Fun Days of Summer are Hopping at the Library

Summer is traditionally a time to kick back, enjoy the great weather, and take time away from our day-to-day routine. For staff at the Library, summer is a time to kick into high gear with all the great programs we offer. We just wrapped up our Summer Reading Program and it was a fantastic year with more than 26,000 participants and 54% of those participating completing the program. This year’s theme was, “Dream Big, Read!” I was so pleased that the Library staff took this theme to heart in their program planning. At one of our smallest branches, Mountain View/Beckwourth, there were 1,000 kids at the Wild Wonders animal program. Now that is dreaming big!

An eager crowd of approximately 1,000 participants
anticipate the 2012 Summer Reading Wild Wonders Animal
Program at the Mountainview/Beckwourth Branch Library.

 We also had a busy summer with our One Book, One San Diego Program. Luis Alberto Urrea, author of "Into the Beautiful North," one of this year’s One Book selections, was in San Diego in June for two programs including one at the World Beat Center at Balboa Park. It was a lively program, complete with a flash mob!

From left to right are Julie Karlo, KPBS General Manager
Tom Karlo, Judith Josephson, me, and Edith Fine.
Judith Josephson and Edith Fine are authors of the
Children’s One Book, One San Diego selection,
“Armando and the Blue Tarp School,”
which I am holding.

The U.S. Constitution Program, Searching for Democracy is in full swing this summer, too. This program was made possible by a grant to the San Diego Public Library by the California Council for the Humanities (CCH). It includes an exhibit at the Central Library, "Wherever There's A Fight: A History of Civil Liberties" and a series of discussions lead by scholars on topics ranging from race and gender to faith and religion, dissent, and education and the arts.

So, this summer has been anything but slow around the San Diego Public Library. We may be tempted to stop for a few moments to catch our breath. But, then again we’ve got lots of planning to do for our back to school and fall programs, not to mention the opening of our new Central Library next summer! Stay tuned for more about that in the coming months.