Playaways arrive in the Children's Dept.

Our first shipment of Playaway digital children's audio books is just about ready to circulate. Look for classic titles such as Charlotte's Web, Where the Red Fern Grows, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Island of the Blue Dolphins; as well as modern favorites Hoot, Inkheart, Eragon and Eldest. If you ask, an earbud will be supplied at your first checkout - but any headphones you would use for an mp3 player or other audio devices will work!
p.s. you DON'T need to return the earbud! :)

Curious Creatures a SUCCESS!

Over 120 kids and kids at heart enjoyed the
Curious Creatures presentation at the Library on Saturday November 25.

New Additions To Our Collection

Sit back, relax, and take a look at the brand new additions to our collection. If you see an item you are interested in, you can click on "Check Availability". A new window will open; you can see if the item is on the shelf or checked out. If it is checked out to someone else, you can place a hold on it using your library card number and your PIN (if you don't know your PIN, try using: changeme). Or, call our Information Desk (665-8700) to reserve a copy of the item.

Enjoy!
Sue S.

America the Beautiful: Tips for Traveling with Your Pet

TODAY Dec 4 @ 7:00 p.m.

Join Christine Apruzese, Newington resident, avid traveller and chairperson of the Newington Greenways Alliance who will present a slide show of some of the more scenic views in our country together with tips on talking road tripswith dogs and on traveling alone. Handouts will include maps of routes, names of motels/hotels and general travel tips.

No reservations required.

-vicky

Newington Information Packet - 2007

Be one of the first to see the Newington Information Packet. Download the PDF of the 2007 edition today! The Packet is a profile of the Town of Newington. New residents use it to familiarize themselves with the town. Real Estate agents share it with prospective clients. And longtime residents refer to it to keep up with changes in the town.

If you like the packet thank the Lucy Robbins Welles Library Information Services Department.

Download it today!

-vicky

Photos from the Fall 2006 Parent Child Workshops.

Watch for information on our Spring Parent-Child Workshops.

Connecticut History Online

Jeanette Mercure, Head of Circulation/Collection Mangement and Vicky Chase attended a presentation on digitial collections. Check out Connecticut History Online to see what the State of Connecticut is doing to digitize collections.

- vicky

Focus Group - Iconn.org

Have you used iCONN?

Would you like to share your experiences?

The group will meet at the
Lucy Robbins Welles Library in Newington, CT.

December 5, 7:oo p.m.

The focus group will consist of approx. eight iCONN users and a neutral, third-party facilitator from the Center for Social Research at CCSU. The focus group will last approx. 60-90 minutes. As a thank you for your time you will be given a $40.0 gift certificate for Amazon.com.

Contact Sharon Brettschneider
860-757-6665

sbrett@cslib.org

-vicky

Telebration 2006 - Saturday, Nov. 18

Tellebration is a worldwide storytelling event.

Come to the Lucy Robbins Welles Library

and listen to storytellers

Sara deBeer - Aaron Greenberg
Keith Hughes -- Carol Mon -- Paul Recker

Reacquaint yourself with the magic and art of storytelling

Advanced tickets $8.00

At the door $10.00

You can pick up tickets
at the Adult Information Desk at the library.

- vicky

Puzzle Swap starting November 4, 2007

In conjunction with the library book sale, the Children's Department will debut a jigsaw puzzle swap that will be ongoing throughout the year.

Bring in any puzzle (please make sure it has all its pieces!) that you no longer want and you can swap it for another.

You may bring them in anytime prior to November 4, so there will be plenty to choose from.

Library Opening on Sundays

The Lucy Robbins Welles Library in Newington will be open on Sunday afternoons starting November 5, 2006. Hours will be 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Stop by for a visit.

-vicky

Fall Fiction Book Sale - November 4th

The Friends of the Lucy Robbins Welles library will hold thier annual fall book sale on Saturday, November 4 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Community Room. Fiction only, including romance, mystery and sci fi for all ages.

• Hardcovers are $2.00
• Softcovers are $1.00
• Paperbacks are $.50
• Children's hardcovers are $1.00
  Children's paperbacks are $.50

Admission is free and open to the public.

