Port Washington Public Library Reader's Blog

E-Reader Library

Tal — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:23:34 +0000

The Port Washington Public Library will be hosting a e-reader workshop at 2pm on January 14th. We’ll present a brief overview of the Kindle 3, Nook Color, and iPad e-readers and the library lending feature, and then we’ll have some group hands-on time with each device. Staff and volunteers will be available to take individual questions at the end of the session.

Who might be interested?

- If you’re curious about e-readers and want to get an overview of some of the major products
- If you already own an e-reader and it just doesn’t seem to want to work
- And especially if you have an e-reader and would like to start using the library lending system – this is the class for you!

To get the most out of the time, it would be best if you brought your e-reader device, library card, and laptop computer (if you can!) with you.

This class is designed to get you to the e-books and to start reading as quickly as possible, without going into too much detail about the many functions of any particular e-reader.

Some quick information that you should know before we meet:

If you’re using a Kindle, you access your library books through the online shopping center, Amazon. You need an Amazon account with an e-mail and password to be able to do this. If you don’t have an account yet, you can click here to start a new one.

If you’re using a Nook or iPad, it might be helpful to download Adobe Digital Editions to your home computer. Click here to link to the software.

Registration begins on January 2nd.

New Staff Pick!

librarykeith — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:06:59 +0000

After a summer delay – the Port Washington Public Library Reader’s Blog is back with a weekly staff pick for you to enjoy! This week we’re recommending a baseball book in honor of the beginning of the MLB’s October Playoffs beginning.

On Tuesday evening November 8th at 7:30pm the library is welcoming New York Times’ sports columnist George Vecsey to come and discuss his brand new book about the famed Stan Musial. Musial is often neglected in baseball circles when debating who was the greatest hitter who ever lived. Vecsey writes in order to prove some people wrong, and you’ll be happy he did.

To read a review of Mr. Vecsey’s book click here and to reserve a copy of Stan Musial: An American Life click here. Don’t forget to save the date - Tuesday November 8th at 7:30 pm – to come and listen to Mr. Vecsey discuss the book!

The Friends of the Port Washington Library is supporting this program to find out more about the Friends of the Port Washington Library, click here.

Czeslaw Milosz

librarykeith — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:19:44 +0000

For anyone unfamiliar with Czeslaw Milosz and his work… now is a fantastic time to discover him. June 30, 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth! Born in Lithuania and educated in Poland, Milosz spent most of his time during World War II as an underground journalist in Poland. He eventually escaped to the United States where he would go on to teach Slavic Literature at Berkley. He published several highly acclaimed works of poems, prose and essays and would go on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980. Check out what we have in the library by him here!

Hit the Road!/Train Station/Summer Reading!

librarykeith — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:40:07 +0000

Our latest lobby display is all about travel..stop by and grab a book.

Hit the Road - Grab One of Our Travel Books!

By the way, wanted to mention that the library will again be at the Long Island Railroad Station this summer every Wednesday to loan out paperbacks. You can learn more about the times/dates here. You can also check out what the railroad station looked like circa 1916 right here from our local history digital collections. Check out all that is available in the local history room by clicking here!

And don’t forget about the summer happenings down in the children’s room, if you didn’t know – we have a summer reading program!

A Savage Pilgrimage

librarykeith — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:20:39 +0000

Malcolm Jones asks in Book Beast, is travel writing dead? I would say far from it. Look for a travel display up next week in the lobby and all next week we’ll be posting some links/suggestions to some highly entertaining travel writing.

The library’s travel section can now be found on the back wall of the reference room (just hook a left when you come up the main stairwell).

HarborFest!

librarykeith — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:42:51 +0000

Come down this Sunday June 5th from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to the Town Dock for HarborFest 2011. The PW Library will be there until 3 p.m. under the tent promoting events, services and programs. Come down and say hello to our wonderful Friends of The Library group and say hello to me, LibraryKeith! See you there! To learn more about the event click here.

Dylan and Franzen

librarykeith — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:08:45 +0000

Quick posting. Can’t believe I let Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday go by without dropping a link to some of our book/documentary material on the Mighty Quinn himself.

Also, Jonathan Franzen gave the commencement speech at Kenyon College this past weekend, here’s a listen or you can just read the NY Times Op-Ed adaptation. Both should not be missed.

Intern Nation

librarykeith — Thu, 26 May 2011 14:25:21 +0000

As the economy is the topic on everyone’s mind, particularly with the 2012 election just around the corner, here comes a book not on everyone’s radar, Intern Nation by Ross Perlin. Perlin writes, “Internships have become this key gateway into the white-collar work force … but at the same time, access has become drastically unequal.” Just another day in the life of any young person hoping to make a positive dent in the world. In what appears to be a book simply on the plight of interns everywhere, is in fact a diatribe against America’s elite and it’s betrayal of the working class hero. Read Roger Hodge’s review, which is nearly as good as the book itself. Intern Nation is the pick of the week!

Save the Library

librarykeith — Thu, 19 May 2011 13:43:35 +0000

Charles Simic recently wrote a plea to keep libraries alive. An immigrant when he was a teenager from the former Yugoslavia, Simic appreciates libraries with a unique perspective that needs to be heard.

Weekly Staff Picks!

librarykeith — Fri, 13 May 2011 22:23:25 +0000

The weekly edition of the Port Washington Public Library Staff Picks!

Non-Fiction: The Lost Art of Reading by David L. Ulin

This tiny book, which reads like a long essay, is the perfect remedy for anyone seeking a voice of reason in the crazy, digital world in which we all live. With heartfelt personal descriptions, Ulin (who is currently a book critic at the Los Angeles Times Book Review) speaks frankly and passionately about the future of the written word and it’s ability to make us better people. About literature he writes,

“There is something thrilling about it, this unburdening, the idea of getting at a truth so profound that, for a moment anyway, we become transcendent in the fullest sense.”

Read this book and I’ll bet you’ll want to read another right afterwards.

Fiction: The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon

This book is truly about memory. It is a novel with alternating chapters from a modern day sojourn of two Bosnian immigrants to an early 1900′s immigrant murder. Hemon is a master linguist who learned English in less than two years after he was forced to stay in the United States following the war in Sarajevo. As we journey with Brik through eastern Europe retracing an exile’s journey home, we can feel the fiction truly come to life.

Here’s a link to a unique correspondence between Nathan Englander (another novelist) and Hemon. It’s a wonderful exchange.