Category: News Items

Sunday Afternoon Concerts in a Beautiful Historic Setting

Setauket, NY – February 27, 2020 –

Enjoy classical music in the stunning, historic 1892 section of Emma Clark Library. This spring, the Library is hosting a music series with literary undertones and a nod to Jane Austen.

March 22 – “Music from an 18^th Century Drawing Room” – featuring Natalie Kress on the baroque violin, presented by the Three Village Chamber Players. Works by Telemann, Bach, Locatelli, and Guillemain.

May 24 – “The Curious Fantasy of Catherine Morland” – featuring Kyle Collins on the clavichord. Dive into the world of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey as we explore London’s popular novelists and the music they once heard.

June 28 – “Practicing with Mary Bennet” – Kyle Collins on the harpsichord and clavichord will highlight music from the period of Jan Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, including some readings.

All concerts are on Sundays from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.  They are open to the public, and there is no registration.

Praised by the New York Times for her “splendid playing,” Natalie Rose Kress enjoys a varied career as both a modern and Baroque chamber musician based in Washington, D.C. Following three summers as a Tanglewood Fellow, she was awarded the Jules C. Reiner Violin Prize from the Tanglewood Music Center and performed with Yo Yo Ma and Pamela Frank at the Kennedy Center Honors. Natalie is co-founder, director and executive advisor of Musicivic Inc., a national non-profit arts network supporting local chamber music residencies in towns nationwide, including the Setauket-based Three Village Chamber Players.  Natalie received her Bachelor of Arts in Music and Psychology and Master of Music from Stony Brook University where she studied violin performance with Soovin Kim and Philip Setzer and chamber music with the Emerson String Quartet. She is currently a full-tuition student at The Juilliard School studying Historical Performance and tours extensively with Juilliard415. 

Kyle Collins began his harpsichord studies when he studied for his MM at the University of North Texas in 2015, where he also earned his Graduate Artist Certificate in Harpsichord. Mr. Collins is now at Stony Brook University in New York, where he is studying for a DMA in Harpsichord Performance with Arthur Haas.

The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, located at 120 Main Street in Setauket and online at emmaclark.org, provides public library service to all residents of the Three Village Central School District. “The Heart of the Three Village Community” 

Calling All Artistic & Poetic Three Villagers

Setauket, NY – February 5, 2020 –

Emma Clark Library is hosting two contests this winter and is looking forward to seeing the creativity of our community.

Kids Bookmark Contest

This year marks the 5^th annual Kids Bookmark Contest at Emma Clark Library. This contest is for kids in the Three Village Central School District, Kindergarten through 6^th grade. Winners receive the honor of having their bookmarks professionally printed and distributed at the Library throughout the entire year. Last year’s bookmark champions were Madison (Nassakeag Elementary), Evelyn (Minnesauke Elementary), and Raymond (Minnesauke Elementary).

To pick up an Official Entry Form and Bookmark Template, kids may stop by the Children’s Reference Desk or download the form at kids.emmaclark.org.  The entry deadline is March 31, 2020.  Winners will be chosen in three categories (K – 2, 3^rd & 4^th, and 5^th & 6^th grades) and announced on Friday, May 1, 2020, right in time for Children’s Book Week which begins the following Monday. All contestants’ entries are displayed in the Children’s Department for the entire community to enjoy!

The children of Three Village have been inspiring others to read with their original bookmark entries for the past four years. Each year there have been about 60 bookmark entries, for a total of 237 unique pieces. The Librarians cannot wait to see the latest creations!

If you have any questions, please email kids@emmaclark.org or call 631.941.4080 ext. 123.

Poetry Contest on Social Media

Emma Clark Library wants to hear from the local poets! Community members are encouraged to share an original poem on Facebook or Instagram by Sunday, March 15 and share with the Library for a chance to win. The poem should be on the topic of “Reading”, using any style of poetry.

Poets should be sure to:

• Follow the Library’s Instagram and/or Facebook accounts – @emmaclarklibrary
• Tag the Library handle – @emmaclarklibrary
• Hashtag #EmmaClarkPoetryContest in the post

The winner will be announced on Wednesday, April 1 on the Library’s Instagram and Facebook accounts, in honor of National Poetry Month. Besides being reposted on all of the Library’s social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest), the winning poem will be displayed in the Library’s lobby for the month of April and will be featured in the Library’s summer newsletter.

Contest Rules:

• A poem in its entirety must be an original work by the person entering the contest. Using poetry from another person or other sources will result in disqualification from the contest.
• One submission per Instagram or Facebook account.
• Do not include your name or any other information at the end of your poem.
• Poet must be at least thirteen years of age.
• Poem cannot exceed 20 lines.
• Poem must be around the theme of “Reading.”
• All poems must be written in English.
• Poems containing language that is vulgar, offensive, or wholly inappropriate will not be accepted.
• Entrants give permission to share, repost, and print the poems.

