Monday, November 28, 2016

Book Club Resources

Book clubs are where you can meet with other people to discuss books (both fiction and nonfiction), and at the end of each meeting (or months in advance), determine the next month's book selection. If you are looking to start your own book club, or are looking to find interesting books for your group to read, the library has a variety of books to help you make your selections. All of the following books are located on the top shelf above the 'Express Books' area. 

Book Group Guides
Book Club Bible
Reading Women: A Book Club Guide for Women's Fiction
Reading Group Choices (yearly)
Reading Group Handbook
Book Lust
Read This
Good Books Lately
One Hundred and One Great Jewish Books
Reading Group Book
Read This Next 
You may place a hold on these titles or look for additional books on this topic by clicking here. You may get additional ideas by using our Pinterest boards.

Friday, November 18, 2016

Teen 3D Modeling Workshop

The Somers Library would like to thank the participants of the Teen 3D Modeling Workshop

held at the Somers Library during the early fall. This workshop series offered teens in grades 6th

and up an opportunity to develop a 3D model of our library in order to assist our library leaders

to get a better visual of future plans. Collaborating with Digital Arts Experience, Inc. of White

Plains, students participated in a series of 5 workshops and a presentation meeting with the

library board of trustees. This program was made possible in part with funds from Westchester

Library System's Mini-Grant Initiative supported by Entergy and Con Edison and the Friends of

the Somers Library.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

The Savory Sweet Life

This month kicks off the fall and holiday baking season. With a wide variety of ingredients popping up in grocery stores, fall is an excellent time to get back in the kitchen, and try your hand at baking and decorating. Somers Library has a large selection of titles to expand your baking horizons - listed below is a delicious sampling of titles to get you started. When did you last break out your cake pans? Somers Library offers a large selection of Wilton Cake Pans for you to borrow, and cookie cutter kits. Check one out today!

Complete Guide to Cake Decorating and Baking - DVD
►Austrian Desserts: Over 400 Cakes, Pastries, Strudels, Tortes and Candies
►Boutique Wedding Cakes: Bake and Decorate Beautiful Cakes at Home
►The Seasonal Baker: Easy Recipes From My Home Kitchen to Make Year-Round
►Cake Pops: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes For More than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats
►Gluten-Free Baking With the Culinary Institute of America
Kids Cakes From the Whimsical Bakehouse and Other Treats for Colorful Celebrations
►A Baker's Odyssey: Celebrating Time-Honored Recipes From America's Rich Immigrant Heritage
►Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes
►Cake Art: Simplified Step-by-Step Instructions and Illustrated Techniques For the Home Baker to Create Showstopping Cakes and Cupcakes
►The Confetti Cakes Cookbook: Spectacular Cookies, Cakes and Cupcakes from New York City's Famed Bakery
►Cake Decorating For the First Time


You may place a hold on these titles or look for additional books on this topic by clicking here. You may get additional ideas by using our Pinterest boards

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Battle of the Books 2016



Somers Library Battle of the Books Team 
Winners Teen Division!!


On Saturday, October 15th 2016, one of the Somers Library teams was declared champions of the Westchester Library System Battle of the Books (6th – 10th division)!!!  This fun but intense battle was the culmination of a nearly 6 month process of reading, reviewing, team practice and dedication by all the Somers Library Battle of the Books team members.  Although our teen team won this year, the Somers Library is very proud of both of the teams we sent to the Battle of the Books!!
Earlier this year, we asked for Somers volunteers from grades 4th through 10th to represent the Somers Library in the Westchester Library System 3rd Annual Battle of the Books.  The Battle of the Books is a book-based trivia tournament for Westchester youth with the goal to promote a love of reading, to encourage youth to think of their local public library as a resource for entertainment and to inspire teamwork & good sportsmanship in an atmosphere of friendly competition.  The battle teams are broken down to 2 levels:  one with teams from grades 4th-6th and the other from grades 6th-10th.  Each team was expected to read five books, practice with their teammates for the battle and then represent the Somers Library this October at the Battle of the Books! Early on, we knew we had some bright, eager, enthusiastic kids willing to take this challenge! During the summer, each team member was given copies of the 5 books for their division, which were generously funded by the Friends of the Somers Library. We met as a large group during the summer, but the real intense practice sessions began with the beginning of the school year.  Each of the teams split up to work as separate groups and each team met at least 9 times to review and practice for battle day! On the evening before the battle we had a Pizza Party and Pep Rally to show them how much we appreciated their hard work.

On Saturday morning October 15th at 9:00 am, our two teams gathered at the Ossining High School along with twenty seven other teams who represented a total of 17 libraries in Westchester County.  The Lightning Readers, the Somers Library children’s team, fought valiantly and with exuberant team spirit in their age bracket and made a great showing!  The Popcornians, the Somers Library teen team, not only knew these books extremely well, they really bonded as a team. Each member contributed their own individual talents to make this a battle win an example of an ultimate team effort! The battle day proved the teen division to be a very challenging and intense battle day with a four way tie going into the semi-finals! The Somers Library’s teen team, the Popcornians, kept their cool during this intense process to take their place in the championship fight for the trophy versus our neighbors from North Salem.  After a scoring neck and neck early on, the Somers pulled away with a final score of 12-3!!!
 
We could not have asked for a more hardworking and dedicated group.  The Somers Library would like to thank the team members, as well as their parents, and coaches. Additionally, the Somers Library would like to thank all the volunteer readers & question makers. And last but not least thank you to the Friends of the Somers Library for their financial support. 

We congratulate both the teams on their amazing dedication and teamwork:
The Somers Library Popcornians (the 6th-10th grade team) (WLS Battle of the Books 2016 Champions): Leigha Carnow, Maria Klimentova, Aine Hoekstra, Jordan Han, Nitin Seshadri, Max Caron, Matthew Kushner, Marguerite Pugliese, Keira Ferretti, Jaewon Yeo and Amanda Jen.
The Somers Library Lightning Readers (the 4th-6th grade team) included: Sean Kim, Julia Wilkinson, Jay Wilkinson, Connor Entenberg, Nicholas Maurantonio, Sebastian Wissa, Emma Sledzik, and Sara Vala