Edward M. Kennedy, 1932-2009

Senator Edward Kennedy will be buried today at Arlington National Cemetery. Despite the notoriety attached to some events in his life, he is being praised by both friends and opponents for his ability to get people with diverse views moving in the same direction.

Sacramento Public Library has Books about Ted Kennedy, and provides access to Articles about Ted Kennedy in its journal databases. The Biography Resource Center has a collection of shorter biographies and articles as well. These resources are free at any branch and also at home for those with a Sacramento Public Library cards.

roberthuffstutter's image used with permission.

RINCóN LATINO: PELíCULAS EN ESPAÑOL

PVC-1 de Spiros Stathoulopoulos

La táctica de colocar ,,collares bomba" no les diré que es común para secuestradores pero les diré ques si es una táctica que atrae mucha atención de parte de los medios. Esta práctica comenzó en Colombia varios años atrás durante el apogeo de la guerra contra las Farc pero también ciertos carteles narcotraficantes la ha empleado.

El director griego Stiros Stathoulopoulos ha dirigido una espeluznante película tratándose de este tema. Aparte de un electrizante escenario y un paso feroz, esta película fué rodada en una toma. como siempre no revelo mucho sobre las película que reseño simplemente porque quiero fomentar más suspenso de la que ya existe.

Armchair Travel

I love to travel--in the summer of 1989, right before the Berlin Wall fell, I spent a month with family in Hungary. I toured Europe for a month in 1991. In February 1997 I visited Anchorage, Alaska and went dog-sledding and attended Fur Rendezvous events. For Labor Day this year I'll be in the Caribbean ziplining and relaxing. In between all of my vacations and adventures, I read travel books. I love Tim Cahill, Bill Bryson, Sarah Vowell and Jon Krakauer to name just a few. If you're interested in seeing what I recommend for devotees of the art of travel, please take a look at our newest Book Bulletin list, "Armchair Travel," and subscribe today. Who knows, maybe these books will inspire you to turn your staycation into a vacation!

Getting Carded

This afternoon, Central Library sent two librarians on a field trip to the Art Institute of California's new Sacramento campus. At the request of the Institute's librarian, we brought a laptop, a few promotional materials, and library cards, stealing a move on September's Library Card Sign-Up campaign. We were delighted to find that half the students and faculty that visited the school library already had library cards, but we signed up seven people for their first card!

We mentioned our broad database coverage, downloadable collections, the services we provide, and also our new Info Quest: txt 4 answers service. With schools gearing up to start around Labor Day, now is one of the best times to get or update your key to the free resources at your library!

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

Imagine living the same day over and over (and over) again. I know what some of you are thinking: “But this already describes my existence to a T! My life is completely banal, and most days are completely filled with mundane tasks such as folding laundry, bill paying, determining why the garbage disposal doesn’t work, and pretending to pay attention at PTA meetings. Would some please help me??!!” If this is you, please see our travel section in Central Express. But for those of you who do not need an intervention, imagine the confusion of having to repeat the same day again and again…

Now imagine you’re only 11 years old.

How confusing is that?

Amanda and Leo used to be close friends who always shared their birthdays together. But after a falling out at their tenth birthday party, the two haven’t spoken, let alone planned another joint venture. Amanda had accepted they would be celebrating their birthdays separately from now on. What she wasn’t prepared for was repeatedly living the day (and having to see her sister wearing the same stupid shirt over and over!) Will Amanda ever see her 12th birthday? 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass is a good book for children and for adults who need a cute and quick read.

Add To My Contacts

What's with the abstract art in the right sidebar? It's called a QR (quick response) code. It sends information to a cell phone equipped with a code reader. The Civil Librarian and Hapalibrararian have blogged about QR codes, speculating on potential uses in a public library setting. The Dover Town Library in Massachusetts featured QR codes in its summer reading program this year.

In some cases, the code will lead you to a web site; in others, it might send a message to a contact phone number. Or it can be coded to provide business card information, or ...

The QR code on this blog will offer to add the phone number for our new My Info Quest: text 4 answers service to your cell phone contacts, so you can text us the next time you have a burning question and get an answer in minutes from a librarian. (You can add it or decline it.)

