Got an Itch to Write a Book?

If you aspire to write and/or be published, the Kensington Library tonight, April 16, is hosting a panel of four local authors talking about their writing, offering tips and answering questions.

For those interested in writing and/or publishing, the Kensington Library is offering what it calls a "must attend" event tonight, Monday, with four local authors. The free panel at 7 p.m. includes the authors discussing their writing and providing tips. There will also be a question-and-answer period. The four authors, along with descriptions provided by the library, are: Here is the library's announcement: Event Type: Author Talk Age Group(s): Adults (18+) Date: 4/16/2012 Start Time: 7:00 PM Description: Four local authors who will discuss their writing and offer tips for aspiring writers. A Q&A session will follow. If you have any interest in writing and/or being published, this is a “must-attend” event.  Library: Kensington Library …

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Free Valentine’s Fun for Kids at the Libraries

El Cerrito and Kensington libraries are each hosting story times for kids with Valentine’s themes, and the latter is also having a Valentine-making party.

If you know or have any kids who like to hear stories and might like to join in the Valentine’s mood at the same time, you can bring them to the special Valentine’s story times at the El Cerrito and Kensington libraries. And if they’d also like to make a Valentine with a cupcake recipe, then the Kensington library event is the place to be. This Saturday, Feb. 11, at 11:15 a.m. the Kensington Library will host “Valentine’s Day Craft and Stories,” with children’s librarian Jackie Overlid. Kids can create their own Valentine with a cupcake theme and cupcake recipe. On Monday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m., the "Family Picture Book Storytime" at El Cerrito Library will include stories and songs devoted to the Valentine’s theme with children’s librarian …

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New Yorker Cartoons from Kensington, Now Kids' Books Too

Kensington cartoonist Mike Twohy, a long-time contributor to The New Yorker, is branching out to children with his new books. The Kensington Library and the Little Farm are inspirations.

Kensington-based New Yorker cartoonist Mike Twohy recently published his first book, which unfolds in a library modeled on the Kensington Library. In Poindexter Makes a Friend, a book-loving pig named Poindexter befriends a shy turtle while sharing books with him. Poindexter grew out of Twohy’s collection for his first young audience, his own children. When they were in elementary school, he would draw cartoons to place in their lunchboxes.  “A few years ago, I showed one of the drawings to an editor at Simon & Schuster,” said Twohy. The drawing portrayed a pig carrying a stack of books and trying to read the top one as he walked. “She said she’d like me to come up with a new story. She asked, ‘Why don’t we name him Poindexter?’ ” To get …

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Lisa LaMagna

2:01 pm on Saturday, October 8, 2011

Congratulations, and thanks Patch for the photos.   more ›

Patch Picks: "Banned Books" Carried by El Cerrito, Kensington Libraries

We're celebrating our First Amendment rights by recognizing books under threat of being banned, in honor of Banned Books Week.

Inspired by Banned Books Week last week, we surveyed books that have fallen victim to censorious campaigns in the United States this year and last year and are happy to report that many are available through the El Cerrito and Kensignton Libraries. Here are five of them: Additional information on banned books can be found at the American Library Association website and the Banned Books website.

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Twain Yarns Come Alive at Kensington Festival

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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Books Make Comeback At El Cerrito Library

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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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 ›

Who's Who: Julia Dragolovich, Library Assistant

What exactly is a library assistant substitute? Do they really move around 700 square miles? Find out in today's Who's Who.

Name: Julia Dragolovich Age: “I’ve been around the block” Occupation: Permanent Intermittent Library Assistant for the Contra Costa County Library How long have you been working with the library? Just over a year. I’m a sub, but I’ve been fortunate to get long-term positions and I’m helping with the Kensington Reads at the Kensington Library. Explain a little bit for our readers about what a sub does. We fill in for library assistants, clerks and librarians when they go on vacation or a position is needed to be filled. We can go to all of the community libraries or we can restrict the area we cover as a sub, but we’re pinch hitters for the library system – 26 libraries in the Contra Costa Library system, 700 square miles. And you live in …

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Who's Who ...

Who's Who: Louise O'Dea, Kensington Library Mainstay (Reader, Knitter Too)

Louise O'Dea started not only the book club but also the knitting club at the Kensington Library, where she's been for 24 years.

Name: Louise O'Dea Age: 59 Occupation: Library assistant at the Kensington Library Lives in: El Cerrito How long have you been working here at the library? 24 years this month. A long time. How did you get involved at first? My kids came to Kensington for school and I volunteered here. Pretty soon I interviewed and got the job. And you run the book club? Book club, knitting club, the adult programs here. Did you start those? Yeah, I did. I like to knit, so I started that. And to read, of course. There was a need in the community for those and they've been popular. The book club especially. It's been going on for six years and the knitting club for five years. How many members do you have in the book club? It varies from about 18 to, if we …

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Barefoot Dancing in a Greek Tunic, at the Kensington Library

A performance of Isadora Duncan dance was a slight departure from the usual fare at the Kensington Library this week.

The Kensington Library became a modest dance stage this week as a barefoot Danville woman in a classical Greek tunic recreated the dances of Isadora Duncan, who grew up in the Bay Area and achieved world renown for her radical reinvention of modern dance. Lois Ann Flood, founder of Diablo Dance Theater of Danville, performed a free, hour-long series of Duncan dances for an audience of about 20 people Monday night. Bookcases served as the wings of the impromptu stage, and a small CD player mostly cooperated in providing music. Duncan — born in San Francisco in 1877 or 1878 and raised in poverty in Oakland — rejected the emphasis on ballet of her time. "Being a California girl, she said, 'Nope, I do not like the ballet slippers and tutu,' " …

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Local Antidotes for "Summer Learning Loss"

Educators, librarians, and others offer ways to stem the leakage of learning from kids' brains over the summer.

Classes end at noon Thursday for students in West Contra Costa Unified schools and won’t resume until Aug. 23, but educators are hoping students won’t completely set aside learning over the summer break. Mindful of data showing students can experience significant backsliding on skills over the summer, the West Contra Costa Unified School District, boosted by extra efforts by individual schools and teachers, is making a pitch for students to continue reading and other academic activities during the break.   Many other organizations like the county library system, Lawrence Hall of Science, and regional parks like Tilden in Berkeley also offer programs to encourage summer learning. In his monthly message for June,  Superintendent Bruce Harter…

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Betty Buginas

7:07 pm on Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The reading for pleasure you mention is exactly what most educators and librarians hope is happening as well as informal learning that enhances math and science skills. Not everyone has those experiences and the difference is obvious when children return to school in the fall.   more ›