Check out our activity center when you visit the library! Drop-in crafts, activities, and a seek'n'find game with a winter holiday theme!
Artwork: "A Warriors Mantle" by Troy Parker
Toys, coloring, and fun for ages 0-10. Big Blue Blocks and Holiday Cartoons! No registration.
Build something special with legos and put it on display! This program is for children up to age 12.
Vision Boards for the New Year: Lunch, Learn & Create!
Happy Holidays! Be well and stay well!
Give yourself the gift of getting what you want. Wondering how to turn your financial dreams into reality?
Want to manifest your goals?
Mending Club with Leila Arisa
If you've got a crafts problem, Leila Arisa will solve it. Make an appointment or just drop in, and we'll see what we can do to repair a wide variety of household objects: whether that means sewing, darning, gluing or more.
Tyrone Glover, CEO of Leverage Credit Recovery, will be presenting every Saturday. Topics will include accessing credit reports, understanding the information, learning how to improve scores and more.
The program is free and is sponsored by the Governor's office and features training delivered by National Guard officers.
Posts
The Gilded Gentleman: Jack the Ripper
The Gilded Gentleman history podcast takes listeners on a cultural and social journey into mansions, salons, dining rooms, libraries, and theaters including th
The Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge began on December 16, 1944, when 200,000 German troops and over 1,000 tanks attacked American forces in the Ardennes (between Belgium and L
Holiday Cooking & Crafts
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The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook
Bestselling author, vegan goddess, and comfort food queen Isa Chandra Moskowitz is back with her biggest book ever -- to prove that making festive vegan food for any occasion can be easy, delicious, and super fun.
Gone are the days of stressing over how to please family and friends with different dietary needs. Bursting with knock-your-socks-off, mind-bogglingly tasty vegan recipes for Cinnamon Apple Crepes, Cheeseburger Pizza, Biscuits and Gravy, Churro Biscotti, and so much more, The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook will make everyone at your table happy-even meat eaters and the gluten challenged.
Isa provides everything you need to get your party started, from finger food and appetizers to casseroles, roasts, and dozens of special sides. Then comes a throng of cakes, cookies, cobblers, loaves, pies, and frozen treats to make you feel like the best dang vegan cook in the world.
You'll start with New Year's, stop for Valentine's Day on the way to Easter and Passover, party down from Cinco de Mayo through the Fourth of July, and cook through Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas. And with more than 250 seasonal recipes, you'll mix, match, and remix for every celebration in between -- filling your life with holiday cheer the whole year round. -
Baking for the Holidays
A charming holiday baking cookbook brimming with delicious, indulgent recipes, cozy winter photography, and lots of holiday cheer from Sarah Kieffer.
Here's a festive holiday baking book to celebrate this very special time of year. Sarah Kieffer, author of 100 Cookies, beloved baker behind The Vanilla Bean Blog, and creator of the "bang-the-pan" method offers more than 50 delicious recipes for seasonal brunches, cookie swaps, and all those Christmas, Hanukah, and New Year's Eve parties.
Delight family and friends with edible gifts and whip up some delicious baked goods to treat yourself through the long winter months after the holidays have ended. Recipes include: Triple Chocolate Peppermint Bark, Meyer Lemon–White Chocolate Scones, Pear-Almond Danish Bread, Hot Chocolate Cake, and Pumpkin Pie with Candied Pepita Streusel.
With cozy holiday imagery, a lovely, clean aesthetic, and easy yet innovative recipes, this is a go-to cookbook for baking enthusiasts, anyone who loves the holiday season, and, of course, fans of Sarah Kieffer and her hugely popular cookie book, 100 Cookies.
GREAT GIFT OPPORTUNITY: With happy, festive photography and anyone-can-do-it recipes, this is a perfect holiday gift alongside a cute apron or baking product. It's sure to please anyone in your life who loves to while away the winter months in their warm and cozy kitchen.
BELOVED, ACCOMPLISHED BLOGGER AND AUTHOR: Sarah Kieffer is the beloved blogger behind The Vanilla Bean Baking Blog, which won the SAVEUR Reader's Choice Best Baking & Desserts Blog in 2014. Her pan-banging cookie technique went viral on the New York Times website. She has written two cookbooks and been featured by Food52, The Today Show, Mashable, The Kitchn, America's Test Kitchen, Huffington Post, and more.
