by Alyce Parsons, president
Dear Friends,
As we near the end of our year, we invite you to attend our annual meeting on May 23 upstairs in our beautiful library to hear a fascinating speaker and to vote on the new board. Most of our dedicated board members are staying in their current positions for another year. We are also welcoming a new director at large, Christopher Kowitz.
Christopher jumped right in by arranging for a local author, Christian Schwarz, to speak at the upcoming annual meeting. Christian, a fungi expert, co-authored the book Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Please read more about him on page 2.
We are looking for a newsletter editor, someone who loves to write and has journalism experience. Our current editor, Mary Martin, has been doing an excellent job with our newsletter and will work with our new volunteer for the fall issue. Please contact either Mary or me if you are interested in this position. We are also adding a program director to the board, so if you love planning events and could coordinate three programs next year, consider this position on our energetic and friendly board.
Each year, the library staff submits a wish list to the Friends. We were able to fund the complete list for 2017-2018! Items on that list include the Kids Summer Reading/Listening Club (ages 0-10); the Teen/Tween Summer Reading Club (ages 11-18); the bestsellers collection of books and DVDs; adult book clubs; a literary fair; and adult summer reading programs. Last but not least, is a brand-new item-supplies to support the Local History Collection preservation efforts.
We look forward to seeing all of you at our annual meeting where we'll also acknowledge our busy volunteers who serve in the bookstore, the sorting room and on various committees, all working together for the benefit of the library.
I leave you with this thought from poet Edwin Markham:
There is a destiny that make us brothers/sisters,
None goes their way alone,
All that we send into the lives of others,
Comes back into our own.
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"Citizen Science is Mushrooming!" at Friends annual meeting on May 23
Find out how you can contribute to scientific discovery, even if you're not a professional scientist when Christian Schwarz, a local mushroom expert, author, and founder of Redwood Coast Tours, speaks at the Friends annual meeting. "Citizen Science is Mushrooming" is the title of his talk on Tuesday, May 23, at 6 p.m., upstairs in the library's Technology Lab, 100 Villa Avenue.
Schwarz, a native of San Diego, became interested in mycology in a roundabout way at age 15, when his brother requested a mushroom identification book for Christmas after reading descriptions of Hobbits' love of mushrooms in the Lord of the Rings series. Though at the time he thought mushrooms were disgusting, Schwarz soon became fascinated with the diversity of fungi.
His interest in this topic led him to UC Santa Cruz where he majored in ecology and evolution, but he dropped out near the end of his senior year to devote the next six years to co-authoring Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fungi of Coastal Northern California with Noah Siegel. He has since re-enrolled at the university and plans to graduate in June with the eventual aim of teaching natural history.
In 2015, he founded
Redwood Coast Tours
through which he teaches classes, holds workshops, and
leads private bird and mushroom walks throughout the year. Though he spends much of his time cataloguing fungal diversity in Santa Cruz County, his interests encompass documenting biodiversity in general-including birds, insects, and intertidal organisms-and he has a passion for helping others learn about diversity and non-human creatures.
As an expert in local mushrooms, he is often consulted by both medical doctors and veterinarians after people or animals unwittingly consume poisonous fungi.
Amazon praises Schwarz's book as "far and away the most modern and comprehensive treatment of mushrooms" in coastal California from Monterey County to the Oregon border. The website describes Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast as a user-friendly reference that "will help beginning and experienced mushroom hunters alike to find and identify mushrooms, from common to rare, delicious to deadly, and interesting to beautiful." It offers " ... full treatments of more than 750 species, and references to hundreds more."
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by Dolly Goyal
As our school year draws to a close, we are excited to start our programming for summer! Along with our regular Summer Reading Program, we will be creating more activities for our elementary-age patrons, with craft and STEM events. (STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.) With the help of Friends board member Louise Roon-who is also one our amazing adult volunteers-we are working to better engage our new teen volunteer group by providing them with opportunities to help our younger patrons with reading comprehension.
The library also wants to hear from our community. We want to know why you enjoy visiting the library and what makes you come back. How has the library changed your life and what can we do better? Please feel free to share your comments, appreciation and any feedback using our Customer Comment Forms located at each of our service desks. Thank you for supporting the Los Gatos Library and Friends of Los Gatos Library!
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Speaker
Christian Schwarz
and
Friends Annual Meeting Tuesday, May 23, 6 p.m. Los Gatos Library, 100 Villa Ave.
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Nominees for the Board 2017-2018
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President
Alyce Parsons
Vice President
Georgina Van Horn
Recording Secretary
Celia Bakke
Corresponding Secretary
Georgina Van Horn
Treasurer
Tom Atkinson
Membership
Jill Logar
Bookstore Manager
Marlene Rodman
Sorting Room Manager Tom Atkinson
Grants and Appeals
Rita Baum
Newsletter
Mary Martin
Publicity
Cheryl McKenzie
Parliamentarian/Mailings Dale Hill
President Emeritus
Toni Blackstock
Directors At Large:
Louise Roon
Gretchen Bell
Christopher Kowitz
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Big Trucks and Summer Reading Launch--May 20!
T
he library is hosting the seventh annual "Big Truck Day" event on Saturday, May 20 at 10 a.m., in the civic center parking lot. Come see vehicles of all shapes and sizes, from police cars, to recycling trucks, to fire engines. Climb aboard and get a closer look at all those big trucks you see around town, meet the drivers, and learn about the services they offer through their work with the Los Gatos Parks and Public Works Department, the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department, and the Santa Clara County Fire Department. This event is always exciting and gives children and grownups alike the opportunity to see these amazing vehicles up close. This fun event is the perfect outing for a Saturday! After visiting the trucks, you can drop in at the library to get some books about big trucks to take home and share with the family.
