Families Learning Science Together: Vitamin C

Vitamin C is an important part of a healthy diet. In this workshop families will determine the vitamin C concentration in assorted fruit drinks by using a scientific technique called titration. All this takes place in the Thaler/Howell Programming Room of the Tompkins County Public Library from 1:00pm to 2:00 pm on Saturday, December 9th, 2006. Tompkins County Public Library and the Cornell Center for Material Research are co-sponsors of this program.
Reserve a spot today by contacting Kevin at outreach@ccmr.cornell.edu or call 254-8256. This program is free and open to the public, but space is limited.

Tompkins County Public Library Launches new Children’s Website

The Tompkins County Public Library is revamping the children’s website with plans for a launch on November 20th. The space-themed site will contain useful information for children and their caregivers on library programs, suggested reading, homework help, and more. The site will also feature a website astronaut to help guide children through the available options.

However, with several different animals vying for the position, the “webstronaut” has not yet been chosen. We are asking children to visit www.tcpl.org/youth to vote on the animal they would most like see as the library’s new “webstronaut.” Viable candidates include: Galaxia the Giraffe, Cosmos the Cat, Mars-Rover the Dog, Milky Way the Cow, and Meteor the Mouse. Voting will take place November 20th through December 15th @ www.tcpl.org/youth.

Depression: The Silent Struggle for Older Adults and Their Caregivers

“Depression: The Silent Struggle for Older Adults and Their Caregivers” an all day free conference is set for Wednesday, December 13, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., at the Borg Warner Rooms in the Tompkins County Public Library.

A keynote delivered by Dr. Robert Dean, Cayuga Medical Center, “Depression in the Second Half: Mood, Illness, and Metaphor” offers an overview of depression and older adults. Four workshop address different aspects of this mental health problem:

• Spirituality: The Search for Meaning, Jacquie Lewis, MDiv, MA; Ms Lewis is a chaplain at Cayuga Medical Center
• The Power of Recovery in Later Life, given by Bill Rusen, LMSW, Executive Director, Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services and Arpi Hovaguimian, LCSW-R, Executive Director, The Alcohol and Drug Council of Tompkins County
• Advance Health Care Planning: Working Toward Peace of Mind given by Marilyn Kinner, Outreach Program Coordinator for Ithaca College Gerontology Institute, Betty Falcao, Director of the Health Planning Council of Tompkins County, and Beverly Hammons, Special Projects Coordinator, Health Planning Council of Tompkins County
• Caregivers at Risk: Promoting the Wellbeing of Caregivers of Older Loved Ones with Lisa A. Kendall, LCSW, Caregiver Counselor and Respite Program Coordinator, Family and Children's Service of Ithaca, Home Care Program.

To register for the conference call David Bulkley, Mental Health Association in Tompkins County, 273-9250. To request an accommodation for a disability, call Larry Roberts, Finger Lakes Independence Center, 272-24333 (v/TTY); please call him by December 8.

Actual schedule:

• 8:30 – 9:00 Registration
• 9:00 – 9:15 Introduction
• 9:15 – 10:15 Dr. Dean
• 10:15 – 10:30 Break
• 10:30 – Noon Workshops (spirituality, addictions)
• Noon – 1:00 Lunch
• 1:15 – 2:45 Workshops (Sharing Your Wishes, Caregivers)
• 2:45 – 3:00 Break
• 3:00 – 4:00 Panel

The conference is sponsored by Family and Children’s Service of Ithaca, Home Care Program; the Finger Lakes Independence Center; the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County; Sharing Your Wishes: A program of the Tompkins County Human Services Coalition; Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service; the Tompkins County Office for the Aging; and the Tompkins County Public Library.

Prescription Drug Coverage Presentation

Saturday, December 2nd
2-4 p.m.
Borg Warner Room at the Tompkins County Public Library

Are you or a loved one concerned about prescription drug coverage? Are you looking for information about Medicare Part D and prescription assistance programs in Tompkins County? Do you know about pharmacies that provide low cost prescription drugs?

The Tompkins County Public Library, along with Lifelong, New York State Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage Program (EPIC), Tompkins County Office for the Aging (COFA), and the Human Service Coalition, is presenting a special forum on federal, state and local aspects of prescription drug coverage.

Featured speakers include Regina McGriff, COFA; Sarah Jane Blake, Lifelong; Myrna Koldin, EPIC, and Beverly Chin, Health Planning Council.

Registration is not required. For more information, contact Sarah Jane Blake at Lifelong, 607-273-1511; Email: sjblake@tclifelong.org .

On the Ground in Iraq: a Veteran's Year in Iraq

How does it feel to live in a country at war? How does daily life go on when there are bombings and death everyday, everywhere? Come to the Tompkins County Public Library, Borg Warner Room, on Veteran’s Day, November 11th 2006 at 2 p.m. to hear Major Dean F. Swartwood’s personal account of his year in Iraq, “On the ground in Iraq."

Major Swartwood, Assistant Professor of Military Science at Cornell, spent 2004-2005 in Iraq. His tour included training Iraqi troops, helping set up a police force, building schools, water wells and starting a radio station.

For more information call Tamara Kobziar 272-4557 ext. 258