The Library is the Happening Place

There’s no question. It’s been a tough budget year. At this point it looks better for the library. If the final budget remains as proposed and voted on by Council, we will maintain our 36 hours at branch libraries into the next fiscal year starting on July 1, 2011; and we will not have to make staff reductions after all. If that happens, we will all breathe a sigh of relief and can move forward on addressing the evolving needs of our community with the current level of resources.

While much of our time was focused on the budget, Library staff continued to provide outstanding service and high quality programs. Recent awards they received reflect this dedication. READ/San Diego – Families for Literacy Program won $10,000 in the annual Better World Books/NCFL Libraries and Families Award. READ/San Diego was recognized for helping adult participants achieve their literacy goals, including sharing books with their children and helping them with homework.

Our History Librarian, Rick Crawford, received the History Award of Excellence from the Historical Resources Board for his Union-Tribune “The Way We Were” weekly column detailing the history of the San Diego region. Although writing the column is not directly associated with his position in the Library, it is representative of the special historical expertise that Rick brings to his work with the Library’s Special Collections, including genealogy, the California Room local treasures, and the Wangenheim Rare Book Collection.

The Logan Heights Branch Library Teens “Project Unknown,” which I referenced in a past blog, won 2nd runner up (third place) and $1,000.00 in the highly competitive American Library Association Teen Video Contest, “Why I Need My Library.” The six teens who submitted the video are 13 years old and members of the Logan Heights Branch Library Teen Council. They filmed and edited the video and also wrote and performed their original song about why their library is a special place. We’re so proud of their accomplishment and how actively they advocate for their library!

And there’s more…The San Diego Family Magazine just awarded Mission Valley Branch Library and Scripps Miramar Ranch Branch Library the Best Children’s Libraries. Hundreds of readers voted for their favorite things to do, places to go and local hotspots in San Diego. The magazine’s voters recognized what community members have known for years about the amazing resources that the San Diego Public Library provides to people of all ages.

In addition to these awards, we have so much happening at all of our libraries. In May the Valencia Park/Malcolm X Branch Library hosted a successful job fair that allowed job seekers to meet with top employers, acquire job leads, connect with key job resources, attend seminars, get referrals, and network. Linda Vista Branch Library hosted a Technology Fair for Older Adults to learn more about using various technology devices. University Community Branch Library hosted a College Application Essay Writing Workshop to provide tips to teens for how to write college application essays that stand out.

The summer is going to be just as busy with Summer Reading Program beginning June 15. This year in addition to children and teens, we are offering adults a chance to participate and win fabulous prizes. Black Storytellers of San Diego will present captivating stories at Valencia Park/Malcolm X Branch Library in honor of Juneteeth, the oldest nationally-celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the U.S. And construction on the new Central Library is progressing on schedule. The "gravity arch," designed to carry the load of upper floors, is now being erected and is quite impressive to see on the skyline. Check out the new detailed webcam that allows you to zoom in on construction in real time.


It’s going to be an exciting summer and I’m looking forward to planning for the year ahead. We are eager to examine how we can evolve our services to meet the changing needs of our community.

A Source of Inspiration - LAPL and Others

“Paying my dues” to the profession recently, I spoke at an event for library trustees and commissioners in the Los Angeles area. In return, I received so much inspiration! The participants were genuinely interested in the San Diego Public Library story and they expressed their appreciation for our community’s perseverance in moving forward with the new library construction project. Others who spoke reminded me of how dedicated supporters and volunteers are making a difference in keeping library services available throughout California for all to enjoy.

And speaking of inspiration, on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 voters in the City of Los Angeles approved a ballot measure dedicated to funding their library system! Since I was in the area, I decided to go visit the Los Angeles Central Library. Was I ever impressed?!? The place was abuzz with activity. There were groups of people rushing around trying to identify locations as part of a scavenger hunt. The participants seemed to be having so much fun, I wanted to join them. People were everywhere in that vast library, studying, borrowing books, using computers. It was such a validation of our own plan in San Diego seeing this large municipal library that was built many years ago offering so much benefit to the community.

I visited the teen area to get ideas for that section of our new Central Library. I had two teen relatives with me and they were excited. They reminded me that months ago they had offered a suggestion that a true teen area would have large bean bags for students. So they took me to see exactly what they meant - in LAPL’s teen room there, indeed, were the giant bean bags! And, intriguingly, each was occupied by a male student engrossed in reading. It was such a site to behold!

