Tuesday, June 24, 2014

California Book Festivals: July 2014

Books, Comics, Poetry, Storytelling, Writing and more !

Summer Reading Clubs @ Your Local Library
500 year old books and Oscar Wilde writings
Obscura Society LA, $20

North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center, Nevada City

Comic-Con Intl - San Diego: Jul 24-27
San Diego Convention Center

Book'd in Burbank: Jul 24, 7:30pm-9:30pm
Theatre Banshee

Ongoing ::: Thru September

Skirball Cultural Center

LA graffiti artists inspired by 400yr books
ESMoA, El Segundo


Your one stop for all the most exciting literary events in the LA area


Saturday, June 21, 2014

Rancho Cucamonga Library - StoryCorps 2013 Medal Winner

IMLS and StoryCorps

StoryCorps is making their visits to the 2013 medal-winning institutions in early 2014. Check back to hear additional stories as they are made available.

Rancho Cucamonga Public Library

"You become an expert on deception..."
Jerry Piazza (L), a 64-year-old student in the adult literacy program at the Rancho Cucamonga Public Library, talks to Allen Callaci (R), the literacy librarian, about navigating life without the ability to read. They talk about his decision to go to tutoring and publicly reveal his struggle.
Length: 2:28. Read transcript (PDF)

StoryCorps’ mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, preserve, and share their stories. StoryCorps is currently one of the fastest-growing nonprofits in the country. Each week, millions of Americans listen to StoryCorps’ award-winning broadcasts on NPR’s Morning Edition. Fifty of StoryCorps’ most emblematic stories have been collected in the New York Times bestseller, Listening Is an Act of Love (Penguin Press). A follow-up book, Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps (Penguin Press), published in Spring 2010, features inspiring stories by and about mothers.

StoryCorps San Francisco
StoryCorps is pleased to partner with the San Francisco Public Library, Airbnb, KALW and KQED to record, preserve, and share the stories of the Bay Area. Visit StoryCorps in San Francisco.

Friday, June 20, 2014

75th anniversary of the Library Bill of Rights

75th anniversary of the Library Bill of Rights
ALA News: 6.17.2014

Seventy-five years ago at the 1939 ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco, the ALA Council adopted the Library’s Bill of Rights, echoing the spirit of a document from the Des Moines Public Library in 1938. This document, refreshed in 1944, 1948, 1961, 1967, 1980 and 1996, remains the library profession’s major policy document on intellectual freedom.

All those revisions prove that the Library Bill of Rights is truly a “living document.” In fact, LBOR now has 21 Interpretations.  ALA has recognized that it is a document of ideals, but also of practice—which is why interpretations have been crafted to deal with such specific issues as Privacy, Children and Services to the Disabled.

ALA President Barbara Stripling is “pleased to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Library Bill of Rights and to recognize the enduring impact of libraries on the democratic vitality of our nation.  LBOR serves as a foundational documents for libraries of all types, affirming the right of all members of our communities to have equitable and uncensored access to information and ideas.”

Stripling’s presidential year has included the Declaration for the Right to Libraries, which affirms the principles in LBOR which “empower individuals, strengthen families, build communities, and strengthen our nation.”

All these documents can be found in the Intellectual Freedom Manual, which will soon have its ninth edition!

The Intellectual Freedom Committee, the Committee on Professional Ethics and the Intellectual Freedom Round Table urge libraries to celebrate.  The Office for Intellectual Freedom can provide ideas for you.  Stay tuned for further activities at the Las Vegas Annual Conference!

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Only 17 Percent of Parents Believe Reading is Top Priority During the Summer

New Survey: Only 17 Percent of Parents Believe Reading is Top Priority During the Summer; Kids Spend Nearly Triple the Time Playing Video Games or Watching TV

Macy’s and Reading Is Fundamental Launch Be Book Smart Campaign June 18 to Support Children’s Literacy

WASHINGTON – (June 18, 2014) – Despite research that indicates the importance of summer reading in preventing children from losing literacy skills, only 17 percent of parents say reading is a top summer priority, according to a new survey from Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and Macy’s. The survey, conducted by Harris Poll, also finds that children spend nearly three times as many hours weekly watching TV or playing video games as they do reading in the summer. More than 1,000 parents with children ages 5-11 completed the survey online in April.

