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Contact information:

Abigail Franklin, Chair

BOLT@ci.berkeley.ca.us

510-981-6106

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[Berkeley, CA August 31, 2015]

The Berkeley Public Library announced today that Jeff Scott has officially resigned from his position as Director of Library Services, effective September 8, 2015.

“It is with a heavy heart that I tender my resignation as the Director of Library Services of the Berkeley Public Library. I have enjoyed my work here at the library and I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish,” stated Mr. Scott. Jeff Scott has served in the role of Director since November 2014.

“I have appreciated the enthusiasm for library services that Jeff has brought to Berkeley and wish him well,” said Abigail Franklin, Chair of the Library Board of Trustees.

The Board will initiate a search to fill Jeff Scott’s position. In the interim period, Sarah Dentan, Acting Deputy Director, will serve as Acting Director.

Chair Franklin commented, I am so proud of our library system and our four newly renovated branches. I have full confidence in our dedicated staff and management team to continue to provide excellent service to the Berkeley community.”

The Board is scheduled to meet on September 9th, at which time they will discuss the details for a new director search.

“We feel the role of the Director of the Berkeley Public Library is a terrific opportunity, and we look forward to proceeding with that selection,” said Chair Franklin.

The Agenda for the September 9th meeting will be available on the Library’s website later this week: https://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/about/board-library-trustees

Contact: Sarah Dentan
Neighborhood & Children's Services Manager
Berkeley Public Library
510-981-6195

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at Berkeley Public Library

Berkeley, CA  August 28—Join Berkeley Public Library in celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15, 2015) with Mariachis and more. Hispanic Heritage Month’s roots go back to 1968; it begins each year on September 15, the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico, Chile and Belize also celebrate their independence days during this period. Columbus Day (also celebrated as Indigenous Peoples' Day or Día de la Raza) is October 12.

The first event is the Five Suns of Mexico at West Branch on Saturday, September 19 from 4:00pm-5:00pm at the West Branch Library (located at 1125 University). In this fun and informative presentation, Dr. Gloria Arjona delights her audience with her multi-lingual, multimedia narrative of Mexico, from the founding of the Aztec capital of México-Tenochtitlan in 1325 to the present -providing guests with the rare opportunity to experience songs in Nahuatl, Tarascan, and Zapotec- indigenous languages of Mexico. Don’t miss it!

Next up at the West Berkeley Public Library is Francisco Herrera, who considers himself a “Culture Worker” as well as a Singer/ Songwriter. Herrera performs on Saturday, September 26 from 10:30am-11:30am. Join us for songs, games and tongue twisters in Spanish and English with this renowned singer and guitarist.

Mariachi Mexicanisimo brings authentic traditional music to the Central Library (2090 Kittredge) on September 27, 2015 - 2:00pm-3:00pm. They are the official mariachi for Univision, the Bay Area Spanish language television broadcasting system. Join us for joyful lively music for all ages at the fifth floor Art & Music section.

Teens will be celebrating, too. For this special installment of Teens Make Some Thing @Claremont (2940 Benvenue) on October 9, 2015 - 4:00pm-5:00pm come create your own miniature piñata. We have all the supplies on hand to make whatever form you can think of. In addition, to get inspired we will watch the computer animated adventure movie The Book of Life.

Check our online event calendar, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter accounts often, as we will be adding more events and news for Hispanic Heritage month.

These free events were sponsored by the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library (www.berkeleylibraryfriends.org)
The Central Library is located at 2090 Kittredge Street and is open Monday, noon - 8:00pm, Tuesday, 10:00am - 8:00pm, Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00am - 6:00pm, and Sunday from 1:00pm - 5:00pm. Branch hours are is open: Monday, 10:00am-6:0 pm, Tuesday and Wednesday, 10:00am-8:00pm, Thursday 12noon -8:00pm, and Friday and Saturday, 10:00am-6:00pm.

