Thursday, December 23, 2010

The Rain, Our Future and Our Past

The rain has stopped for now, and not a moment too soon for the sake of our library buildings! Yes, I realize that we need the rain but maybe not so much at one time? Our branch libraries have certainly felt the brunt of the on-coming winter this year. Some of the older facilities have had roof leaks and water intrusion from various sources. Work at the new Central Library has to be on hold for awhile, too.

The San Diego 21st Century Library Plan to renovate or rebuild our libraries is a visionary plan that seeks to address aging facilities and carry on the work of library services in the future. We are so fortunate to have built/rebuilt 7 of our community libraries and to have the new Central Library construction under way. There are still several more projects waiting for funding.

I believe better times are ahead. Instead of patching here and there, we hope to have other new and renovated facilities constructed to support our community needs. In the meantime, please bear with us if you frequent any of our libraries affected by the recent rains. We will do all that we can to address the damaged areas.

Happy Holidays, and here's wishing for a Prosperous New Year for all!

By the way, if you are interested in the accomplishments and challenges of our recent past. The annual report covering FY 2009 and FY 2010 is online at: https://www.supportmylibrary.org/annualreport/

Saturday, December 11, 2010

A Lot to Celebrate


Happy Holidays, Everyone!


My day started out great today. I called my son and told him that pancakes were “biting” me, which was my way of jokingly saying that I would love to take a bite out of a pancake. After a lovely breakfast at a local San Diego favorite with Fiel and his girlfriend, “T,” I attended the first anniversary event for our Logan Heights Branch Library.


Our library system has had many such events in the past. Along with our Friends’ groups, we do a fabulous party. There were great speeches today - Friends’ President Pedro was as eloquent as ever; and membership chair, Dr. Baza, made an impassioned plea for help to keep up the great work started by the Logan Heights Friends in partnership with the Point Loma Friends.


Here’s a picture. I was really impressed by the dancing while the band played some of my old time favorites.


Now, that’s a fun, new twist on our library anniversary events!