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Arts & Entertainment

Swap Those Summer Books

This weekend's book swap at the Port Washington library is an event avid readers won't want to miss.

Get those books out. Friends and Family Weekend at the Port Washington Public Library is coming up fast.

This Saturday the library will host a paperback book swap from noon to 4 p.m. It's the perfect time to exchange your summer books for winter ones. Then, on Sunday there will be a Friends of the Library (FOL) "University for a Day" program, featuring two speakers, both of them noted scholars.

"This weekend is special," says FOL President Amy Bass. "This is something our board has decided would be good for our community and our library. We're helping our library, and we're expanding the outreach of our library. Our library is a world-winning library and this reflects what we do. Whoever comes with a paperback book, we welcome them."

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Last spring, hundreds of patrons shared thousands of books. This year, the leftover books will be recycled through the Better World Books program, which sells them to raise money for charity. Teens from TeVo (a Teen Volunteer program) will be working at the event as part of service commitment. You can swap as many books as you'd like, but keep the amount of books you donate to 20 and in good condition.

On Sunday, presenters will be speaking from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. for the "University for a Day" program.

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"Last year we had one professor fom Columbia, and this year we are having two speakers," says Bass. "It's exciting. It's free. One person is speaking about biology and the other one about politics. College students might find it interesting."

The topics are "How Will the 112th Congress Influence 2012? Evaluating Post-Midterm Opportunities and Challenges for the Obama Administration," presented by Dr. Meena Bose. Dr. Bose is the Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies at Hofstra University. Her current research focuses on presidential leadership in the United Nations.

The other topic will be presented by Dr. Michael Shodell, entitled "Artificial Animation: Synthetic Biology and the Spark of Life." It is based on a scientific report that describes how four simple chemicals, under the control of a computer, were eventually transformed into a new species of living creature — the first ever whose "parent was a computer."

Dr. Michael Shodell earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of California at Berkeley. He is currently professor of biology at Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus. His research has centered on molecular regulation of growth in normal and cancer cells and in immune mechanisms in the progression of AIDS.

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