Upcoming Programs
Cornhusk Wreaths
Welcome fall with a cornhusk wreath for your dwelling – simple yet thoroughly elegant. Attaching cornhusks to a straw wreath makes this project quite organic.
Instructor Barbara Attwell is an award-winning professional artist and dedicated crafter. Nature is her inspiration and to that end she is also a Texas Master Naturalist and occasional environmental educator. She is passionate about instilling a love of art and of all things wild – both of which are central to the human experience. Her work can be seen at www.barbaraattwell.net.
Click here to join Laughter Yoga, a live virtual program happening at 6pm.
Unlike other physical forms of yoga that use still or slow yoga postures, Laughter Yoga is like kindergarten recess for adults, with lots of eye contact, high energy, movement, and an atmosphere filled with child-like playfulness. We bring joy to the body through lots of laughter, silliness, and deep inhalation and exhalation, which increase the net supply of oxygen to our body and our brain.
Participants of all ages will leave with a few techniques they can begin using immediately to feel energetic, more relaxed, and able to transform frustrations into happy, endorphin filled meditative experiences through Laughter Yoga.
Click here to join Mysteries and More, a live virtual discussion group happening 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.
Interested in investigating some cryptic crimes with other mystery lovers? Come to the Mysteries and More Book Club every third Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. at Westbank Library! Led by Pam Wood and library staff, you’ll join other amateur agents and bloodhound bookworms to talk suspects, motives, alibis, and cracking the case.
This group is on hiatus in November and December.
2021 Selections:
- January – The Black Echo by Michael Connelly
- February – AUTHOR VISIT: Jeff Abbott discussing Never Ask Me
- March – Hunting Game by Helene Tursten
- April – Down the River unto the Sea by Walter Mosley
- May – A Rustle of Silk by Alys Clare
- June – The Witch Elm by Tana French
- July – A Quiet Place by Seicho Matsumoto
- August – The Angel in the Glass by Alys Clare
- September – Before the Poison by Peter Robinson
- October – The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore
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!
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 Kids Craft with Barbara Attwell, a live virtual program happening at 4:30pm.
Making a Spider’s Web
Spiders make silk that is as strong as high-grade steel. A thread of spider silk the width of a pinhead could support a small adult like Spiderwoman. Weave a web on a grapevine wreath, add a pipe cleaner spider with lots of eyes, and hang it outside for a good Halloween fright.
Instructor Barbara Attwell is an award-winning prof
essional artist and dedicated crafter.Nature is her inspiration and to that end she is also a Texas Master Naturalist and occasional environmental educator. She is passionate about instilling a love of art and of all things wild – both of which are central to the human experience. Her work can be seen at www.barbaraattwell.net.
Click here to view Prime of Life Yoga, a live virtual program happening Wednesdays at 6pm.
Please contact questions@westbanklibrary.com if you would like to schedule tech help or if you would like additional information regarding this library program.
Prime of Life Yoga™ focuses on the contemporary teachings of yoga for Westerners, especially benefiting men and women 40 years and beyond. Safe, conservative and user friendly, this is an intelligent approach focusing on moving with the breath in dynamic and static movements, which helps to make the body-mind connection as well as warming up the joints and muscles. Modifications are demonstrated to suit the individual. This creates a noncompetitive atmosphere which is more comfortable for everyone.
Lisa Galizia is a Registered Yoga Teacher® with the Yoga Alliance and a Certified Health and Wellness Coach. Galizia teaches group and custom private yoga and wellcoaching. For more information, please visit beecaveyoga.com.
Click here to join WHS Presents, a live virtual program happening Thursday, October 21st at noon.
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.
Westlake High School hosts a speaker series for parents focused on popular topics such as study skills, managing stress and anxiety, and tools for healthy parent/child relationships. All families are welcome.
Find the full Speaker Series schedule on the Healthy Chaps website.
This program is being offered in-person this week. Come to Westbank Library to join the knitters from noon to 3:00pm upstairs in The Gathering Room. Check the calendar for updates.
Our Knitters meet for fun and fiber every week. Flash your best needles, break out the good yarn, an
d come teach, be taught, or simply enjoy the glorious art of knitting! Join the group every Friday at noon at the Westbank Library.
Crocheters and embroiderers welcome.
Click here to join Education Conversations, a live virtual discussion group happening 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 6pm.
Westbank Libraries’ Parenting and Education Conversations touches upon topics in parenting and education, with a focus on the psychology that informs our approach to raising and teaching children in grades K-12. Participants engage in lively discussions on the topic, and we encourage educators and parents to attend to offer multiple perspectives and voices.
Book club titles for 2021:
- January: Curious: the Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends On It by Ian Leslie
- February: Raising Good Humans: a Mindful Guide to Breaking the Cycle of Reactive Parenting and Raising Kind, Confident Kids by Hunter Clarke-Fields
- March: The Teenage Brain: a Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults by Frances E. Jensen
- April: The Game Believes in You: How Digital Play Can Make Our Kids Smarter by Greg Toppo
- May: Creating Cultures of Thinking: the 8 Forces We Must Master to Truly Transform Our Schools by Ron Ritchhart
- June: Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children by Angela J. Hanscom
- July 1: Readicide: How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher
- July 15 through August: Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life by Annette Lareau
- September: The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip and Dan Heath
- October: Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans by Michaeleen Doucleff
- November: Caste: the Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
- December: Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
Antonio Buehler founded Abrome to fundamentally change the way the world views education. He wants society to reject the notion that education should be a standardized product in which children are expected to be passive recipients of instruction that is chosen and delivered by adults. Antonio wants learners to be able to direct their own education so they can live rich, fulfilling lives. He believes that by providing learners with the opportunity to take full ownership of their education, Abrome will help save millions of lives, and in the process change the world.
Antonio earned a B.S. in Systems Engineering from the United States Military Academy, an M.B.A. from Stanford University, and an Ed.M. from Harvard University.
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 Women in Print, a live virtual discussion happening Saturdays at 3pm.
Led by library staff, this book club reads and discusses books focusing on women’s perspective of the world. Their reading list includes literary fiction, non-fiction, and some classic titles. Join the group on the fourth Saturday of the month at 3 p.m January – October, and on the third Saturday of the month November – December.
2021 Selections:
- January – In the Woods by Tana French
- February – Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
- March – A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
- April – Uncanny Valley: a Memoir by Anna Wiener
- May – The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
- June – The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
- July – Lady in Waiting by Anne Glenconner
- August – A Saint from Texas by Edmund White
- September – The Pull Of The Stars by Emma Donoghue
- October – The Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow
- November – The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by Victoria Schwab
- December – The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Library News
Current Library Services
Updated 9/27/21 Beginning September 14, library hours will be 10am-6pm, Mon- Sat. Beginning in October 2021, we'll add a 7pm closure on Wednesdays. Services On-site services Browse the collection, sit and study/read or meet with a tutor, use a [...]
Recent Newsletters
The library is sending weekly newsletters during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the links in these newsletters have been transferred to one of our information pages: Coronavirus information Helpful Resources during COVID-19 Health, Food, and Housing Resources 10/5/21 Wednesday [...]
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information
Data updated 10/18 Austin/Travis County is at Risk Stage 3 as of October 12. Officials are urging vaccines and masks. Dashboards Texas case counts Texas hospitalizations and positivity Travis County also (mobile version) Travis County key indicators also (mobile [...]