science behind the exhibit by offering opportunities for community members to connect with diverse personal and societal perspectives about who we are as a species and why it matters through the exploration of scientific discoveries related to human evolution.

Paleoanthropologist and exhibit curator, Rick Potts, Ph.D., will launch these events with a November 30 discussion on the major themes and messages of the exhibit.  Potts will offer an in-depth look at how fossils, archeological remains and genetic studies shed light on human connection with the natural world and explore the origins of sharing, caring and innovation.

Potts’ talk begins at 6:30 p.m. in the BorgWarner Community Room. He will also lead a guided tour of the exhibit.

Smithsonian scientists will return to TCPL at 6 p.m. on December 1 for a community conversation entitled, “What Does It Mean To Be Human.”  Led by Dr. Connie Bertka and Dr. Jim Miller, co-chairs of the Smithsonian Institution’s Broader Social Impacts Committee, this program will encourage understanding of differing perspectives on human evolution.  Bertka and Miller will be joined by Potts and Dr. Briana Pobiner from the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program.

“Exploring Human Origins: What Does It Mean To Be Human” will be on display at TCPL—one of only 19 sites in the country selected to host the exhibit—through December 22.

TCPL, with the support of the Paleontological Research Institution and its Museum of the Earth will continue the exploration of what it means to be human through February, with nearly 30 programs for families and adults.

For a complete list of programs and more information about the exhibit, visit http://tcpl.org.

For more information, contact Sally Grubb at sgrubb@tcpl.org.

“Exploring Human Origins: What Does It Mean to Be Human?” was organized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in collaboration with the American Library Association Public Programs Office. This project was made possible through the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation and support from the Peter Buck Human Origins Fund.

Funding for related programs was provided by the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation and made possible through the support of grants from New York State Council For the Humanities, Tompkins County Tourism Program, Derek and Leora Kaufman Charitable Fund, and Cornell University, and with program support from Paleontological Research Institution, TST BOCES and the Discovery Trail.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Library to Host Filmmaker Matt Pillischer for Discussion of “Broken On All Sides”


Tompkins County Public Library, in conjunction with the Multicultural Resource Center’s “The New Jim Crow” Community Read, will host acclaimed filmmaker Matt Pillischer for a free screening and discussion of “Broken On All Sides: Race, Mass Incarceration and New Visions for Criminal Justice in the U.S.,” Tuesday, December 6 at 6 p.m. in the BorgWarner Community Room.

“Broken On All Sides” was developed in an effort to raise awareness and advocate change around overcrowding within the Philadelphia jail system but has developed into a case-study of mass incarceration across the nation and the intersection of race, poverty and the legal system.

Pillischer is a Pennsylvania-based attorney, activist, filmmaker and artist and the director of the Broken On All Sides Educational Campaign, through which he screens the film, organizes panel discussions and speaks with audiences about issues of systemic racism, economic injustice and the criminal justice system.  He is the host of “The Thread,” a podcast against mass incarceration, available on iTunes.

The Library screening is free and open to the public.

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

This program was made possible with support from the William Henry Miller Inn.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Library to Partner with Cayuga Chamber Orchestra for Family Concert


Tompkins County Public Library, in partnership with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, will present “The Remarkable Farkle McBride,” a free, family-friendly concert, Thursday, November 17 at 4:00 p.m. in the Library’s Ezra Cornell Reading Room.

This fun-filled, musical storytime will bring to life the acclaimed picture book, “The Remarkable Farkle McBride” by John Lithgow.  “The Remarkable Farkle McBride” introduces readers to a memorable character, a fickle yet lovable child prodigy who brings the sounds and rhythms of an orchestra to sprawling visual life.

This storytime will include a quartet of CCO musicians and new CCO Music Director Cornelia Laemmli Orth as narrator.  The performance will include an opportunity for young participants to try out an assortment of instruments.

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

This program has been made possible in part by a generous gift from M&T Bank.


Library to Host Hopper and Friends for Poetry Reading


Tompkins County Public Library will host county Poet Laureate Jack Hopper for “From the Finger Lakes,” a multi-poet reading, Saturday, November 19 at 2 p.m. in the BorgWarner Community Room.

Hopper will be joined by Nancy Couto, Kathleen Gemmell, Eric Machan Howd, Katharyn Howd Machan, Emma Karnes, Mary Beth O’Connor, Stanley O’Connor, Edward Ormondroyd, Steve Poleskie, Dan Rosenberg and Carol Rubinstein.  Each poet will read from their submissions to the recently-published “From the Finger Lakes: A Poetry Anthology.”

Published by Cayuga Lake Books, “From the Finger Lakes” features works from more than 100 veteran and novice poets.  Copies of the book and its companion prose anthology will be available for purchase at the Library event.

The reading is free and open to the public.  For more information, contact Teresa Vadakin at tvadakin@tcpl.org or (607) 272-4557 extension 272.