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Reading Event

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Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen: Indra’s Net Theater Company discussion at Berkeley Public Library

May 8, 2013 in Art & Music Event, Central Branch, Reading Event, Talk by LibraryNews | Permalink

Contact:  Debbie Carton
510-981-6139

 

Immediate Release
May 8, 2013
For an event occurring Tuesday, May 14, 2013

 

Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen:
Indra’s Net Theater Company discussion at Berkeley Public Library


Berkeley Public Library welcomes our town’s new theater company.  Indra’s Net Theater focuses on plays about science and its philosophical and ethical implications.  Their first production is Michael Frayn’s Tony award-winning Copenhagen. On Tuesday, May 14, director Bruce Coughran will join us to discuss the play and the production, in a free program at 6:30 p.m. in the 3rd floor Community Meeting Room. Members from the Berkeley Public Library’s Playreaders group will read several scenes aloud.

In 1941, Danish physicist Niels Bohr and his German protégé Werner Heisenberg met in occupied Denmark.  Heisenberg was working on his country’s project to explore nuclear fission.  Through this tense meeting of old friends, the play explores the vagaries of human communication.  What can be known?  And what will always be uncertain?

COPENHAGEN is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. Indra’s Net Theater is a fiscally sponsored project of fractured atlas.  For more information about Copenhagen and Indra’s Net Theater, visit www.indrasnettheater.com.

This free event is sponsored by the Friends of the Library (www.berkeleylibraryfriends.org).  For more information, call 510-981-6139 or visit www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

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Local Activist Ying Lee reads from her new book at Berkeley Public Library

January 30, 2013 in Reading Event by LibraryNews | Permalink

Contact: Debbie Carton (Ph: 510-981-6139)

For Immediate Release
January 30, 2013

 

Local Activist Ying Lee reads from her new book at
Berkeley Public Library

 

Activist Ying Lee reads from her new book, Ying Lee, from Shanghai to Berkeley at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 3 at the 3rd floor Community Meeting Room of the Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch, 2090 Kittredge Street.

Lee, also known as Ying Lee Kelley, lived under war or the threat of war for most her years growing up in China and Hong Kong. She came to San Francisco as a teenager and spent her young adult life in the throes of a changing world that would catapult her into the anti-war movement around the same time that she became a wife, mother and teacher. Lee’s struggle for peace and justice led her into politics, where she would become Berkeley’s first – and only – Asian city council member.

Her belief in a better world would lead her to work for Congress members Ronald V. Dellums and Barbara Lee. Now a grandmother, Lee continues her fight for justice and against war.

This free program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library (www.berkeleylibraryfriends.org).  Copies of Ms. Lee’s book will be available for purchase and signing. For questions regarding this program, call 510-981-6139.

The Central Library is open Monday, noon-8 p.m., Tuesday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday afternoons from 1 p.m.-5 p.m.  For questions and accessibility information, call 510-981-6195, TTY 510-548-1240, http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

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Berkeley Public Library’s Playreaders present a Performers’ Showcase

November 14, 2012 in Art & Music Event, Reading Event by LibraryNews | Permalink

For immediate release
November 14, 2012

Contact: Debbie Carton (Ph: 510-981-6139)

 

Berkeley Public Library’s Playreaders present a Performers’ Showcase


On Saturday, December 1, at 3:30 p.m. at Central Library (2090 Kittredge at Shattuck) in the 3rd floor Community Meeting Room, Berkeley Public Library’s Playreaders will present a Performers’ Showcase, reading scenes from Arthur Miller to Sarah Ruhl for your entertainment.

Each week, participants in the Playreaders program meet to read aloud from great plays, changing parts frequently.  With several retired professional actors in the group and many talented amateurs, we’ve discovered (and rediscovered) favorite scenes, which we would like to share with others.  With Shakespeare, Shaw and George S. Kaufman, there’s something for everyone.

For more information, call 510-981-6139.  This free program is sponsored by Friends of the Berkeley Public Library (www.berkeleylibraryfriends.org).  For accessibility information, call 510-981-6195, TTY (510) 528-1240, http://berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

 

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Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War

August 9, 2012 in Reading Event, Uncategorized by LibraryNews | Permalink

For Immediate Release
August 9, 2012

Contact: Shani Leonards, 510-981-6148.

 

Berkeley Public Library to host
American Civil War lecture and community book reading
to mark the 150th anniversary of America’s most divisive conflict,
Saturday, September 15th, at 1:00 p.m.
in the Central Library’s third floor Community Meeting Room.

