October 2012 Newsletter

Note: The following events are subject to change or cancellation due to impending construction. Contact us for further details, closer to the event dates.

Skype with Mystery Author

CCLD will use Skype to talk to mystery author Laurie R. King at 7 p.m. October 15th at Steele Memorial Library. King is the author of the new book Garment of Shadows, the 14th title in the Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series.

A preliminary book discussion event will be held at 7 p.m. October 1st at Steele Memorial Library.  Interested readers are invited to learn more about Laurie and her books and help create a list of questions to ask her during the October 15th event.

The Friends of the Steele Library will be selling signed copies of Garment of Shadows at a discounted price in preparation for the book discussion and Skype event. Ask library staff how to get your copy.

Vampires Through The Ages...

This is why you're afraid of the dark...

Embrace the darkness and spend an evening with the Children of the Night at our annual Haunted Library! The event will take place Friday, October 26th from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM at the Steele Memorial Library. This event is NOT suitable for young children.  No strollers will be allowed.  94 Rock will be live on location!  Come on in - the Vampires are hungry...

In the weeks leading up to the Haunted Library, join us Thursday nights for vampire movies! We will be showing Dark Shadows, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Nosferatu. Check the calendar of events for more information.

Hero Bot Con 2012

CCLD will be attending Elmira’s art, comic, and pop culture convention, Hero Bot Con, again this year. This year’s convention will take place on October 27th 11am-6pm at the Chemung County FFC, located on 425 Pennsylvania Ave in Elmira. Last year CCLD took part in the first ever Hero Bot Con, which brought in more than 600 attendees. This year should be even bigger and better with guest of honor Marc Silvestri, special guest Matt Hawkins, legendary comic writer Roger Stern, several other renowned writers and artists, and plenty of local talent attending! Check out the guest list on the Hero Bot Con site for more information.

The convention is free to children 14 and under (accompanied by an adult).  Adult admission is $10.  Bookmobile services will be available on-site for ticket holders and non-ticket holders alike. Hope to see you there!

Please Excuse Our Mess

CCLD received a large construction grant from New York State and we are getting ready to start some work at all our branches.  At Steele, new offices will be constructed and the large print will be moved closer to the circulation desk. Children’s Department will be receiving a few revisions and some work will be done on the circulation and customer service desks, to make them more accessible. A quiet room will be built on the second floor for people to study or work in a cell phone free, talk free zone.

Big Flats and West Elmira will have new circulation desks, energy efficient windows, carpeting and paint. Horseheads will receive a new circulation desk and the meeting room will be reconfigured and new audiovisual equipment will be installed.

Unfortunately, in order to make these improvements some of our branches may temporarily close. We will post schedules in our branches and on our website once the schedule is set. We apologize in advance for the noise and the mess, but in the end we will have more customer friendly facilities. Construction will begin this month. Thank you.

What is happening at the Big Flats Library?

We have recovered from a busy Summer Reading Club and are preparing for some exciting Fall programs.  Coming in October are Magic Man Tim Cleary and a special Popcorn & Movie Night with the new release of Madagascar 3.  Check the calendar of events on our website for dates and times.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank a couple of our special volunteers, Muriel and Charles Friends. If you had the pleasure of visiting the library this Summer you could not help but notice the gorgeous flowers around the building. The Friends planted flowers along the property that borders Miniers Plaza and in the planters outside both entrance doors and around the sign on the front lawn. They dutifully weeded and watered the colorful flowers throughout the Spring and Summer months.

A huge thanks to ALL our volunteers that help the Big Flats Library!

On the Road Again

October is a very busy month for the Bookmobile.  Starting off the week of October 8th, Kim and Dianne will be attending the ABOS (Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services) Conference in Richmond, VA.  Kim will be presenting her workshop on the "Latest Trends and Technologies for Outreach Vehicles".  The workshop addresses the pros and the cons of a new Bookmobile and how to make an outreach vehicle the right one for a library.  Kim will be driving the Bookmobile to the Conference and it will be a great opportunity to show off our awesome vehicle! Bookmobile will also be attending Hero Bot Con in Elmira on October 27th.

