So Green, So Beautiful

The Brewitt Branch of the Long Beach Public Library will present a free workshop for creating upcycled eco art on November 13 at 11 am. Micaela Salatino, Supporting Artist at the Long Beach Depot for Creative ReUse, will show how to make coasters from computers disks, mini books from scrap paper, and a fabric basket from plastic. Reusable items will be provided for participating crafters.

Music Untold Launches Provocative Film Series

Music Untold, a group that promotes diversity through the arts, will present the first film of its Community Cinema series at the Main Library of Long Beach Public Library on Tuesday October 26 at 6 pm. Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian, a feature length documentary, will be followed by a panel discussion. Films are scheduled to be shown on the last Tuesday of each month through June 2011.

Do Re Mi Fa So El Do(rado)

Get ready to hit high C at the El Dorado branch of Long Beach Public Library when John Spear presents An Introduction to Opera on November 6 at 2 pm. An opera fanatic and active member of several local opera groups, Spear will share his love of this mesmerizing art form as well as offering door prizes.

Ask a Mexican . . . In Person

The El Dorado Neighborhood Library of Long Beach Public Library has invited Gustavo Arellano, the entertaining writer of Ask a Mexican to speak on October 5 at 6 pm in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Mr. Arellano appears regularly on radio talks shows besides writing for the OC Weekly and the Los Angeles Times. The event is free.

One Hundred Years and Going Strong

Alamitos Branch Library will celebrate 100 years as part of the Long Beach Public Library system this Saturday September 25 from 10 to 5. Mayor Bob Foster will be there and the librarians have planned craft workshops and book giveaways as well as refreshments.

Ready for your close-up, LBPL?

On October 7, Long Beach Public Library will participate in Snapshot: One Day in the Life of California Libraries. Photos, statistics, and other documentation will be sent to California Library Association for display on its website. Everyone is invited to visit their favorite branch for photos, games and other festivities.

Read, read, read the book

Spend some quality time with a book this summer, and share your experience through the Summer Reading Club at Long Beach Public Library. This year it's called Make a Splash at the Library, and the club is open to children, teens and adults. All the kids have to do is read 20 minutes a day. Teens and adults are asked to right a few comments on each book they read. There's fun and prizes and free books for everyone. What a great way to find out about other good books to read.

April is Library Month

Long Beach Public Library is pulling out all the stops to celebrate National Library Month. There will be a Library-a-Rama Open House at the Main Library from 10 am to 3 pm on April 24 and Artful Healing Workshops at a couple of the branches. Bach Library will have a craft event for making books, Burnett is holding a health fair and Eldorado will host a program on vegetable gardening. All the branches have eye-popping lime green brochures with a complete list of all the upcoming events or you can check the website. I've just begun to explore the library's cache of helpful website in its Delicious page. Check it out!

Buddy, Can you Spare a Book?

Actually, the Friends of the Long Beach Public Library is asking for spare change during April which is National Library Month to help bolster the city's library book budget after drastic budget cuts. Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske's office will provide "Library Round-Up" collection boxes to any business in the 5th District that wants to support the library.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

With all the brouhaha about Kindle, I'm slowly edging my way toward e-books. ManyBooks has a slew of out of copyright titles (i.e., old) that you can download in html and pdf among other format or transfer to a Sony Reader. There's some real gems like The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Art of War.

Right now, I'm happy as a bug with the audiobooks available through Overdrive at the Long Beach Public Library website. Every title can be downloaded to an MP3 player and some can be burned to discs or even transferred to an iPod. There are classics but also a ton of recent bestsellers. I just finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and about to start on The Life of Pi. It makes driving and housework so much more interesting

Looking ahead, so to speak

In a clever ploy to avoid facing how many New Year's resolutions went unmet this year, I'm looking boldly ahead to 2010 with equally ambitious plans. A top priority is learning a new language and what better way to motivate myself than to visit a country where that language is spoken. A few companies book language classes overseas. BridgeAbroad features many schools in South American and also has a teach and travel ambassador program where you teach English in a foreign city and get room and board free. Cactus Worldwide combines 4 hour language classes with sightseeing and restaurants to test your new language skills. World Link Education has shut down its programs in Asia, but still offers classes in France, Spain, and Italy.

On a more practical note, Long Beach Public Library has an online language program available free through its website. All you have to do is log in with your library card

San Diego Author is coming to Brewitt Library

Although it's not listed on her website, Teresa Burrel will appear at the Brewitt Library on Wednesday September 23, beginning at 4:30 pm to talk about her first novel, The Advocate, and sign copies. She based the plot on her experience as a juvenile court attorney.

Library has new Encore

Long Beach Public Library has a completely new online catalog called Encore. It shows book covers so, if you've reached that age as I have where you can only remember a book by its cover, you can recall whether you've read the thing before or not. You can also leave reviews, add to tag clouds, or just rate books. You can search databases for articles at the same time as you search for books. It's a definite step up from the old online catalog. LBPL also has a library Facebook page, so if you want to socialize with library types, that's the place to go.

Talk Murder to Me

Local author Claudine Burnett will talk about her latest look into Long Beach’s mysterious and macabre past at Dana Neighborhood Library this Tuesday, May 26 at 6:30 pm. In Murderous Intent? Long Beach, California, 1880s-1920s, Burnett uncovers fascinating true stories from our city’s grisly past, including Long Beach’s first execution, infanticides, kidnapping and tortures.

After four books, she has perfected a light touch in depicting these grim tales, so expect to be entertained as well as informed by this delightful writer.

Have You Hugged Your Librarian Yet?

Across the country, National Library Week is over, but here in Long Beach, it lasts for the whole month of April, so it's not too late to live out whatever bibliographic dreams you've just been too shy to consumate. Popwatch has a great feature on unforgettable librarians in the movies. Don't forget that there are plenty flesh-and-blood ones out there too who need our support to keep the information flowing.

Long Beach Public Library has a list of events on its website. I'm planning to make the scene at Bay Shore Branch for its 50 year centential this Saturday, April 25, at 1 pm. Music, food, and surprise guests are promised, and, what the heck, maybe I'll check something out while I'm there.

Water, Water Everywhere . . .At Least For Now

The Aquarium of the Pacific’s newest exhibit, “Our Watersheds: Pathway to the Pacific,” goes beyond cute fishies and ocean monsters to address California’s looming catastrophe—and I’m not talking earthquakes here. Our beautiful, but over-populated state faces massive water shortages unless we all get serious about saving water.

The open air exhibit features a eye-catching waterfall and other interactive exhibits with water-conservation tips as well as a garden of drought adaptive native plants. An interactive website about watersheds created by the Aquarium gives a taste of scope of information covered in this eco-friendly exhibit, with appeal for water-lovers (and water consmuers) of all ages. You can pick up a “Pass to the Pacific” at any branch of the Long Beach Public Library for 50% discount for up to four admissions. The offer is good through May 22 with some blackout dates around spring break.

Good Day for ducks!

Despite the rain, I headed down to Bay Shore Library for the talk about the history of East Long Beach. It turned out to be more of a reminiscence of Belmont Shore and particularly Second Street. Dr. Gatley had lots of hand outs and slides, which made it worth the trip. He recommended the exhibit on architects at the Historical Society of Long Beach. I got a photo of the spectacular view from Bayshore Library of which I spoke.

On my way home, I actually saw ducks crossing at the duck crossing at Colorado Lagoon. I tried to take a picture from the car but the flash went off and reflected back from the windshield. I did get a photo of the Christmas trees that are still floating in the lagoon. Maybe we should just keep them up year-round and put other seasonal decorations on them. The birds seem to like to perch on them.