Soule Branch Library - Onondaga County Public Libraries

Don't forget - Sunday 2:00 AM - set your clocks back an hour! Or, if you're like me, Saturday around 10 PM - HEH.

Some amazing artwork by the middle school students at the Onondaga Nation school displayed at the Lafayette Public Library.

HEH.

You’d think it was a holiday here at Central Library!

📢 ALERT: Starting Sunday, November 3rd, at 6 p.m., you will not be able to access OCPL electronic resources, such as the online catalog, databases & e-content (like Libby). These resources will be temporarily unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. We will update you when these services become available.🙂

Thursday, October 31 (3:00 - 4:30 p.m.): It's a Howl-o-Ween celebration at Mundy Branch. Bring the kids to enjoy spooky crafts & snacks in the Community Room. Don't forget to stop by all of the staff desks to get a treat!

Improvements are being planned for the Region CNY Regional Market, please take this 10 minute survey to help ensure the Market meets the needs of area residents.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CNYRegionalMarket

Early voting has commenced across Onondaga County, and the one city library that is part of this process is Beauchamp Branch at 2111 South Salina Street. A steady amount of voters were there this morning, as voting goes until 6PM today. For the rest of the week, here are the times for early voting (according to the Board of Elections)

Tuesday, Oct. 29 - Noon to 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 30 - Noon to 8 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 31 - 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 1 - 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2 - 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 3 - 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Of course, Beauchamp and a number of libraries will be polling sites on the actual election day (Nov 5th). Get out and vote!

Be sure to "Check Out" Maggie and Tom's very not so scary Halloween edition of OCPL's Check It Out podcast on WCNY Community FM. We take a look at a number of Tricking and Treating events all this week at places like Betts, White, Maxwell, Northern Onondaga Public Library (NOPL) Brewerton and North Syracuse, Salina Free, Mundy, DeWitt and of course: Solvay Public Library. Lots going on, with crafts, stories and of course the required tricking and treating at many branches.

Check It Out: Another Chance at the Costume Closet |WCNY We are days away from Halloween, but there is still time to do some crafting, hit up some Halloween parties and do trick or treating at a number of Onondaga County Public Libraries. Plus, if you are still in need of a costume, they have info on the second Costume Closet program. Tom has the tricks;....

Here is the story about the Fall Prevention classes going on at various libraries, courtesy of CNY Central's More Than Just Books series. This program is happening at Minoa Library right now, but they will be at a number of libraries in 2025.

More Than Just Books: Fall prevention at local libraries Falls drain the confidence of older people. A class aimed at fall prevention is helping CNY neighbors.

OCPL celebrated Halloween early this past Saturday by tabling at the last Rosamond Gifford Zoo Boo Day & with Petit Branch Library's Halloween Dog Parade.

A successful Costume Closet down at Betts Branch this past Saturday. We gave away over 100+ costumes in the first 45 minutes. Lots of happy faces. Thanks to OCRRA.org for providing the refreshments. And thanks to Laura and the staff for giving out books to all the kids, on top of the costume.

You can still stop in to White and Betts over the next few days, if you are still in a desperate search for a costume. Just be aware, supplies are limited. Betts has more accessories (masks, wigs, etc) while White has primarily a small supply of costumes.

And then, once Halloween is over, ANYONE can stop down to the two branches in November to donate to the 2025 Costume Closet event.

Tomorrow morning on CNYCentral, More Than Just Books looks at an important program going on for seniors at the Minoa Library.

It’s a Fall Prevention class to help improve balance and endurance, plus they discuss ways to keep yourself safer around the community.

This program has been at Minoa and Paine Branch, and in 2025 they will have more programs at additional libraries.

OCPL and OCRRA.org stopped over to 93Q to tell everyone about the second of our Costume Closet programs. This one will be Saturday the 26th from 1-4pm.

Free costumes, free cider, free doughnuts.... what more could you want?

Thanks as always to our friends, Ted & Amy 93Q, for always having time to chat with us.