 

Berkeley, California – The Berkeley Public Library will host “Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War”, a reading and discussion program sponsored by the American Library Association, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Cal Humanities, and the California History- Social Project. The Library is one of 4 public libraries across the state to host the series which is intended to foster contemplation and conversation of the legacy of the Civil War and emancipation.

The event will begin with a lecture given by Professor Ari Kelman, Associate Professor of History at UC Davis. It will be followed by three simultaneous community book discussions of the following works: March by Geraldine Brooks, Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam by James McPherson, America’s War: Talking About the  Civil War and Emancipation on Their 150th Anniversaries, an anthology edited by Edward L. Ayers.

“The Civil War takes us back to a time in American history when civility ruptured and the nation split in two,” said Jim Leach, chairman of NEH.  “The sesquicentennial of the Civil War and emancipation is an occasion for America to reflect together about the causes and ramifications of our greatest internal conflict, and a most appropriate way for ‘us the living’ to renew the American spirit in these still-troubled times.”

Multiple copies of each of the three books for the group discussions were awarded to the Berkeley Public Library and are available for check out with a Berkeley Library card. Members of the public planning to attend the community book discussion portion of the event are encouraged to read at least one of the works prior to the discussion sessions.

For more information please visit www.berkeleypublic.library.org or contact Shani Leonards, 510-981-6148.

The Central Library is open Monday, noon-8p.m., Tuesday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., and Sunday afternoons from 1 p.m. till 5 p.m. For questions and accessibility information, call 510-981-6195, TDD 510-548-1240, http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

Civil War Flyer

 

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Strength in Diversity: The Poetry of Ecology

May 21, 2012 in Reading Event by LibraryNews | Permalink

For Immediate Release
May 19, 2012


Contact: Isobel Schneider (Tel: 510-981-6150)


Strength in Diversity: The Poetry of Ecology. Award winning poets Adam David Miller and Kim Shuck, headline a FREE multicultural and multigenerational poetry reading at the Berkeley Public Library.

 

Strength in Diversity: The Poetry of Ecology, a FREE, multi-cultural, multi-generational reading will showcase original works by six poets. The program is presented jointly by the Ecology Center and the Berkeley Public Library at 2:00 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012, in the 3rd floor Community Meeting Room of the Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch, 2090 Kittredge St., Berkeley.

Adam David Miller, well-known poet, teacher and community activist, author of four books of prize-winning poetry and more recently a notable memoir, Ticket to Exile, headlines the program with Kim Shuck, author of the collection Smuggling Cherokee and winner of numerous writing awards including the Native Writers of the Americas First Book Award and the Mary Tall Mountain Award.

The Ecology Center’s Kirk Lumpkin, poet, performer, and the Special Events and Promotions Coordinator of the Berkeley Farmers’ Markets hosts this program. He will be joined by two other Ecology Center poets, Jahan Khalighi, a former member of the Eugene Slam Poetry Team and Nakia “Precious Gift” Dillard. The program rounds out with a young poet from Youth Speaks.

Book signing will follow.

This free program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library (www.berkeleylibraryfriends.org).  For more program information call 510-981-6150 or connect to www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

The Central Library is open Monday, noon-8 p.m., Tuesday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday afternoons from 1 p.m.-5 p.m.  For questions and accessibility information, call 510-981-6195, TTY 510-548-1240, http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

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Folk-rock legend Suzzy Roche reads from her new novel, Wayward Saints

February 23, 2012 in Reading Event by LibraryNews | Permalink

For Immediate Release
February 23, 2012

 

Contact: Isobel Schneider
(Ph: 510-981-6150)

 

Folk-rock legend Suzzy Roche reads from her new novel, Wayward Saints,
at the Berkeley Public Library

 

Folk-rock legend Suzzy Roche reads from her debut novel, Wayward Saints, on Tuesday, March 20th at 12:00 noon in the 3rd floor Community Meeting Room of the Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch, 2090 Kittredge Street.  Ms. Roche is part of the trio, The Roches, who have been touring and recording for over 30 years.  She has collaborated with Paul Simon, The Indigo Girls, Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson.  Filled with wildly original characters, her first novel is a tender, hilarious story of family, music and second chances, including insider winks at the music industry.

This free program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library (www.berkeleylibraryfriends.org). For more program information, call 510-981-6150 or connect www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org. Seating is limited, so plan to arrive early for this special event.

The Central Library is open Monday, noon-8 p.m., Tuesday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday afternoons from 1 p.m.-5 p.m.  For questions and accessibility information, call 510-981-6195, TTY 510-548-1240, http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

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