A FUN DAY WITH FOCAL AT THE LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY

 

In the Children's Literature Room at the Los Angeles Public Library

On Saturday, May 13, I joined other authors and book lovers as we enjoyed a special event with FOCAL (Friends of Children and Literature) at the Los Angeles Public Library. First there was a tour of the Children’s Literature Department and a peek at some of the new books. Then came an insider’s tour of “LAPL150—Our Story is Yours: A Los Angeles Public Library Sesquicentennial Celebration” led by exhibit co-curator and Senior Librarian of the Photo Collection Department, Christina Rice. 

That was followed by a reception with the FOCAL Board at which each of us received a special book, Storybook Puppets, about the puppets designed by Carol Onofrio for each year’s FOCAL book award winner for the years 1980 to 2013. The puppets are on display in the children’s room.. Thank you FOCAL for a great day!

 

FOCAL Award Luncheon, December 2015

Puppets by Jesse Kingsley, depicting Sylvia Mendez in the book Separate is Not Equal by Duncan Tonitiuh

On Saturday, December 12th, I attended the annual gala luncheon that honors the winner of the FOCAL Award. FOCAL (Friends of Children and Literature) is the support group of the children’s literature department of the Los Angeles Public Library. The award is presented annually to a children's book with California content. This year it went to Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight For Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh, published by Abrams, 2014.

FOCAL Luncheon book sale table with Storybook Puppets and Separate is Not Equal

Usually the author of the winning book gives a speech at the luncheon. This year, however, Duncan Tonatiuh was unable to attend. Instead, he sent a video of his acceptance, so we got to meet him virtually. His charming young daughter was also part of the video. And, while we were not able to meet the author, it was a special treat to be able to meet Sylvia Mendez, the subject of the book, who came to the luncheon. She was delightful and enjoyed interacting with all of the guests.

Sylvia Mendez

Every year at the luncheon, winners are presented with a unique puppet representing a character from their award-winning book.  Jesse Kingsley, the puppeteer, used Duncan’s illustrations as inspiration for his puppet of Sylvia.

For many years the puppets for the FOCAL winners were created by Carol Onofrio. Another special treat at this year’s luncheon was the wonderful new book with photographs of all Carol’s puppets and their stories. The book, Storybook Puppets, created by Carol Onofrio’s family as a memorial to her body of work, is available in the shop at the Central Library.

Also present at the awards luncheon were children who won the FOCAL essay contest, along with their teachers, and parents. Each of the children read their essay aloud and told about a favorite part of the book and why they would like to meet the author.

Centerpiece

Many people contributed to the success of the luncheon: the officers of FOCAL; the hardworking FOCAL award committee, whose difficult job it is to choose a winner; LAPL children’s librarians; the middle school art students and their teacher, Ray Moscowicz, who created the wonderful centerpieces for the tables; and the parents and teachers who encouraged the students to write their wonderful essays. I always enjoy going to the luncheon and helping to celebrate the love for books and reading. Thanks to everyone for making it such a festive occasion!

For more about the book SEPARATE IS NEVER EQUAL go to my blog post for September 9, 2015.

Caroline Gill, President of FOCAL; Sandy Schuckett, Essay Contest Chair

FOCAL Luncheon Honoring H. Joseph Hopkins, Author of TREE LADY

H. Joseph Hopkins with puppet of Kate Sessions created by Jesse Kingsley

On Saturday, December 6th, 2014, the annual luncheon honoring the winner of the FOCAL Award was held at the Border Grill in downtown Los Angeles across the street from the Los Angeles Central Library. As always, it was a gala event with delicious food, great company, and an inspiring program. The tables were decorated with wonderful centerpieces created by students of art teacher Ray Moszkowicz at Noble Middle School after reading The Tree Lady.  A looping slideshow created by Mara Alpert at LAPL of past FOCAL winners played at the front of the room.

Centerpiece depicting Kate Sessions planting a tree created by Noble Middle School students

As a member of the award committee I had the pleasure of sitting at the head table with the author, H. Joseph Hopkins, and the four winners of the essay contest, who had won the opportunity to meet the author and engage him conversation over lunch. The students (grades 3, 4, 5 and 8) read their essays as part of the program. I was impressed at the excellent job the students had done. As one of them wrote: "Kate Sessions was a woman with guts." Clearly she is a role model.

Tribute to Puppeteer Carol Onofrio

A special part of the program this year was a tribute to puppeteer Carol Onofrio who, until this year, had created all the puppets inspired by the winning book–one to give to the author and another for the permanent collection of the Children’s Literature Department of LAPL’s Central Library.  Sadly, Carol passed away this past year.  This year’s puppet, a wonderful rendition of Kate Sessions, the “tree lady” of the book, was created by Jesse Kingsley. After receiving the award, H. Joseph Hopkins gave a presentation about how he created the book and about the life of Kate Sessions.

Renny Day, VP Correspondence and Membership, and Caroline Gill, President of FOCAL

After four years as part of the FOCAL Award Committee and I am going to miss reading the books and going to the meetings. But I will always look forward to the luncheon. And I want to thank the award committee and  Caroline Gill, Renny Day and all the members of the FOCAL Board for all the hard work that makes the luncheon such a success and one of the highlights of my year.

The FOCAL Award was instituted in 1980 and is presented annually for a book of merit that features some aspect of California history and/or geography.
Friends of Children and Literature (FOCAL) is a support group of the LAPL Children’s Literature Department at the Central Library.