If your camera phone is equipped with a data plan, and if you have acquired a code reader, just point your phone's camera at the code and take it away!

RINCóN LATINO: PELíCULAS EN ESPAÑOL

,,SIN NOMBRE" de Cary Joji Fukunaga




,,Sin Nombre" es una película dirigida por el cineasta estadounidense Cary Joji Fukunaga pero producida por los actores mexicanos Diego Luna y Gaél García Bernal. Ésta película se trata de un par de desconocidos que se encuentran en un tren haciendo el largo viaje clandestinamente desde centroaméroca hacia los Estados Unidos. La historia se concentra en dos viajes y no solamente uno, donde una familia hondureña intenta reunirse con sus familiares viviendo en Nuevo Jersey, y el otro viaje se trata de un joven huyendo de una vida violenta para salvar su propia vida.

Si ustedes se preguntan porque no comento más sobre estas películas ...es porque quiero que ustedes las piden por prestado en mi biblioteca ó en las de su estado.

Time Travelers

The movie made from Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife will be in theaters this week. This is one of the very few books I've read that I can truly and without hyperbole say is 'mind-bending'. Right now, because of the movie, there are many holds on it. However, there are LOTS of other time-travel titles in the library for both kids and adults! If the topic intrigues you, I can recommend Charles Dickinson's A Shortcut in Time, which has similar themes, and also Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. See you whenever!

Sacramento Squeaked in 1975 - One Journalist's Back Story at the Central Library

Longtime Central librarians remember Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme wandering, aimlessly through the Central Library's old reference room. It was soon after, in September 1975, that Fromme tried to shoot then-President Gerald Ford as he moved from car to building on Sacramento's Capitol Grounds. Last year, ex-City Editor for the Sacramento Bee, Art Nauman, recounted his experiences with Squeaky as part of the California Past Digital Story Project. Click on the screen below to view this short movie starring Nauman:



For more stories from the California of the Past and Sacramento Stories Project, go to blip.tv: http://sacramentolibrary.blip.tv/

After 34-years in prison, Fromme is scheduled for release on August 16, 2009.

Artful Stories to Be Heard and Seen on Second Saturday!

The Central Library's second cycle of digital stories will be premiered during Sacramento's hallowed "Second Saturday" festivities on the 8th of August. Ten Sacramentens - oral historian to former California State Librarian - offered up their time over the spring and summer to put together an satisfying volume of tales.

The program's emcee, and Sacramento Stories project manager, will be Karl Alexander of Sacramento's own Kinetic Illusions Creative Studio. If you should miss the event, look for the stories to be posted shortly after the premier at http://sacramentolibrary.blip.tv/.

RINCóN LATINO: PELíCULAS EN ESPAÑOL

,,El Baño del Papa" de César Charlone


,,El Baño del Papa" es una película la cual toma lugar en la ciudad de Melo en el Uruguay. En 1988, el Papa anuncia su gira por Sudamérica y Beto, quien se dedica al contrabando, decide en hacerse rico pero se frustra en escuchar las malas hazañas de sus vecinos malcreentes. Entonces decide Beto en hacer lo inesperado ... alquiler un baño portátil para rentarlo a los esperados 500,000 visitantes. ¡Buen idea no!

Sacramento History Photo(s) of the Week: Issue No. 22!

This promotional photo for the Bercut-Richards Cannery was taken in 1942. The model is shrouded in one of Sacramento’s most lucrative cash crops – peaches. By the time of the photo, “Orchard and Vineyard” crops were Sacramento County’s third largest agricultural money-maker at $2,119,000, behind field crops at $3,443,000 and live stock at $3,340,000. Bercut-Richards, located at Seventh and Richards, was Sacramento’s highest-profile cannery. It opened in 1928 under the dynamic management of Thomas Richards, and, as War approached, in 1942, the cannery morphed into one of the West Coast's primary military depots. Sacramento’s inland location and access to major rail lines made it safe from air attack and ideal for shipping military goods toward the Pacific Theater. What's more, by the end of the War, nearly 540 prisoners-of-war from Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps were working within the warehouses of the depot and the cannery.

This photo and many more like it can be found in the Sacramento Public Library’s Sacramento Room which is open to the public Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday 1 to 5, and Thursday 1 to 8.