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LIBRARY NEWS
October 2013
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From the Director
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Rivkah K. Sass
Library Director
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I must crow a little about the Library's 2013 Summer Reading Program.
"Reading is So Delicious" shattered all previous efforts to get the community reading for fun over the summer. The library signed up 33,334 people, a 30% increase over 2012, and 11% over the original goal of 30,000 people. A total of 13,439 people finished the program by reading five or more books, up 19% from 2012. Most amazingly, summer readers more than doubled last year's total for the number of books read: a staggering 134,738. Delicious news indeed.
The largest increase came from children 5 years old and younger, with more than twice as many participating compared to last year. Reading five books will stop the "summer slide," the two months of reading skills can lose during the summer. That means kids who completed our program erased 1,580 years of summer slide!
Library branches signed up impressive numbers of summer readers, including Rancho Cordova with 3,293, North Natomas with 2,815, and Southgate with 2,657. This shows the impact of the considerable outreach efforts by staff, Friends and volunteers.
Programs and prizes were provided through generous funding from the Sacramento Public Library Foundation, the Friends of Sacramento Public Library and Target.
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One Book: The Slender Poe
One Book celebrations are based on the idea of community members reading, enjoying and discussing the same book at the same time. This year, we decided to do something that no one else (that we know of) has ever done: publish our own One Book. Our own I Street Press has released The Slender Poe Anthology, combining some of Edgar Allan Poe's lesser-known works with some of his classics.
We hosted more than 130 people for a One Book kickoff on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria. Our "Poe Laureate," professor John Allen Cann, gave a rousing reading of "The Raven." Matthew Donaldson, who starred in the winning film from last month's Poe Project film festival, " Ligeia," was was there, playing the ghost of Poe.
We're also holding Slender Poe/One Book and Halloween events all month in October. You can check out events for kids, teens and adults at our website. Three of the highlights will be: - Friday, October 18, 7 p.m. The Fourth Annual Haunted Stacks. See a classic Poe flick, tour the Sacramento Room in the old Carnegie Library and meet some creepy characters in period dress.
- Friday, October 25, 7 p.m. The Friends of the Sacramento Public Library Third Annual One Book Dinner in celebration of Poe. An evening of good food and entertainment for $30.
- Tuesday, October 29, 6:30 p.m. One Book Finale/Ebony Reveries. See the fan favorite Poe Project film and the classic 1953 animated short, "The Telltale Heart," hear a reading by Sacramento Poet Laureate Jeff Knorr and more.
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Summer Reading Winners!
Here's to our young Summer Reading prize winners who helped us break records this year. In order to be entered into our drawings, they had to read at least five books to complete the program. Each branch gave away a Target gift card, and four lucky readers got an iPad Mini (which makes a good eReader, we might add). Here are just a few of our winners.
Jahmel Brown, 11, top, leaps for joy after winning a $100 Target gift card at Colonial Heights. Two young readers from the Galt Library won prizes. Astrid Calderón, left, won a target gift card, while Leiyla Chavez, middle, was one of four lucky winners of an iPad Mini. Jorge Lopez, right, a second-grader from Noralto Elementary School, won a Target gift card at North Sacramento-Hagginwood Library.
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Author, Author (and a special guest)!
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Jamie Ford and Mae Ferral.
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On the evening of September 26, our guest was Jamie Ford. Ford's latest, Songs of Willow Frost, came out on Sept. 10. Ford talked to an audience of more than 300 people about growing up around the Asian-American community of Seattle, where both his books are set, and grounding his fiction in real historic places. Ford's debut novel, 2009's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, spent two years on the New York Times bestseller list. The opening pages of that book include a photo, taken from the National Archives, of a young girl taken by famed photographer Dorothea Lange in the 1940s. One of the novel's main characters is a young girl, but Ford had no idea who the girl in the photo was.
After Hotel became a bestseller, 78-year-old Mae Ferral of Sacramento got a phone call from a friend who tol d her she just saw an old picture of her in a novel she was reading. They got in touch with Ford through the publisher, and Ford invited Ferral to be a special guest during his appearance. She even signed books with him!
On Tuesday, October 8, we welcome Bill Bryson for a sold-out appearance. The prolific non-fiction author is known for A Walk in the Woods and other bestsellers. Bryson's latest, One Summer: America 1927, tells the story of a tumultuous few months in American history, when figures such as Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth and Herbert Hoover were making their mark. |
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Library Happenings
| We sure had a busy summer. Now we're heading into fall with great events, cool new services, renovations--and a brand-new library!
On September 21, we held the grand opening of the new Rio Linda Library on the site
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Mabel Alverson, 80, checks out one of the computers at the Rio Linda opening.
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of the recently closed Rio Linda Elementary School. At almost 8,000 square feet, it nearly doubles the size of the old Library and will better serve the fast-growing Rio Linda/Elverta community. County Supervisor Roberta McGlashan, who helped us find the money for the project, was among those on hand. We're also completing renovations at the Ella K. McClatchy Library. The library will be closed from October 15 through November 11, reopening for normal hours on Tuesday, Nov. 12. This historic mansion will now have more usable space on its second floor, including reading and community rooms. The upgrades were made possible by a generous donation from a member of the Ella K. McClatchy Friends. Also, please note that all branches of the Sacramento Public Library will be closed on Thursday, October 10, for staff training and on Saturday, October 19, for a furlough day.  We had a great turnout for the Second Annual Big Wheels at the Franklin Library. The event included dozens of big, unusual and classic vehicles, from giant cons truction equipment to a SWAT vehicle and even a car shaped like a classic Radio Flyer red wagon. Most popular was probably the Autobuhn--also known as the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.