Results of the survey are made public as Macy’s and RIF launch the 11th annual Be Book Smart campaign to support children’s literacy. Be Book Smart begins June 18, and invites customers nationwide to give $3 at any Macy’s register in-store, to help provide a book for a child and get $10 off a purchase of $30 or more. Macy’s will donate 100 percent of every $3 to RIF. The campaign ends July 13.

“Many families think of reading as eating your vegetables—good for you but not necessarily a treat. Reading is the best vacation. It takes you places you never dreamed you would visit, and summer especially is a time when kids can immerse themselves in the topics they like best,” said Carol H. Rasco, CEO of Reading Is Fundamental. “Thanks to our partnership with Macy’s, we are bringing more books to children who need them most and starting them on a journey to a lifelong love of reading.”

More than 60 percent of parents in the survey said they do not believe their child loses reading skills over the summer. However, existing research shows that summer learning loss is a major problem, particularly for low-income children who can lose up to three months of reading skills because of limited access to books and learning opportunities while out of school. The key to helping children maintain and even improve their literacy skills over the summer is providing access to quality books that they can choose based on personal interests.

Full survey results are highlighted in an executive summary by Harris Poll. Key findings include:
• On average, parents say their child spends 17.4 hours/week watching TV or playing video games, 16.7 hours/week playing outside and only 5.9 hours/week reading.
• Parents who consider reading to be extremely or very important are twice as likely to have a child who reads every day.
• Children who were involved in a reading program last summer were up to two times more likely to read every day. Yet, over half of parents said their child did not participate in a reading program at all last summer.
• Last summer, children who read because they wanted to were twice as likely to read than children who read because they had to.
• Despite the proliferation of e-books and digital formats, 83 percent of parents said their child preferred print books for summer reading, compared to 7 percent preferring tablets and 4 percent preferring e-readers

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Huntington Beach Library - 30th Anniversary

Celebrating 30 years of Literacy Services
Huntington Beach Public Library
June 18


We will be celebrating the wonderful things you do for Literacy Services and the accomplishments of our learners. Not to mention welcoming in our new board, and celebrating the year 1984 and 30 years of Literacy Services in Huntington Beach! Hope to see you there!

Friday, June 13, 2014

New Library Funding Reduced From $5 million to $3 million

Budget Conferees Trim Budget As Part Of Deal With Governor - New Library Funding Reduced From $5 million to $3 million   
CLA News From the Capitol: 6.12.2014 by Mike Dillon & Christina DiCaro [ Full Text ]

Last night the Legislature’s eight-member Budget Conference Committee convened to make a series of adjustments to many previously closed Budget items and to take votes on several outstanding issues. One such item revisited was the new funding, recently approved, for the California Library Services Act and the state literacy program.

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When the issue was reopened last night, the conferees noted that they were disappointed that they were going to have to make a small reduction to the previous augmentation, and reduced the CLSA by $2 million.
~ $2 million more for CLSA (current baseline is $1.8 million)
~ $1 million more for literacy (current baseline is $2.8 million)
~ $3.25 for the Governor’s proposal to link all public libraries to a high-speed, broadband network.

It was a compromise between the Senate, the Assembly, and the Governor’s office.

The CLA believes that these final numbers will be sent to the Governor for his signature on June 15.  READ Full Text

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Centro Latino for Literacy - Mixer

Leamos, Tacos, y Tequila Literacy Mixer
Centro Latino for Literacy
6.06.2014

WOW!

We had a great turnout on Wednesday, June 4th at our inaugural Pasadena literacy mixer – 150 people attended! We celebrated adult literacy, honored Judge Fernando Olguín, and launched our “Let’s Read with Literacy Partners” campaign (crowdrise.com/letsread).

A good time was had by all. A special thanks to those that contributed to our mission of transforming lives through literacy. Shout out to Centro Latino’s Fund Development & Marketing Committee for bringing this together along with the talented staff of Centro Latino. Volunteers – thanks for making guests feel welcome!

Missed it? See pictures here.