RINCON LATINO: ¿HABLAS ESPAÑOL?

Dos corresponsales del BBC Mundo han desempeñado un gran labor a preguntar quien sea en su recorrido entre ambas costas de los Estados Unidos : ¿Hablas Español? Nuestro país adoptado ya consiste con aproximadamente 15 millones de hispanohablantes y la cifra sigue incrementando anualmente. Estos dos intrépidos ya han recorrido los Estados Unidos desde Nueva York hasta la bella ciudad portuaria de Seattle en estado de Washington. Lean su blog del mismo título para hasta lo menos comentar sobre su empeño y quizá desearles un buen viaje. También les exijo a comentarles a que nuestros gobernantes continuán presupuestando nuestra biblioteca los servicios a la población de habla español de Sacramento.

RINCóN LATINO: Persépolis

Me enteré de las novelas gráficas de la autora Marjane Satrapi por la revista literaria, the Believer. La revista es mi favorita; se trata de reseñas de libros, entrevistas con escritores y cada de vez en cuando dedica la revista al cine o a la música, que significa que las reseñas son de películas o hay entrevistas con los músicos. La escritura es siempre excelente y en broma. La única manera de mejorarla es publicarla en español.

Siendo dicho, a veces me desencanta. Pasa cuando me parece que la publicación es nada más que la voz comercial de un club secreto. ej: Salió una reseña de Persépolis. Una mes después, reseña de Persépolis II. La mes siguiente, una entrevista con la autora. ¡Ya basta!

Hace meses que aparecieron los artículos cuando descubrí las novelas en la biblioteca. Y ahora puedo confesar que tenían razón. La autora merecía tanta atención.

Como otros libros populares y pertinentes del Medioriente (Leer "Lolita" en Therán, Three Cups of Tea y Cometas en el cielo), Persépolis nos informa de la historia de un pais que nunca podríamos imaginarnos. Es una serie de cuatro novelas que sigue la vida de una niña de Iran. Los dibujos dan vida al personaje principal, su familia y a la historia del pais del enemigo: "los terroristas." Pero en vez de destacar nuestras diferencias, nos comparte una verdad: la gente del Oriente tienen más en común con nostros de que pensamos. El valor es que Sra. Satrapi podría compartir su historia en una manera muy graciosa y divertida.

la foto en este artículo se encuentra en la cuenta flickr de grandCentral.

RINCON LATINO: LA HORA DEL PLANETA!

Hoy a las 20:00 hrs, ciudades alrededor del mundo apagarán sus luces para demostrar su empeño a hacer cambios medioambientales en nuestro mundo. Este acto ya empezó en ciudades internacionales como Sidnei en Australia, Singapur las cuales ya han presenciado el 29 de Marzo. Otras ciudades incluyen Brasilia, Bogotá y Buenos Aires.

La foto a la derecha mostra la ciudad de Christchurch, Nueva Zelandia después del apagón voluntario. Sí desean hacer algo para nuestro planeta porfavor apagan sus luces por solamente una hora. Fin al cabo es nuestra casa la cual se encuentra en peligro.

Whither Newspapers?

This morning, I attended a breakfast/informational session sponsored by NewsBank, vendor of our online subscription to the Sacramento Bee and other California newspapers. Here are some interesting statistics from Ken Doctor, former journalist and managing editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, who spoke about the "Changing Face of Content":

• 56 - average age of those who read newspapers in print


• 60 - average age of those who watch broadcast TV news


• 40 - average age of those who primarily use newspapers' web sites


• Yahoo! News - #1 Internet news site

Some surprising factoids:

• Americans read the news about 62 minutes per day. This has not changed over the last five years; what has changed is that more Americans are reading the news online now.


• 50% of Americans get their news at the GYM (Google, Yahoo!, MSN) daily; 25% more than once a day.


• 10% of news content is now blogs.


• 60% of broadband video is news footage. Reuters and AP make 1,000 new videos per month!

His conclusions: news and blogs may become indistinguishable, as television news and newspapers post additional information - much of it surprisingly comprehensive - and news stories on their blogs, and then the blog posts are, in turn, republished in print. This then leads to a few questions that have still to be answered: What is the newspaper of record? Print? Online? Are reader comments included?

What do you think? How do you get your news fix?

