Monday, April 20, 2015

Yoga & Mindfulness at the Somers Library!

Recently, the Somers Library offered a Yoga & Mindfulness program geared to teens / tweens in 4th grade and up. This program was presented by Denise Nobile, an ELA teacher at the Somers Middle School.  Ms. Nobile has been trained in the Little Flower Yoga Program, which is a comprehensive certification in yoga and mindfulness practices for children and youth ages 3 to 18. The Little Flower Yoga training, certified by the Yoga Alliance, focuses on the complete physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing of students.
This class taught participants to slow down and increase their awareness both externally and internally, to use their breath to find their calm during times of challenge, to feel energetic and balanced through grounding, strengthening and balancing yoga poses, to have better awareness of their focus and to relax and restore both their body and mind.

The participants had a great time and the library will be offering more classes soon.  The Somers Library is proud to offer a class such as this to our teen patrons!

Monday, April 13, 2015

Homeschooling Resources



Somers Library is committed to serve all families, including families schooling their children at home. Somers Library has a lot to offer homeschooling parents. The library provides a myriad of resources. To help students, the library offers study guides, online databases, and encyclopedias, as well as numerous print resources. Students can find leveled books to read, resources for specific subjects, standardized tests, and college entrance exams. Listed below are books for parents who are interested in learning more about homeschooling.
  • The Homeschooling Handbook by Lorilee Lippincott
  • Basic Skills for Homeschooling: Reading, Writing, and Math for the Middle School Years byJessika Sobanski
  • Homeschooling: Take a Deep Breath, You Can Do This by Terri Lynn Bittner
  • Homeschooling: The Early Years: Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 3- to 8- Year-Old Child
  • Year of Living Dangerously: Adventures in Homeschooling by Quinn Cummings
  • Homeschooling Option: How to Decide When It's Right for Your Family by Lisa Rivero
  • Suddenly Homeschooling: A Quick-Start Guide to Legally Homeschool in 2 Weeks by Marie Moreau
  • Homeschooling for Excellence by David Colfax
  • Homeschooling More Than One Child: A Practical Guide for Families by Carren W. Joye
  • Homeschooling Your Gifted Child: Language Arts for the Middle School Years by Lee Wherry Brainerd
  • Highlighting Homeschooling: Empowering Parents and Inspiring Children by Bethany Gardiner
  • College Prep Homeschooling: Your Complete Guide to Homeschooling Through High School by David Byers
  • Homeschooling: A Family's Journey by Gregory and Martine Millman
  • So You're Thinking About Homeschooling: Fifteen Families Show How You Can Do It by Lisa Whelchel
Find additional titles on this topic, and many others by visiting our Pinterest boards.  You may also place a hold on books by clicking here.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Take A Look!


Library displays are usually done at the beginning of each month.  Sometimes there is a theme or seasonal tie-in and sometimes they are just for fun.  Often, displays we think are going to be very popular, don’t live-up to our expectations.  But sometimes, we hit on an unexpected success! 

One of our most popular displays was the Blind Date with a Book.  Books were wrapped up so that the book could not be seen and a small ‘hint’ was attached to each wrapped book.  Patrons were then challenged to take out a book sight unseen. 
Once, a simple display of biographies had us scrambling to keep it shelved with famous and notable people.

Another very popular book display was the “I Don’t Know the Title, but the Cover was Blue.”  Each book on the display cart had a blue cover.  Patrons really enjoyed the humor of this display and we often had to run through the stacks looking at book covers for the color blue!
For our latest book display, we began to notice that eyes are often used on book covers.  So, come in to the Somers Library and see our “Take a Look” display here for the month of April!