Welcome to the Library Section

And the winners of the Ezra Jack Keats Award for 2008 are . . .


Click “Read more” for YouTube snippet.
July 4, 2008
by Miriam Lang Budin

One of the joys of working with children’s literature is the discovery of new, talented authors and illustrators.

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Meet the two candidates running to fill one Chappaqua Library board seat


May 16, 2008
Editor’s note: NewCastleNOW.org asked the two candidates for the Chappaqua Library board to respond to some questions about themselves and the library so the community could get to know them a little better. Here are their responses. (We listed the two candidates alphabetically.)

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UPDATE: Q & A with school board candidates from LWV Forum on May 15

Monday, May 19, 2008
by Susie Pender

Editor’s note: The League of Women Voters of New Castle conducted their Candidates’ Forum on Thursday evening, May 15. To the extent possible, the questions posed and answers provided by the school board candidates are reproduced here. It is important to recognize that the candidates were given limited time in which to reply, so they may not have been able to address all components of a question in the allotted time.

The tape of the Candidates’ Forum is available for viewing on NCCTV on Monday, May 19 at 8:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Channel 75 and available at 10:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Channel 77. Check the NCCTV website www.ncctv.org for additional replay times on Tuesday. It is also available video-on-demand on NCCTV’s website.

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League of Women Voters’ Candidates’ Night is May 15


May 9, 2008
by Sheila Crespi

The League of Women Voters of New Castle will hold a Candidates’ Night on Thursday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chappaqua Library (195 South Greeley Avenue, Chappaqua). It is free and open to the public. Come with your questions for the school board and library board candidates! 

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Uh-oh, a Chappaqua Library mailing mishap

May 2, 2008
An urgent message from Library Director Pamela Thornton:

“Due to a publication error the Chappaqua Library program calendar sent to each Chappaqua School District household was from May/June 2007.  The correct May/June 2008 calendar will be mailed to each household next week.  We are sorry for any confusion or inconvenience this has caused.  The program information on the Library’s website and listed in the pdf file contains the correct May/June 2008 dates and events.”

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Peonies, a memoir


Artwork: Larry D’Amico
April 25, 2008
by Edith Ann Glass

My favorite flower is the peony. It became my favorite flower when I was ten years old.  It happened on a summer weekend in early July 1945.

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Celebrate Library Week with Free Ice Cream


Joan Kuhn, program director, and library director Pam Thornton passing out goodies
April 18, 2008

During library week, which lasts till Sunday, April 20, you can pick up coupons for a free Ben and Jerry’s ice cream cone from the Mt. Kisco or Westport, CT, stores.

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Library celebrates National Poetry Month on April 28

April 18, 2008

by Carol Birch

Think you hate poetry? I did for the longest time.

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Library board seeks new trustee

March 28, 2008
by Pam Thornton

Every year a library board trustee finishes his or her five year term and rotates off the board of the Chappaqua Library.

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Check . . . It . . . Out.

By Deb Donaldson
School got you down? A math whiz, but can’t remember a thing about history? Or vice versa? 

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Chappaqua Library


Everyone should take a moment to explore our wonderful newly redesigned website.  Some of the areas are still under construction and new content is added each week.  This new format allows us to offer more information, streaming video of library programs, rss feeds, book lists, interactive services and more!  Let us know what you think! http://www.chappaqualibrary.org/#

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Sixteen reading bugs guess right!

July 4, 2008
by Christine Yeres

The first drawing for the Chappaqua Library’s summer reading bug program was last week. Sixteen reading bugs correctly guessed the number of goodies in the reading bug jar. This week’s drawing is on Saturday, July 5, then it will go back to Friday’s for the remainder of the summer.  See inside for photos.

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A wedding quilt for Deb and Jack


July 4, 2008
by Pam Thorton

Two years ago on July 1, 2006, my niece Deb married Jack. There were two things she wanted me to do as part of her wedding. One was to take the veil her mother, my best friend since we were 12 years old, wore at her wedding and sew sequins and seed pearls onto it to update the look. It took me four months to complete that assignment on the cathedral length veil. The second request was for me to create a “memory quilt” with messages from everyone who was invited to the wedding.

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Reading Bug program at library reaching epidemic proportions


by Susan Mosher

We started a bug collection this past Monday and we’ve already captured 324 reading bugs! 

