June 2012

Summer is here and school is out for many of your families.  Now is the ideal reason to re-discover the library:  JOIN the Summer Reading Club in your Community Library!  Remember, you don’t have to be a kid to participate in a program.  Most of our libraries have a Summer Reading Program for every age—children, ‘tweens and teens, and adults.

  Thanks to the generosity of many of our neighboring businesses and individuals, some of our reading clubs have really great prizes.  They all have outstanding lists of books, downloadable E-Books and the like to add to your summer reading pleasure.

Speaking of Downloadable E-Books—did you receive a Nook, or Kindle or E-Reader for a gift?  Did you know that downloading E-Books from your Community Library is usually FREE?! Check it out at your local library.  

Summer learning loss is a big reason to keep kids, teens and adult learners alike active and alert through the summer—and it is one of the big advantages of the Summer Reading programs.  This loss of academic skills and knowledge over the summer is a matter of serious concern to families and educators.  Summer losses can vary across communities and subject matter, but it averages about one month for all students.  The biggest losses can occur in math and science, and in reading.  

Fortunately, our libraries have excellent collections or access to those collections that can not only slow loss, but actually improve learning skills through books and materials that are engaging, bright and attractive, filled with activities that are fun and easily accessible to families and children. Visit your Community Library today to see what’s going on for the summer.

What has your County Library been up to lately….?

Our Transliteracy Initiative is off to an excellent start with the County Library’s collaborations, starting with May’s Law Day celebrations May 1 through 3. We enjoyed excellent participation from County Supervisors, Judges, Councilpersons, City Officials and the families who visited the libraries to hear stories that told about fair play, sharing, bullying and other good rules for happy living with other people. Much of the free informative materials about various aspects of the Law—including those especially affecting parents, teens and seniors—are still available for you.

Take a moment and visit the temporary location of the Palm Desert Library which opened with colorful fanfare on May 5 in the Westfield Palm Desert Mall in Palm Desert. The Palm Desert Library will be located at the Mall while it undergoes “refreshment” at its permanent site at the campus of the College of the Desert.  The creative and ideal location near great shopping and the Food Court (!) was made possible through the generosity of the Westfield Mall, Patrick Klein Manager, and the assistance of the Office of Supervisor John Benoit (Fourth District) and the Mayor of Palm Desert, Robert Spiegel.  So much is packed into that small space that you will enjoy exploring with your library card in hand.

May 12 was our first Family Internet Safety Workshop held at the Robidoux Library in Riverside.  Families learned about the County Library’s Internet Safety Policy and how to use it as they explore the extensive databases in the library.  Supervisor John Tavaglione (Second District) attended the workshop with his family.  We continue to help families understand that they (not library staff) are the primary teachers and guardians of the internet behavior and practices of their children, ‘tweens and teens. With summer here, we encourage families to come to the library with their children and teens to work with them on the computers and to check out books and materials to read over the summer.

Our next free Family Internet Safety Workshop is Saturday, June 9 at 9am at the Mecca Library.  It will be conducted in Spanish with English translation available.  Supervisor John Benoit will welcome the families, and Managing Librarian Miguel Guitron-Rodriguez will facilitate the session. Refreshments will be available after the workshop. Call the Mecca Library at 760-396-2363 for more information or to make a reservation.

We were pleased to collaborate with the Office of the Registrar of Voters for a Voter Information Session on May 21 at Robidoux Library.  The County Registrar, Kari Verjil, created the program to reach out to Voters and keep them informed about the new Primary Ballot for June 5 and to encourage more voter registration for the upcoming November Elections. Very realistic US Presidential re-enactors for Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln posed for photos with local children and made coloring pages and the Votesaurus dinosaur figure available to them.

The County Library is also collaborating with EDA Housing and the Fair Housing Council of Riverside County to offer a series of workshops at County Libraries in each of the five Supervisorial Districts. The workshops are aimed at connecting homeowners whose home loans are or who may be in distress to resources to help them resolve their financing issues.  The workshops will begin in July at Robidoux Library and extend over the next twelve months.  Watch this website for a schedule of workshops and their locations.

Supervisor Tavaglione also returned to the Robidoux Library later in May, this time to spend a morning at the Literacy Lab.  He had the opportunity to hear first-hand testimony from literacy participants, both ESL and Adult Learners, about how the literacy program has helped them to achieve their goals for themselves and for their families.  The Literacy program—like many other state funded programs—has suffered serious losses in this current budget.  We know the needs for these kinds of programs are great, however, and we are exploring a number of creative options to expand the literacy program rather than decreasing its scope…stay tuned, and volunteer to help where you can—donations are always welcome!

Your County Library is also preparing to offer Citizenship Classes at specific County Libraries.  We learned that over 50 thousand people have Green Cards and are eligible to take the Citizenship Exam but have not because they have not had access to Citizenship Classes. Part of the reluctance to take the class may be related to difficulties with English Language literacy, because language proficiency is required to take and to pass the exam. 

We are recruiting volunteer tutors and teachers for Literacy and for Citizenship, with really excellent response so far.  Watch for flyers and websites about the classes shortly.  Are YOU interested in volunteering to tutor Literacy or Citizenship? Are YOU interested in taking a class?  If you fit into either of these groups, call Jennie Wagner at 951-955-4816.

We are excited about the new library buildings joining the lineup of County Libraries in the Fall and early in 2013.  Watch for special grand openings for Idyllwild, Mead Valley, Cabazon and Palm Desert Libraries.  The buildings will feature “state of the art” library technology and colorful interiors to create spaces with collections that the members of each community will be proud of and want to use often.

Check the websites and visit each of the County Libraries often to learn what is happening and when it will happen at your Community Library.  I always look forward to talking to you when you call me at (951) 955-1158.

Happy Summering! 

Barbara Morrow Williams, MLS, PhD
Riverside County Librarian
BMorrowWilliams@rivcoeda.org
951-955-1158