Sacramento History Photo of the Week: Issue No. 16!

This March 1942 photo shows a recently modernized Globe Mills building. Its renovation – started in August 1941- came via the Federal Government’s wartime plan to increase grain storage capacities and overcome nationwide shortages. At completion, the building’s 46 signature silos measured 125 feet in height and, at capacity, could hold up to 500,000 bushels of grain.

At five-stories-high, Globe was perhaps the highest profile of Sacramento’s four flour feeds. By the mid-1930s, the city’s grain industry, drawing off nearly 73,000 acres of Sacramento County grain stands, was producing well over 3 million dollars in product. Just prior to the Great Depression, Sacramento’s roughly 200 mill workers could rely on a gainful wage of between $4.00 and $4.25 an hour.

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.

RINCON LATINO : PELíCULAS EN ESPAñOL

EL FESTIVAL DE CINE LATINOAMERICANO DE UTRECHT

Hace algunas semanas atrás el Festival del Cine Latino Americano de Utrecht en Holanda arrancó y fue declarado un éxito tanto en ventas como en el número de aficionados del cine latino americano. En años pasados muchos países europeos y asiáticos han creado festivales presentando nuevos géneros cinematográficos de muchos países pero el más destacado y abrumador son los de América Latina. No cabe duda que países con largas historias cinematográficas como Francia, Italia, Japón y los Estado Unidos tengan una gran ventaja con respecto a la propaganda de nuevas películas, y los más interesante del Festival de Utrecht es que están luciendo la producción cubana titulada Omertá. Hagan click en el enlace arriba para leer la nota relacionada al festival.

¡Gracias y les envío un abrazo muy grande!

RINCON LATINO : PELíCULAS EN ESPAñOL

,,LOLA, éRASE UNA VEZ"

Esta telenovela mexicana es basada en la telenovela la cual se estrenó en la Argentina con el título Floricienta. Yo no soy muy afanado a las telenovelas especialmente de esta índole pero muchos de nuestros socios quienes acuden a nuestros sucursales les encanta ( y ahora veo por qué! íMama mía!)

Esta telenovela se trata de una linda chica quien posee mucho talento y ambición pero carente de recursos económicos. Visita la mansión de una familia germano-mexicana y se encuentra cara a cara con su príncipe azul. Esta historia es la de Cienicienta pero situada en la Ciudad de México actual. Las chicas son hermosas, los chicos guapos ;y todos son simpáticos y tiernos cuando se encuentran en la calle de pura chiripada.

Got Work?

On Wednesday, May 6th, the Central Library held its first ever job fair, and it was a success! Fourteen different groups arrived, offering volunteer opportunities, training, and (best of all) jobs. Yes, there really are people hiring, even in the current economy. In fact, Sacramento START needs to fill positions at 64 sites. (So if you like children...)

Attendees included Macy's, Sacramento START, California Highway Patrol, Sacramento Police Department, Prepaid Legal, SETA, American River College, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and California Conservation Corps. Look for more information on employers to come!

World Walking Day, Friday, May 8

The weather is drying out and warming up just in time for today's World Walking Day observance. Locally, the Sacramento Walking Sticks is hosting an evening walk tonight near the State Capitol beginning 5 - 6:30 p.m. and finishing by 9 p.m. The event is free. If you love to go a-wandering, this is a friendly group that welcomes all walkers and strollers and dogs!

For those who are serious about their recreation, or who want to use walking as a way to improve their fitness, Sacramento Public Library has a good collection of videos, print and audio books to help get you started.

There's also a nice grab-bag of items in our downloadable collection. And for those who would like to keep up with the latest walking techniques, equipment and health news, look for articles in our Health and Wellness Resource Center (Sacramento library card and PIN needed if you want to view either of the above at home.)

Let's get movin'!

Mandy No Good's photo used with permission.

"Sacramento History Photo of the Week: Issue No. 15!"

Nisenan Village on the American River. The Nisenan or Southern Maidu formed the earliest Native American presence in Sacramento. Dating as far back as 11,000, pre-common era, this hunting, gathering and fishing culture occupied the villages of Momol on the northern-most edge of Alkali Flat, near Richards Boulevard, and Sa’cum to Alkali Flat's southern frontier, below what is today known as Cesar Chavez Plaza. What is more, a 2003 excavation of the area containing the current City Hall, at the intersection of Tenth and “H” streets, yielded enough evidence to suggest that the site may have been used as a hunting/fishing camp. No surprise, knowing the proximity of the camp to Sutter Slough, an inlet that attracted fauna.

This image 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.

SPL in Second Life

As if having only one life to live isn't enough, I've been playing around in Second Life recently. I answered a request from a UCLA faculty member seeking someone from a public library to complete a panel addressing her library school class. The topic: information literacy instruction.

Information literacy instruction, or ILI, is a fancy way of saying "teaching people to find information and know whether it is appropriate or correct for their purposes." The instructor wanted a variety of viewpoints, so there were representatives from college and community college libraries, private and public schools, an art institute and a hospital library. And a public library - Sacramento Public Library! That's me in the picture, in my Second Life persona, Annot8 Greatrex. (Los Angeles Public Library was represented by a poster in the display area.)

I talked to the 21 students about our diverse users (compared to the relatively homogeneous users at schools and colleges), our web site, research guides, computer classes and other programs, and one-on-one instruction. I also mentioned that we host class visits and talk to community groups, and that the Wonder Wagon bookmobile visits community events like the recent Pacific Rim Festival. Afterwards, we gathered on the lawn next to the "open air auditorium" for the poster session.

The other seven presenters were from Florida, New Jersey, Oregon, Alaska, Minnesota, and California. There was a poster from a library in Chile. We all were able to talk to each other in real time in Second Life. Hmmm ... think of the possibilities ...