Click here to join BookTalk, a live virtual discussion happening last Tuesdays at 1pm.

If you’re having difficulties, please refer to Zoom’s support information. Westbank Library is unable to provide tech assistance during the program. Please contact questions@westbanklibrary.com if you would like to schedule tech help or if you would like additional information regarding this library program.

Led by library staff, this book club reads and discusses literary fiction (with an occasional non-fiction book thrown in). In addition, each year the group reads a classic and a book by a Texas author. Join the group on the last Tuesday of the month at 1 p.m. on Zoom. This group is on hiatus in November and December.

2022 Selections:

• January 25: Passing by Nella Larsen
• February 22: Still Life by Sarah Winman
• March 29: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
• April 26: Oh! William by Elizabeth Strout
• May 31:  The Mountains Sing by Mai Phan Que Nguyen
• June 28: The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson
• July 26: The Lifeguards by Amanda Eyre Ward
• August 30: The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
• September 27: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
• October 25: White Ivy by Susie Yang

Please read these ground rules ahead of the conversation:

• Please keep your camera on for the discussion and provide your name.
• Mute if there is background noise.
• Respect the privacy of others by not reporting what you hear in this conversation with any specificity or attribution.
• Be respectful and listen when others are speaking.
• Allow everyone’s voice to be heard that wants to be heard.

Click here to join “Outside of the Box”, a live virtual program happening at 11am.

If you’re having difficulties, please refer to Zoom’s support information. Westbank Library is unable to provide tech assistance during the program. Please contact questions@westbanklibrary.com if you would like to schedule tech help or if you would like additional information regarding this library program.

This presentation focuses on defining and helping to solve students’ challenges related to Executive Functioning. It aims to unpack the connections between core symptoms of ADHD and anxiety that greatly affect motivation. Understanding these connections is essential to not only getting homework in on time, showing up to tests prepared, and self-advocating, but also to building self-esteem and reducing tension at home. At Encompass, we aim to help you, as a parent, help your child cultivate Executive Functioning skills and academic confidence through clear and actionable items.

Jessica Rae Shore founded Encompass Tutorial Services, LLC as an initiative to address the need for a different value system in education. Since 2007, she has helped countless students develop the Executive Functioning skills that allow them to better navigate the classroom, feel more confident, and manage their stress. Her focus is on bridging the connections between the ways that we think and feel about ourselves and the ways that we engage with the environments around us. She firmly believes that in developing strong Executive Functioning skills, students with all needs will have less stress and more confidence within and outside of the classroom.

Whether your child has been diagnosed with special needs or has particular challenges yet to be identified; whether they are spirited, struggle with reading or writing, or have sensory issues; whether they have learning, emotional, or behavioral differences, or fall into the quirky kid category, we’ll explore the means to help you help your child here in the Westlake area with monthly guest speakers and parent discussions. This series is targeted toward parents of children throughout Eanes ISD, whether in public, private, or home schooling, and is open to everyone.

Some past presentations are available on the Westbank Library YouTube Channel.

Questions?  Please contact Laura’s Library at programs@westbanklibrary.com

Please read these ground rules ahead of the conversation:

• Please keep your camera on for the discussion and provide your name.
• Mute if there is background noise.
• Respect the privacy of others by not reporting what you hear in this conversation with any specificity or attribution.
• Be respectful and listen when others are speaking.
• Allow everyone’s voice to be heard that wants to be heard.

Click here to join Reading & Speaking German, a live virtual program happening Wednesdays at 1pm.

If you’re having difficulties, please refer to Zoom’s support information. Westbank Library is unable to provide tech assistance during the program. Please contact questions@westbanklibrary.com if you would like to schedule tech help or if you would like additional information regarding this library program.

Practice your German reading skills and learn some new vocabulary as we read short stories together and discuss. Our stories will be best suited to those in the upper beginner or intermediate level, but all are welcome to join!

Click here to join Young Adult Book Club, a live virtual discussion group happening at 4:45pm.

Teen-facilitated YA book club for fans of Young Adult literature. In 2022, we’re focusing on a “page to screen” theme, reading books that have been made into films! Does the movie do the book justice? Does it tell the story even better?

We’ve got some bestsellers and blockbusters lined up, interspersed with more obscure works. Please note, some books and films contain mature content.

2022 Book Selections:

• January 6th: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• February 3^rd: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
• March 3^rd: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
• April 7^th: Cruel Intentions/Dangerous Liaisons (Penguin Classics) by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
• May 5^th: Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
• June 2^nd: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
• June 16^th: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• July 7th : I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
  
• July 21st: Wonder by R.J. Palacio
• August 4^th: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Please check back for updates for September through December book selections

Click here to join First Friday Genealogy, a live virtual program happening first Fridays at 10am.

Whether you are a beginner just starting to explore your ancestors or deep in your research, in this group you can explore databases, trade knowledge and tips, and share wonderful stories with each other. Join Susan Marking, our amateur experienced genealogist, who facilitates this group on the first Friday of each month at 10:00 a.m. at Laura’s Library.

Below are just a few resources to get you started on your research:

• Family Tree Magazine
• Our catalog
• Databases: https://westbanklibrary.com/databases/
  • America’s Genealogy Bank
  • HeritageQuest Online
  • Ancestry Library *accessible through only our libraries’ computers

Ground rules for genealogy meetings

• Please keep your camera on for the discussion and provide your name.
• Mute if there is background noise.
• Respect the privacy of others by not reporting what you hear in this conversation with any specificity or attribution. 
• Be respectful and listen when others are speaking.
• Allow everyone’s voice to be heard that wants to be heard.
• We don’t invite controversy and avoid blame and speculation in conversation