Here’s a preview of some unusual “Silent Auction books”

Looking for something fun to do during the February school vacation? The Milne Library is offering two programs on Tuesday, February 21. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Kristen Tool will be showing you how to make cool stuff with Duck® Tape. We will also be bringing in pizza lunch for participants. The workshop is limited to ten and we ask that you pre-register in the children’s room so we can plan materials and lunch. A Williamstown resident and recent college grad, Kristen is currently teaching school in Pittsfield. She is remarkably skilled with the multi-colored, strong, sticky duct tape, having crafted her prom gown not too long ago. Her workshops are always a kick and we are very happy to have her back.

Also on Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m., storyteller Kasiya Phiri will return for a second in a series of African folktales. Kasiya is an accomplished writer and spinner of yarns whose works are included in Nelson Mandela’s of Favorite African Folktales. His work takes him between Springfield and the Berkshires, but his calling is to give children the gift of story in the older oral tradition. Listening to Kasiya is quite different from simply “reading.” He uses his whole body, a library of voices, and audience participation to create a complicated story. Without the visual experience of a picture book, children get to exercise their imaginations and begin to feel the close relationship between story, poetry, and song.

Mindy and Helen will be here each day of the vacation week and welcome you to bring in your electronic devices for a spin around our e-books, introduce you to our language learning software, show you what’s new in print books, or help you with school projects. We will also have our regular pre-school story times on Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. So, if we don’t get snow and you’re family’s is not on the road, come join us for some fun at your library.

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Hey Tumblers!

Using your iPad’s default browser, Safari, subscribers can read all 100 TumbleBooks in this iPad section, as often as you want, when you want, where you want!

But…Did you also know about a new kid-friendly browser called Rover?!

Developed by iSwifter Learn Inc, Rover is a free app designed for elementary schools that will enable you to browse the internet in a safe environment, with full FLASH functionality!

That means that TumbleBookLibrary subscribers using Rover can now enjoy the access to the entire TumbleBookLibrary, including picture books, read-alongs, and games, on their iPads!

Margaret has worked in a variety of media. She now prefers mosaics from found objects such as plastic, shells and glass. Her other preferred media is watercolor and pastel. Her travels have inspired her to draw from nature and also urban centers. She also uses these sketches to recreate the images for her mosaics. Williamstown and the Berkshires have also been wonderful places to paint nature at different times of the year. Some of her fames have been made from scrap and driftwood found locally and on Cape Cod.

Margaret was born in Chicago and was a History of Art major from Wellesley College and a master’s in Art Education from Illinois Institute of Technology. After leaving college, her first employment was as an illustrator for the Navy at the Great Lakes Naval Base. She took classes at the Art Institute of Chicago where she was first a lecturer and then was appointed head of the Children’s Education Department. After moving to Williamstown, she was an art teacher at Pine Cobble School for many years until her retirement in 1994, just before the move to their current campus on Gale Road, and now returns to show her life works in the same building she taught.

A reception will be held on Wed. February 8th from 5:30 to 7:30, refreshments will be served and the public is welcome.

Library hours are Mon –Fri. 10-5:30, Wed. 10-8, and Sat. 10-4. For information contact Pat McLeod, Library Director at pmcleod@williamstown.net or 458-5369.

Featured this month is Transparent Language Online (formerly called BYKI) is an online language-learning resource that will have you speaking another language Before You Know It. With over 90 languages and English for speakers of over 25 languages, this learning program was designed for the military to learn a language quick and is packed full of pronunciation, speech, writing and vocabulary building lessons.
Learn with a variety of engaging activities such as:
Pronunciation and Conversation Practice – record, playback, and
compare speech to the pronunciation of real native speakers
SlowSound Technology – slow down the speech and hear every nuance
Interactive games – including Four-Square, Game Show, Unscramble, and more!
Mobile capability for iPhone and Android Devices – allows for language learning on-the-go
Proficiency tests

The Milne Library in Williamstown will host an informational session and demo on Wed. Feb. 15th at 6:30 in the meeting room.

For more information, contact Pat McLeod –Library Director (413) 458-5369 or pmcleod@williamstown.net

We will be offering a brief (30-45 minute) tutorial on Transparent Languages sometime in late January or early February, depending on interest. Let us know if you would be interested in an information session of Transparent Languages to get you started. E-mail pmcleod(at)williamstown.net

The David & Joyce Milne Library in Williamstown will host the latest works of Stephen Dankner for the month of January. His most recent photography exhibit is a tribute to great American Films. Dankner states, “I have always been a devotee of movies from Hollywood’s “golden era” and beyond – the period encompassing the years 1931-1961: mysteries, romances, film noir and other genres. Watching the Turner Classic Movies Hi-Def channel, I tried an experiment: to take still shots directly from the TV screen. Knowing these movies so well, I knew where many of the shots would occur, but there were even more surprises – places where a close-up or a posed “art” shot would quickly appear and disappear in a second or two”.

“One has to develop a quick “trigger finger” to capture these ephemeral images, especially with a digital camera, which, because of its limitation of having to digitally sample a shot via its internal computer for focal length and exposure, is much slower than a traditional film camera. So, it was an exercise in planning ahead, much like an orchestra conductor cueing a soloist to play before the arrival of the downbeat”

“These pictures are my attempt – and it is a great challenge – to artfully master the classic genre of black and white photography – a lifelong discipline, to be sure. Look for Fred and Ginger and Katharine Hepburn in two large portraits, and all the others: Burt and Ava, Gene and Tyrone, Alan and Veronica, et al.

Library hours are Mon –Fri. 10-5:30, Wed. 10-8, and Sat. 10-4. For information contact Pat McLeod, Library Director at pmcleod@williamstown.net or 458-5369.

The new videos may  be accessed by going to the digital books website (http://digitalbooks.cwmars.org), checking them out like any other digital item, and downloading them to your computer.  They may be transferred to compatible portable devices (sorry, no Apple products) and, like all our digital items, check in automatically on their expiration date.  No late fees!  We will have access to this collection until December 30, 2012.

Friday, Nov.11 for Veterans Day

Closing at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 23, closed all day Thursday, Nov. 24  Thanksgiving and Friday, Nov.25

Closed all day Saturday, Dec. 24 , Sunday, Dec. 25 and Monday, Dec. 26 for Christmas

Closed all day Monday, Jan. 2, 20012 for New Year’s Day.

The book drop will be checked by staff on these holidays but if for some reason it is jammed, please take your books back with you.  Books will be “back dated”  to the time you tried to drop them off. Please don’t cram the bin, leave library books or sale books in plastic bags beside the drop, or try to stuff in puppets and kit bags from the children’s room (these always gum up the works). We appreciate your consideration and wish everyone the safest and best of winter holidays.