Please stop by the Bookmobile sometime and check us out.  We have recently purchased new jackets for our multi-media sets and added new books, and audiobooks. 

Remember to keep reading and enjoying books. Take advantage of all that the library has to offer you.

October Events at the Horseheads Library

October will be a busy month at the Horseheads Library, in addition to our regular storytime programs (Tuesdays at 10:30 for preschoolers and Thursdays at 10:30 for babies and toddlers) and our weekly Tuesday noonday film series, we will offer the following: Basic Computer Classes for Beginning Learners on Monday evenings starting October 15. This series runs for 4 weeks from 5:30-7:00 p.m. We do encourage you to register by phoning 739-4581.

We also offer an English as Second Language Informal group session with a facilitator on the first and third Fridays of the month from 9:30-11:00 a.m. Registration is not required.

Saturday October 13 we will host a kids' Halloween craft event for ages 4 and up from 1:30-3:00 and registration is required.

Teens and adults...sign up for our first ever Horseheads Library Murder Mystery event on Tues. Oct. 23 at 6:30. Play a part in the mystery, and then gather clues and use your sleuthing skills to solve the mystery. Participants must register in advance for this program and be willing to be assigned a character to play. Ages 13 and up.

Kids will also enjoy a Monster Mash Bash on Tuesday evening October 30...wear your costume and come have fun with stories, games and lots more! No registration is required. This event is at 6:30 p.m.

Polish Poetry Presentation at Steele

Steele Memorial Library and the Polish Arts Club of Elmira present “Memories of Milosz”, an Exhibit and Poetry Reading of the works of Nobel Poet Laureate Czeslaw Milosz on Monday, October 22, 2012 at 7:00pm. Introductory remarks will be given by Pawel Bakowski.

The exhibit was prepared at Cornell Institute for European Studies and will be displayed at the library through October 22nd, in honor of Polish Heritage Month. A silk screen activity will follow with refreshments provided by the Polish Arts Club.

Request for High School Yearbooks

The Steele Memorial Library has been collecting High School Yearbooks from the five area high schools since 1909. They have been very popular with genealogists and others. Unfortunately, there are several years that we do not have. Since they can no longer be purchased, we have to rely on donations of existing copies. If you have a copy of EFA, Southside, Thomas A. Edison, Horseheads, or Notre Dame yearbooks that you are willing to donate, we would be very grateful. Please contact Phyllis Rogan or Sherry Nichols at 733-9175 or 733-8603.

Zombies attack Van Etten Library!

Van Etten Library endured a horrifying zombie attack in September! We got it on tape! Check our new library promotion video on YouTube, winner of the Southern Tier Library System Award for Outstanding Library Promotional Video! If you have trouble viewing the video above, click here to view it in your browser (or go to www.youtube.com and type in the keywords “van etten library”).

Thanks to the kids in Van Etten, parents for giving permission, and friends Suzette Morgan and John T. Olcott for the idea and video production. It literally took a village to make this video!

West Elmira Fall Events

This Fall, West Elmira Library is offering several events for adults and children. The story time schedule is: Mondays, PJ story time at 6:15; Tuesdays, toddler story time at 10:30; Wednesdays, home school meeting at 10:30; Thursdays, preschool story time at 10:30.

There is a craft scheduled for Teen Read Week. On Wednesday, Oct. 17th, there will be a duct tape craft program for ages 8 and up.  Registration is required so call the library for details. 

West Elmira Library will be starting a Lego Club in the near future.  If you have any Legos that you would like to donate, please bring them to the library or call 733-0541.  More information will be coming on this fun event.

Joblinks will be coming to West Elmira Library to present training on Digital Photos, Movie Maker, and Skype.  All classes will be offered on Friday mornings from 9:30-11:00.  Digital Photos will be held on Oct. 5th, Movie Maker on Oct. 19th, and Skype on Nov. 2nd,  Registration is limited and basic computer skills are required.

A book discussion group meets at West Elmira Library on the third Thursday of each month from 3-4.  They choose a book to read each month and discuss it together at the meeting.  New participants are welcome.  You can call the library for more details.

For more information about these and other events, visit the CCLD Events Calendar: http://ccld.lib.ny.us/calendar.htm