There were other fun features at LAPL too - the round booths for shared computer study, and the relaxed seating where snacks were allowed (occupied by the girls). The Library Foundation's bookstore was pure fun shopping. The restaurant area is called the "Book Ends Cafe." We had a lovely lunch there. Others were there enjoying a meal and conversation, too. I was thrilled to see a family come in to set up a birthday party in a reserved room in the cafe.

There were so many things that we are planning to include in our new library that are happening now at LAPL’s Central Library. While it will be different for us, no doubt, it is so much fun to see a real life example of many of the features and services that will be ours at the new Central Library for the City of San Diego, very soon...

Meeting Interesting People at the Library

You can meet interesting people at the library. I am not only talking about the type of “meeting” that teens are said to do here, although what better place to meet another smart, forward-thinking teen than at the library?

These past few weeks I have had the pleasure and honor of meeting some amazing writers, volunteers and community members. Over 300 local writers and guests were at the Central Library for the 45th Annual Local Authors Exhibit and reception to celebrate their collective accomplishments in writing and presenting over 320 books published in 2010. The writers ranged from age 7 to 90 and included a former Prisoner of War, a local rock star, a 16 year-old writing prodigy, and representatives from local institutions such as UCSD, a comic book publishing company, Balboa Park museums and historical societies. Hal and Althea Altenbern are partners in writing, in love and life. They joined us at the reception to celebrate their latest book and their 61st wedding anniversary! Another highlight of the evening was the ceremony honoring UCSD Professor and Pulitzer Prize winner Rae Armantrout, who was bestowed with the San Diego Public Library’s Local Author Literary Achievement Award. We were in stellar company indeed! The Local Authors Exhibit at Central Library, the Online Author Exhibit and Photo Gallery will be on display through February.

The library family had another big event, hosted in partnership with KPBS at the La Jolla Country Day School to a crowd of over 400 celebrating the 2011 One Book, One San Diego season. The book we are reading as a community this year is the Gangster We Are All Looking For by lê thi diem thúy. Thúy is a young Vietnamese-American woman who grew up in the Linda Vista area. She is an eloquent, lyrical writer and speaker. It was interesting listening to her talk about the book, her life and her inspiration. The following evening thúy did an author talk at the Central Library, held us spellbound as she read from the book and intrigued us with the list of people she would love to have at the dinner table for conversation, among whom was the prize-winning horse, Secretariat! Thúy theorized that she could learn something from Secretariat and I believe we could likewise learn from thúy! (You also might be interested to see a video of thúy that describes why the Linda Vista Branch Library is her “favorite library in the whole wide world.”)

Rounding out the beginning of the year celebrations was the 23rd annual Evening with the Stars; the Stars being the wonderful tutors and learners of the READ/San Diego literacy program. The dinner was lovely with over 300 participants who were witness to the recounting of just a few of the accomplishments achieved by tutors and learners in the program. These are people who so recognize the value of education and life-long learning, that they commit to a partnership to learn/tutor to read despite the various other challenges in day to day life. In my book, these are all heroic people and I was so pleased to meet them, thanks to the library.

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/

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!

The People Behind the New Central Construction Project

On day 101 of the construction project for the new Central Library, I had the pleasure of being among the very first to tour the construction site. The people behind the project at Turner Construction Company, along with city engineering and project management staff, led the tour and told us all about the processes that were occurring. In the photo below are team members shaping the new Central Library construction project, although conspicuously missing from the photo is Tony Perez, the City’s Resident Engineer for this project. He decided to be our photographer and he did a great job!

From left to right, are: Cynthia Meinhardt, City of San Diego Project Officer II
with the Engineering and Capital Projects Dept. (E&CP); Afshin Oskoui, City Engineer
and Assistant Director of E&CP; Dave Jarrell, Deputy Chief Operating Officer for
Public Works; and Kristine Wunder-Myers, Safety Manager for Turner Construction Co.
Continuing along the back, left to right, are: Tony Heinrichs, Acting Director of E&CP;
John Scheuer, General Superintendent, Turner Construction Co.; Ron Rudolph,
Vice President, Turner Construction Co.; Darren Greenhalgh, Deputy Director of E&CP;
and Nikki Lewis, Associate Engineer with E&CP. In front, left to right,
standing next to me is Carmen Vann, Senior Project Manager, Turner Construction Co.;
and to the far right is Amy Benjamin, Policy Advisor in the Office of Mayor Jerry Sanders.

