Award-Winning Author and Poet Diane Ackerman to Discuss The Zookeeper’s Wife

Award-winning author and poet Diane Ackerman will discuss her latest book, The Zookeeper’s Wife, Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 6:00 PM at the Tompkins County Public Library.

The Zookeeper’s Wife tells the true story of Christian Zookeeper’s at the Warsaw Zoo who rallied to save more than 300 refugees during World War II by hiding them in the cages of the zoo’s animals.

A tale of people, animals, transcendence and subversive acts of compassion, The Zookeeper’s Wife has been called “an exemplary work of scholarship and an ecstasy of imagining.”

Ackerman is best-known for her books An Alchemy of Mind and Cultivating Delight.

The discussion will take place in the Library’s Borg Warner Community Meeting Room. It is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Carrie Wheeler at (607) 272-4557 extension 248.

Library to Offer Program on Veterans’ Benefits

Veterans looking for information on available benefits, programs and services are invited to join the Tompkins County Public Library on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM for a Veteran’s Services Fair.

Representatives from the Syracuse V.A. Medical Center, the New York State Department of Labor, Tompkins County’s Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the Tompkins County Mental Health Association will be available to discuss current benefit programs and services available to veterans.

Following short presentations and a question and answer session from V.A. representatives, attendees will be invited to visit with members of local veterans’ organizations and veterans’ service providers.

Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to learn about the many programs available in recognition of your service and to network with fellow vets.

For more information about this event, the groups who will be attending or to reserve a table for your veterans’ service organization, please contact Carrie Wheeler at (607) 272-4557 extension 248.

Learn, Love, and Laugh with TCPL's Mother – Daughter Book Club

The Tompkins County Public Library invites all girls ages ten through 13 and the special women in their lives to join the Library’s Mother-Daughter Book Club.

In addition to reading and discussing wonderful books each month, participants will have the benefit of being led by acclaimed children’s author Emily Rhoads Johnson. Roads Johnson is the author of Spring and the Shadow Man, A House Full of Strangers and Write Me If You Dare.

“What a bonus to have an author of children’s literature offer insight into the selected novels,” Adelle Leise, youth services librarian, said.

The Mother-Daughter Book Club provides a wonderful opportunity for participants to learn about themselves and others by discussing literature. There is no right or wrong answers during Club meetings, simply open discussions where all input is valued.

The group will meet once a month for seven months in the Time Warner Cable Study Room. The second meeting will be held on November 11, 2007 from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM.

The title to be discussed for November is Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech. A complete list of the titles selected for the group can be found at www.tcpl.org/youth/programs/motherdaughter.html.

Registration for the Club is appreciated but not required. For more information, contact Adelle Leise at (607) 272-4557 extension 277.

The Mother-Daughter Book Club is made possible by the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation through a grant from the J.M. McDonald Foundation.

Library to Present Film on the Jungle

The Tompkins County Public Library will offer a free showing of the film The Jungle’s Edge, Saturday, November 3, 2007 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM in the Borg Warner Community Meeting Room.

Filmed by Ithaca College Professor Gossa Tsegaye and Freeville resident David Fogel, The Jungle’s Edge chronicles daily life in the wooded enclave that runs between the Cayuga Lake Inlet and the railroad tracks of Ithaca’s West End.

The Jungle has been a sanctuary for Ithaca’s homeless and those seeking a freedom that cannot be found in a structured society for more than 70 years.

A discussion and screening of the 1988 documentary The Dividing Line and footage from Ithaca Made Movies will follow the 30-minute presentation of The Jungle’s Edge. View the flyer at http://www.tcpl.org/programs/IthacaMadeMovies2007WestEnd.pdf.

For more information contact Terry Harbin at (607) 272-4557 extension 238.