Sunday, March 19, 2017

CLA Call to Action :: Phone Your Representatives Today :: President's Budget to Eliminate Federal Library Funding

FEDERAL BUDGET NEWS - YOUR ACTION REQUESTED TODAY!
CLA Latest News: March 2017
                         
Dear California Library Community:
If you have not yet seen the news this morning, the new Federal budget (among other things) eliminates the IMLS. 



·  Budget from White House – America First

·  Details about the budget – What Trump cut in his budget
      Washington Post: 3.16.2017 by Kim Soffen and Denise Lu 

· Calvert, 42nd District  (Corona/IE)
· Lee, 13th District (East Bay)
· Aguilar, 31st District (San Bernardino/IE)

·   Library Services & Technology Act Funding in California

Please get on the phone with your representatives today, this is urgent.
Helen McAlary,
President, California Library Association

Friday, March 17, 2017

Ventura Co Library :: Read to a Child and Support Adult Literacy

Editorial: Read to a child and support adult literacy

Thursday is our national day to promote and celebrate reading. In classrooms across our county and nation, teachers, parents and other guests will be reading to children as part of Read Across America Day.

This annual event created by the National Education Association in 1998 and held on and around the birthday of the late Theodor Seuss Geisel — Dr. Seuss — offers everyone a wonderful chance to get involved in their local schools and support education and literacy.

Literacy, however, is not just an issue for children. About 18 percent of adults 16 to 65 years old in the United States struggle with basic reading and comprehension, according to the U.S. Department of Education. So today is also a good day to applaud a local program that has been working to improve adult literacy in Ventura County for more than three decades.

The Ventura County library system’s READ Adult Literacy Program — featured in a Star story last week — has been offering free help with reading and writing for English-speaking adults since 1984. It trains volunteers to provide weekly, one-on-one reading and writing tutoring for adults, with sessions held at libraries, schools, jails and other facilities throughout the county.  READ MORE @

Monday, March 13, 2017

Carlsbad Library :: How to Use the Library's Tablets

Happy New Year :: Carlsbad Library Literacy


As the new year begins we would like to give you more information about the tablets in the tutoring rooms.

There are instructions in the room: “How to Use the Library’s Samsung Tablets.”  These go through how to use the tablets step-by-step, from turning them on to the different apps available.

There are three apps we would like to highlight for you.  The first is the “US Citizenship” app.  It uses flashcards and practice tests to help improve skills for the citizenship test.

The second app is “Sight Words Wiz.”  This app has different levels of sight words that are read out loud to the learner who then chooses the correct word from a list.

The last app is “The Oxford English Dictionary” which is a great tool for looking up definitions.  No matter what apps you use, the tablets are a great resource to try.  If you need any help, or have suggestions on apps to add, please let a staff member know.  READ MORE @

#Mar16 Adult #Literacy Tutor Orientation 6 pm

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Podcasts :: Tutor Resources | Literacy | Reading | Books | Writing | ESL | ELL | Vocabulary | Listening

Tweet – Tweeter – Tweetest
Superlatives from SCLLN

In this week's GG podcast, we talk about abbreviations,
runcible spoons, and haiku. And then the murders began.




NEW | A Perfect Alternative to Reading:
The Wonderful World of Podcasts



here's our episode on strikes




Past simple and past continuous



Thursday, March 9, 2017

In Memoriam :: Jamie Watson :: 1948-2017 :: Literacy Coordinator, Santa Monica Library

Jamie Watson, 1948-2017: Civic volunteer, planning commissioner loved Torrance history
Daily Breeze: 1.24.2017 by Nick Green

A city resident for 54 years, Watson is believed to have died of natural causes at her house on Arlington Avenue in Old Torrance, authorities said.

Watson, the stepdaughter of the city’s first full-time municipal attorney, Stanley Remelmeyer, had served on a trio of volunteer commissions in the last two decades, including the Library and Environmental Quality commissions.

She was a former librarian with the Santa Monica Public Library system for 24 years before retiring in 2008.

═════════►
Celia Carroll, who worked with Watson at the Ocean Park Branch, remembered Watson as possessing a “well-furnished mind.”

“She excelled at library programming, beginning with her oversight of ‘Tuesdays with Books,’ one of the most successful book discussions in LA County,” Carroll said in an email. “As literacy coordinator, she was dedicated to drawing participants, both as tutors and students. At Ocean Park Branch, she created the most interesting programs out of local history, global personalities, and scholars. People flocked to her presentations.”  READ MORE @

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Redlands Library :: Adult Literacy Program Grows with Help of Community Partners

Redlands Adult Literacy Program grows with help of community partners
Redlands Daily Facts: 3.04.2017 by Diane Shimota,
adult literacy coordinator-A.K. Smiley Public Library

The Redlands Adult Literacy Program is grateful to its community partners who provide services that extend the mission of helping adults in our community improve their reading and writing.

Community partnerships have allowed the program to provide adult literacy services at multiple locations — Clement Middle School, Lugonia Elementary School, Family Service Association of Redlands and Redlands Community Center — in addition to the A.K. Smiley Public Library. Generous grants and donations allow the Adult Literacy Program to provide one-on-one tutoring for adults, the program’s primary mission, and to offer computer classes, buy literacy software and offer book clubs to foster reading comprehension.

We recently asked leading community partners why they supported adult literacy in Redlands. We would like to share their insights, with gratitude for their ongoing support.

The most important partnership is with people in the Redlands community who support adult literacy through direct donations and volunteering. Funding from local supporters and the Friends of A.K. Smiley Public Library, Alpha Delta Kappa, Delta Kappa Gamma, Kiwanis, Zonta and the Contemporary Club further expanded the opportunities for program enrichment and demonstrated the local support for adult literacy.  READ MORE @

To learn more, join us at the next Tutor Orientation, on April 10th, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. at the A. K. Smiley Public Library Assembly Room.   Please call the Redlands Adult Literacy Program office at 909.798.7565, ext. 4138 or email literacy@akspl.org

Sunday, March 5, 2017

CLA Advocacy Training with Patrick PC Sweeney

CLA Advocacy Training with Patrick PC Sweeney


March 9, 2017: 9am – 12N
Millbrae Branch
1 Library Ave, Millbrae, CA 94030

March 10, 2017: 1pm – 4pm
North Natomas Library
Sacramento Public Library
4660 Via Ingoglia, Sacramento, CA 95835

March 13, 2017: 9am – 12N
San Diego Central Library
330 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101

California needs well-trained librarians to take action to support legislation at the state-level as well as state-wide bond initiatives. There is currently a Senate Constitutional Amendment being brought forward by Senator Bill Dodd to lower the threshold for Bond measures for libraries down to to 55 percent instead of the current required supermajority of 66 percent. This amendment has the potential to drastically improve the quality of library infrastructure in California if passed by legislators in Sacramento and then passed by the voters in 2018. 

Patrick “PC” Sweeney will be conducting a training from EveryLibrary, the National Political Action Committee for libraries, about best practices for visiting and building positive and proactive relationships with legislators and how to take action to support CLA's efforts to move SCA-3 through Sacramento. In this training librarians and library staff will also learn about SCA-3, CLA’s goals and commitment to supporting this initiative, as well as how they can help build local and statewide political support for a future state-wide ballot measure.

$25 - Members
$45 - Non-Members