We were on site with hard hats, safety vests and sturdy shoes. It was fascinating to hear about the process of constructing such a building and seeing firsthand the workflow among the various trades on site. It was impressive how well they worked together. We saw carpenters, steelworkers, and concrete workers, just to name a few, actively working step by step to complete their part and pass the work on to the next stage to keep the job going. The safety record on the job site is impressive, too. As of day 101 there were no safety incidents resulting in lost time.

From left to right, next to me are: Turner Construction Safety Manager
Kristine Wunder-Myers, City of San Diego Project Officer with the
Engineering and Capital Projects Cynthia Meinhardt, and
Senior Project Manager with Turner Construction Carmen Vann.

And, speaking of working well together, take a look at the photo above. Shown with me are the women leaders of this amazing construction project. I think that Kristine, Cynthia and Carmen are exceptional women who chose to take what has been considered (perhaps in the past) as an unconventional path to their careers. These are people with major skills and smarts who have reached high levels. I believe that these three women will serve as role models for many of us for years to come. I am so thankful to them and the many expert, dedicated, people involved in this project. I am thankful as well for the many people who support our library system in various ways.

Teen Music Group Serves the Community and Their Future!

Over the last two weeks, along with the Police Chief, Fire Chief, Parks and Recreation Director, Public Works, and other City of San Diego departments, I have participated in the Mayor’s Town Hall Meetings held throughout the city. It is obvious from the attendance that people care deeply about the services the City provides and they are concerned about what the future holds. While none of us know for certain about the financial outcome and the potential cuts we may experience, the Library will do everything we can to offer quality services to the best of our ability given the level of financial resources available.

It is at times like these that I especially take heart in remembering all of the creative and positive things that are taking place in our libraries and the communities we serve. One of the best examples is happening in our newest branch library, Logan Heights, which opened just under a year ago.

Under the skillful guidance of the Youth Services Librarian, Adriana (Ady) Huertas, the Logan Heights Teen Council, composed of several youth who volunteer at the library, voted to start a music program to teach teens how to sing and play a variety of musical instruments. Friends of the Logan Heights Library member Judy Eby, who had already donated a grand piano to the new library, was so inspired by the teen’s enthusiasm that she donated musical instruments and obtained approval from the Friends Group to pay for a music instructor for three months.

The logo design that the Teen Music Group created.

A group of 22 dedicated teens met weekly beginning in June to practice. They named their group, “Project Unknown” and designed their own logo and T-shirts. Their first goal was to perform at the Summer Reading Program Grand Finale event on August 14. Their second performance was the next day at an annual community event, Fiesta Del Sol, and they also performed this week at the library’s Halloween Celebration. All events were a big hit!

" Project Unknown" performing at the Summer Reading Program
Grand Finale event on August 14.

With the success of “Project Unknown,” The Logan Heights Friends Group has agreed to pay for an additional singing instructor this Fall. A partnership has been formed with a non-profit organization in Point Loma called A.R.T.S (aka A Reason To Survive – web site: http://www.artsurvive.org/) to provide the Teen Music Program with transportation and access to other musicians, artists, and singing instructors to help improve their performance skills. This partnership also offers art lessons for the group and other teens of the Logan Heights community at the library every Saturday.

Through the expert mentoring of Ady Huertas, Judy Eby, and the Friends of the Logan Heights Library, the teens have been encouraged to take ownership and responsibility by raising funds through book sales, bake sales, and rummage sales to help pay for their group’s T-Shirts and other important materials. They also participated in a letter writing campaign to the Friends of the Library and raised $3,000 so that the music program can continue.

From left to right Daniel Gomez, Juanita Arratia, Yadira Arratia,
Jeanette Arratia, Jeovanna, Eunice Rabadan, David Gomez (can't see his face),
Ruben Ochoa, Armando Herrera, Standing in back:
Adriana (Ady) Huertas (Librarian), Jocelyn Torres and Ashley Ayala.

This has been such a successful program for our teens that I asked them to speak about their music program at last month’s Library Commission meeting and the Branch Managers meeting. It is a great model for other libraries. We’ve already had a call from a librarian on the east coast who said she had never heard of this type of library program anywhere else in the U.S.

I’m so proud of our Logan Heights Librarian Ady Huertas for spearheading this group and thankful to our volunteer and donor extraordinaire, Judy Eby, and to our Friends of the Library Group for supporting it. Clearly, this is an extraordinary effort in every way. I am so impressed with the teens for their commitment to serving the community and their futures. It is so gratifying to know that the library continues to play such an important role in changing people’s lives!