Berkeley Public Library Art & Culture Newsletter
June 2015


You may have joined the Berkeley Public Library's Summer Reading Program before, but this year we're making it more fun than ever! And it's for everyone!

Just sign up here and download your game card, or pick one up from any of our library locations. Once you've done that, then start reading, streaming, browsing and visiting your local library. Every time you do, put an X on your game board. 30 X-s and you are a WINNER!

We have great prizes for you to claim every step of the way, and EVERY TIME you finish a game board you will get entered into a grand prize raffle!

That's not all, though. Post photos of yourself, your friends, and your family reading this summer on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter with the hashtag #bplsummer. We'll feature our favorites on our website!

And remember: this year's Summer Reading Game is all-ages, so get your in-laws, neighbors, siblings, your friends, and everyone else you know in on the action!

Explore More in June
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble @Claremont
Wednesday, June 3
6:30pm
Beethoven. Free. Live.The Left Coast Chamber Ensemble  is known for pairing new works with traditional masterpieces to reveal the expressive intent of

Faces of Fatherhood: Celebrating Bay Area Dads @North
Saturday, June 6
6:30pm-8:00pm
Opening Reception. The North Branch Library celebrates Fatherhood with photography by local artist Nancy Rubin. Meet the artist, learn of her vision, and explore the exhibit. Light refreshments provided.

Poetry Circle @Claremont
Thursday, June 11
6:30-7:50pm
Bring in a favorite poem, and, if you write poetry, bring one of your own too. We will be sharing poems in a reading circle.

Read and Share Bookclub @Claremont
Wednesday June 17
6:30pm-7:30pm
Bring a book you read and love to this meeting. Find new reading suggestions and get to know the other Claremont Book Club members.


teardrop_icon.gifBerkeley Saves the Bay @Central
Saturday, June 20
Saturday, June 27
2:00pm-3:30pm
Berkeley History Room
Berkeley Saves the Bay, a talk by eminent local historian, author and lecturer Charles Wollenberg, is a 2-part series. Wollenberg discusses how Berkeley and her citizens were instrumental in the 1950s and 60s in forming Save the Bay, the organization that tirelessly preserves the beautiful San Francisco Bay estuary.

Read & Share @South
Tuesday, June 23
3:00pm-4:00pm
Have you ever wanted to talk about a book you have read? The "Read and Share" book club offers you this opportunity. Each month we meet and voice our opinions and impressions on a wide range of literary tomes. We  are all ears. All are welcome.

Berkeley Public Library Foundation

Conversation and Crudites with Author Edan Lepucki and Patrick Brown from Goodreads  @Oliveto's
Sunday, June 14
5:30pm
$150
Edan Lepucki is a stunning new talent on the literary scene. Her arresting debut novel, California, chronicles the struggles of a young couple who flee a dysfunctional Los Angeles and try to eke out their lives in a drastically altered world.  Her husband Patrick Brown works for Goodreads, the world's largest site for readers and book recommendations whose mission is to help people find and share books they love.  A copy of California is included.


Behind the Scenes At Shotgun with Patrick Dooley @Ashby Stage
Friday, July 31
6:30pm-10:00pm
$150
Six guests will begin this special evening with a pre-play dinner backstage with artistic director Patrick Dooley - dinner compliments of Poulet. Attend Shotgun's production of Top Girls, Caryl Churchill's play examining what it means to be a successful woman in today's world. It's a night out you won't forget!
 

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In This Issue
Bay Area Book Festival



June 6th -June 7th
Downtown Berkeley

We are partnering with the BABF on some awesome literary events.
See our June General Library Newsletter for details.
.
Free  Monthly
 Film Series



June 2015
Films Set in the
Bay Area


Fridays, 3:00pm
Third floor Community Meeting Room.

June 5
Fog City Mavericks
(2007 / 119 min.)
The Bay Area has long been a center for "indie" filmmakers, some of whom are now among the most successful names in the film industry - George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood and Carroll Ballard, to name several of many featured in this film. Fog City stresses how these filmmakers' work reflects the independent, inventive spirit of the Bay Area. Thanks to LucasFilms for generously granting permission for us to show the film, and to director Gary Leva.
 
June 12  
No screening 
The Meeting Room is closed for preparation of the Friends of the Library Annual Book Sale.

June 19
Thieves' Highway
(1949 / 94 min.)
In this critically acclaimed  film noir, Nick (Richard Conte) returns home to San Francisco from World War II to find that his immigrant father has been disabled by an unscrupulous produce dealer (Lee J. Cobb). He takes over his dad's produce business and sets out to settle the score. Scenes set in San Francisco's produce district were actually shot in Oakland's Warehouse District.
 
June 26
Blue Jasmine
(2013 / 98 min.)
Having lost everything when her rich husband was convicted of fraud in New York, Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) arrives in San Francisco to move in with her younger, much poorer sister (Sally Hawkins). Like Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire, Jasmine is in denial about her circumstances - to the point of being unable to recognize reality. Blanchett  won many awads for her performance, and director Woody Allen was nominated for an Oscar for his darkly comic screenplay.

Big Book Sale!



Saturday, June 13
10:00am-4:00pm
Sunday, June 14
1:00-4:00pm
Community Meeting Room
Thousands of gently used donated books will be on sale for 50 cents each.
Paperback & hardcover books on topics such as:
  • Cooking
  • Biography
  • History
  • Art
  • Travel
  • Children's
  • Foreign Language
Special selection of Better Books priced as marked.
 
Bag Sale from 3-4 pm. on Sunday.
All proceeds support the many programs of the Berkeley Public Library.