San Bernardino Public Library - Archie, Betty and Veronica Bring Comic Relief to San Bernardino

Archie, Betty and Veronica Bring Comic Relief to San Bernardino
SB Sun: October 6, 2009 by John Weeks

My favorite souvenir from San Bernardino's recent Stater Bros. Route 66 Rendezvous is a comic book.

It's not just any comic book. It's an Archie comic book.

And it's not just any Archie comic book. It's the current issue of "Betty & Veronica Digest," which features a cover story titled "Route 66 Here We Come," in which Archie and his pals leave their fictional home in Riverdale and head West to visit San Bernardino.

When they get here, lots of good things happen. They meet Mayor Pat Morris, who sports an aloha shirt and greets visitors with a friendly smile. "Welcome, everyone, to San Bernardino!" he says.

Betty and Veronica, along with Veronica's parents, attend the Rendezvous and are amazed at the sights and sounds of the city's summer spectacular. Betty is so inspired, she suggests to Veronica's rich dad, Hiram Lodge, that he develop a similar cruise event featuring the new wave of electric, hybrid and alternative-energy cars.

Meanwhile, Archie and his friend Chuck, a cartoonist, head to the Norman F. Feldheym Central Library where they meet real-life cartoonist Phil Yeh and library staffer Linda Adams, who are collaborating on a mural painting project to promote literacy.

It's a great story. It's entertaining to see the interaction between real and cartoon characters.

Mayor Morris is real. Linda Adams is real. Phil Yeh is real.

Yeh, in fact, is the real star of the story, in more ways than one. The Running Springs artist is founder of Cartoonists Across America, a non-profit literacy and arts advocacy organization that particularly targets young people.

Yeh also has many friends in the cartoon world, including longtime Archie writer George Gladir. That's the connection that explains San Bernardino's starring role in the new "Betty & Veronica Digest" tale, written by Gladir, an Escondido resident. READ MORE !

Imperial County Library - Receives $10,000 for Adult Literacy Imperial

Imperial County Library Receives $10,000 for Adult Literacy Imperial
Valley Press: October 5, 2009, by Elizabeth Varin

County Librarian Connie Barrington has seen people who need to learn to read to pass driving tests, to read their Bibles or even to read with their children, she said.

She remembers a man who came in, asking for help because his child was going into third grade, she said. He didn’t want his child to find out he couldn’t read well. He wanted his child to look up to him.

He was one of the people who took advantage of the free, confidential adult literacy program held at the Imperial County Library, she said.

The library can now afford more training and more workbooks as it goes before the Imperial County Board of Supervisors today to accept an adult literacy grant.

The money will go to training the staff that coordinates the program, buying materials like general education booklets and workbooks for both the tutors and learners, and advertising the program, she said.

“It all goes back into the library literacy program,” she said.

The Imperial County Public Library is one of about 105 libraries that receive state funding, said Jacquie Brinkley, library program consultant for the California State Library. READ MORE !

Hemet Library - Walkers Take Steps to Promote Literacy - Walk A Mile For Literacy 2009

Walkers Take Steps to Promote Literacy
Valley Chronicle: October 2, 2009 by Jenna Hunt

If you can read this sentence, you are one of the lucky ones living in the San Jacinto Valley because some of your adult neighbors can’t read.

The fourth annual Walk-A-Mile for Literacy fundraiser Saturday in downtown Hemet aimed to shed light on illiteracy in the community.

“We have a record number of walkers,” said Lori Eastman, the library’s literacy coordinator. “We want to bring awareness of what the struggles are like.”

The 2000 census showed that 26.5 percent of the area’s population did not have a high school diploma and 17.3 percent read at below basic literacy levels, Eastman said.

During the walk, about 275 people of all ages stopped at displays that creatively showed how difficult it would be to try to go about daily tasks without literacy.

The number of people was about 25 more people than last year, Eastman said. The Hemet Police Explorers, a youth patrol, assisted with the walk. READ MORE !

Literacy in Libraries Around California - Read For the Record: October 8

Read For the Record: October 8

Join Jumpstart and read Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Pledge to read today to help us set a world record. Celebrate the joy of reading all over the globe !

Some SCLLN members Reading For the Record:

Bob Lucas Branch Library Read for the Record: Altadena

Read for the Record

WOWmobile: National City