Perfect for:
• Bakers of all ages
• Holiday bakers
• Fans of Sarah's bang-the-pan cookies, 100 Cookies, and The Vanilla Bean Blog
• Holiday gift givers -
Artful Christmas
Celebrate a merry Christmas in an artfully decorated home! Crafters will feel the joy as they make 30 elegant yet incredibly easy projects out of the most affordable and accessible materials. Deck the halls with a lacy air-dried clay wreath, a stamped muslin bag Advent calendar, festive felt stockings, sparkling paper ornaments, a glittered garland, and other items beautiful and bright."
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Handcrafted Christmas
“Homemade vintage craft projects that are inventive but also preserve the treasured history of Christmas traditions.” ?Cottages & Bungalows
Craft your way through the holiday season with this newest volume by the author of Christmas Memories and other popular books. The forty easy projects range from charming punched-tin votive holders, to Russian teacakes for holiday parties, to your very own edible gingerbread house (complete with miniature snowmen on the front lawn).
Supplemented with Christmas cookie recipes and peppered with engaging facts about the holidays gone by, this is the perfect book for crafters who long for that vintage holiday look. -
FamilyFun Homemade Holidays
The winter holidays are a wonderful time of the year, especially for families. Everything’s magical, and kids can really get involved in the festivities with these fabulous games, activities, decorations, treats, and complete party plans. There’s something special for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, along with time-saving tips and plenty of photographs to guide children and parents. The clever projects range from simple pipe cleaner and bead ornaments to a Family Tree Skirt that’s sure to become a keepsake and part of the celebration for years to come. And because the holidays are always busy, the crafts require minimal prep time and are guaranteed to get your family in the holiday spirit.
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Christmas Craft Book
The Christmas Craft Book is a festive collection of 30 fun projects using everyday recycled materials and craft supplies.
Keeping young children occupied and entertained can be tricky, even at the best of times. But when they are super excited about Christmas it can be even more of a challenge. This book channels all that Santa-fuelled energy into making fun festive projects for everyone to enjoy. While making decorations, toys and gifts children will learn crafting skills. The book features simple projects that are suitable for parents with little or no crafting experience. Most of the items can be made using items already in the house or things that would be thrown away.
The 30 boredom-busting projects include: pompom stocking, festive hand warmers, Santa skittles, Christmas wreath, tree topper, paper lanterns, candy cane biscuits and sock snowman.
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In a Weekend: 50 Festive and Fabulous Holiday Projects
Do you have a passion for DIY projects? Create unique Christmas decor or clever gift ideas with these 50 projects. Each design can easily be made in a weekend using the most affordable and accessible materials. Wall hangings, tree ornaments, table arrangements, door decor, window dressings and much more are included in this fabulous book.
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Kwanzaa Crafts
Young readers will celebrate our cherished holidays with this sparkling series, filled with ideas and projects to add color and excitement to each season. Everyday materials and step-by-step illustrated directions will appeal to teachers, club leaders, and children.
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My Very Own Christmas
Christmas recipes and crafts and information about the holiday.
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Crafts for Hanukkah
CRAFTS FOR HANUKKAH offers twenty simple crafts specially designed for young children. There are games to play and gifts to give, and even a special Hanukkah book to store all your favorite memories in. Colorful step-by-step illustrations help turn inexpensive and readily available materials into easy-to-make gifts, games, and decorations that will add a youngster’s special touch to this bright season.
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Holiday Crafting & Baking with Kids
Kid-friendly crafts and recipes for traditional holiday festivities—from an autumn wreath to paper snowflakes, matzo bark to a popcorn Kwanzaa collage.
Holiday Crafting & Baking with Kids will bring the whole family together for some good holiday fun. Children ages four and up will love selecting their own materials and digging into these cheerful projects. There is something here for everyone and every winter occasion Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, New Year’s, and Boxing Day! Step-by-step instructions, helpful templates, and color photos make it a cinch for little ones to follow along. Best of all, the materials and ingredients for these projects are inexpensive, easy to find, and even easier to turn into amazing gifts, decorations, and treats.
