Coming this Fall: Dublin Reads Epitaph for a Peach

Calling all you gardeners, lovers of fresh food,  people who are interested in organic farming, and eating locally: we have made a selection for our next Dublin Reads and it is David Mas Masumoto’s Epitaph for a Peach.  From Mr. Masumoto’s website:

Epitaph for a Peach

“As pleasurable as a perfect peach, Epitaph for a Peach tells the passionate story of one farmer’s attempt to rescue one of the last truly sweet and juicy fruits from becoming obsolete in a world that increasingly values commerciality over quality. The story of Mas Masumoto’s Sun Crest peaches begins on the day he turns the bulldozers away from his orchards and vows to give himself four seasons to find a home for the fruits of his labor.

 

 

At once a deeply personal story, a sharp commentary about the state of American agriculture, a lighthearted rhapsody of nature, and an intimate glimpse into the Asian American experience, Epitaph for a Peach is about saving a peach, saving a farm, saving a family, saving a way of life–it is a story about finding “home.”"

Last year the Dublin Heritage Center co-sponsored Dublin Reads when we read Snow Mountain Passage.  We were not necessarily thinking  the Heritage Center would want to co-sponsor with us this year, since our selection is not historical.  However, this week I was having a conversation with Elizabeth Isles, the Director of the Center and I mentioned that we were doing Epitaph for a Peach.  Well, it turns out the Heritage Museum is going to have a new exhibit coming this Fall on farm life! 

Farm Life: a Century of Change for Farm Families and Their Neighbors is a traveling exhibit from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Mid-America Arts Alliance.  As we talked, Elizabeth and I realized this exhibit connects beautifully with Epitaph for a Peach!

For the library’s part we will offer again free drop-in book discussions, a showing of the film The Real Dirt on Farmer John , and we are currently searching for a speaker who can come and talk to us about our food….where it comes from, eating locally grown foods, what is community supported agriculture and related topics.  We hope also to offer a visit with the author.

The Dublin Friends of the Library will underwrite this special event by providing multiple copies of the book, sponsoring our programs and contributing to book discussion groups. 

Elizabeth is planning a fabulous array of programs at the Heritage Center to coincide with the exhibit.  More details on events will be forthcoming!

Dublin Reads will kick off at Day on the Glen, September 20 & 21st and continue until October 31st.

 

DVD collection at the Dublin Library

The Friends of the Dublin Library purchased the following DVD’s for our collection.  You can reserve material on-line using our catalog at www.aclibrary.org or look for them in the branch the next time that you’re in. Purchase suggestions can also be done on-line at https://alam1.aclibrary.org/acquire~S2  

  

Because I Said So

Road to Perdition (2 copies)

The Birdcage (2 copies)

Finding Neverland (2 copies)

Black Dahlia (2 copies)

From Hell (2 copies)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (2 copies)

Airplane!

A Fish Called Wanda (2 copies)

Monster’s Ball (2 copies)

Men of Honor (2 copies)

 

The Dublin Library is located near the intersection of 580 and 680 at:

200 Civic Plaza

Dublin, CA  94568

925-828-1315

 

More DVD’s purchased by the Friends of the Dublin Library

Along with the titles that I previously mentioned, the Dublin Friends of the Library have again came forward and bought another large amount of DVD’s to add to our great collection. The Friends purchased 2 copies of each DVD unless otherwise noted:

48 Hours

61

9 1/2 Weeks

Above the Law

Air Buddies (1 copy)

All Dogs Go To Heaven

American Pie

Armageddon

Austin Powers

Austin Powers: Goldmember

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

Blade

Bodyguard

Bridge to Terabithia

Bringing Out the Dead

Caddyshack

Dirty Dancing (1 copy)

Dumbo (3 copies)

Edward Scissorhands

Eight Below

Fighting Temptations

Flubber (3 copies)

Forces of Nature (1 copy)

Freaky Friday

Garden State

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (1 copy)

Head of State

Hoot

I, Robot (1 copy)

Indecent Proposal (1 copy)

Jump In

Lilo and Stitch

Lilo and Stitch 2

Maverick (4 copies)

Pacifier

Parent Trap

Perfect Murder

Princess Diaries

Secondhand Lions (1 copy)

Shaft (1 copy)

Shaggy Dog (1 copy)

Shiloh Season

Sky High

Space Balls

The Wild (1 copy)

Transporter (1 copy)

Waterboy   The Friends of the Dublin Library are always looking for new volunteers and donations. You can contact the Dublin Library at 925-828-1315 for more information.

 

New DVD’s donated by the Friends of the Dublin Library

The Friends of the Dublin Library have been a vital component to the development of a fantastic DVD collection at our library. In 2007 the Friends donated 632 DVD’s to the library’s collection and they have not slowed down in their enthusiasm to enhance our collection. Many of the titles they have purchased are new titles, but most of these listed here are replacements for DVD’s that have been sent to DVD retirement. In the past month the Friends purchased the following DVD’s for our library:

Transformers (2 copies)

Night at the Museum (2 copies)

Simpson’s Movie (2 copies)

TMNT (2 copies)

Spiderman 3 (2 copies)

Ratatouille (2 copies)

Shrek the Third (2 copies)

Aquamarine (2 copies)

Last Unicorn (2 copies)

Madagascar (2 copies)

Beautiful Mind (2 copies)

