Award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson, writer of oft-challenged novels that speak to the modern experiences of young adults, once described censorship as “the child of fear, and the father of ignorance.” These words resonate with librarians always, though particularly loudly at this time of year, as Sept. 26 marks the beginning of Banned Books Week, […]
Sept. 10-19 marks Welcoming Week, an initiative begun by Welcoming America, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that leads a movement of inclusive communities becoming more prosperous by ensuring everyone belongs. In 2016, the municipality of Princeton joined this initiative as a Welcoming Town, and each year the Department of Human Services teams up with the library […]
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, when terrorists hijacked four airplanes and turned them into missiles aimed at major U.S. landmarks. The attacks resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people and continue to shape our world. The library has developed programs and resources to recognize this year’s anniversary. In assembling […]
We invite you to check out this month’s PPL Youth Services recommendations for activities, resources and new books in the library collection for children up to 5 years old and their families. 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Take the library’s 1000 Books Before Kindergarten pledge and instill the foundation for a lifelong love of reading with […]
When I was a little girl, my grandfather gave me a copy of Richard Henry Dana, Jr.’s “Two Years Before the Mast.” This wasn’t his favorite book, in fact, he had never read it. Its sole purpose was to put a smile on my face when I saw the singular word written across the spine, […]
To extend our community outreach, the library partners with the many municipal, non-profit, and business organizations that make Princeton such an extraordinary town. This month, we spoke with Anne Brener, executive director of Princeton Adult School. As the library’s community engagement coordinator, and a former member of the board of Princeton Adult School, I can […]
Some time ago I noticed a diagram of pieces of a book pinned up next to a colleague’s desk. She had found it via an online image search and kept it because in our line of work being able to refer to specific pieces of a book can be useful. For example, we may need […]
We invite you to check out this month’s PPL Youth Services recommendations for activities, resources and new books in the library collection for children up to five years old and their families. Summer Nights Series: Raya and the Last Dragon Presented in partnership with Princeton Shopping Center, this Summer Reading wrap-up event begins with an […]
We have thousands of titles in our physical and virtual library, and it can be daunting looking for exactly the right book. Browsing the new book display is one of my favorite ways to find a book, but sometimes you just need a little extra help or don’t have the time to browse the shelves. […]
Making one’s way through a given day can be challenging. Every person carries the weight of a lifetime, plus the gravity of current circumstances. As we return to more physical interactions with others, we may experience internal tensions in re-learning how to socialize with one another. After spending so much time in lockdown, it can […]
To extend our community outreach, the library partners with the many municipal, non-profit, and business organizations that make Princeton such an extraordinary town. This month, we spoke with Corina Bardoff who serves on the logistics team of Princeton Mutual Aid. How long has Princeton Mutual Aid been in Princeton? PMA began as a response to […]
As easily as a song can get stuck in your head, so can a story. Whether it’s a book, series, film, or something else, you’ll find yourself continuously thinking about it, mentally replaying your favorite parts, or the parts that challenged you, and wondering what comes next. The stories that stick with you can change […]
We invite you to check out this month’s PPL Youth Services recommendations for activities, resources and new books in the library collection for children up to 5 years old and their families. Summer Nights Series at Princeton Shopping Center The library has partnered with Princeton Shopping Center to present a series of outdoor events on […]
My grandmother came from a very large family, one that I knew very little about. Growing up, she has told me stories here and there, including those about her oldest brother who fought and lost his life in WWII. She never mentioned more than that because, as it turns out, she never really knew what […]
To extend our community outreach, the library partners with the many municipal, non-profit, and business organizations that make Princeton such an extraordinary town. This month, we spoke with Linda Oppenheim, board member of Not In Our Town Princeton. Not In Our Town Princeton and Princeton Public Library have been longtime partners with a shared mission […]
Celebrate the official start of summer at the library by joining our annual Summer Reading program, beginning June 15. Open to readers of all ages, we invite you to reflect, investigate and interact with the world around you and see how “Reading Colors Your World.” Children and teens who log at least 20 days of […]
We invite you to check out this month’s PPL Youth Services recommendations for activities, resources and new books in the library collection for children up to five years old and their families. Summer Reading 2021 It’s summer reading time. Starting on June 15, sign up online either from home or at the library and take the […]
