It is hardly news that books make great holiday gifts. But in these economically stressed times, I want to shout loud and clear that books not only make fabulous gifts they are well-priced gift choices as well.

Now, the hard part is indeed making the right selection.  In our wide universe you can go to online sources, stop into a local bookstore (my favorite way) to talk with a bookseller or check out some book displays. Or, too, you can  read up on those ever popular end-of-year-book guides.

Remember, with one stop into a bookstore every name on your holiday gift list can be hit with success. And at some bookstores you can get a neat cup of coffee and use up that extra time you would have spent shopping elsewhere.

Now, the trick is how to pick that right book, so here are some guides:

Ever wonder how a writer comes up with ideas for a story?  Here’s your chance to find out and also meet a locally-based mystery writer.

Author  Gail E. Farrelly is coming to the Tuckahoe Library next Thursday to reveal how she comes with ideas and develops into mystery books.

Gail, and her sister Rita, have written books, short stories and magazine articles. Check out their Web site. Gail’s most recent book, Creamed at Commencement, is the story about the murder of a college professor (a prolific publisher)  at a graduation ceremony. Her first mystery, “Beaned in Boston” was named to the 1997 Washington Irving Book Selection list.

Meet the author and hear her talk at 11:30 am, Dec. 4 at Tuckahoe Library, 71 Columbus Ave..
Call to register  914-961-2121.

The Westchester Library System has named Terry Kirchner, a Putnam Valley resident, as its next executive director. He begins his post Jan. 5.

For the last three years, the 44-year-old librarian has been the Director for Access Services at Columbia University Libraries, where he coordinated system-wide interaction between the 22 campus libraries.

Shortly, he will be coordinating efforts among 38 member libraries in Westchester County. He recently met the directors at the 49 the annual meeting of WLS and told me via e-mail that it was a warm and welcome encounter.

But I am sure this job will present new and different challenges — if not the new technology that is moving at lightning speed, then the troublesome economy and financial constraints will keep him on his toes.

Kirchner replaces Sioban Reardon, who was the director from 2005-2008 but left to become head of the Free Library of Philadelphia. Before her was Maurice Freedman, who excelled during his 23 years at the system bringing technology front and center.

Prior to coming to Columbia Kirchner was at the New York Public Library, where he managed the public service operations. He has a Master’s in Library Science, a Master’s in Business Administration and a PhD in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Kirchner has lived in Putnam Valley for 9 years and he says he is going to enjoy the shorter commute to work.

Read more about him in a story Wednesday this Monday in The Journal News. And, when he arrives at WLS in 2009, I will talk to him again. Any questions about WLS services, pass them along.

The Desmond-Fish Library is Garrison is looking for some holiday gifts of its own and is making the shopping quite easy. The creative librarians have come up a holiday idea that is sure to warm the hearts of the givers and benefit the library for a long while to come.

The library’s annual holiday boutique opens Saturday, Nov. 29 where it sells items made by local artists and crafts people. Proceeds benefit the library. But the library is hoping for some other gifts and to that end will have a “Wish List” hanging about with ideas.  This year, the library is hoping gift-givers also remember their beloved institution of knowledge and learning which is struggling under recent budget cuts.

“The boutique features many talented local artisans, and a portion of all sales benefit the library.  It is a wonderful place to find gifts, but we hope that you will also consider another kind of holiday gift this season,” Library Director Carol Donick wrote in a recent email. “The recession is taking its toll on the library.  Our income is down (we’ve just been told that we will be receiving $5,000 less from the town of Philipstown) at the same time that more people than ever have recognized that using the library is a great way to save money. In this time of financial difficulties we hope that some of our patrons might be interested in helping the library add more books and other items to its collection.  One of my favorite activities as a librarian is picking out new books for the library, and I’ve enjoyed choosing many new books, books on CD, and DVD’s which we cannot afford to buy to add to  the library’s wish list. ”

The library has even registered its “Wish List” with Amazon.com so givers don’t have to search around for a particular item.