The NCAA Basketball Tournament: The Pleasure and Pain of it All

I was ten and the "Orange Express was rolling." This was the oh-so familiar phrase, describing the wonderment that was the Number 1 college basketball team in the nation for most of 1980/81 season: The Oregon State Beavers. In the early 80s, the state of Oregon had no more than 3 million residents. We were small, often times provincial and proud. The rise of the Beavers to national prominence made the state's chest swell with pride. We were beating UCLA, St. Johns, and so many other traditional national powers with some ease.

Then came March. We--as a state--were ready to take that next step toward the grail of grails. A national championship and a sort of rarefied air that we Oregonians so seldom breathed. The Beavers were paired with Kansas State, a team that wore amusing, duo-tone lavender/purple-colored uniforms. The setting was Pauley Pavillion on the campus of UCLA. National TV. Dick Enberg. Our Beavers -- Steve Johnson, Ray Blume, Mark Radford, Charlie Sitton, and Mark Radford -- looked ready. At least they looked ready.

K-State, a clear underdog, was able to hang with the Beavers. As the game went on, the Beavers seemed to play with more and more timidity while the Wildcats became increasingly confident. This season, one which had been so cherished, was ended when future NBA star Rolando Blackman hit a fall away jumper with two seconds left to give the Wildcats a 62-60 win.

I cried. And when I was done crying, I cried some more. The Beavers had lost and our dreams were dashed. Next year. Wow. We love it when the underdog wins, unless we happen to be the team that they vanquish.

For video of the that fateful day for Beaver fans and glorious one for Wildcat fans, click on the box below:



The K-States of this year's tourney are Davidson, Western Kentucky and Villanova. They beat higher seeds, bucking the odds. These teams and their accomplishments make the tournament such a spectacle.

See below a list of works that are held at the Sacramento Public Library on the beauty that is the NCAA Basketball Tournament, click here.

RINCON LATINO : LA INFORMACION CAUSA DOLOR

La escritora del blog más popular de Cuba, Yohani Sánchez recibió un desequilibrante mensaje este pasado fin de semana al acudir su blog Generación Y. ¿El mensaje? ... Error. El mensaje fue generado por las autoridades del gobierno castrista, el cual permite la existencia de otros blogs de origen cubana pero a costo de ser monitoreados diariamente. Yohani Sánchez, quien también es filóloga, escribe por que le sirve de auge a la frustración, la ansiedad y a la carencia de opiniones divergentes de no solo ella sino también de sus compatriotas. En los ultimos años, Cuba ha presenciado a un sinnúmero de trastornos tanto económicos como políticos. Incluso el gobierno no se ha librado de estos cambios (el hermano menor de Fidel Castro, Raúl, asumió al poder hace algunos días).

¡Leen Generacion Y para visitar a esta isla encantadora y a sus habitantes como Yohani Sánchez! Como la blogera gallega María Amelia visitenla y envíenla un saludo californiano elogiando su gran empeño.

Conference Time in Minneapolis

The Public Library Association is holding its annual conference in Minneapolis this year. I am lucky to be able to attend, for the first time!

Although it's springtime in the west, it's still pretty winter-ish here in the twin cities! This librarian has actually never seen snow before, so both the white stuff and the cold are "novel" experiences for me!

The conference will run through Saturday, and I'm looking forward to learning a lot about what other public libraries are doing.

RINCON LATINO : EL MAMBO Y EL REY CACHAO.

Según un informe del BBC Mundo.com (la versión del BBC en castellano) Israel López, Cachao, falleció este sábado en Miami por razones no reveladas. Cachao y su hermano, Orestes López tuvieron una grande resonancia en la música popular de Cuba en particular el Mambo. Durante la década de los 50, Cachao y su hermano montaron una carrera en componer fondos de película. Uno de sus sobrevivientes es Orlando López, Cachaíto, quien fue integrante del famoso Buena Vista Social Club. Hagan click en los enlaces para leer más sobre esta gran figura musical ó para reservar ejemplares de sus música.