The temperature soared to the mid-90s over the weekend of May 22. Some took it as a sign to unpack their summer wardrobe; others raced to local beaches; while others may have further contemplated the effects of climate change. On Biodiversity Day, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg launched a video, urging humanity to move toward a […]
To extend our community outreach, the library partners with the many municipal, non-profit, and business organizations that make Princeton such an extraordinary town. This month, we spoke with Wendy Mager, Board President of Friends of Princeton Open Space. Friends of Princeton Open Space and the library have had the joy of numerous collaborations across our […]
When planning library programs or book lists throughout the year, our staff takes into consideration heritage months, or other national or state recognitions. For example, celebrating Women’s History Month is a wonderful way to help highlight the rich tapestry of experiences and histories that form the American consciousness. However, it’s also important to consider these […]
We invite you to check out this month’s PPL Youth Services recommendations for activities, resources and new books in the library collection for children up to 5 years old and their families. One Year Anniversary of Storytime Shorts Last spring, when it became clear that we would not be able to safely offer our in-person storytimes, […]
Poet Maggie Smith recently posted this on her Instagram account, “A wise person once told me to start each day by asking myself the same question: ‘What else is possible?’ There it is–an opening when things may feel like they’re narrowing or even closing. What else is possible?” The global community has been experiencing a […]
To extend our community outreach, the library partners with the many municipal, non-profit, and business organizations that make Princeton such an extraordinary town. This month, we spoke with Jenny Ludmer, community outreach manager, Sustainable Princeton. Sustainable Princeton is a longtime, mission-aligned partner of the library. Libraries are inherently sustainable. We take the funds entrusted to […]
Painful, scary, worrisome and difficult. These are a few of the many words that come to mind when I think about some of the recent events in this country. This has been a time of challenges for all people, but it has been especially hard for our Asian American and Pacific Islander brothers, sisters, friends […]
The now-iconic bright yellow jacket and bold red headband; a young, Black girl reciting loudly and clearly for all to hear. As I perused my social media feeds on the evening of January 20th, one thing was abundantly clear: Amanda Gorman was having a moment. Poetry was having a moment. The National Youth Poet Laureate’s […]
We invite you to check out this month’s Youth Services recommendations for activities, resources and new books in the library collection for children up to 5 years old and their families. Storytime At Home: Spanish Storytime Favorites Just added to our newly launched Storytime At Home program: our favorite books in Spanish for storytime! From […]
Lately, I’ve been watching HGTV and DIY shows like “Restored” and “Rehab Addict,” where experts preserve old houses with salvaged materials or update them with new versions of period-appropriate pieces. Part of the understanding in this show is that the designers can’t keep everything, because some items are beyond repair, but they want to hold […]
The Tweet from actor George Takei was a simple and powerful call to action: “The best thing you can do today is to speak out against violence toward Asians in this country, especially if you yourself are not Asian. Thank you to all who use their platform to spread support and love.” Princeton Public […]
To extend our community outreach, the library partners with the many municipal, non-profit, and business organizations that make Princeton such an extraordinary town. This month, we spoke with Ben Colbert, director of the Paul Robeson House, and board members, Denyse Leslie, Martha Sword and Joy Barnes-Johnson. How long has Paul Robeson House been in Princeton? […]
Whether we are moms, daughters or friends; activists, scientists, politicians or librarians, each day that we make the choice to help someone in need, be a caregiver, fight for someone’s rights or work to break yet one more glass ceiling, we are making history. Women’s History Month serves as a gleaming opportunity to shine a […]
We invite you to check out this month’s PPL Youth Services recommendations for activities, resources and new books in the library collection for children up to 5 years old and their families. Storytime At Home Create your own storytime adventure! We’ve made it easy to do storytime with your child(ren) at home or in your […]
Trends, styles, and aesthetics come and go over the years, and most of us grab bits and pieces of them to build something of our own. One trend that gained traction in 2020 and continues into 2021 is #cottagecore, an aesthetic that celebrates an idealized version of cozy cottage life, featuring home baking, knitwear, and […]
To extend our community outreach, the library partners with the many municipal, non-profit, and business organizations that make Princeton such an extraordinary town. This month, we spoke with Charlotte Collins, associate director and Gwen McNamara, communications specialist at the John H.Pace, Jr. ’39 Center for Civic Engagement at Princeton University (Pace Center for Civic Engagement). […]
Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave turned abolitionist, social reformer, and orator, did not know his birthday. Instead, he chose to celebrate his birthday on February 14. Douglass Day is celebrated annually on this chosen day. Each year, people around the country gather to learn about Black history through public events and a transcribe-a-thon. (A transcribe-a-thon is […]
We invite you to check out this month’s Youth Services recommendations for activities, resources and new books in the library collection for children from birth to 5 years old and their families. Black History Month Books For Little Kids February is Black History Month. Check out this Youth Services staff-curated list of picture books for […]
We’re almost a month into the new year and, just like during any other, I find myself thinking about what I want to accomplish. Of all I have to look forward to this year, a wedding and earning a Masters’ degree, all I can think about are the books I want to read. My reading […]
To extend our community outreach, the library partners with the many municipal, non-profit, and business organizations that make Princeton such an extraordinary town. This month, we spoke with Jon Lambert, owner of Princeton Record Exchange (PREX), and Janie Hermann, the library’s program manager. Janie: Princeton is fortunate to have local business owners such as Jon […]
On a January weekend when the day was too unexpectedly beautiful not to get a bit of sand in our shoes, my little family set off to find somewhere we had never been in our quarantine state of New Jersey. The path we took was largely unplanned and our destination unset. After recent days spent […]
It’s safe to presume that over the course of the past year, you have found yourself having conversations with others online. And, it’s also a safe bet to say that in almost every one of those meetings, someone has begun to speak and the others could not hear them because their microphone was muted. According […]
We invite you to check out this month’s Youth Services recommendations for activities, resources and new books in the library collection for children up to 5 years old and their families. Story time with Jeff Local musician and actor Jeff Trainor may be a familiar name to the town’s under-5 set for his weekly story […]
The end of every year usually brings all sorts of wrap-up lists: “best of” collections of everything from cookware and electronics to music and YouTube makeup artists. At the library, we see an almost endless array of “best of” book lists, some organized by reviewer or review site, others by genre or format, and still […]
This year, the library, like many other institutions, has had to reconsider its core values and find new ways to serve the community. One of the biggest lessons many have found is that we go farther when we work together. At a time when we cannot necessarily visit our friends and family or welcome […]
Which screen are you reading this on? The small one in your hand, the medium one on your desk? Will you turn on the big one on your wall after you’re done? Now that it has gotten cold out and it gets dark early, it feels hard to take a break from all of these […]
We invite you to check out this month’s PPL Youth Services recommendations for activities, resources, and new books in the library collection for children ages birth to five years old and their families. The Gift of Books 2020: Picture Books and Early Readers There isn’t a more perfect gift for a young child (or anyone!) […]
“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” ― Jorge Luis Borges As librarians, we’re natural-born readers who eat, sleep and breathe books. So, it should come as no surprise that the library where we work feels more like a cozy home, surrounded by our favorite things, rather than a job. […]
To extend our community outreach, the library partners with the many municipal, non-profit, and business organizations that make Princeton such an extraordinary town. This month, we spoke with Mayor Liz Lempert, as she winds down eight years of service as a mayor, to talk about some of the work she has done with the library […]
As we move into November and tune personal thoughts to our 2020 harvest celebrations, this month we also commemorate the heritage and history of the native peoples of North America. We’re featuring a selection of poetry, memoirs, history, and fiction from our collections, as well as related links to elibrary resources and Indigenous People’s Day […]
We invite you to check out this month’s PPL Youth Services recommendations for activities, resources and new books in the library collection for children up to 5 years old and their families. And don’t forget, Youth Services staff are once again available for in-person recommendations and encourage families to visit us on the newly reopened […]
Interested in starting a business? Or, looking for resources for an existing business? It can be difficult to know where to begin. The good news is that libraries have been helping business communities for years. The Princeton Public Library is no exception. Alongside our robust collection of books, and our longstanding partnership with SCORE Princeton, […]
My grandfather’s cousin Jack was incredibly focused when it came to genealogy. Working in the pre-internet days, he traveled, called, wrote letters, and faxed to dig up records from the U.S. and across Europe to fill in as much of his family tree as he could. He filled a bin full of binders that contained […]