Winter Warehouse Book Sale!

The Friends of the Sacramento Public Library are sponsoring a Winter Warehouse Sale on Saturday and Sunday, December 8 and 9. Public sale hours will be noon to 5 pm on Saturday and 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday. Friends’ members only are invited to shop from 9 am to noon on Saturday. The sale will be held in the Friends’ warehouse, at the rear of their Book Den store, 8250 Belvedere Avenue, Suite E, between Power Inn Road and Florin-Perkins Road just south of 14th Avenue. A large number of paperback and hard-bound books, records, videos, CDs and other materials will be available at prices ranging from $.25 to $2.00.

The Book Den store will be open during the Warehouse Sale, too. At the Book Den shoppers select from individually priced better books, including collectibles, and other materials, with most books priced at $3 and up. The Book Den is open every Friday and Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm, but during this special sale it will also be open the longer Saturday hours and the Sunday hours of the Warehouse Sale. All proceeds, after expenses, benefit the Sacramento Public Library.

For more information call the Library Telis service at 264-2920.

Decking the Halls

Is your Christmas tree still up from last year because you use it for other holidays? Do you find HGTV hosts inspirational instead of exacting perfectionists who make you feel horribly inadequate? Are string lights a year-round necessity? If you answered yes to any of these questions, we have books and videos just for you. And not the kind your relatives claim you need---you know, the ones that use “simplify” as a code word for making your home look like a hospital room. For those of you who believe snowflakes are solely a weather phenomenon and not a decoration, there’s hope for you yet.

Not sure where to begin? Start by searching our catalog for holiday and Christmas decorating materials. Some recommended titles include Christmas with Country Living and Classic Crafts and Recipes for the Holidays. Really trying to impress people? Martha Stewart, the “queen of domesticity,” has both books and videos in our collection, including such titles as Great American Wreaths and Martha Stewart’s Christmas (an oldie but goodie). Even seasoned pros will be awed by your Martha-inspired projects.

This is one of the few times a year one can really decorate without too much interference, so go ahead and live it up! Decorate to your hearts content, and if you need any help, know that the library has plenty of ideas to give you inspiration. ---Tabin, YS Librarian

RINCON LATINO: V-ME Y DANIELA MERCURY

La cantautora brasileña Daniela Mercury aparecerá en V-me, la cadena de programación en castellano de KVIE hoy Martes a las 22:00 hrs y el Domingo a las 20:00 hrs. Este programa es presentado por Estudio Billboard (parte de la revista del mismo nombre la cual se dedica a la reseña musical) y presenta un sinnúmero de personalidades musicales de origen latino. La destacada de esta noche será la mencionada Daniela, personalidad de la música brasileña del axé. Un estilo de música de origen africano y amerindio, el cual es muy popular por las litorales de este lindo y gigantesco país. La señorita Mercury ha cantado por más de una década junto con otros personalidades brasileños como el encatador cantante Seu Jorge, Maria Bethania, Gilberto Gismonti y Gilberto Gil. Los artistas mencionados todos provienen de distintos géneros musicales reflejando una larga tradición musical. Mercury ha demonstrado su versitilidad de talento y grandeza emocional. Verdaderamente es alguien quien todos deberíamos de emular.

2007 Poster

2007 Poster
Originally uploaded by grandCENTRAL

Sacramento Hmong New Year is a festivity organized by the nonprofit of the same name. This year's event began on Thanksgiving Day and continues through Sunday, Nov 25, 2007. The Sacramento Public Library will attend as an opportunity to reach out to the Hmong community, share the resources we have in our Hmong and English language collections and to learn how we can better our services. Of course, we hope to have a great time learning about traditions such as the ball-toss, traditional dances and the folklore and history told via story quilts. Come join us and the 18 Hmong clans of Sacramento at Cal Expo. If you can't make it, check back in here to see pictures of the event and read up on our experience there.