Choices include:

•”Martha Stewart’s Cooking School” by Martha Stewart

•”Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China” by Leslie T. Chang

•”DogFriendly.com’s East Coast Dog Travel Guide” by Tara Kain and Len Kain

One thing I’ve learned as a reporter is that people generally like to share things to know. And they especially like to talk about books they are reading and ones they are loving.

This week I wrote a story about nonprofit organizations who are struggling with declining donations in the wake of our economic crisis. One source, Diane Serratore, executive director of People to People in Nanuet, spoke candidly about her agency’s food pantry and services. She said she is seeing smaller money donations, but she hoped the generous community would continue to contribute items. She is seeing more and more people requesting food, which is a sign of the times. To read more, check out the story online.

While speaking with Serratore, I had to ask her what she was reading. Well, she had lots to say here.

“I don’t clean or cook much, but I read a lot,” she said laughing. She particularly likes mysteries and crime fiction with an English flair, like Agatha Christie and Ruth Rendell. Her other passion is historical fiction. “It just harkens back to a time when things were simple — or so it seems,” she said.

But clearly an eclectic reader, right now she is plowing through a book about Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, a lengthy biography of the man who wrote the Federalist Papers and was the first Secretary of the Treasury.

“I am learning about our country’s history and this interesting figure,” she said.

And she hasn’t gotten to the part about his duel with Aaron Burr.

Happy reading!

Yes, that’s right, the first ever interactive, online National Gaming Day at the Library will be this Saturday. And it’s more than just video games — it’s intended to encourage literacy and a love of libraries as where fun happens.  It seems that in our region, Haverstraw, Kent and Mt. Vernon public libraries are participating.

During National Gaming Day, public, school, and academic libraries will participate in two national events. The first is an attempt to establish a record for the most number of people playing the board game “Pictureka!” on the same day at the library, according to a release sent out by the American Library Association based in Chicago.

“Gaming formats have become a valuable tool for libraries,” said ALA President Jim Rettig. “Not only has this new format increased library usage from hard to reach users such as teens, we also have found that video games attract a variety of users and are a great vehicle to teach basic technology skills.”

In addition to Pictureka! and/or videogames, libraries will offer other active participation games. Wizards of the Coast has donated all the materials needed to run both the Dungeons & Dragons® Roleplaying Game and Magic: The Gathering® Trading Card Game to registered libraries.

Library gamers will also participate in a national video game tournament via the web. Players of all ages and experience levels will be able to see how they rank on local, regional and national leaderboards. The video game tournament is made possible by free Web-based tools provided by Ann Arbor (MI) District Library.

In June 2008, the ALA received a $1 million grant from the Verizon Foundation to study how library gaming activities could improve children’s problem-solving and literacy skills. During the two-year project, the ALA intends to work directly with public, school, and academic libraries to document the use of gaming as a learning and literacy tool.

To find out more, go to the American Library Association’s site. And please, I want to know about all the local events so e-mail me at bnackman@Lohud.com or just add your comment here.

In announcing massive cuts in state funding today, Gov. David Patterson is trying to bridge a $1.5 billion budget deficit this year.

His proposal includes a $20 million cut to library aid.

“That’s a 21% cut to library and system funding that has been static for a decade,” shouts the Mid-Hudson Library System, whose cooperative system includes Putnam County libraries.

And this comes amid news from libraries throughout Westchester, Putnam and Rockland that more people  are using their local library this fall. When the economy is troubled, community members go to their libraries to help them find jobs, answer all sorts of information needs, and provide economical entertainment (think reading, DVDs and no charge computer access).

Mid-Hudson sent out an e-mail this afternoon to libraries and library supporters asking them to contact the Governor’s office with these talking points:
a.. Libraries have already contributed their fair share toward reducing
the state’s budget deficit. Library Aid has already been reduced twice this
year from $102 million to $99 million.

b.. Between 1998-2006, libraries and library systems received no
increases, while other educational institutions received generous increases.

c.. Library use is up dramatically in every community across the state.

d.. Library systems are the backbone of our libraries and information
infrastructure. They are an example of how the library community has long
been a champion and role model for regional cooperation, resource sharing
and providing services in a cost-effective and efficient manner, that saves
libraries of all types and their patrons money.