As an added bonus, we will also be launching our Summer Reading Program (SRP) during this event. This summer's theme is "Build a Better World." We will be exploring books and media that celebrate community heroes, activism, building, and creativity! Summer Reading is a wonderful way for your child to grow as a reader during the summer break and a great opportunity for parents and caregivers to play an active role in their child's literacy. Books can be read and listened to, which makes this an enjoyable family activity where everyone wins!
Our Tween and Teen Summer Reading Program this year will build on the success of our combined program from last year. We will be showcasing tween and teen literature about sports and other great reads. Tweens and teens can win weekly prizes throughout the summer by tracking their reading, updating their online reading log, and completing challenges. Young people who have lots of required reading this summer will find that summer reading is a great way to win prizes while getting through those books for school. The Tween and teen program is for kids ages 11-18. Please visit our website for up-to-date Summer Reading Program and event information.
Adults can also participate in the Adult Summer Reading Challenge! This year, we invite adults to earn badges for each hour read or by completing a simple activity. Players can win great prizes from our weekly prize drawings! Read, play, and get rewarded!
Those who reach their reading goal can collect prizes at the end of the summer, and raffle prizes can be won at all weekly SRP events. Our programs this year are packed with excitement and have something for everyone! This program would not be possible without the generous support from the Friends of Los Gatos Library.
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New Technology and Classes at Los Gatos Library
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Osmo
The library recently introduced Osmos in the children's area. Osmo is a gaming accessory for the iPad that promotes learning in the area of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), creative problem solving, and art through interactive games. It is designed for children ages 4-12 and includes game pieces that can be checked out for each session for in-library uses. The library's games currently focus on the following themes: numbers, letters, coding, tangram and creative kits which include Masterpiece Drawing, Newton Physics and a Monster Interactive Story. Four iPads are available for use for 30-minute increments.
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The library has also
launched new Early Literary Kid Stations (ELKS) in the children's area. The stations are touch-screen PC computers that staff have configured to resemble mobile phones and tablets, and are loaded with apps that were curated by our youth services librarian. The ELKS are replacing the former AWE Learning stations, and include educational games geared toward children ages 18 months through 6 years. The games are divided by appropriate age groups to make it easier for parents, and the goal is to provide children with a head start in learning their ABCs, 123s, reading and arithmetic as well as accessing their creative minds.
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The library is continuing the popular
weekly one-on-one, 30-minute technology classes for adults, by appointment. Classes have been filling up, up to three weeks in advance and we're looking at creative ways to meet the demand, including utilizing our amazing teen volunteers for support! Topics that we have helped our patrons with range from iPad basics, to setting up GoFundMe® accounts. We can also provide one-on-one help with eBook tutorials, basic tablet and phone assistance, and setting up a social media account. Patrons can sign up two times per month. This quarterly program will end May 31 as we head into our summer programming.
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Friends of Los Gatos Library Bookstore
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 Friends of Los Gatos Library Bookstore
Address
110 E. Main St., Los Gatos
(located in the former Los Gatos Library next to NUMU)
Hours
Noon - 5 p.m.
Tuesday through Sunday
Donations
We welcome your donations.
Drop them off at the new library (not the bookstore) and get a tax receipt.
Volunteers
The bookstore is an all-volunteer effort. If you are interested in sorting books, doing Amazon sales or staffing the store, please complete an application form which you can pick up in the bookstore.
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Call for New Board Member
by Cheryl McKenzie
On its website, the Friends of Los Gatos Library encourages everyone to "be a part of what we do." The organization needs your membership fees and your generous donations to help support the library with funds for special programs and equipment like the amazing Chartreuse Caboose. And while most of the time we ask for your contribution of money or books, once in a while we need some of your time.
Our newsletter editor has served the board for 10 years, producing informative, interesting and professional newsletters for our members. Now it's time for her to pass on the duties to someone who would like to be an active board member.
We need someone who three times a year can schedule and meet deadlines, assign as well as write news stories, edit content, manage images (select, resize), and proofread final copy,
If you have the background, the interest and the time, please contact us. (408) 354-6891 or Friends of Los Gatos Library, 100 Villa Avenue, Los Gatos, 95030, or you can email us from our website on the Contact Us page. Please use [email protected]
.
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Photo by Georgina Van Horn
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April Young Writers Workshop a Success
On April 29, Cheryl Mc Kenzie, a published author and Friends of Los Gatos Library board member, led the annual Young Writers Workshop, inspiring, encouraging and teaching young would-be writers to build plot and character to create a story. Since the first workshop in year 2000, classes have filled soon after the press release announcing the date.
Cheryl, a native Californian who writes under the name C. Lee McKenzie, published her first young adult novel, Sliding on the Edge, in 2009 and The Princess of Las Pulgas (Princess of the Fleas) in 2010. In 2014 she published Double Negative and Sudden Secrets.
The workshop activities varied between pair work, large group discussion and individual writing time. Writers began with a warmup game called Writing Bingo. They worked in pairs to respond to creative writing prompts, and had 10 minutes to complete five responses in a row. In the large group, writers shared their ideas and learned about "hooking" the reader's interest before starting to craft their own stories.
Los Gatos High School Key Club members joined the volunteers this year and helped to make this workshop energetic and student-centered.
This year, writers were introduced to a fun origami experience called Instant Book. Each participant created his or her own book to take home. As always, the workshop ended with a closing ceremony when young authors shared a one-sentence summary about their stories and celebrated their successes as creative writers.
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Library Anniversary Celebration on February 11
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Library Board
vice chair John Housley
extolled the library and its staff at the library's fifth anniversary celebration.
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from Los Gatos High School helped make the library's anniversary celebration a success.
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The All-ages anniversary
celebration featured a variety of family-oriented activities-and lots of cookies.
Photos by Cheryl McKenzie
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