RINCóN LATINO: Como pasé el Labor Day

Este Labor Day pasado celebré el día libre de la biblioteca encuciando mis manos para recaudar fondos para las actividades y educación de arte para los niños. Participé en el festival anual Chalk It Up en el parque Fremont. Kinetic Illusions patrocinó mi cuadra personal y escogí Sacramento Reads o Sacramento Lea para mi tema.

Han celebrado el festival hace 18 años y me enorgulleció participar en una tradición de Sacramento. Había muchos niños y familias, música en vivo, kioskos de manualidades, comida y un sorteo. Tambien había la tiza.

Por una donación de $10, le da una cuadra pequeña para su pintura y una caja de doce tizas pequeñas o de cuatro grandes. Me gustó mucho los grandes porque era más facil pintar con ellos. Simplemente moja el concreto, aplica la tiza directamente al concreto y usa un pincel de artesanía para extender el color. Cuando se seque el agua, estará una capa grueso de color sobre el concreto. Artistas invitados pintaron obras maestras grandes en las cuadras patrocinadas por negocios de Sacramento.

I celebrated Labor Day off from the library dirtying my hands to raise funds for children's arts activities and education. I participated in the annual Chalk It Up Festival in Fremont Park. Kinetic Illusions sponsored my personal square and I chose Sacramento Reads as my theme.

Chalk It Up has raised funds via this festival for 18 years and I was very proud to join in a Sacramento tradition. There were many children with families, live music and booths displaying crafts, food and a raffle. And there was the chalk.

For a donation of $10, you received a box of colored chalks, either 12 small or 4 large and a square to paint in. I preferred the larger chalk because it was easier to paint with. All you had to do was wet the concrete, apply the chalk directly to the sidewalk and then use a craft brush to spread the color. Once the water evaporates, a thick layer of color is left behind. Local artists were invited to paint large masterpieces on squares sponsored by Sacramento businesses. I had a great time and next year I'm gonna see if I can't convince a library volunteer to join me with library outreach information. See you next year!

Just the Facts...PLEASE!?!?!

As we delve further into this history-making Presidential race, it's important to ask for the truth from those who seek the public trust. Are we not political consumers? Just as we want to know what nitrates/nitrites are finding their way into our foods, or how well a prospective auto will hold-up on the road, we have just cause to ensure that what we're hearing from the Donkey and Elephant are the real deal. Here are a few sources for uncovering the veracity of what we're hearing:

Factcheck.org (http://www.factcheck.org/). Founded in 1994, the Annenburg Foundation is a non-partisan think-tank based at the University of Pennsylvania that seeks to vet (there's that word again) proclamations and statements made by politicians.

The Washington Post launched a new site in early September called The Fact Checker (www.washingtonpost.com/factchecker) that aims to be "the place to go for impartial refereeing of campaign rhetoric."

Politifact.org (http://www.politifact.org/) is a new site, launched by both the Congressional Quarterly and the St. Petersburg Times (Fla.). Its a bit spashier than Factcheck.org and The Fact Checker with its 'truth-o-meters.' But, like the others, non-partisan.

For my time, Factcheck.org and Politifact are the more user friendly of the two. My fellow Americans, no matter which side of the aisle you stand, prepare to be appalled.

Love Her or Not So Much...Meet Sarah Palin Through A Number of Sources at Your Local Library

In case you hadn't noticed, a self-described 'pit-bull' jumped through your TV screen last night and into the national consciousness. Sarah Palin, the new Queen of the GOP ball, has arrived; gritted teeth, intense eyes, and fabulously coiffed hair.

She's new - new as the day - and I can assure you that for a while the library will have no books on Mrs. Palin. We do, however, offer alternatives until the biographies (and there will be many) start to roll in.

Biography is the art of collecting the essence of a person and delivering that essence in readable prose, whether long or short. The Sacramento Public Library's compliment of Biographical resources are strong. If you have access to the Internet, you can read many of them that way.

The Biography Resource Center Online and Who's Who in American Politics are subscription databases possessing information on Governor Palin. What else? America's News Magazines is a recent addition to our compliment of electronic periodicals. Search Slate, Time, Newsweek, Foreign Affairs, U.S. News and World Report.

You can also take a look at partisan political items like the Nation and the New Republic by going into SPL's EBSCOHost database. And a foray into political reading wouldn't be complete without a look at Newsbank, which enables one to view the Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, and Los Angles Times.

To access these options, go to http://www.saclibrary.org/, and choose your "Database/Article Searching." Once locating, then clicking on the desired database/index, enter your library card number and PIN when prompted.