Does your child need help with science homework? Science in Context is your 24/7, one-stop source for encyclopedia articles, experiments, images, videos and authoritative content aligned with National and State Science Education Standards. Just use your library card and PIN to access Science in Context on our Research page. Want discounted museum tickets? Get them through our new Discover & Go service. Log in using your library card information, and print out passes from art, history and other kinds of museums across northern California. Need to learn about the Affordable Care Act and how to get health insurance under Covered California? We've got you covered. Come check out our informational sessions: click here for a times and locations. Finally, we're hoping you can help out one of our partners. The goal of the First 5 program in Sacramento County is to set children up for lifelong success by emphasizing the education and growth during the all-important first five years of life. They're looking for people to take a survey on what health and education needs of young children aren't being met in Sacramento County. You can take the survey in English or in Spanish.
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Generous Donors and a Little Bit of History
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On September 23, the Sacramento Bee reported on bequests made by Frances Pendleton when she died in 2011 at the age of 82. These included $27,000 given to the Sacramento Room at the the Central Library, along with some historic papers and books.
Some of this bequest will go to fund a graduate-level intern from the Sacramento State Capital Campus Public History Program to work on the Sacramento Room Digitization Project. Pendleton, who was a high school English and drama teacher, frequently did historic research at the Sacramento Room.
Another generous donor was Betty Jane Powell, a lifelong Sacramento resident who died last year at the age of 91. She volunteered with several local historical organizations. This included the Sacramento Room, to which she left an extensive collection of family papers and a historic photo album from her late uncle, Hiram Paul Albert.
The album includes shots from Charles Lindbergh's 1927 visit to Mather Field in the Spirit of St. Louis, two months after he made history's first non-stop transatlantic flight. There are also photos from the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition and pictures of several local historic buildings, many of which are no longer standing.
| Speaking of the Sacramento Room, they're going to be part of the third annual Sacramento Archives Crawl on Saturday, October 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is a celebration of American Archives Month.
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Volunteer of the Month: Priscilla Alegria
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Alegria (second from right), with some of her cast and crew.
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How did you get started as a library volunteer?
I began volunteering at the North Natomas Library in July 2011, with distribution and shelving. My English was not very good. It helped me practice formal conversations, the type you can't have with friends. I became involved in community events like International Literacy Day. For the past two years, I participated in The Stuffed Animal Sleep Over.
During my senior year I volunteered as a homework coach. The students made me realize that I was there not to teach but to learn. My native language is Spanish, and when I learned about Telecuento (Dial-a-story in Spanish), I couldn't help but volunteer for this awesome service.
You also won the high school category in the Poe Project for your film "Dress in the Pit."
When you're a senior, things like prom and senior trip are always present in your mind, so when writing the script my thoughts became the story. Soon enough I met my crew members, Richard McCoy and Shane Patterson.
They [staff and crew] were all such hard workers. After the premiere, we went to IHOP, where we gave speeches and cried. Steven pointed out, "If it weren't for this project, we would not be friends." Some of my cast are in college now. Steven is taking drama classes, and Kim will soon. Richard wants to study film!
I arrived to UCLA on Tuesday (Sept. 17). I have to wait until the end of my sophomore year to apply to the Theater, Film, Television School. Only 15 students a year get in, and I plan to be one of them.
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 The Sacramento Public Library Foundation, along with the Library leadership, has created a five-year strategic plan to focus the Foundation's energies and resources to have a measurable and positive impact in Sacramento County. The first step of the process was to agree on a new, succinct vision statement: "The Foundation will increase endowments and total revenues to fund programs that promote children's literacy." Over the next five years, we will focus our operational efforts on increasing total annual revenues, with an emphasis on funding children's literacy programs.This year, we will establish a new endowment specifically for children's literacy, and continue to expand our fundraising efforts for Summer Reading programming. We will develop an advisory group, participate in fundraising training and hire a full-time staff member. It's going to be a busy and exciting next few years as we make a measurable and positive difference for Sacramento's children. If you would like to make a donation to Children's Literacy, call 916-264-2990 or visit our website, www.saclibraryfoundation.org. |
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This month: Friends Dinner and Warehouse Sale
 The next Friends of the Sacramento Public Library Warehouse Sale kicks off with a members-only preview on Friday, Oct. 4. You can join at the door for only $15 a year. The sale will be open to the public Saturday, Oct. 5, and Saturday, Oct. 12, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both days. Sales take place at the Book Den's warehouse at 8250 Belvedere Ave., Suite E, Sacramento (off Power Inn Road, one block south of 14th Avenue). The Book Den is also open for regular hours from Thursday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call (916) 731-8493.
Another great reason to join the Friends this month is the All Friends Dinner on Friday, October 25, at 7 p.m. at the Elks Lodge #6 at 6446 Riverside Boulevard in Sacramento. The event will celebrate Edgar Allan Poe and our One Book project. For information and to purchase tickets, please contact Kathi Windheim at (916) 392-0101 or zaw2000@msn.com.
Please join the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library, a
nonprofit organization that raises money to benefit the Sacramento Public Library. Dues help fund library programs like Summer Reading. Friends members enjoy benefits like members-only preview sales, book sale discounts, and special events like the Annual All Friends Dinner in October.
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