Princess Storytime Returns

Warm up your Winter Break for Princess Storytime at the Tompkins County Public Library on Saturday, February 24th from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Youth Services Thaler-Howell Program Room. Put on your gowns and shine up your crowns. Have your coach and four waiting at the door. Princes are invited to join in the festivities and enjoy some tales of royal derring-do.

Sing Along with Johnny Only

Thursday, February 22, 2007
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Borg- Warner room

Come to the Tompkins County Public Library for lots of interactive fun featuring the very versatile Johnny Only.

Johnny Only performs wonderfully fun and interactive songs that are designed to entertain and instruct children of all ages.

This hour long program is sponsored by the Tompkins County Public Library and the Cornell Campus Club.

For more information about Johnny, please visit http://www.djjohnnyonly.com/singalong/index.htm.

Winter Break Preschool Storytime

On Wednesday, February 21st the Tompkins County Public Library will be having a special Preschool Storytime during the Winter Break week. This program will take place in the Thaler- Howell room from 11:00 to 11: 45 am. Bring your preschooler to listen to and enjoy fun stories with a craft activity after the reading.

Library to Close on February 16

The Tompkins County Public Library will be closed all day on Friday, February 16 for Staff Development Day.
The library will re-open on Saturday February 17 at 10:00 a.m. Holiday weekend hours are:

Friday, February 16 Closed
Saturday February 17 Open 10 – 5
Sunday, February 18 Open 1 – 5
Monday February 19, Presidents’ Day, Open 10 – 8:15.

For more information about library events go to the library’s web site at www.tcpl.org.

The Tompkins County Public Library honored the Friends of the Library on their sixtieth anniversary by adding a commemorative plaque on the Avenue of the Friends in the library. The Friends of the Library have been constant supporters of the Tompkins County Public Library and the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation. The amount of money donated to the library by the Friends is expected to reach a cumulative total of three million dollars in 2007.

In addition to the book sale proceeds, the Friends have also contributed countless items from the book sale to the library’s collection, have supported continuing education and staff development initiatives, and have been a role model in the use of volunteers. They promote reading and literacy in our community by placing more books and library materials in more hands and display national leadership and talent by running one of the largest and most successful book sales in the country.

Board President Henrik Dullea said that the trustees wished to permanently commemorate these extraordinary achievements of the Friends by adding the plaque which recognizes and thanks the Friends for their sixty years of support of the library, 1946-2006.

Photo:
(from left to right)
Ginger Cohen, Past Booksale Coordinator, Monte May, Past Friends President, Janet Steiner, Library Director, Robin Moss Hinchcliff, Foundation President, Gary Woloszyn, Past Library Board President, Bette Hedlund, Friends President.

New Library Board Officers Elected

The Tompkins County Public Library Board of Trustees has elected its 2007 officers. President is Henrik Dullea, Vice President for University Relations Emeritus Cornell University; Vice-President is Marcy Rosenkrantz, PH.D; Secretary is Tom Colbert, Integrated Acquisition and Development Corp; and Treasurer is Nathan Fawcett, Special Assistant to the Provost for State-Related Issues, Cornell University.

New trustees, appointed by the Tompkins County Legislature, include Michael Stamm, President, Tompkins County Area Development; John Vineyard, Sunlake Investment Management; and Michelle Benedict-Jones, Vice President, Tompkins Trust Company. Re-appointed for a second term were trustees Tom Colbert, Barbara Page, and Rochelle Proujansky.

Families Learning Science Together: Volcanoes

This program takes place in the Thaler/Howell Programming Room of the Tompkins County Public Library from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 10th, 2007. Families will learn the principles of volcanoes by constructing a model volcano, producing lava flows and interpreting the history of their volcano. 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.

Biologist Jason Hamilton Speaks on Sustainability

Was our balmy December weather really caused by global warming? Can insulating the attic or carpooling to work really make any difference in the fate of the earth? Join Ithaca College Biology Professor Jason Hamilton for a lively and candid discussion of "Sustainability: News from the Front," on Tuesday, February 6, at 7 pm, at the Tompkins County Public Library.

Professor Hamilton presents accurate, up-to-the minute scientific findings, clearly and in plain English. If you are concerned about global warming, rising energy costs, and what the future holds for all of us, this talk is for you. Everyone is welcome at this engaging, interactive discussion of the state of the planet and what we can do about it.

For a color flyer, please visit http://www.tcpl.org/programs/sustainability.pdf.

Library to Re-Open on Sundays Starting February 4

The Tompkins County Public Library Board of Trustees announced today that the library will re-open on Sundays from 1 – 5 p.m. starting on February 4. The announcement followed the news that Vector Magnetics had made a significant contribution to the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation, which was to be used at the discretion of the library board.

Sunday hours ceased in February 2006, following a six-week open period funded by a New York State grant from Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton. Efforts to secure the necessary funding to maintain Sunday hours during 2006 through a public referendum in the Ithaca City School District and through direct appeals to the Tompkins County Legislature were unsuccessful.

Board President Henrik Dullea said that the board deeply appreciated the gift and that the decision to use the funds for Sunday hours was thoroughly discussed by the trustees, in light of the many other needs which need funding. While Sunday hours was a high priority for private fundraising in 2007, Dullea said that library trustees will continue to urge the county legislature to include funding for Sunday hours in the future as part of the library’s core operations.

With the new seven-day schedule, the library will be open 59 hours per week, four more than the minimum required by state law, but nine hours less than comparable libraries in similar communities.

Sunday hours will be in effect from February 4 through May 20 and again from September 9 through December 16. 2007

Library Hours are:
Monday-Thursday 10:00 a.m. – 8:15 p.m
Friday –Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sundays, September-May 1 – 5 p.m.

Black History Month: Two-Part Film and Discussion Series

Tompkins County Public Library commemorates Black History Month with a two-part film and discussion series.

Saturday, February 3rd, 2:00-3:30 pm, Eric Acree, head of Africana Library, Cornell, video showing and discussion of "Four Little Girls."

On September 15, 1963, a bomb destroyed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls who were there for Sunday school. Acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee tells the full story of the bombing, through heart-wrenching testimonials from surviving members of the victims' families, insights from Bill Cosby, Walter Cronkite, Andrew Young, Coretta Scott King and many others, and a rare, revealing interview with former Alabama Governor George Wallace.


Saturday, February 17th, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m., Jackie Melton Scott, video showing and discussion of "The Children's March.”


In 1963, the young people of Birmingham, Alabama, braved fire hoses and police dogs and brought segregation to its knees. Their heroism complements discussions about the ability of today's young people to be catalysts for positive social change.

Borg Warner Room, Tompkins County Public Library
101 East Green Street, Ithaca, NY.

The Tompkins County Public Library Mother –Daughter Book Club Date Change

Area girls ages 10 through 13 and the special women in their lives are invited to read and discuss a great book with local author, Emily Rhoads Johnson, leading the group. Discussing novels is a wonderful way to learn about ourselves and others. What a bonus to have an author of children’s literature offer insight into the selected novels. The group’s last meeting date has been changed from January 13th to February 3rd @ 1:30-2:30 in the Library’s Large Study Room. The book chosen for discussion is House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer.

Copies of the selected books are available for check out at the library.

For more information contact: Adelle Leise 607-272-4557.