LIBRARY VISIT, LEWES, DELAWARE

In front of the Lewes, Delaware, Public Library.

Whenever I travel, I always like to stop in at the local library to meet the children’s librarian, see what is going on, and find out which of my books might be on the library shelves. On my recent visit to Lewes, Delaware, for a family vacation, I went to the Lewes Public Library, conveniently located next to the town history museum, which I also visited.

In the library I had a nice chat with the librarians at the front desk who looked up my books on the library website. (The children’s librarian was not there that day.) I learned that many of my books are available throughout the Delaware state library system, including my very first book Five Nests. I was glad to see that the Lewes town library has three of my books including Hatching Chicks in Room 6, A Warmer World, and A Penguin’s World.

Outside the library is an historic locomotive complete with caboose, an exciting draw for young and old train fans.

VISIT TO THE MILL VALLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY, Mill Valley, California

Children's Room of the Mill Valley Public Library, Mill Valley, CA.

On a recent trip to the Bay Area in Northern California, I visited the beautiful Mill Valley Public Library, tucked among the redwoods in the town of Mill Valley in Marin County. The large windows of the library look out onto Mill Park, a grove of giant redwood trees along Mill Creek, which was roaring with water after a week of heavy rain. In the early days of Mill Valley the water power of the creek ran a sawmill. Today the  trees are preserved as a public park.

Redwood trees in Mill Park, Mill Valley, CA.

My parents lived in Mill Valley for thirty-seven years and I often visited both the redwood grove and the library. On the day of my recent visit (during the Christmas holidays) the library was busy with families and people checking out books. When I looked at the catalog I found that the library has 44 of my books in its collection. I was pleased to see that a number of them were checked out, including my book about Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, Keeper of the Light: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog. 

Entrance to the Mill Valley Public Library.

ALWAYS A READER: My Childhood Book List

Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace, a favorite book of my childhood.

When I was growing up I never imagined that I would be a writer. But I always loved to read. I recently discovered a list I made in third grade of all the books I read that year—47 of them!  I actually made the list twice—first in the order that I read them, neatly printed, and then in alphabetical order by title, carefully written in cursive. 

Most of the books on my list are fiction and all of them were checked out from the Minneapolis Public Library. (Although our family had a few Golden Books, and I occasionally got a book as a gift, we rarely bought books.) Most of the books on my list now seem terribly old-fashioned, but a few are classics, like Make Way for Ducklings and To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street.

The cover of my booklet where I made my lists is a finger painting.

In my booklet I also recorded a list of the magazines I had read—mostly Jack and Jill, but also a few issues of Child Life and Highlights. And in the same little booklet with my lists I copied a poem by Annie Fellows Johnston called "Book Houses", which likens a book to a door to someone’s house. The third stanza reads:

And when I find a house that’s dull,

I do not often stay,

But when I find one full of friends

I’m apt to spend the day.

I recall many a day spent happily reading. Here’s my third grade list. How many of these titles to you remember reading as a child?

Books I have Read  (Third Grade)

1. Betsy and the Boys by Carolyn Haywood

2. Two is a Team, Heim

3. The Cocoa Dancer

4. The Great Quillow

5. Tag-a-long Tooloo

6.  Joan Wanted a Kitty

7. Make Way for Ducklings

8. Henner’s Lydia

9. A Pony for Linda—Anderson

10. Sonny the Bunny

11. Cow Concert

12.  Little Stone House

13.  Wishing Well

14.  Pogo’s House—Jo and Ernest Norling

15. Joey and Patches

16.  Cowboy Tommy-Sanford Tousy

17.  How the Indians Lived – Dearborn

18.  Little Pear – Eleanor Frances Lattimore

19.  Two and Two are Four – Carolyn Haywood

20  Kintu

21.  Randy and the Queen – Margaret s. Johnson

22.  Dog that Came True

23.  Double Birthday Present – Mabel Leigh Hunt

24.  Don’t Count Your Chicks

25.  Jack-o-Lantern for Judy Jo

26.  Holiday Roundup

27.  Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Buttered Bread – Mag Lindman