OK, I must admit, this program title caught my attention more than others. So I read on and am sharing this Saturday event with everyone.  Maybe it would be a good chilly day to head inside and learn a bit about something new.  And since you will be in the White Plains Public Library, look at its neat collection.

The Westchester Library System is presenting a program at 2 p.m. tomorrow “Reading as a Social Capital: How We Use Text to Engage in the World.”

The speaker is Vanessa J. Morris, a professor in the College of Information Science and Technology at Drexel University. She was a teen librarian at the Philadelphia Free Library where she led book discussion groups to explore themes and images within the urban lit genre. She writes a column about urban lit for a library publication.
This discussion will explore the many ways that text and what we read make us understand our culture and help us in our daily lives.  It is sponsored by the Westchester Library System (WLS) and Westchester Literacy and Learning Alliance’s (WLLA) and is the third annual “Engaging All Kinds of Readers” series. Each program features a researcher and focuses on readers.   All programs are free and open to the public.  Registration is not required.

It is at 2 p.m. at the White Plains Library, 100 Martine Ave., White Plains.

This week’s recommendation comes from Edward Burlingame, former publisher and Editor in Chief at Harper & Row  and founder of The Adventure Library. He is opening up his personal library to the North Salem community next weekend for a unique fundraiser offering tours of six libraries in private homes. The Nov. 16 event will benefit the North Salem library, Ruth Keeler Memorial Library.

In advance of the Private Tours of Private Spaces, my colleague Elizabeth Ganga got her own tour of the library. While gazing at his floor-to-ceiling shelves and shelves of books, she asked the longtime editor to suggest a noteworthy book to others.

He especially likes “The Radetzky March” (1932), one of the best known novels by a prolific author Joseph March. A German journalist, he fled the county in 1933 heading first to Paris. He then moved around Europe from Vienna to Amsterdam and back to Paris where he died in 1939. “Radetzky” is about four generations of an Austro-Hungarian family. It seems it wasn’t translated into English until 2002.

Burlingame told Ganga that he appreciates Roth’s writing and considers him a largely forgotten German writer that deserves more attention.

Bestselling author Michael Crichton has died of cancer at 66 in Los Angeles, reports the Hollywood Reporter and a slew of other media outlets. His books were made into fabulously successful movies, “Jurassic Park” and “The Andromeda Strain” and he is also the creator of the popular television series, ER.

His family released a statement and a story appeared in LoHud.com’s news update this afternoon.

He had kept it relatively private that he as battling cancer, says the Hollywood Reporter .

In Westchester County, he has been considered a local author sharing the Bedford community address with other notables like Ralph Lauren and Chevy Chase.

Indeed, Crichton lived in Bedford. In 1996, he bought a 13.2-acre estate with a 15-room, Tudor-style house in Bedford and then promptly filed paperwork with the town for major renovations. But, as part of 2001 divorce his wife Ann-Marie she got the house as part of the separation agreement, according to a 2003 story in Forbes magazine.

Nevertheless, Librarian Ann Cloonan, director of the Bedford Village Free Library, said she recalls hearing he was a big library supporter in communities where he has lived. He was known for generously donating funds and his time. When Bedford Village, for example, planned a building expansion more than a decade ago, Cloonan, says that staff recalls that he spoke at the library during a capital campaign fund-raiser.

He also was a featured author at Intrigue, a literary lunch with authors at Tappan Hill in Tarrytown to benefit the Katonah Museum of Art and sponsored by The Journal News in 2000. (Photo from The Journal News, 12/12/2000).

Cloonan said the library had fairly substantial collection of Crichton books and would pull out some because “always when this happens people come in looking for the books.”