Recycle Those Costumes! - 93 Q The Onondaga Public Library has teamed up with OCRRA to recycle Halloween costumes this year! Tom Walters from the Library and Tammy Palmer from OCRRA joined us this morning with the details!

📣There are still spots left to attend the latest Global Sandwich program at Central Library! Learn how to make a Musakhan Roll in the Community Room on Tuesday, Oct 29, from 5:30 - 7:00 PM. Sign up today: https://onlib-central.libcal.com/event/13276651

Weekend fun: Calling all dog lovers! 🐾 Stop by Petit Branch for the Annual Halloween Dog Parade on Sat, Oct 26th at 11am. 🎃Enjoy live music (Second Line Syracuse), cider + donuts. Thank you Westcott Neighborhood Association, The Summit Federal Credit Union & CNY Arts for helping to make this event possible!

A wonderful celebration of a career dedicated to the service of others. The Baldwinsville Public Library had a wonderful retirement reception for Meg Van Patten.

There was an outpouring of love and respect for Meg from the OCPL family, the Baldwinsville community, the Onondaga County Legislature, as well as friends and family.

Meg started at Baldwinsville in 1979, serving as director since 2013.

There were great stories, even a Meg Trivia contest today in the community room.

We thank Meg for her decades of devotion to the Baldwinsville and OCPL families and always remember this incredible and accurate Meg quote: "Don't forget, librarians are the first original search engine."

OCPL visited CBA Syracuse for library card sign-ups on Thursday. We brought the button maker & had a special request from WaterWyse CNY Director of Marketing, Chris O’Connor (our first bring-your-own design patron!), plus chatted about park passes and online resources. A special thank you to Mrs. Cote from CBA’s Learning Commons – we look forward to partnering up with you in the future!

A really fun family event going on at Elbridge Free Library this Saturday at 6:30pm. Go check out the pumpkin walk!

Last night at the Friends of the Central Library author series event at the Civic Center, patrons got their first chance to look over the book bike, which we recently purchased.

Be on the lookout for it in 2025.

We had a fantastic Costume Closet at White Branch on Monday, with help from our friends at OCRRA.org, who were manning the refreshment table.

Over 150 costumes when we started, and we are down to less than 30. Some very happy faces (with the exception of Kylo Ren... but when is he ever happy!?) and close to 120 costumes were given away.

You can stop up to White to check out the remaining items (if anyone needs the Hulkbuster helmet.... it is there!). And a reminder that our next big event will be at Betts Branch on the 26th from 1 to 4pm.

FYI: Literacy CNY is holding English conversation practice sessions for teens & adults at Maxwell Memorial Library on Thursdays from 5:30 - 7:00 PM through November 21. Free. Registration encouraged. Note: No class on October 31. Sign up here: https://onlib-maxwell.libcal.com/

Woohoo... handed out candy, bookmarks, stickers & information to over 730 visitors at Saturday's Rosamond Gifford Zoo Boo Day! So nice to see patrons flashing the FREE County Park Pass they borrowed using their library card😁! You'll find us at the Zoo for the next two Saturdays (10/19 & 10/26). Stop by & say 'hi.'

Today we kick off the Costume Closet Giveaway at White Branch from 2-4pm. We do the same for Betts on Saturday the 26th from 1-4pm.

More Than Just Books aired on Saturday and gives you some more details and a look at just some of the costumes. There will be cider and doughnuts provided by OCRRA.org, who is our partner with us this year.

https://cnycentral.com/news/local/more-than-just-books-costume-recycling-and-giveaway-in-syracuse #

More than Just Books: Costume recycling and giveaway in Syracuse Kids have been dressing for Halloween for generations now; but what happens to the costumes come November 1st?

Libraries and the Airport? Seems like an odd pairing, but OCPL does a number of cool projects together with the airport. So, we brought in Matt Szwejbka from Syracuse Hancock International Airport to talk about their Community Art program, Wings for all (which we are taking part in this year for the first time, and of course the SYR Reading Runway.

Matt and his team are amazing and this is a fascinating interview.