“Such a wonderful holiday catch-all.” —In the Know Mom
“Enjoy some family bonding time with the young ones, using these easy to follow and inexpensive suggestions for holiday treats.” —Kirkland Reporter -
Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts
Join Martha Stewart for a celebration of handcrafted holidays all year-round!
New Year’s – Valentine’s Day – Easter – Mother’s Day – Father’s Day – Fourth of July – Halloween – Thanksgiving – Hanukkah – Christmas
Let Martha inspire your creativity with the most beautiful crafts. The 225 handmade projects include cards and greetings, decorations, gifts and gift wrapping, tabletop accents, party favors, and kids’ crafts, as well as more holiday-specific activities, such as egg-dyeing, pumpkin carving, and tree trimming. Each idea is sure to make the holidays more festive—and memorable. -
Homemade Holiday
Bring the magic of a handmade Christmas into your home with 40 projects for gifts, decorations, and homemade wrapping paper.
Save time and money with the festive craft projects in Homemade Holiday. Clear, step-by-step instructions guide readers to create fresh flower garlands, bake edible gift tags, make homemade bath salts, and paint authentic tree ornaments. With last-minute ideas and lots of inspiration, this book will help you wrap up gift-giving and decorating for the holiday season. -
The Neelys' Celebration Cookbook
Pat and Gina Neely, the beloved husband-and-wife team and authors of the New York Times best seller Down Home with the Neelys, are all about lettin’ the good times roll.
It takes family, friends, and ample good food, and in their new book, they share their recipes and secrets for entertaining year-round, dishing up new spins on seasonal classics, and suggesting occasions to celebrate that most of us haven’t thought of ourselves.
Along with menus for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter Sunday, and every known holiday in between, here are all the fixings for a year of down home celebrating, 120 recipes including Hoppin’ John Soup and Deep-fried Cornish Game Hens for New Year’s Day; Smothered Pork Chops and Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes for “Welcome Home, Baby”; One-handed Turkey Burgers and Mint Tea for “Spring Cleaning.” The Neelys believe that life should be celebrated, holiday or not. With this mouth-watering collection of recipes you have everything you need to Neely-tize your table far beyond the holiday season. -
The Friendsgiving Cookbook
Revel in the yummy joy of Thanksgiving without the family drama.
Friendsgiving is everything you love about Thanksgiving without the things you dread, like nagging family members and awkward conversations. With The Friendsgiving Cookbook, you won’t need to be a perfect host or spend days in the kitchen preparing. Instead, this easy-going cookbook will give you the insight and advice for creating a fun, unforgettable occasion, where eating and drinking with friends drama-free is top priority.
Release yourself from the tension and stress that typically accompany big family gatherings by starting your own annual Friendsgiving tradition with this indispensable resource full of tantalizing recipes for Graze All Day Appetizers, Potluck Main Attractions, No Meat Sides for No Meat Friends, and an Extra-Long Dessert Spread.
The 50 easy and delicious recipes include:
- Ooey Gooey Mozzarella Sticks
- Autumn Bean and Butternut Squash Minestrone
- Cranberry and Herb Stuffed Turkey Breast
- Let's Get Mashed (mashed potatoes)
- Brisket Braised with Apple Cider and Thyme
- Don’t Kale My Chickpea Vibe
- Gobble, Gobble Rice and Poblanos
- Jokes on Pie, It’s Carrot Cake
- Thank You So Matcha Sponge Cake
- Pumpkin Spice and Chill
- And more!
Throughout you'll also find "A Little Extra . . . but in a Good Way" sidebars with tips for food prep, fun anecdotes, and helpful hints for making your Friendsgiving a super smash. Put new twists on old favorites when it comes to the festivities and the feast! With The Friendsgiving Cookbook, full-fat, stress-free, and easy-to-prepare recipes come together to create a fabulously Instagrammable meal for all your friends and chosen family this holiday.
Remembering Nikki Giovanni
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I Am Loved
Newbery Award honoree Ashley Bryan has hand-selected a dozen of National Book Award winner Nikki Giovanni’s poems to illustrate with his inimitable flourish.
