Teen News

Our Garden Is Growing
We have lettuce, arugula, mint, parsley and basil.
Three types of tomatoes are growing and peas will be ready soon too.
Come by and pick what you need.

Sign Up For Summer Reading!
Kids, teens, and adults are invited to sign up for our summer reading challenge! Keep track of your reading progress and earn prizes between Wednesday, June 18th, and Friday, August 15th. Sign up for the kids’ challenge in the Children’s Room, the teen challenge using this linked form, and the adult challenge at the front desk.
Upcoming Programs
Nintendo Switch Drop in Hours
Friday, August 1
3:00 pm - 4:45 pm
Teens! Did you know that the library has a Nintendo Switch that you can use?
Come to the open hours on Friday afternoons OR Dobbs Ferry Public Library card holders can email teens@dobbsferrylibrary.org to reserve your time slot where you can use the Switch in the building (not available for checkout).
Grades 6 – 12 only.
Lego Club in the Children’s Room
Friday, August 1
3:30 pm - 4:45 pm
Ages 3 +
Use your imagination to build something special with our giant stash of LEGOS!
Fridays all month long.
Balikbayan Art Workshop
Saturday, August 2
10:30 am - 12:30 pm
Ages 10-18
Using the metaphor from the Filipinx practice of the “Balikbayan Box,” this is an art workshop for teens/almost teens that provides us ways to creatively reflect the return home to ourselves. Using collaging, markers, stickers, & colored pencils, we reflect on our identity, healing, hopes, and dreams.
Registration REQUIRED — email teens@dobbsferrylibrary.org to sign up.
Add to our Community Mural in the Community Room
Sunday, August 3
All Day
Thirty two kids of all ages created this mural in collaboration with Scribble Art Workshop to mark the beginning of the Summer Reading Challenge. Use the tools on the table to add your piece.
Rules:
- Be cool, not offensive
- Be respectful to other’s art
- Be clean!
Teen Summer Reading Challenge
Sunday, August 3
All Day
Summer Reading is June 18 through August 15!
This year’s theme is Color Our World!
Sign up using this Google Form.
This year you can log your reading using a paper log (contact Alex to request a copy) or you can join the Dobbs Ferry Teen Summer Reading book club on The StoryGraph and see what your friends are reading!
Have questions? Email teen librarian Alex at teens@dobbsferrylibrary.org.
For a full list of events, check out our website here!
Online Resources

Comics Plus is provided by Westchester Library System. Access graphic novels for all ages from 80 publishers for free with your library card!
Click here to get started |
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Indigenous peoples are often overlooked by the dominant forces in contemporary American society. They’re a vital part of our past, but also of our present and future. Springhurst librarian Lauren Rodriguez, Middle/High School media specialist Ellen Elsen, and K-8 literacy coordinator Michelle Yang-Kaczmarek have teamed up with Dobbs Ferry Public Library children’s librarian Gina Elbert and teen librarian Allee Manning to create the below resource list to help you dive deeper into indigenous literature for kindergarten through 12th grade. While it focuses on the indigenous peoples of the United States, it also contains a short section acknowledging native peoples of other countries in the Americas. These stories span contemporary life as well as historical fact and are part of a growing movement in publishing to better represent marginalized voices. Many are about Native Americans of the continental United States, but Native Hawaiians and Alaskans appear too. This is a sampling of available resources and not an exhaustive list. If you would like help finding more, please contact your librarian(s).

Every year, from mid-September to mid-October, Americans recognize National Hispanic Heritage Month by honoring the culture, histories, and contributions of Americans whose ancestors came to the country from Spanish-speaking countries in Europe and the Americas. The first celebration took place during one week in mid-September of 1968, with the timeframe chosen to honor independence day celebrations in many Spanish-speaking countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (all on September 15), Mexico (September 16), and Chile (September 18). In 1988, the celebration was expanded to last a month, from September 15-October 15 each year.
Springhurst Library Media Specialist Lauren Rodriguez, Middle/High School Library Media Specialist Ellen Elsen, and K-8 Literacy Coordinator Michelle Yang-Kaczmarek have teamed up with Dobbs Ferry Public Library Children’s Librarian Gina Elbert and Young Adult Librarian Allee Manning to create this resource list to help your families dive deeper into the contributions and culture of Latinx and Hispanic Americans.

AAPI Heritage Month recognizes the contributions and influences that Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans have made to the history, culture and achievements of the United States. This year, it is especially important to support, celebrate and advocate for the AAPI community who have been experiencing an increase in anti-Asian bias and violence. So this year’s theme is “Stop AAPI Hate: Solidarity, Community, and Celebration”. The month of May was chosen as a way to commemorate the first wave of Japanese immigrants to the United States on May 7, 1843 and to also mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants. It is important to remember that members of the AAPI community come from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Western Asia, and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Each Asian country and Pacific Island nation has its own unique culture, language and traditions.
To celebrate this important community, Children’s Librarian Gina Elbert has collaborated with Springhurst Library Media Specialist Lauren Rodriguez, Dobbs Ferry Middle/High School Library Media Specialist Ellen Elsen, and Dobbs Ferry K-8 Literacy Coordinator Michelle Yang-Kaczmarek to make a resource list of books, social media accounts, and websites. Our hope is that these resources will help you to amplify, respect and make space for AAPI every single day, not just in May.