If you have any questions, please email socialmedia@emmaclark.org or call 631.941.4080 ext. 107.

Please note: With all Emma Clark Library contests, Emma Clark employees, trustees, and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter.

The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, located at 120 Main Street in Setauket and on the web at www.emmaclark.org, provides public library service to all residents of the Three Village Central School District.

“The Heart of the Three Village Community”

Creative Contest for Teens a Tradition at Emma Clark Library

Setauket, NY – October 24, 2019 –

For the 6^th year now, Emma Clark Library continues the annual Helen Stein Shack Picture Book Contest for junior high and high school students in Three Village. The Library is calling for teens who live in the Three Village Central School District to create an original children’s picture book using their own artwork and text.  The entries will be judged and winning authors will receive a monetary prize and have their work bound, made into a hardcover book, and added to the Library’s shelves. Additional copies of the winning books will also be available for purchase by family and friends. Winners and their families will be invited to an awards ceremony in the Spring. In the past, these awards ceremonies haven been attended by Library Trustees, teachers and top school district administrators, as well as representatives and elected officials from New York State, Suffolk County, and Brookhaven Town, all on hand to honor the winners.

The contest is divided into two grade categories, grades 7 through 9 and grades 10 through 12, with one First Prize Winner and one Second Prize Winner selected from each group.  Each entry can be the work of a single author/illustrator or can be a joint effort between an author and an illustrator (in the event that a winning entry is a collaboration, the prize will be shared).  Each of the First Prize award recipients will receive $400, and each of the Second Prize award recipients will receive $100.  All entrants will receive a Certificate of Participation.

Teens may obtain an Official Entry Form in-person in the Library’s lobby or online at emmaclark.org/picturebookaward starting November 15, 2019. Included with the form are the contest procedures & guidelines.  They should bring their completed picture book, along with a completed Official Entry Form, to the Children’s Department anytime between January 2 – 31, 2020.

Last year’s Grand Prize winners were Nicole Xiao (Grades 7 – 9 category) and Juliet Weschke (Grades 10 – 12 category).  The public may view previous year’s winning entries at emmaclark.org/picturebookaward.

This award is given in memory of Helen Stein Shack by her family.  As a teacher, Mrs. Shack was committed to the education of children, and she especially loved literature written for them.  She was a frequent visitor to Emma Clark Library where, even in retirement, she kept current with the latest children’s books.  The Library is grateful to the children of the late Mrs. Shack who have established a substantial endowment with the Library to cover the ongoing cost of the prizes.

Please note:  A maximum of one entry will be accepted per author. Entries may be a collaboration of no more than one author and one artist/illustrator. Emma Clark employees, trustees, and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter.

The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, located at 120 Main Street in Setauket and on the web at www.emmaclark.org, provides public library service to all residents of the Three Village Central School District.

“The Heart of the Three Village Community”

Online Learning Expands at Emma Clark Library

Setauket, NY – October 22, 2019 –

The foundation of any library is its role as a reputable & trustworthy educational resource; for a 21^st century library, that includes online learning. In the next few months, Emma Clark Library will be expanding its online learning collection. With three new, online platforms right at their fingertips, patrons will be able to watch free, high-quality instructional videos from anywhere, whether at home or in the Library.

CreativeBug, available now, is an arts and crafts instructional resource with over 1,000 award-winning video classes taught by recognized design experts and artists. For ease of use, the videos may be filtered by category, class type (i.e. quick, beginner, advanced, multi-part), or instructor. The website also informs the user of the amount of time for each tutorial (ranging from a short 3-minute video to more intense multiple hour classes). Whether a person is making a collage, sewing, knitting, using the Cricut machine, or working on any other arts and crafts project, CreativeBug is sure to help.

Beginning in the New Year, Hoonuit (pronounced “Who-Knew-It”) and Universal Class will be accessible to Emma Clark Library cardholders. Hoonuit provides on-demand video training for more than 500 software applications, including Microsoft Word and Excel, Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver, Final Cut Pro, Social Media, WordPress, GoogleDocs and more. These short tutorials are perfect for those looking for a “snip-it” of information.

Universal Class is an online learning platform with in-depth courses on a wide-variety of subjects. The classes may be taken at the user’s pace, and there is also the benefit of interacting with a live instructor via email. There are over 500 courses on a multitude of topics such as accounting, career training, health & medicine, DIY, medical billing, pet care, psychology, real estate, special education, and test preparation, just to name a few.

Hoonuit and Universal Class will be replacing Lynda.com, which expires December 31 (the Library chose not to renew this because of changes to Lynda.com’s policy that raised privacy issues for patrons).

All three of these new, online learning resources may be accessed anytime and from anywhere at emmaclark.org/you-beyond. The Library is thrilled to start off 2020 with these creative and informative tools for the Three Village community!

The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, located at 120 Main Street in Setauket and online at emmaclark.org, provides public library service to all residents of the Three Village Central School District.

“The Heart of the Three Village Community”