28.  Scratchy by John Parke

29.  Coconut the Wonder Tree

30.  Book of Jokes and Funny Things – Frances N. Chrystie

31.  Dr. Trotter and his Big Gold Watch – Helen Earle Gilbert

32.  A Kitten’s Tale – Audrey Chalmers

33.  Blueberries for Sal – Robert McCloskey

34.  Through Golden Windows

35. Our Little Friends of Norway

36.  Little Lost Sioux – Martha Raabe

37. Nils – Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire

38.  United States and Youth – Eleanor Roosevelt

39.  Black Beauty – Anna Sewell

40.  And to Think that I saw it on Mulberry Street – Dr. Seuss

41.  Betsy-Tacy

42.  Hide and Go Seek

43. The Most Wonderful Doll

44.  The Young Aunts

45.  North on the Great River – by Margaret G. O’Farrell

46.  Penny Goes to Camp – Carolyn Haywood

47.  Boy of the Desert – Eunice Tietjens

FOCAL AWARD PRESENTATION 2023: Celebrating EFREN DIVIDED by Ernesto Cisneros

Author Ernesto Cisneros being interviewed by Dewi Ochoa at LAPL

On Saturday, November 18th, friends, family, and members of FOCAL (Friends of Children and Libraries) gathered at the Mark Taper Auditorium of the LAPL Central Library for the annual FOCAL Award presentation, this year to Ernesto Cisneros for his heart-stopping and multi-award winning book about an immigrant family, Efren Divided. 

In the tradition of the award, he was presented with a puppet of the main character of the book. A second identical puppet will go on display in the children's room of the library, joining puppets from previous years. The puppets were created by Jesse Kingsley and Moira MacDonald.  

Jesse Kingsley and Puppet of Efren

The program was introduced by Marilyn Robertson, FOCAL President, followed by a warm welcome from Valerie Lynne Shaw, President of the Board of Library Commissioners. The introduction to the book was by Basya Samuels, Chair of the Award Committee. After a short speech by Ernesto Cisneros about how he came to write the book, essay contest winners--Ted Won, 4th Grade Melrose Elementary, Cruz Cortez, 6th Grade, Sutter MS, and Haily Kim, 7th Grade, Burroughs MS--read their excellent essays to the audience. They wrote about how they responded to the book, a favorite part or character, and why they would like to meet the author. The program ended with a Q & A session with Ernesto Cisneros led by Dewi Ochoa, Chair of Social Media for FOCAL. Then we all enjoyed churros, chocolate chip cookies and other treats.

I have been a member of FOCAL for many years. After three years of the FOCAL Award presentations online because of the pandemic, it was good to be back again in person.

In order to be awarded the FOCAL book award, the book must be of the highest literary and artistic quality, and must have California content. I know how hard it is to choose a winner–I served on the committee for four years. This year’s choice is excellent and a fitting book to celebrate.

VISIT TO THE CALGARY PUBLIC LIBRARY

 

Calgary Public Library, Alberta, Canada

Thirty-one years ago I came to Calgary for a library conference. Last week I returned to Calgary while my husband, Art, attended a conference there. As I almost always do when I travel, I visited the local library, in this case the new Central Library, just a few blocks from my hotel in downtown Calgary. The library, opened in 2018, is a soaring structure filled with light and wood.

The central skylight celebrates Calgary's famously sunny skies and brings natural light into the building.

I had arranged to meet children’s librarian Jennifer Mason, who gave me a tour of the children’s section—filled both with books and with inviting play areas where kids could do puzzles, build with blocks, Legos, or plastic pieces, climb into a structure, or just stretch out and read. In one area, families could choose a book to read together and then do activities in a take-home brochure. I thank Jennifer for taking time out of her day to meet with me and chat about books.

While many of the books in the Calgary library are by Canadian authors, there are also many by American writers. I was pleased to learn that the Calgary library system has nineteen of my books, including most of my new ones. All of their copies of Hatching Chicks in Room 6 were checked out—which made me wonder how many children were hatching chicks at home or at school.

Collaborative works by indigenous artists are seen throughout the library.

Much of the fourth floor of the library is devoted to indigenous cultures with books in indigenous languages and  a room for meetings and events. On the afternoon that I visited an elder was meeting with students in the room. 

View of downtown Calgary and rail line. The library was built over the rail line.

As I walked around the library I was impressed by both its use as a library and community center but also as an architectural wonder. From the fourth floor windows one gets an amazing view of the city, framed in the windows. As the free brochure explains: The modular hexagonal forms of the facade reflect the surrounding city and sky above. Familiar forms emerge from this varied geometry, where parts of the pattern might resemble an open book, beehives, or interlocking houses, anchoring the idea of collectives and community.

CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY

 

Chicago Cultural Center, in the original Public Library Building

On a recent trip to Chicago, I walked down Michigan Avenue past Millenium Park on my way to the Art Institute, and on the West side of the street I saw a large elegant building, inscribed along the top as the Chicago Public Library. No longer a library, it is now the Chicago Cultural Center. Built in 1897, it was the Central Library for the City of Chicago for 96 years, when a new library was built nearby. 

I didn’t have time to visit the new library, but I was pleased to discover online that the catalogue lists 79 of my books, including my two new books PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 and KEEPER OF THE LIGHT: JULIET NICHOLS FIGHTS THE SAN FRANCISCO FOG.