Sunday, September 18, 2011
Frog jumping, gold panning, dancing and other activities Saturday were part of a Kensington Library project to unite the community around reading Mark Twain's work.
Staying quiet in the library was pretty much out the window Saturday at the Kensington branch, as the New California Minstrels performed a rousing set of Gold Rush era songs and led the audience of about 60 in high-energy dancing. The New California Minstrels laced their performance with tidbits about the Gold Rush and quotes from Twain, who made his way west a few years after the height of the rush and had more luck mining the area for stories than gold. Saturday’s Mark Twain Festival, which also included gold panning, jumping plastic frogs and painting paper fence pickets, was part of the “Kensington Reads: One City, One Book” program, which has children and adults alike reading Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Saturday’s …
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Arlington Community Church
52 Arlington Ave, Kensington, CA
/articles/twain-yarns-come-alive-at-kensington-festival
1850143
/locations/5385608
37.91359
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Kensington Hilltop Elementary School
90 Highland Blvd, Kensington, CA
/articles/twain-yarns-come-alive-at-kensington-festival
1850145
/locations/5385609
37.912913
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Kensington Library
61 Arlington Ave, Kensington, CA
/articles/twain-yarns-come-alive-at-kensington-festival
1850178
/locations/5385610
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The latest circulation figures for the library show that books, especially for kids, are back on top. Movies are no longer the most checked-out item.
Not only are the doors swinging at the El Cerrito Library as more and more people use the library’s growing array of services. But even more notable is the shift in what patrons are checking out. The latest annual circulation figures show that library users are again more likely to reach for old-fashioned books on paper than for the previous most popular item at the check-out desk — movies. In just the past year, movies in DVD and VHS formats went from being the largest circulation item to third place, behind both children's books and adult books. Items checked out at the library are classified into five categories (in order of popularity for fiscal 2010-11): 1. Children's books 2. Adult books 3. Movies 4. Audio 5. Young adult books The …
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El Cerrito Library
6510 Stockton Ave, El Cerrito, CA
/articles/books-make-comeback-at-el-cerrito-library
516587
/locations/5275448
Monday, July 11, 2011
Circulation of library materials in Contra Costa County libraries grew nearly 8 percent in the past year from the year before, library officials reported.
The number of items checked out of public libraries in Contra Costa County grew by 7.85 percent this past year, thanks in part to programs promoting recreational reading and literacy, according to library officials. The growth reflects a longer-term trend that has seen circulation more than double over a 10-year period, the county library system said in a news release Friday. The system includes 26 community libraries, including the El Cerrito Library. Library employees analyze how patrons use the libraries and also talk to them on a daily basis, officials said. "As a result of this practice, we have invested in children’s books intended to help kids feel confident when reading independently and have also increased the size of popular …
37.908585
-122.304099
El Cerrito Library
6510 Stockton Ave, El Cerrito, CA
/articles/we-like-our-libraries-in-contra-costa-circulation-rising
516587
/locations/4812581
Charles Burress
2:05 am on Wednesday, September 7, 2011
You make an excellent point. It's the people who make the changes possible. In this case, it was a problem of limited time and resources on our side, plus the difficulty of deciding which individuals to highlight and which ones to omit in a single article. As you point out, "many others" deserve credit. Nevertheless we plan future stories on the library that collectively include more of the … more ›