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Winners of Young Writers’ Contest announced

June 13,2008
by Christine Yeres

High School Winners added!

In January, the word goes out from the Friends of the Chappaqua Library that Young Writers’ Contest applications are available to middle and high school students. This is a contest that pays serious attention to the power of the pen, the ability of writing to amuse, to persuade, to communicate or to touch readers’ hearts, whether through fiction, non-fiction or poetry.

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Open Invitation to Chappaqua Library Retreat


June 13, 2008
by Pamela Thornton, Chappaqua Library Director

Board of Trustees of the Chappaqua Library will be holding a retreat at the library on Sunday June 22nd from 10 – 12:30.  The retreat will provide the staff, public and the Board to meet and discuss what the future holds for the library and how to better serve our patrons. In addition to presentations from staff and members of the library Board, our guest speaker will be Ms. Siobhan Reardon, Executive Director of the Westchester. 

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Friends Used Book Sale: Bring us your books, friends!


May 30, 3008
by Christine Yeres

Remember: book donation days are Monday June 2 and Tuesday June 3 ONLY.  The Friends close down Wednesday to sort and organize, and open on Preview night (Wednesday 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.), to Friends-only.  The sale opens to the public Thursday, June 5.  The Friends expect the sale to be bigger and better than ever.  Come get all your summer reading from our sale.  Want to help us with the book sale? Phone 238-4779, extension 2, “Reference,” and ask to be signed up.  See inside for hours.

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UPDATE: Q & A with library board candidates from LWV Forum on May 15

Monday May 19, 2008
by Christine Yeres

Editor’s Note: Technical difficulties prevented the live broadcast of Candidates Night on May 15.  As of Friday, the program has replayed.  The vote for Library budget and one board seat is Tuesday, May 20, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Horace Greeley High School.

Answers to questions are both direct quotes from candidates and paraphrases of their answers. The tape of the Candidates’ Forum is available for viewing on NCCTV on Monday, May 19 at 8:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Channel 75, and available at 10:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Channel 77.  Check the NCCTV website ncctv.org for additional replay times on Tuesday. It is also available in “video-on-demand” on NCCTV’s website.

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Lifelong Mets fan shares his passion at Chappaqua Library


Dana Brand will speak at the Chappaqua Library Wednesday, April 2 at 7:30 p.m.
March 28, 2008
by Susie Pender

Dana Brand was six years old in October 1961. He ran through the house celebrating Roger Maris’s home run record. His mother, a broken-hearted Brooklyn Dodgers fan, explained to him, in no uncertain terms, why “in our family we don’t root for the Yankees”

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Library president reflects on his role as a trustee and life-long patron

March 28, 2008
by Brian Socolow

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Chappaqua Library lends free passes to visit major museums

March 14, 2008
by Martha Alcott

Would you like to explore a new museum? Or expose your children to something different? The Chappaqua Library has membership cards to four museums: the Guggenheim, the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Botanical Garden and the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. 

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Beautiful biographies help illustrate Black History Month for children

February 15, 2008
by Carol Birch

An exciting trend in children’s books is the publication of lavishly illustrated biographies. Gone are the dreary treatments and fictionalized biographies of my childhood. During Black History Month, books about well-known figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ruby Bridges fly off the shelves. At the library children also can meet other amazing - yet unheralded - women and men of good will who transformed divided worlds.

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Young Writers Contest deadline is March 3

February 15, 2008
by Yvonne Dorst

The Friends of the Chappaqua Library are again sponsoring the Annual Young Writers Contest. [Editors’ Note: See the winners of last year’s contest inside.]

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At home with foreign policy


By Christine Yeres
January 25, 2008

Their interest in foreign policy was longstanding, but for many, like John Sorice, it peaked just after 9/11.

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A world of online tests and tutorials through Chappaqua Library’s website

By Ann Marie Fallon
January 11, 2008

What do practice tests for the SAT, state police exam, AP exams, algebra classes, elementary and middle school assessments and the Rosetta Stone language programs all have in common?

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I love words. And images. Period.

By Carol Birch
November 7, 2007
When words and images form well-constructed sentences and paragraphs that grow into delectable stories and novels, my life is enriched.

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