Press Releases

Illustrator To Visit Prendergast Library

             Artist and illustrator Floyd Cooper will visit Prendergast Library at 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 16. The event, sponsored by Highlights Corporation, will be held in the library’s Fireplace Room.

            Cooper has written and illustrated Coming Home: From the Life of Langston Hughes, Mandela: From the Life of the South African Statesman and Cumbayah. He has also illustrated many books, including African Beginnings by J. Haskins and K. Benson, Faraway Drums by Virginia Kroll and Tree of Hope by Amy Littlesugar.

            Cooper will visit as part of the 2008 New York State Summer Reading Program, “Catch the Reading Bug,” which is supported by Federal Services and Technology Act funds, awarded to the New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

            The library is located at 509 Cherry St., Jamestown. For more information, call 484-7135, Ext. 234.

Author To Visit Prendergast Library

            Author Lorraine Butler Simcox will visit Prendergast Library at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 19. The event, including a puppet show and book signing, will be held in the library’s Fireplace Room.

            Lorraine Butler Simcox was born and raised in Western New York. She fondly remembers walking to Prendergast Library as a child while living in Jamestown.

            Her first children’s book, A Single Red Thread, was inspired by her own experience adopting her daughter, Lillian. The book is a heartwarming story of enduring hope, extraordinary sacrifice and lives woven together by a single red thread.

            The story is inspired by a true story and based on the ancient Chinese belief that an invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance – the red thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.

            “With over 143 million children worldwide orphaned, or in need of adequate parental care, A Single Red Thread is committed to making a difference in the life of these children,” the author said. “It is our hope to become a voice for these children by raising adoption awareness, encouraging adoption by assisting parents with resources, and simply letting others like you know how you can make a difference.”

            Proceeds from the sale of this book go to benefit orphans worldwide. Preorder forms are available at the Children’s Room desk. The author will bring the preordered, signed copies with her. For more information about the book, visit www.ASingleRedThread.com.

            Ms. Simcox will visit as part of the 2008 New York State Summer Reading Program, “Catch the Reading Bug,” which is supported by Federal Services and Technology Act funds, awarded to the New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

            The library is located at 509 Cherry St., Jamestown. For more information, call 484-7135, Ext. 234.

Local Embroiderers Present Group Exhibit

Members of the Chautauqua Region Chapter of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America, Inc., will present a group exhibit called Flights of Fancy in the Prendergast Library Art Gallery June 27 through July 25.

The stitchers will greet the public and answer questions about their work at a reception from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 27, in the Fireplace Room at the Library. The reception is free, and refreshments will be served.

Chartered in 1982, the local chapter meets at 7 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Jamestown. The group is one of 345 Embroiderers’ Guild chapters across the country dedicated to education about needlework through programs at meetings, regional and national seminars, and correspondence courses. 

           Large framed pieces of needlework will hang on the walls of the Library gallery while small pieces are set off in glass cases. Allene Hooper is coordinating the exhibit on behalf of the group.

Gallery hours for the show are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays; and 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays.

The next exhibit at the Library will be paintings by David E. Miller of Gerry.

 Exhibits are funded by the Chautauqua County Decentralization Fund, in partnership with the Arts Council in Buffalo and Erie County, with funds from the New York State Legislature and the New York State Council on the Arts.  

            The library is located at 509 Cherry St., Jamestown. For more information, call 484-7135, Ext. 225.

 

*Prendergast To Screen ‘Indian In The Cupboard’*

After Lunch Movies @ the Library will continue at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 26, with the showing of /Indian in the Cupboard/. The event will take place in the Prendergast Library Fireplace Room and is free and open to the public.

In the film, which is rated PG and runs for 96 minutes, a boy discovers that a plastic Indian comes to life after he puts it inside an old cupboard. The cast includes Frank Oz, Hal Scardino, Litefoot and Lindsay Crouse.

In August, the library will screen /The Secret Garden/, /The Borrowers/ and /Black Beauty/.

The film showings are supported by a Community Service Grant from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation through a project called Talk To Me About Books. The library is also showing films based on books for adults and sponsoring a series of monthly book discussions through January.

The library is located at 509 Cherry St., Jamestown. For more information, call 484-7135, Ext. 225.