There is nothing more important to a child than to feel loved, and this gorgeous gathering of poems written by Nikki Giovanni celebrates exactly that. Hand-selected by Newbery honoree Ashley Bryan, he has, with his masterful flourish of color, shape, and movement, added a visual layering that drums the most impartant message of all to young, old, parent, child, grandparent, and friend alike: You are loved. You are loved. You are loved. As a bonus, one page is mirrored, so children reading the book can see exactly who is loved—themselves! -
Black Ink
Spanning over 250 years of history, Black Ink traces black literature in America from Frederick Douglass to Ta-Nehisi Coates in this masterful collection of twenty-five illustrious and moving essays on the power of the written word.
Throughout American history black people are the only group of people to have been forbidden by law to learn to read. This unique collection seeks to shed light on that injustice and subjugation, as well as the hard-won literary progress made, putting some of America’s most cherished voices in a conversation in one magnificent volume that presents reading as an act of resistance.
Organized into three sections, the Peril, the Power, and Pleasure, and with an array of contributors both classic and contemporary, Black Ink presents the brilliant diversity of black thought in America while solidifying the importance of these writers within the greater context of the American literary tradition. At times haunting and other times profoundly humorous, this unprecedented anthology guides you through the remarkable experiences of some of America’s greatest writers and their lifelong pursuits of literacy and literature.
The foreword was written by Nikki Giovanni. Contributors include: Frederick Douglass, Solomon Northup, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King, Jr., Toni Morrison, Walter Dean Myers, Stokely Carmichael [Kwame Ture], Alice Walker, Jamaica Kincaid, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Terry McMillan, Junot Diaz, Edwidge Danticat, Colson Whitehead, Marlon James, Roxane Gay, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Colson Whitehead.
The anthology features a bonus in-depth interview with President Barack Obama. -
Chasing Utopia
From one of America’s most celebrated poets, Nikki Giovanni, comes this poignant collection of poetry that celebrates the simple pleasures of everyday life and the bonds we share with those closest to us.
“This slim volume delights on every page. There are stories, imaginings, whimsy, and startling images which prove the poet’s power and her command of language . . . Anyone with a love of language will be delighted with this book and the continuing publication of America’s treasured poet.”—San Francisco Book Review
The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred movements and inspired songs, turned hearts and informed generations. She's been hailed as a healer and as a national treasure. But Giovanni's heart resides in the everyday, where family and lovers gather, friends commune, and those no longer with us are remembered. And at every gathering there is food—food as sustenance, food as aphrodisiac, food as memory. A pot of beans is flavored with her mother's sighs—this sigh part cardamom, that one the essence of clove; a lover requests a banquet as an affirmation of ongoing passion; homage is paid to the most time-honored appetizer: soup.
With Chasing Utopia, Giovanni demands that the prosaic—flowers, birdsong, winter—be seen as poetic, and reaffirms once again why she is as energetic, "remarkable" (Gwendolyn Brooks), "wonderful" (Marian Wright Edelman),"outspoken, prolific, energetic" (New York Times), and relevant as ever.
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Spin a Soft Black Song
Spin a Soft Black Song is an illustrated poetry collection from Caldecott Honor and Langston Hughes Medal award-winning author Nikki Giovanni.
With black-and-white art from George Martins, this revised edition of the classic collection features thirty-five poems for and about black children--written from their perspective--celebrating the energy and joy of young life within their own communities. -
Love Poems
In a career that has spanned more than a quarter century, Nikki Giovanni has earned the reputation as one of America's most celebrated and contoversial writers.Now, she presents a stunning collection of love poems that includes more than twenty new works.
From the revolutionary "Seduction" to the tender new poem, "Just a Simple Declaration of Love," from the whimsical "I Wrote a Good Omelet" to the elegiac "All Eyez on U," written for Tupac Shakur, these poems embody the fearless passion and spirited wit for which Nikki Giovanni is beloved and revered.
Romantic, bold, and erotic, Love Poems expresses notions of love in ways that are delightfully unexpected. Articulating in sensuous verse what we know only instinctively, Nikki Giovanni once again confirms her place as one of our nations's most distinguished poets and powerful truth-tellers.
In a career that has spanned more than a quarter century, starting with her explosive early years in the Black Rights Movement, Nikki Giovanni has earned a reputation as one of America's most celebrated and controversial writers. Her mind-speaking work has made her a universal favorite and a number-one best-seller.The love poems-the revolutionary "Seduction," the whimsical "I Wrote a Good Omelet," and the tender "My House" to name just a few-are among the most beloved of all Nikki Giovanni's works. Now, Love Poems brings together these and other favorites with over twenty new poems. Romantic, bold, and erotic, Love Poems will once again confirm Nikki Giovanni's place among the country's most renowned poets and truth tellers.