Censorship Update

Intellectual freedom, or the right of everyone to seek and receive information from all points of view, is a cornerstone of the American library. It is also one that is being constantly challenged. Almost every librarian has encountered the customer who insists that we remove an item from our shelves. Often, the depiction of sex or sexual orientation brings a book to someone's attention. Other times it is because of graphic language or supposedly anti-religious views (like the very recently challenged Golden Compass). Whether or not we, as individuals, agree that certain materials are potentially offensive is irrelevant. Librarians by profession are fundamentally against censorship and are proponents of intellectual freedom. I thought I would highlight current censorship issues on the library's blog every now and again or when one becomes especially relevant. The following two recent incidents show two different outcomes of material being challenged in a library or a school.

• The often challenged picture book, King & King, was again brought into the fray in West Virginia when a school district was accused of indoctrinating its children with positive images of healthy and loving families that are headed by same-sex parents. (And Tango Makes Three, based on the true story of two male penguins that adopt an orphan penguin, was one of the most challenged books in 2006 for similar reasons.) The court, however, dismissed the case on several grounds stating that public schools do not carry the responsibility of shielding students from views that may be religiously unsupported.
• The Nampa Public Library in Idaho recently relocated the popular Joy of Sex series to the director’s office. From now on, if you want to reference this book for any reason, you have to go through administration. Randy Jackson is quoted as saying that the books are “pornography and very detailed.” However, he doesn’t feel that all sex books should be removed. Just the ones he looks at that he finds are too detailed and pornographic.

I'll keep you posted in the never-ending saga of censorship.

When We Were Colored

Eva Rutland, author of "When We Were Colored," and her daughter, Sacramento Bee columnist and Capital Public Radio commentator, Ginger Rutland, will be in the Central Library's Sacramento Room to discuss Sacramento's African-American past. Join us as we mix oral history with meaningful discussion with these two accomplished Sacramentans. Books will be available for signing and purchase.

Registration is required and can be done by calling 264-2920 or visiting the library's web site, http://www.saclibrary.org/.

RINCON LATINO: EL MEJOR BLOG EN CASTELLANO.

MARIA AMELIA es una nonagenaria que vive en Muxia, Galicia en España , y fue galardoneada como la mejor ( y la más anciana) blogera en Español. Su afinidad por la bitácora empezó de pura casualidad debido a un nieto tacaño quien le regaló un blog.

María Amelia describe con una aguda claridad sus viviencias día tras día y sus exploraciones por el Internet. En una entrada demuestra su afinidad por el país de Chile, en otra su aprobación de la reciente victoria del Primer Ministro de España José Luís Zapatero. Sus entradas son reveladoras de una mente audaz y conciente de los muchos trastornos que ella ha sido testiga. Pero juntos con ella podemos vivir su experiencias casi simultáneamente. Visiten y déjenla un mensaje a esta linda señora la cual todos podemos aprender algo de la vida.

El Uso del Video Para Comunicar con Ustedes

Hace unas semana que la biblioteca me dejó asistir un taller: cómo preparar los letreros para facilitar el autoservicio de nuestros clientes. Preparamos unos folletos sencillos y después charlamos del uso del audio y vídeo para presentar información a los usuarios. Abajo incluyo un video que hice el día después del taller. Se llama, "¿Qué puede hacer con tu tarjeta de la biblioteca?"

Ahora que sabemos crear un video, queremos eschucar de Ustedes: ¿en cuál situación les gustaría que utilizáramos el vídeo? ¿Por internet, dentro del sucursal, quizás para dar un tour ilustrado de la biblioteca, o para los eventos? ¡Déjennos saber!

Using Video to Communicate with You

A few weeks ago, the library allowed me to attend a workshop on how to prepare signs to better serve the public. We studied good design of handouts as well as placement of flyers so as not to overwhelm the patron when you enter the library. The second part of the day we spent talking about the use of audio and video to provide information. The video above is an example of how to use audio to share with Spanish speakers about what you can do with your library card.

So now that we know how to create a video, we'd like to hear from you: How would you like us to use audio or video to better serve you? Would you like to see more "How to" videos online, would you like to see a "tour of the library" in the library when you arrive, or do you think we should be using them at our outreach events? Let us know!