Wheel chair accessible. For questions, to request a sign language interpreter or other accommodations for this event, please call (510) 981-6195 (voice) or (510) 548-1240 (TTY); at least five working days will help ensure availability. Please refrain from wearing scented products to public programs. Visit the library’s website: www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

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Contact: Shani Leonards
Supervising Librarian, Claremont Branch
Berkeley Public Library
510-981-6280

Novella Carpenter Talks about Her New Book @Claremont Library

Berkeley, August 21, 2015—“Farms in Berkeley?" No--not exactly--more like West Oakland, where Novella Carpenter started her famous urban farm. Best known for Farm City, an enjoyable and popular book that inspired many families to start urban farmsteading, author Novella Carpenter is making a special visit to the Claremont Branch on Friday, September 4 at 4:00pm. Carpenter will talk about her books and her West Oakland farm. She is the co-author of The Essential Urban Farmer and the author of the acclaimed memoir Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, which was named by the New York Times as a best book of 2009. For more information about this special event, please call 510-981-6280.

Carpenter’s frank and unsentimental memoir, Gone Feral: Tracking My Dad Through the Wild will be released in paperback in September. In it, she describes her search for her estranged father, contemplates her unconventional upbringing and considers the possible repercussions of starting her own family. Pegasus Books will sell Carpenter’s books and she will be signing them at Claremont Branch! Read more about Novella Carpenter and her farm on her blog Ghost Town Farm.

The Claremont Branch is located at 2940 Benvenue @ Ashby, Berkeley CA 94705, and is open: Monday, 10:00am-6:00pm; Tuesday and Wednesday, 10:00am-8:00pm; Thursday 12 noon-8:00pm; and Friday and Saturday, 10:00am-6:00pm. For more information about this program, call 510-981-6280.
Wheelchair accessible.

For questions, to request a sign language interpreter or other accommodations for this event, please call (510) 981-6195 (voice) or (510) 548-1240 (TTY); at least five working days will help ensure availability. Please refrain from wearing scented products to public programs. Visit the library’s website: www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

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Contact: Debbie Carton
Art & Music Librarian
Berkeley Public Library
510-981-6236

David Gans, Solo Electric at Berkeley Public Library

Berkeley, August 25, 2015 –September is National Library Card Month and the Berkeley Public Library wants you to know that “Books are not dead”, and neither is the music of the Grateful Dead! We invite you to hear guitarist/singer/radio host David Gans in a free concert on September 13 at 1:30pm. Join us on the fifth floor of the Central Library, 2090 Kittredge (at Shattuck) for a Grateful Dead-inspired program of solo electric guitar/vocals. For more information, call 510-981-6241.

A David Gans “solo electric” is never the same show twice, but is likely to include: country-blues-style fingerpicking; loop-based improvisations created live in the moment; sweetly-sung ballads, original or borrowed; Grateful Dead songs reinterpreted to suit his voice and guitar; and favorites from the folk-rock canon of the last 50 years. Learn more about the performer at http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com.

David Gans is the longtime host of KPFA’s Dead to the World, which airs Wednesdays from 8:00 to 10:00pm. The show began as the “Grateful Dead Hour”, but in 1995, added a second hour of eclectic music that focuses on great songwriting, usually featuring folk, Americana and jam band music.
This free program is sponsored by the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library (www.berkeleylibraryfriends.org).

The Central Library is located at 2090 Kittredge Avenue and is open Monday, noon – 8:00 pm; Tuesday, 10:00 am – 8:00 pm; Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; and Sunday from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm.

Wheelchair accessible. For questions, to request a sign language interpreter or other accommodations for this event, please call (510) 981-6195 (voice) or (510) 548-1240 (TTY); at least five working days will help ensure availability. Please refrain from wearing scented products to public programs. Visit the library’s website: www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

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Contact: Shani Leonards
Supervising Librarian, Claremont Branch
Berkeley Public Library
510-981-6280

Berkeley Public Library Offers New Makerspace @Claremont Library

Berkeley, August 18, 2015—We are only limited by the power of our imagination. A Makerspace allows us to think without form or constraints. As libraries are becoming known for more than books, videos, music and downloads, we are also community-building spaces and take building literally, as in DIY (Do it yourself). Bring your friends and family, or come by yourself and meet others at Makerspace @Claremont, a time for people of all ages and abilities to get creative. Claremont’s Makerspace is the first Saturday of the month, beginning September 5, 2015, at the Claremont Branch of the Berkeley Library. Drop-in between 10:00am and 12:00pm and create something that you can keep or share with others!