Event details as found at the Cal Expo Events page.:
Location: Lot 26, Expo Center buildings # 1-8
Entrance Gate: Main Gate
Time: 08:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Parking: $7.00

RINCON LATINO: LA HISTORIA DE UN CLUB DEL PUEBLO

Aquellos que me conocen saben que soy BOQUENSE. Es decir, milito para el Xeneize, el club del pueblo. La historia de este club reconocido mundialmente como el club de Diego Maradona es más antiguo que el Diez. La historia de este club tambien encapsula la historia de la Argentina. En sus filas jugaron muchos de los grandes jugadores del futbol argentino, y también los grandes del futbol mundial.

Este libro escrito por Diego Ariel Estevez confiesa que no es hincha de Boca (milita para otro equipo, el cual no revela). Su libro devela por década y también año las estadísticas de cada campeonato empezando desde el año que se fundó el club hasta el 2006. Estevez se afana del amor y pasión por un club, y como sirve de símbolo de un pueblo. Si sos un fanático del futbol o sencillamente curioso de sete club abrumador acudena nuestras estanterías para disfrutar de esta joya.

También ha escrito un libro similar del antítesis de Boca Juniors, River Plate. ¡Hasta la próxima...Chau!

Knitting for those in need

Just in time for winter, SPL’s teens are teaming up with the Warm Up America! Foundation to craft blankets for those in need. We will collect 7” x 9”worsted-weight acrylic squares from the Sacramento community and then join them to create afghan blankets. Click here to view crochet and knit patterns. Warm Up America! consists of volunteers from all over the country who have distributed thousands and thousands of handmade afghan blankets, clothing and accessories to individuals and families in need. Drop completed squares off at any Sacramento Public library (you don’t have to be a teenager), and help make the coming cold a little more tolerable for those less fortunate.

Have a happy, safe and delicious Thanksgiving—from the staff at Central Library!

grandCENTRAL International

We write posts in English and in Spanish. Readers' comments on an earlier post started us thinking about ways we could share content across the two languages without seeming exclusive or writing each post twice - once in each language. We think we've found something that will work.

Look in the sidebar on the right (you may need to scroll down) .... see the flags? Clicking the US flag will translate the Spanish language posts into English. Clicking one of the other flags will translate English posts into the language represented by the flag.

We recognize that machine translations are not perfect, but we hope this will help our readers - you - to at least get the gist of posts if they are in a language you are not fluent in. If you pause the mouse pointer over one of the translated sentences, you will see it in the original language, and that may help clarify the meaning if the translation is awkward.

Comments?

SONRISAS : LA HORA DE LA SIESTA. #3

Esta mañana terminamos nuestra serie otoñal para niños. Los niños de nuestro grupo gozaron de un tiempo divertido, grupal y educativo aprendiendo acerca de los libros, el canto, el baile y el intercambio social. Sus padres gozaron haciendo nuevas amistades y citando nuevos encuentros.

Una de nuestras metas como bibliotecarios al servicio público es asistirles a alentar a sus hijos a fomentar un aprecio a la lectura. Alfabetización Pujante se basa en el conocimiento preescolar de los niños antes de leer por voluntad propia. Aquellos niños con estas aptitudes tienden a tener más éxito académico.

Nuestra programación infantil es conocido como Toddler-Time . Este programa reanuda el 10 de Enero, repitiéndose cada Jueves a las 10:00 horas. Por mientras tomen en cuenta lo siguiente:

- - El entusiasmo enciende la pasión de la lectura, así que escojan buenos libros para que ambos se diviertan.

- - Utilice un lenguaje rítmico y placente para llamar la atención.

- - Oraciones claras y cortas empleaando entre sí dos grandes palabras cada página para facilitar una conexción entre la historia leída y la palabra escrita.

- - La repitición conlleva la anticipación.

Lo más imprecindible es divertirse leyendo y criando futuros lectores. ¡Verémonos al próximo Toddler-Time en Kid's Place el 10 de Enero!