RINCON LATINO: MIGUEL BOSE

Hace muchísimos años que el cantante español Miguel Bosé apareció en pantallas por no sólo España sino también en toda América Latina enloqueciendo a tantas chicas con su llamativa voz y trajes reveladores. Miguel Bosé ha hecho más de 30 discos no incluyendo discos con él colaborando con artistas de todas partes del mundo hispanohablante como Celia Cruz, Lola Beltrán, Bono, y Shakira. su CD más recientes titulado " Papito " también lustre otros artistas como la ya nombrada Shakira y Bimba. Escúchenlo si no lo han hecho ya, y por lo menos vean este video :

RINCON LATINO: DRAMA/MEX

Aúnque Drama/Mex fue estrenada hace menos de un año en el famoso Festival de Cannes, sin embargo esta película alzó miradas hacia el cine mexicano. El director Gerardo Naranjo rodó la película con solo unas cuantas cámaras portátiles y los actores son amigos del mismo fueron reclutados con la hazaña de hacer un film único. La película será encontrada en nuestras estanterías en muy poco tiempo. ¡¡Quizá habrá momentos no para menores de edad, pero sin momentos desquilabrantes entonces no habrá una película!! ¡Por favor, resérvala pronto , por que se irán como pan caliente!

Illustrating the Good Life: The Pissarros’ Eragny Press. 1894-1914

At their Eragny Press, Lucien and Esther Pissarro choreographed a dance between image and text that presaged Bruce Roger’s definition of a beautiful book. Eragny books honor works that are touchstones of the Good Life as the Pissarros understood it: a life lived with respect for one’s self, for others, and for the natural environment. Their books conjure landscapes, evoke love songs and poetry, celebrate the joys of daily life, and re-tell fairy tales from England, France, Belgium, China and the Ancient Near East. Here, for the first time, the authors and subjects of Eragny Press are analyzed to shed light on the Pissarros’ goals as artists.

This remarkable collection is now on display at the Sacramento Public Library’s Sacramento Room through the end of March. The collection - comprised of various editions and woodcuts - belongs to the Sacramento Room. Room hours are Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 1-5 and Thursday, 1-8. The exhibition's assembly has been made possible, in part, by the New York Council for the Humanities, and grants from the Florence Gould Foundation and the Thomas Poynton Ives Fund.

A Finer Focus: DMITRY 'The Bear' Takes the Plunge...

If Russia elects (loosely put) a President during an election year in the United States, does anyone hear it??? Dmitry Medvedev, the handpicked heir to Vladimir Putin's old post is now the guy at the other end of the 'red phone.' A 1987 graduate of LSU (No! Not that one...Leningrad State University), Medvedev has a PhD in Private Law: In short, an impressive dude, great political pedigree.

Chess savant Gary Kasparov might, however, have something to say about that. Odd that Kasparov wasn't able to rent a meeting hall where at least 500 supporters could congregate to witness his announcement for office, as is required by law for one to be able to run for President. What? Seems that not many hall owners were willing to rent Kasparov a place to stump. Hmmm.

So, it's now Medvedev. Before him is the task of riding the wave of Russia's new found oil might and mending dachas with NATO. A great way to keep up with the world, getting quality news from quality sources like the Economist, Foreign Affairs, transcripts from National Public Radio programs like "All Things Considered." You may access all of these publications - and many more- by going to "EBSCOHost," accessible through the Find Articles/Databases link on the Sacramento Public Library homepage (http://www.saclibrary.org/), then by going to General Articles on the next page. At this point, you may enter your library card number and PIN to access this great content.

The other day when Medvedev was offered tea during a meeting, he said 'da,' but it would have to be with honey because he is, as he put it...the Bear; in actuality, the meaning of his name in Russian.

To grab further biographical information on 'the Bear,' you may explore the "Biography Resource Center," a great place to grab current bio-data on lots of interesting people. You may get there, by following the same path as above, yet our Biography options are located near the bottom of the database page.

SONRISAS : BILINGUAL STORYTIME #4

Thanks to grant sponsored by Target, Sacramento Public Library Youth Services Librarian Marisa Spar and Library Assistant Jose Esparza conducted a Spanish - English language Storytime at Howe Avenue Public Elementary School. The grant was originally written by former librarian Cara Randall and had originally asked for 4 sessions of bilingual Storytime in the San Juan School District. The storytimes were fun to do, as I am not used to doing them ... and they are testament of SPL's ever-growing commitment to serving not only the educational needs of Sacramento's children but also that of the Latino community.