JUST IN: For the next few months, SPL patrons will have access to a trial database called ABC-Clio's Election Resources: http://www.abc-clio.com/page/election/index.html. The database is less geared to names and faces and aligned more to electoral and campaigning processes. After choosing a topic from the tabbed index at the top of the homepage, you'll be prompted to end a username and password. They are:

username: SacLibPatron

password: research

Stay with the Sacramento Public Library over the next few months for updates to our collection regarding this historic Prsidential election.

For a portion of Governor Palin's acceptance speech, click on the image below:

RINCON LATINO : "LA PALABRA DEL DíA"

LA PALABRA DEL DÍA

babor

"Es el lado izquierdo de una embarcación para quien está situado de frente hacia la proa. La palabra llegó al castellano a partir del francés babord, pero se originó en el neerlandés bakboord, palabra compuesta por bak (posterior, trasero) y boord (borda). En las embarcaciones antiguas, el timonel quedaba de espaldas al lado izquierdo del navío.
La palabra se empezó a usar en español en el siglo XVI, como vemos en este trecho de La araucana (1569), de Alonso de Ercilla:

Suenan cañones, sacres, falconetes,
y al doblar de la Isleta embarazadas,
del Austro cargan a babor la escota,
tomando al Su-sudueste la derrota."

Central Express Rocks!

Last night I danced a dance of joy inside the library.

Sure, the teens who witnessed it were staring at me as if to ask, “What’s wrong with her?” and “Why does she keep feeding us Pop Tarts at Movie Madness Game Nights?” But I ignored them. Why was I so happy? During my break I checked out a copy of The Host by Stephenie Meyer. On the surface this is no big deal, since people started requesting the book before it was even published.

Yet I didn’t have to put my name on a request list.

Here is how it works: Central Express is a browsing collect that holds the newest and latest titles. These are titles you normally might forget to read because, due to their popularity, you won’t see them on the shelves when they are first published. Then you’ll spot them, say, three years from now, when you need another book located next to it. But instead of spotting the item in 2011 and thinking, “Didn’t I mean to read that book?” before shrugging it off, you can read the book now. As in right now. The books cannot be requested, nor can their checkout time be renewed, meaning we have TONS of great titles to choose from. However, for the next three weeks you won’t see The Host on the shelf because it’s mine, mine mine!

RINCóN LATINO: Actividades de la Semana

Se llevarán las actividades siguientes en el sucursal Central para la semana 1 de septiembre al 8 de septiembre. Toda actividad es gratis y estará en inglés. Llame 916-264-2920 para más información o registrarse:

Infantes hasta 18 meses

• viernes, 5 de septiembre @ 10am, Hora de cuentos para bebes
  Participa en una experiencia interactiva para los bebes hasta 18 meses y sus padres. Esta actividad está deseñado para desarrollar la alfabetización por el leer compartido, canciones, juegos y el movimiento. Se toma lugar en el Kid's Place (piso inferior).

Niños hasta 3 años

• jueves, 4 de septiembre @ 10:05am, la Hora de los Toddlers
  Venga a escuchar cuentos, cantar con nosostros y más en este programa gratis de 20 minutos.

Jovenes 13- 18 años

• martes, 2 de septiembre @ 5:30pm, Noche de película y juegos

Preparación para el Colegio

• sabado, 6 de septiembre @ 8:30am Práctica del Examen SAT
  Prepárese para el ingreso del colegio por una examen real SAT hecho bajo condiciones autenticos del examen. Representantes del Kaplan Test Prep administrarán el examen el sabado, empezando puntualmente a las 8:30am. Favor de dejarse 4 horas para hacer el examen. Abierto a todo estudiante del escuela superior. Se llevará en el cuarto de reuniones oeste de la galeria. Presentado por Kaplan Test Prep. llame para registrarse

Para familias

• domingo, 7 de septiembre @ 2pm, Matiné de Película
  Disfrute de una tarde relajado con comida y una película

Programas para Adultos - Clases de Computadora

• sabado, 6 de septiembre @ 10:15am, Recursos del Internet de la Genealogía
  este clase está llena

Book Review: "Little Brother"

"Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow. Tor Teen, 2008.

I don't remember how I heard about this title, but I'm sure glad I found it! My husband read it first, and called it a "page turner" and "required reading for every teen." My teen daughter also read it and called it "good." I read it and have decided to become a LOT more proactive and thoughtful about how I spread traces of my life and activities online.

Marcus (aka W1n5t0n) and friends have skipped school to play an online scavenger hunt-type computer game near San Francisco. Just about that time, terrorists blow up the Bay Bridge. Marcus and friends are "detained" for questioning for several days, and then released. However, in those few days, California has been transformed into a police state by the Department of Homeland Security as they search for the terrorists. Marcus uses his knowledge of computer networking and security systems to take on the DHS single-handedly and attempts to end their lock on people's civil rights.

Doctorow is a digital rights activist and works with the Electronic Freedom Foundation. He also blogs and has a respectable list of published books, some of which are available at Sacramento Public Library.