Time for a Nap

This morning we finished the autumn toddler-time series. The children had a fun, social and educational experience learning about books, singing, dancing and interacting. The parents enjoyed making friends and arranging future play-dates.

One of our aims as youth services librarians is to help you, as parents and caregivers, encourage your children to develop a love of reading. Emergent literacy is what children know about reading before they can read on their own. Children who enter school with these skills are more likely to succeed.

Toddler-time will resume on January 10th, every Thursday at 10 a.m.
Until then, consider the following points when selecting good books for your toddler:

--Enthusiasm ignites a child's love of reading so choose books that entertain both of you.
--Rythmic and other pleasing language appeals to children.
--Colorful and simple illustrations draw children into a story.
--Short clear sentences with just a couple of big words per page help children make a connection between the written word and a story.
--Repetition leads to anticipation for children.

Have fun reading and raising readers, and we’ll see you at Toddler-Time here in Kids’ Place on January 10th ~Jami, YS Librarian

Norman Mailer and Ira Levin

Two notable authors passed away this week.

Norman Mailer, whose work over the last 60 years was noted for being sensational, fascinating and disturbing, passed away on November 10. His first success was The Naked and the Dead (1948). Other works followed that explored the "underside of modern culture," treating corruption, murder, violence, capitol punishment, biographies of controversial or sensational people (Lee Harvey Oswald, Marilyn Monroe, Gary Gilmore.) Mailer received a Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 1969 for "The Armies of the Night" and for fiction in 1980 for "Executioner's Song".

Ira Levin, best known for his novel, Rosemary's Baby, passed away on November 12. He was also a songwriter and playwright, who wrote Broadway's longest-running Broadway comedy-thriller, "Deathtrap". Several of his novels became movies (Boys from Brazil, Stepford Wives), and his play "No Time For Sergeants", based on the book by Mac Hyman, launched Andy Griffith's acting career.

In our collection: Norman Mailer's books, Ira Levin's books

Read more about Norman Mailer in the Literature Resource Center and the Biography Resource Center (Library card number and PIN required.)

Read More about Ira Levin in the Literature Resource Center and the Biography Resource Center (Library card number and PIN required.)

RINCON LATINO: Poemas leidos en voz alta

No soy experta de poemas. No podría decirle que sería bueno para leer. Pero sé lo que a mi me gusta: un poema que experimenta a veces con el ritmo y el sonido, a veces con el tema, a veces con las palabras que tienen más que un sentido. Y hay poemas que, aunque no los entiendo, tienen algunos versos que ilustran la intención del autor. En el poema de Neruda, Canción del macho y de la hembra, descubrí la intención de pasión jugetona en el siguiente verso: tú me recibes como al viento la vela, e inmediamente supe que me gustaría oir las palabras de ese poema recitadas por mi amado.

Lo intivo escuchar el resto del poema a ver si está de acuerdo conmigo o si estoy loca. (Si no puede escuchar la grabación por computadora, puede leer el poema en la antología Los más bellos poemas de amor latínoamericanos.)

Kids in the News Making Things Work!

It seems that a 9-year old boy may have solved one of the more pervasive sources of domestic discord. Weary of consistent reminders, Jake Wulf of Iowa has created a foot-activated toilet seat lifter he’s calling the “Privy Prop.” He got the idea from observing a trash can with a similar mechanism.

I wonder if one of the books on Jake’s shelves is David Macaulay’s The Way Things Work. Large and colorful diagrams guide your eyes around the mechanics of the daily items we take for granted, like a hand-held can opener, to the more obscure ones we only wish we could get our hands on, like a virtual reality headset.