Check It Out: Why Airports and Books are the BEST |WCNY It's been almost two years since the Onondaga County Public Libraries started their Ready Runway at SYR; grab a free book before you get on the plane! Also, hear what's coming next for the SYR Community Art Program from our guest, Matt Szwejbka, Public Communications Officer for the Syracuse Regiona...

Calling all magic lovers! Tomorrow at 2 pm we'll be hosting Paul Jackman, of the Twin Magicians. He'll amaze and amuse you with feats of magic and a bounty of balloon creations. We hope to see you there.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, our reception for artist David Casales has been canceled. However, there is still time to view his exhibit, “XOXOKTIK (Aztec) Green," until July 31! This art display features an Aztec culture theme, intending to generate environmental literacy through its topics of reducing energy usage, consumption habits, and chemicals. The word “xixiltic” means green in the Aztec language. Every art piece has a unique sustainability story, each being created with the medium of all recycled materials. Some materials were found in the trash, while others were found at Clean-up Day events. The artist avoided consumption of resources by repurposing these used materials.

Professor James of Bubblemania created an amazing bubble adventure for our huge crowd last Thursday afternoon. Want to see children lose their minds? Bring out the bubbles!

Due to low enrollment, tomorrow's Ultimate Pub Trivia program has been cancelled. We hope to bring this program back later in the year, so if you couldn't make it this time, keep an eye out during the coming months for round two!

Have an adventure with Professor Bubbles! First, learn the science of how bubbles do the amazing things they do. Then, hear the story of how the biggest bubbles you've ever seen have come to exist. The fun all happens tomorrow at 2 pm!

*This program us supported by funds from the M&T Charitable Foundation.*

We learned lots of cool animal facts and busted so many common myths and misconceptions about animals found at the zoo during our Zoo to You program last Thursday. Special thanks to our friends at Rosamond Gifford Zoo for taking the time to educate all of our attendees.

We're back with another Craft Time program! This month we're working on bucket list journals. What adventures await you? Join us tomorrow at 5:30 pm to assemble a bucket list journal to record where you want to go and what you want to do. All supplies, including checklists & writing prompts, will be provided to help you make your perfect inspirational bucket list. Participants can earn a stamp on their Soule Library Summer Bingo card for attending this program.

We're just one week away from our Ultimate Pub Trivia program! Teams of 2-4 people will compete to see how many questions they can answer correctly each round. 10 questions per round; 5 rounds total; a new category each round Snacks will be provided. Space is limited to 4 teams, so make sure to register before time runs out! Click here to sign up: https://bit.ly/3S1GcwW

Local poet, author, and LeMoyne College alumna C.C. Ostrander will give a presentation on the creative process and self-publication this afternoon at 3:00 pm. This book talk includes a reading from her novel, Amber Flame, and a Q&A session with the author. More information can be found on her website: ccostrander.wixsite.com/ccostrander. And for those of you participating in our Adult Summer Reading Program, attendees can earn a stamp on their Soule Library Summer Bingo card for attending this program. See Sarah after the program to get your stamp.

Programs, programs, programs! You can tell it's summer because we're bursting with things to do, especially today. Check out the two programs we have on deck for kids.

First up at 10:30, we have our weekly Lap-Sit Storytime. At 2:00, our friends from Rosamond Gifford Zoo will be here for Zoo to You. It's going to be a busy day, so be sure to come visit us and join in on the fun.

‼️ Important announcement! ‼️ Please stay safe, everyone.

We loved having the opportunity to host the Le Moyne Liberty Partnerships Program participants yesterday morning. They had a great time getting new library cards, learning about library resources, getting to know our staff, and doing a library scavenger hunt.

‼️ Attention please! ‼️

We are currently closed due to a water main break. Drop-in Game Time is cancelled this morning. Please stay tuned for further updates on whether we will be able to open later today. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Join us this Thursday at 2 pm, when our friends from Rosamond Gifford Zoo will visit us to present their ever-popular Zoo to You program. Can an owl turn its head all the way around? Do porcupines shoot their quills? Can turtles leave their shells? Find out by analyzing some myths and misconceptions about animals found at the zoo.