Category Archives: Youth

A Library Card is ELEMENTAL!

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Library Card Sign-Up Month

Get in Your Element this September—sign up for a library card! From borrowing books, ebooks, and museum passes to getting homework help, learning new skills, or attending story time, a library card helps you do more of what you enjoy. Get a library card and dive into a new hobby. Use your library card to tinker in a makerspace and spark your creativity. A library card is your most important school supply—it’s elemental, really—and everyone should have one!

Celebrate and spread the word

Visit your library to see what’s new and take part in the celebration. Libraries across the country are participating. Do you have friends who don’t have a library card? Invite them to sign up during September.

How do you library? Enter for a chance to win!

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Summer Reading Programs in Your Library

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Summer Reading at New York Libraries is an annual program that brings children and families into public libraries for reading and activities. Throughout Clinton Essex and Franklin counties, a total of 1,041 children registered within our member libraries for Summer Reading 2022. The total number of minutes read by participants was 157,591 and those who recorded by book read a total of 5,396 overall. Libraries offered many grab-and-go craft activities with a total participation of 1,672. The grand total of all programs that included parents and caregivers saw 1,761 participants.

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April is Autism Acceptance Month

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From our friends at the Autism Alliance of Northeastern NY:

In 2017, New Zealand officials added new words to the Maori language for mental health and disabilities. The word for Autism is “‘takiwatanga,” meaning “his or her own time and space.”

Autism is a bio-neurological developmental disability that commonly appears in children before the age of three. It is a disorder that impacts typical brain development in the areas of social interaction, communication, and cognitive function. As a spectrum disorder, autistic behaviors and traits are unique to each individual. That is why awareness, acceptance, and understanding are critical to helping people on the spectrum and their families.

This April, the Autism Alliance of Northeastern NY celebrates Autism Acceptance Month. We encourage our community to think about how we can make small changes to support and include people on the spectrum.

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Native American Cultural Programs at Your Library

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Skywoman by John and David Faden

Skywoman, Iotsitsisen (Mature Flower), from the Haudenosaunee Story of Creation, by John Fadden, colorized by David Fadden.

The Tsi ietsenhtha Plattsburgh Art Project and CEFLS libraries are presenting a series of events this fall to help build a bridge between the more than 4,000 Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people who live in Northeastern New York, and those who may be unfamiliar with their rich culture. The events, to be hosted by various local libraries, include storytelling, film, crafts and singing, are designed to foster communication and understanding of diverse cultures.

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Homework Help and Live Tutoring for Free

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Brainfuse HelpNow is an all-in-one suite of tutoring services designed for a wide range of academic needs whether it’s tackling a tough homework problem, mastering a particular topic, or writing a paper, brought to you thanks to the Lake Placid Education Foundation of the Adirondack Foundation. HelpNow services include expert academic tutoring and self-study tools to empower users to study at their own pace or collaborate with peers and teachers. Students access live, on-demand academic help and state-aligned skills building lessons from expert tutors. With HelpNow, tutors and students communicate in real time in our online classroom by typing, drawing, and marking-up lessons and web content. Plus, students can use our secure file sharing feature in the writing lab to submit writing assignments to our writing tutors any time of the day. The Brainfuse full-service test center offers practice tests for all levels in math, reading, and writing as well as college preparatory tests – including the SAT.

Get started by clicking here and entering your library card number.

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Brainfuse HelpNow

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Get started by clicking here and entering your library card number. Don’t have a library card yet? We’re working on giving access to students in our area access to HelpNow in the near future. But you can contact your local library to get a card today to get access, and you can check out ebooks, e-audiobooks, books, library of things, DVDs, and so much more! Personalized eLearning Brainfuse HelpNow is an all-in-one suite of tutoring services designed for a wide … [CLICK TO READ MORE]

Making Music With RiverJack Z

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Have some fun “Making Music with RiverJack Z” this summer! Sixteen area libraries will be hosting this free songwriting workshop for children and families. RiverJack Z (a.k.a. Jack Zucchini, the guitar-playing singer/songwriter from The Zucchini Brothers) will guide participants through the craft of songwriting by composing and recording a song that is uniquely their own. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to participate in this event that is fun for the whole family.

Each library will receive a high-quality audio file with the song to share. Participants will also be provided with an art activity that will be created at the event or sent home as a make-and-take project. The workshops will be held in outdoor spaces as an added precaution due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Gnoming Around Event

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We invite residents in Clinton, Essex, and Franklin Counties to participate in our “Gnoming Around” event for a chance to win a prize bag. Our bookish gnome will travel to 20 member libraries starting May 5th. He will visit each location for about a week, so watch for his appearance outside of your local library. To be entered for a chance to win a prize bag, just snap a picture with him and post it on one of our social media pages (facebook.com/cefls or @cef_librarysystem) or send it to info2@cefls.org and we’ll do it for you. One winner will be selected from each location.

The prize consists of a drawstring bag containing a variety of goodies including a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut for ages 12 and under, a single scoop of ice cream from Stewart’s, a decorative mini clipboard, and more! We would like to express our appreciation to Pizza Hut and Stewart’s Shops for their generous donations.

The gnome’s itinerary will be: Dannemora Free Library, Wead Library in Malone, Lake Placid Public Library, Keeseville Free Library, Paine Memorial Free Library in Willsboro, Belden Noble Memorial Library in Essex, Keene Public Library, Wilmington E.M. Cooper Memorial Library, Au Sable Forks Free Library, Peru Free Library, Rouses Point Dodge Memorial Library, Mooers Free Library, Akwesasne Library and Cultural Center, Plattsburgh Public Library, Saranac Lake Free Library, Wadhams Free Library, Hammond Library in Crown Point, Black Watch Memorial Library in Ticonderoga, Schroon Lake Public Library, Keene Valley Library Association, and Chazy Public Library.

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New Ebooks to Read When You’re Stuck Inside

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All of the local libraries are currently closed. Whether you’re stuck inside for physical distancing or just need an escape after finishing work since you’re an essential employee, we can help provide a slice of library experience to you. In order to provide additional support to area residents during this challenging time, CEFLS and Northern New York Library Network each contributed $3,000 to bolster the collection of ebooks and e-audiobooks available! We hope that these additional titles help you enjoy your downtime while staying safe and helping flatten the curve. Visit cefls.org/downloads to check one out today!

If you have any trouble accessing the online collection, you can email us at info2@cefls.org. We can take steps to either renew the card temporarily for the duration of the stay-at-home period or create a temporary account with the required information (your full name, date of birth, and a picture of a piece of mail sent to your local address as proof of residence). Of course, you can visit your local library once they’ve reopened to renew your card in full or grant you a new card.

To learn more about the COVID-19 coronavirus and what you can do to help stop it from spreading, check out our information guide at this link.

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The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth

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You already know that not everything you read on the Internet is true. But where can you go to find out whether an article is accurate or not? The folks at MakeUseOf have written up the excellent piece entitled The 8 Best Fact-Checking Sites for Finding the Unbiased Truth.

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