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My House
Enter the world of Nikki Giovanni. Writing of mothers and their children, of childhood memories, of black leaders and black Africa, the poems in My House marked a new dimension in tone and philosophy for Nikki Giovanni when they first appeared at the beginning of her extraordinary career. Emotional and autobiographical, Nikki Giovanni personalizes the political--like no one else--and brings her house in all its complexity and glory to our own backyards. At once tough-minded and playful and with such famous classics as "My House" and "Winter Poem," this reissue of Nikki Giovanni's 1972 collection will once again intoxicate those who have always loved her poems--and those who are just getting to know her work.
As a witness to three generations, Nikki Giovanni has perceptively and poetically recorded her observations of both the outside world and the gentle yet enigmatic territory of the self. When her poems first emerged from the Black Rights Movement in the late 1960s, she immediately became a celebrated and controversial poet of the era. Written in one of the most commanding voices to grace America's political and poetic landscape at the end of the twentieth century, Nikki Giovanni's poems embody the fearless passion and spirited wit for which she is beloved and revered.
Nikki Giovanni is one of the most influential black writers writing today. This, her second book of poetry, marked a new dimension in tone and philosophy-personal and autobiographical rather than political; it is also lively, loving, witty, and occasionally tough-minded. Divided into two sections, the poems center around "her" house-the rooms inside as well as outside. She writes of mothers and their children, of childhood memories, of black leaders and black Africa. This is an important book by a black woman written in and of the '70s.
"Nikki Giovanni has . . . become one of the most potent voices of our time. Her message is universal and the rhythm and language of her poetry can be compared favorably with that of the finest poets of the past. She is a beautiful and complete human being with a genius for describing the human condition." Minneapolis Tribune
"Talent is light, but mature talent is a beacon and Nikki Giovanni has, by her own words, joined that small band of talented people who try to show us all the way to go home." Los Angeles Times
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Acolytes
A collection of eighty all new poems, Acolytes is distinctly Nikki Giovanni, but different. Not softened, but more inspired by love, celebration, memories and even nostalgia. She aims her intimate and sparing words at family and friends, the deaths of heroes and friends, favorite meals and candy, nature, libraries, and theatre. But in between, the deep and edgy conscience that has defined her for decades shines through when she writes about Rosa Parks, hurricane Katrina, and Emmett Till's disappearance, leaving no doubt that Nikki has not traded one approach for another, but simply made room for both.
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A Good Cry
The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred movements, turned hearts and informed generations. She’s been hailed as a firebrand, a radical, a courageous activist who has spoken out on the sensitive issues that touch our national consciousness, including race and gender, social justice, protest, violence in the home and in the streets, and why black lives matter.
One of America’s most celebrated poets looks inward in this powerful collection, a rumination on her life and the people who have shaped her.
As energetic and relevant as ever, Nikki now offers us an intimate, affecting, and illuminating look at her personal history and the mysteries of her own heart. In A Good Cry, she takes us into her confidence, describing the joy and peril of aging and recalling the violence that permeated her parents’ marriage and her early life. She pays homage to the people who have given her life meaning and joy: her grandparents, who took her in and saved her life; the poets and thinkers who have influenced her; and the students who have surrounded her. Nikki also celebrates her good friend, Maya Angelou, and the many years of friendship, poetry, and kitchen-table laughter they shared before Angelou’s death in 2014.
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The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni
From one of America's most cherished and celebrated poets, a landmark collection of Nikki Giovanni's early work!
“Nikki Giovanni is one of our national treasures.”—Gloria Naylor
When Nikki Giovanni’s poems first emerged during the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, she immediately took a place among the most celebrated and controversial artists of our time. More than 50 years later, Giovanni still stands as one of the most commanding, luminous voices to grace America’s political and poetic landscape. This timeless classic brings readers Nikki Giovanni's poems from her books Black Feeling Black Talk; Black Judgement; Re: Creation; My House; The Women and the Men; Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day; and Those Who Ride the Night Winds.
Stirring, provocative, and resonant, these poems heralded the arrival of an indelible literary voice that resounds to this day.