-vicky

Library Hatches Monarch Butterfly

Jeanette Mercure and Kathie Merlino hatched a monarch butterfly this fall. Roy Zartarian supplied the tracking tag. Jeanette collected the larva at her home in Harwinton, CT. She nursed many monarchs to life at her home. We all interested in her stories so she said she would bring one in to work. Kathie Merlino tended the chrysalis at her desk. Thursday Sept. 21 they released the new born monarch into the wild. It should be flying south now!

If you are interested in raising monarchs check out these websites.

Sharon's Monarch Butterfly Site

Butterfly Rearing

Education World's article on Monarch Butterflies: Join the Migration!

-vicky

Jarhead

The Thursday evening book discussion group is reading Jarhead by Anthony Swofford. Stop by Thursday evening October 5 at 7:00 p.m. for a lively discussion of this book.

New York Times Book Review of Jarhead

-vicky

Indian Cuisine Thursday Sept 21, 1:00 p.m.

Indian cuisine is not all curries. Come to the library next Thursday to learn about all those interesting spices and textures that make up Indian cuisine.
Call the reference desk to register 665-8700.

Get a head start and check out these books.

Great Indian Feasts

Indian Home Cooking






Cuisines of India:The art of regional indian cooking







-vicky

Museum Info at the Library

The Brown Bag it with Art sounds so interesting. I'll have to go to the next one.

The Hill-Stead is a beautiful museum. I have visited the grounds often to take photos.

If you want to reserve a pass to the Hill-Stead go to our museum passes reservation page.

-vicky

For the Love of the Red Sox

So I hold in my hand a "newer" Boston Red Sox Book, For the Love of the Red Sox: An A-to-Z Primer for Red Sox Fans of All Ages. I say "newer" because Johnny Damon is shown still wearing a Sox uniform when we all know he's wearing Yankee pinstripes now.
Those who work with me are surprised to see me with this book, because they know that I'm a Jersey girl and forever a Yankee fan. Some of them also know however, that my husband is a huge Red Sox fan so I thought I'd rub it in...er....I mean...bring it home for him!
Why do I bring this up here? Just a personal frustration with publishers that take so long to produce timely books about sports teams and players for kids. We sit with books about football teams that aren't even in existence anymore on our shelves and wait for updated series. And, as much as I like him, Derek Jeter isn't the only player on the Yankees. Let's get some more sports figure biographies for those reluctant middle school boys!
For the Love of READING....
Helen

Playaway Digital Audio Books

The library has a new format of audiobooks called Playaway books. Read a review of Playaway at Gizmodo.com.

Jeanette and I saw this at PLA in April and we said "THIS IS IT!". It's so much better than downloadable books. Much more durable and secure than a CD or a cassette. No more downloading books from the internet and wondering if it will work with your MP3 player. It's in the perfect portable package.

The book is in a small case about the size of a cassette. The title, author and jacket are on one side and the controls are on another. Try this tutorial to learn how to use it. We will give you the first set of earbud headphones or you can use your own standard head phones to listen. Carry the book around in your pocket and off you go!

We are purchasing more and they will be available in the near future.

- vicky

Family Storytime - Thursdays 6:30 p.m.

Sept. and Oct. family storytimes sound like a lot of fun. Kathy Hoefer just gave me the fall themes.

September
7 Art Smart
14 Gear Up
21 Fall Favorites
28 Special Delivery

October
5 Weather or Not
12 Mice are Nice
19 Hoot, Hoot, Hoot
26 Pumpkin Patch

Playtivity at school summer reading recognition assemblies!

So another summer reading program is done and once again I'm headed to the Newington elementary schools to hand out certificates of achievement. Next week I'll visit Elizabeth Green and Ruth Chaffee Schools on Wednesday and Anna Reynolds and John Paterson Schools on Thursday. (This is a change from the schedule listed on our calendar of events.) With me will be the duo known as Playtivity (shown left). Craig and Virginia are fantastic storytellers and assured me that a pirate tale or two will be in the mix! Looking forward to a fun week! Helen