Ever stop to consider those enticing red laser beams and the barcodes they pass over on your library books? Those black stripes and white spaces are little storage bins that contain bits of computer-coded information. These bits combine in infinite ways to form unique identification tags, which are represented by infinitely unique barcodes. The job of the red laser beam is to reflect this unique code back to the scanning device in the form of light. The scanning device converts this light signal to an electric one and sends it to the computer. The computer then translates this electric signal into the barcode number, which uniquely identifies the item that you are checking out. (Hint: you can leisurely and discreetly ponder this if you use the self-check machines.)

Macaulay’s book is a delight for all ages, and he wrote it especially for those who find technology a “bit” intimidating. We’ve got the book as well as his updated The New Way Things Work; check them out! What will we invent next?

by Jami, Youth Services Librarian

RINCON LATINO: UMBERTO ECO Y EL EFECTO DE LA TECNOLOGIA

A Paso de Cangreso -es decir, hacia atrás- es como parece caminar la historia en este nuevo milenio. Todos los avances científicos y los progresos democráticos que auguraban un espléndido futuro se han convertido en conflictos e insatisfacciones. ¡El mundo no va bien! Contra esta inquietante situación lanza Umberto Eco sus afilados dardos, sus reflexiones. En este libro Eco desenmascara el mensaje salvador de la tecnología; la promesa de la tecnología a desencadenarnos de nuestros propios temores, prejuicios e inquietudes. ¡Todo lo contrario! ... escribe este profesor de semántica. Personalidades nefastos como el actual primer ministro italiano Silvio Berlusconi y el empresario estadounidense Bill Gates, el primero por su manipulación majestuosa de los medios en apantallarse como un mesaías a sus compatriotas, y el otro como presentar la tecnología como un instrumento a facilitar la transparencia tanto en lo personal como lo gubernamental. Este libro tiene un enfoque más académico que las demás obras literarias que ha escrito este prolífico autor.

Ken Burns is a hit!

At the Central Library on Thursday evening, a large, very satisfied group of people were witness to the brilliance of filmmaker Ken Burns as he answered questions posed by participants in five libraries throughout California. If you missed the videoconference, it will soon be available to view on the website of one of our sponsors--The California Center for the Book.

The three questions Sacramentans asked were, "Did you obtain stories from WWII veterans which impressed and touched you but which were not highlighted in your series? If so, could you please share one of these?"

"Now that you have documented in great depth the stories of two wars, what feelings, if any, do you have about how humans deal with conflict?

"We so appreciate the quality of your previous works, so could you talk a little bit about the national parks project you are currently working on?"

For his answers to these questions and the many others asked of him, please remember to view the California Center for the Book's website.

RINCON LATINO: Ganado el arroz y habichuelas: reseña de Worker in the Cane

[El trabajo de ferrocarril] es un trabajo donde el arroz y las habichuelas son una cosa segura aun en el tiempo muerto, mientras en la caña en el tiempo muerto las cosas se ponen duras, muy duras.

En el libro Worker in the Cane, Anasacio Zayas Alvarado nos comparte la dureza de su vida durante la cumbre de la industria azucarera de la isla de Puerto Rico. A través de un relato de estilo de entrevista, Anastacio enumera como ganaba su arroz y habichuelas trabajando la caña y las varias tareas como cavar una zanja, trabajo de riego, el trabajo de ferrocarril, que hizo en la plantación.

También, lo seguimos por los cambios culturales, sociales y económicos desde el ocaso de los hacendados al surgimiento de poder del central por una sola Corporación. Buscó mejorar su vida (y la de su esposa y diez hijos vivos) por su participación en la política y los sindicatos. Cuando se le decepcionaron por esas instituciones, se le consolaba la religión evangélica.

Aunque Anastacio (alias "Don Taso") cuenta su propria historia, muchas veces hay algunas interpretaciones hechas por el autor Sidney W. Mintz, profesor de antropología, quien nos ayuda ver más claramente lo que quiere decir los cambios en la vida de Don Taso. Una parte de mi se rebeló contra la idea de un académico afuera de la situación sacando una conclusión, pero me di cuenta de que nunca podría entender por completo el mundo de Don Taso sin un interprete. Desafortunadamente, esas pausas crean la ilusión de que Don Taso podría ser cualquier hombre del pueblo. Perdí el hilo de la voz de Don Taso y terminé con el concepto de que el texto representó todos los obreros de caña en vez de ser la historia de una sola vida.

