Family Film Series: Jungle Bride
Saturday, January 6 at 7:00 p.m.

Join us on Saturday, January 6 at 7:00 p.m. for the lost "B-movie" classic The Jungle Bride. A man is shipwrecked with, among others, his captor and the sister of the man he is accused of murdering. Romance and adventure on a desert island!

Subsequent movies in the series will be A Night at the Opera on February 3, In a Lonely Place on March 10, and Twentieth Century on March 24.

The films are drawn from the collection of the late Raymond Schoonover of New York City. Refreshments will be served.

Holiday Hours and Programming Changes


The library will be closed on Sunday, December 24 for Christmas Eve but will otherwise run on its normal schedule of open hours during the holiday season.

Because of staff vacations and holiday conflicts, we will not have a Sunday Discoveries this month, nor will we have our regular children's programming during the week between Christmas and the new year.

Book Discussion Groups at the Library
Fiction or Non-Fiction, We've Got You Covered!

Circle of Readers will meet on Monday, December 11 at 1:00 p.m. to discuss the book Crossing Open Ground by Barry Lopez. Lopez, winner of the 1996 American Book Award for Arctic Dreams, weaves the same invigorating spell in Crossing Open Ground. Through his crystalline vision, Lopez urges us toward a new attitude, a re-enchantment with the world that is vital to our sense of place, our well-being...our very survival. Circle of Readers will discuss the memoir Time to Be in Earnest by P.D. James at their Monday, January 8 meeting.

The Non-Fiction Book Club will meet on Monday, December 18 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss the book E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis. Generations have grown up knowing that Albert Einstein's equation E=mc2 changed the shape of our world, but never understanding what it actually means, why it was so significant, and how it informs our daily lives today-governing, as it does, everything from the atomic bomb to a television's cathode ray tube to the carbon dating of prehistoric paintings. In this book, Bodanis writes the "biography" of one of the greatest scientific discoveries in history, made a century ago--that the realms of energy and matter are inescapably linked. Through his skill as a writer and teacher, he turns a seemingly impenetrable theory in to a dramatic human achievement and an uncommonly good story. The Non-Fiction Book Club will discuss the book Coming into the Country by John McPhee at their Monday, January 15 meeting.

The Next Page Book Club will not meet in December but will discuss the book Howard's End by E.M. Forster on Wednesday, January 10.

Teen Book Club: The Big Readers
Wednesday, December 13 at 7:30 p.m.

What could be wrong with living in a world where looks are everything? Join our teen book club to find out! The Big Readers will discuss the book Uglies by Scott Westerfeld on Wednesday, December 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- but for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

Teen Movie Night: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Saturday, December 9 at 6:30 p.m.

Did you miss the blockbuster movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest this summer? Never fear...if you're a teenager, you can catch it on Saturday, December 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the library! Captain Jack owes a blood debt to the legendary Davy Jones, who captains the ghostly Flying Dutchman. Unless Jack can find a way out, he will be cursed to an afterlife of eternal servitude and damnation.

Candlelight Night
Friday, December 8 from 5:30-8:30 p.m.

While you're busy chatting with Santa, taking a horse-drawn carriage ride, and visiting reindeer during Candlelight Night on Friday, December 8, don't forget to visit the library! Proprio Musica will once again grace the library with holiday music while we enjoy refreshments by the fire. This local string quartet includes violinists Wendy Fieser and Hugh Ferguson, violist Michael Dunnell, and cellist Gloria Terwilliger. We'll be offering some simple craft activities for kids, too.

Friends of the Kinderhook Memorial Library (FOKML) will host another library-related event just down the street from the library at the Feed and Grain building (24 Hudson Street). Enjoy refreshments from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and peruse high quality new, slightly used, and collectible books for sale at special prices. Friends of the library receive a 25% discount. Not a Friend? Don't worry! Membership information will be available so you can join and receive your discount right away! Proceeds benefit the library through ongoing support of our collection and programs.

Don't forget to visit the Gallery of Wreaths at the Columbia County Museum, too! Local children helped Alanna Almstead, our children's librarian, to create a library wreath!

Targeted Donations Help Improve Library Collection
Audiobooks on CD, Young Adult Books, Fitness DVDs, and Carpentry Books!

Thanks to the generosity of some of our patrons and local organizations, the library has been able to improve areas of its collection. Friends of the Kinderhook Memorial Library (FOKML) made a contribution in memory of our trustee Ken Hummel who passed away in August. We worked with FOKML to select four books about one of Ken's passions, home building. The new books are Working Alone: Tips & Techniques for Solo Building by John Carroll, Homebuilding Basics: Carpentry by Larry Haun, Habitat for Humanity: How to Build a House by Larry Haun, and Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes by George Nash.

The Kinderhook Runners Group also made a generous donation to improve library resources on running and general fitness. We purchased new DVDs including theatrical movies and documentaries about running such as Chariots of Fire and Running on the Sun, and instructional DVDs about walking for health, stretching, yoga and Pilates.

Look for new additions to our audio books on CD for children and adults and new books in our young adult collection, too!

New Trustees Join Library Board
Welcome Dorothy Balko, Gary Spielmann, and Christian Sweningsen

We have three new trustees who joined the Kinderhook Library in November. Dorothy (Dot) Balko, has degrees in English, Education, and Library Science from Russell Sage College and SUNY Albany. After working in school, public, and regional libraries, she retired three years ago from a school library in New Jersey. On becoming a KML board member, Dot said. "I really feel that area residents have a gem of a resource in the Kinderhook Memorial Library and its staff, and I look forward to working with you all. Librarians (especially retired ones) are always looking for reasons to read more!"

Gary Spielmann has just retired after a career in teaching, research and writing, and is eager to promote life-long learning for himself and others as well. A Kinderhook resident for 37 years, he just returned from Hay-on-Wye in Wales, the mecca for bibliophiles from around the world.

Christian Sweningsen was born and raised in Southern California; he has been involved with books and libraries his whole life. Christian has had careers in construction, solar heating, and project management, as well as ten years teaching high school physics, geometry and technology. He came east twenty-five years ago, and appreciates the changes in seasons enough to stay!

Dot, Gary, and Christian are welcome additions to the library and, among other areas, will help us with our building and grounds, long range planning, and program development.