In September, we celebrate National Library Card Month by creating collages from old library cards and do other library themed crafts. We provide all materials needed! Come for a different activity each month. Other dates include October 3, November 7, December 5, 2015 and January 9, 2016 ( second Saturday) For more information about this free activity, please call 510-981-6280.

This free program is sponsored by the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library www.berkeleylibraryfriends.org.

The Claremont Branch is located at 2940 Benvenue @ Ashby, Berkeley CA 94705, and is open: Monday, 10:00am-6:00pm; Tuesday and Wednesday, 10:00am-8:00pm; Thursday 12 noon-8:00pm; and Friday and Saturday, 10:00am-6:00pm. For more information about this program, call 510-981-6280.

Wheelchair accessible. For questions, to request a sign language interpreter or other accommodations for this event, please call (510) 981-6195 (voice) or (510) 548-1240 (TTY); at least five working days will help ensure availability. Please refrain from wearing scented products to public programs. Visit the library’s website: www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

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Contact Sarah Dentan
Neighborhood & Children's Services Manager
Berkeley Public Library
510-981-6195
 

A Library Card is The Coolest Card – September is Library Card Sign-up Month
@Berkeley Public Library

Berkeley CA August 17, 2015 – Studies show that children who are read to in the home and who use the library perform better in school. Having a library card helps. September is Library Card Sign-up Month, when the Berkeley Public Library joins with the American Library Association and public libraries nationwide to make sure that every student has the most important school supply of all – a free library card. This year Snoopy is the Honorary Chair for Library Card Sign-up Month!

Many resources at our Library are available to anyone who has a Berkeley Public Library library card. Students can turn to the library for downloading books, music and film; finding articles on our elibrary; or checking out books and other library materials. Pick up a Reading List, see Novelist K-8 Plus for suggested books or ask one of our experienced staff.

Today’s libraries aren’t only a place of quiet study, but also creative and engaging community spaces where young people can collaborate using new technologies, find primary sources for school assignments or just relax with peers. Our library offers access to a variety of print and digital resources, including Tutor.com, Britannica for Kids, California Fact Cards and Explora, which are found on Library computers or online from home.

“Our library provides access and programs for students of all ages,” says Library Director Jeff Scott. “For preschool age children we offer story times to encourage school readiness, for older children and teens we supplement education with hands-on science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) programs and innovative makerspaces, and for older teens we have information and tools to help prepare for college. Adults are learners, too; with Beginning Computer Classes @Central, Code Self Study @South, and an ESL Conversation Club @West. There’s something for everyone and it’s all free with a library card.”

Throughout September, the Library will host a number of activities: Legos in the Library @Central, Bilingual songs with Francisco Herrera @West and Teen Make Something @West, @North, @South and @Claremont. We are starting up a Third Graders Reader’s Theater Club @Central. Come for free concerts at the Central Library: The Canote Brothers play as part of the Berkeley Old Time Music Festival, Renee Benmeleh and  East Bay Music Together and David Gans as part of the Downtown Berkeley Music Fest.

For more information on how to sign up for a library card, visit any Berkeley Public Library location in person or start the registration process online.

Some free programs are sponsored by the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library: www.berkeleylibraryfriends.org. Other events made possible by a generous gift from the Pace Trust, in support of the North Branch of the Berkeley Public Library.

The Central Library is located at 2090 Kittredge Street and is open Monday, noon - 8:00pm, Tuesday, 10:00am - 8:00pm, Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00am - 6:00pm, and Sunday from 1:00pm - 5:00pm. Branches are open: Monday, 10:00am-6:0 pm, Tuesday and Wednesday, 10:00am-8:00pm, Thursday 12noon -8:00pm, and Friday and Saturday, 10:00am-6:00pm.

Wheelchair accessible. For questions, to request a sign language interpreter or other accommodations for this event, please call (510) 981-6195 (voice) or (510) 548-1240 (TTY); at least five working days will help ensure availability. Please refrain from wearing scented products to public programs. Visit the library’s website: www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

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