Fue facil leer Worker in the Cane. Los cuentos detallados me dejó visualizar la vida cotidiana de un pueblo pequeño puertorriqueño hasta tal punto que gané entendimiento de mis propias experiencias de "shock" cultural en el país. Me gustaría haber leído Worker in the Cane en el español original del relato grabado, como seguro se perdió la sazón de las expresiones de Don Taso por la traducción inglés. Eran los vislumbres breves de su sentido de humor que ayudaron a quitar el tono académico de la obra. Para formar una imagén fiel del mundo de Anastacio, las fotografías de la época que salpican ligeramento el libro son inapreciable al lector desconocido a la cultura del medio siglo 20 de la clase obrera puertorriqueña. En general, este libro es un recuerdo excelente de parte de la cultura de Puerto Rico que no ha sido grabado mucho.

No tenemos Worker in the Cane en nuestra colección pero si puede tomar prestado el libro por el servicio de Link +.

Book Review: Gold Rush Capitalists: Greed and Growth in Early Sacramento:

It all started on an early spring day in 1851 in Sacramento with a game of Monte, a classic game of the Old West. What resulted was the death of two men, Charles Myers, a wheelwright from Ohio, and Frederick Roe, a career thug and gambler from England.

As it turned out, accusations of cheating were discharged toward Roe; he protested, a fight broke out, and when model citizen Myers tried to break up the row, Roe leveled a pistol at his head and pulled the trigger. The results were mayhem and an eventual lynching of the Englishman from a massive oak at the Horse Market, or what would today be where 6th Street rests between “K” and “L” Streets.

Although a simple vignette within Mark Eifler’s larger text, Gold Rush Capitalists: Greed and Growth in Sacramento, the Roe lynching typified the growing pangs of the new American West, a place where few civil institutions existed. Eifler gives careful discussion to the young city’s behavior in the wake of the shooting, where Harvard-educated, landed merchants were driven by blood lust against the will of underpaid and undermanned policemen who implored due process. There is further value in Eifler’s look at one of the American West’s first class wars, known more commonly as the “Squatters Riot.” Child Sacramento was the domain of the wealthy speculator until migrants arrived from far and wide seeking cheap, workable land. The result was revolution on a miniature scale.

To Eifler, both of these events had meaning for a city slowly slouching toward stable economic and political institutions. It’s almost as if life in the antebellum west reflected a social experiment; an academic took a cross-section of America, threw it into a cultural, political and legal vacuum and simply stood back to see what happened. Eifler tells the story well in addition to providing a full history of the early city.

Videoconference with Ken Burns

The California State Library and the Center for the Book will be hosting a public conversation and videoconference with Ken Burns at five California libraries to discuss the making of his latest documentary, The War, and the Sacramento Public Library has been chosen as one of the host sites. The videoconference will take place at the Central Library in the Galleria East Meeting Room on Thursday evening, November 8th from 5:45-7:30 p.m. The audience will have the opportunity to ask questions of Ken Burns. Registration is required in order to attend, as seating is limited. To register, please call (916) 264-2920 or visit www.saclibrary.org.

Internet Librarian 2007 Conference

Last week I had the great privilege to attend the Internet Librarian Conference in Monterey, California and absorbed the wisdom of 15 presentations and three dynamic keynote speakers. I plan to share many of the exciting tips and hot topics that were offered, starting with the search engine, Exalead. Search expert, Mary Ellen Bates said that if we hadn't heard of Exalead yet, we would all know about it in the upcoming year. Try it out, compare it to the ubiquitous Google and let us know what you think.