Million Dollar Baby (2 copies)

Crash (1 copy)

Hotel Rwanda (1 copy)

French Connection (2 copies)

Almost Famous (1 copy)

Girl Interrupted (2 copies)

Flags of our Fathers (2 copies)

Gladiator (1 copy)

Walk the Line (2 copies)

Pirates of the Carribean: The curse of the black pearl (2 copies)

Patton (1 copy)

Schindler’s list (1 copy)

Good Shepard (2 copies)

Little Miss Sunshine (1 copy)

Philadelphia (2 copies)

The English Patient (1 copy)

Se7en (1 copy)

Wedding Singer (2 copies)

Runaway Bride (2 copies)

Wimbledon (2 copies)

Patch Adams (3 copies)

French Kiss (2 copies)

Say Anything (2 copies)

Working Girl (2 copies)

For Love of the Game (2 copies)

City of Angels (2 copies)

Don Juan DeMarco(2 copies)

Great Expectations (2 copies)

Bad Boys II (2 copies)

Family Man (2 copies)

Sleeping With the Enemy (4 copies)

Man of the House (4 copies)

Breakfast at Tiffanys (2 copies)

Hitch (2 copies)

Riding in Cars With Boys (2 copies)

The Break Up (2 copies)

Love Actually (2 copies)

Before Sunrise (2 copies)

Unconditional Love (2 copies)

American Wedding (2 copies)

Legally Blonde (2 copies)

Wedding Date (2 copies)

Meet the Fockers (2 copies)

Meet the Parents (2 copies)

America’s Sweethearts (2 copies)

Bewitched (2 copies)

Just Like Heaven (2 copies)

Holiday (3 copies)

Charlotte’s Web (2 copies)

Five People You meet in Heaven (2 copies)

Night at the Museum (4 copies)

Goonies (4 copies)

Black Hawk Down (2 copies)

XXX (3 copies)

Hotel Rwanda (2 copies)

What Women Want (1 copy)

Sideways (2 copies)

In Her Shoes (1 copy)

Zoolander (2 copies)

Why Did I Get Married? (3 copies)

Big Momma’s House (3 copies)

Fools Rush In (2 copies)

All of these titles can be reserved online at www.aclibrary.org or just look for them the next time that you stop by!

 

Experience the California Gold Rush!

On Sunday we have another special Dublin Reads Chautauqua event: storyteller Charlie Chin will be here doing a solo performance as the famous Chinese herbal doctor Yee Fung Cheung. 

Like so many others, Yee Fung Cheung was lured to California by the discovery of gold. However, after arriving in the gold camps, he found out that his services as an herbal doctor were needed by the Chinese miners.  His original herb shop, Chew Kee Store still exists as a museum in Fiddletown.

Charlie Chin brings Yee Fung Cheung and the Chinese experience during the gold rush to life. Charlie is a musician, historian, author and storyteller who has been in the forefront of Asian American artistic expression since the 70’s.  In 1989, he was named a Community Folklore Scholar by the Smithsonian Insitution. 

Please join us for this fascinating recreation of California history on Sunday, March 2 at 2:00 p.m.  This program is funded by the Dublin Friends of the Library.

 

music in the library

Adam Miller, folksinger and storyteller, will be here today starting at 2 p.m.  Adam has a repertoire of over 2,000 traditional and contemporary folk songs. Inspired as a child by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, among others, Adam accompanies himself with acoustic guitar and autoharp.  He is, in fact, known as one of the premier autoharpists in the world.

Adam has recorded three CDs of American folksongs, The Orphan Train and Other Reminiscences, Wild Birds and Along Came a Giant – Traditional American Folk Songs for Young Folks. Dublin has a copy of Along Came a Giant so be sure and check it out.

Adam is focusing today on songs of the California Gold Rush and the westward movement. This program is part of a series of Chautauqua events to coincide with Dublin Reads Snow Mountain Passage. Come for a relaxing and fun hour of music and entertainment!  Funds for this program have been provided by the Dublin Friends of the Library.

 

National Friends of the Library Week

October 21 -  27 is National Friends of the Library Week, a promotional campaign of the national organization known as FOLUSA — Friends of the Library, USA.  FOLUSA helps all the different library support groups and Friends groups that exist throughout the country with ideas on how to promote their library and their group.

 Let me tell you a little about Dublin Library’s Friends.  These are people who volunteer their precious time to help raise money, awareness and provide community support for the Dublin Library. 

We are very lucky to have quite a special group of people working with the Dublin Friends.  President Eileen Billik and Treasurer Noreen DeVito are here every single week.  Eileen volunteers at the library in addition to her duties as the President; Noreen drops by to check the mail and write checks. She writes checks for library programs, like our Family Sing-Along program coming up this Saturday or for things like tee shirts we are in the process of buying to advertise Dublin Reads.  Where do they get the money?  They work hard at it…putting on booksales twice a year and stocking the Starbucks(among other things) over on Regional St. with donations. Connie Archer visits Starbucks every week re-stocking the Friends bookcase with new donations.

Eileen, Noreen, Connie, Judith, Betty, George and Fritz are weekly busy in the Friends storage area evaluating, sorting and categorizing books for the next booksale. 

Last Fall the two day booksale garnered just over $4,000 for the Library.  Coming up in December they are planning a one day only holiday booksale selling paperbacks, children’s books and beautiful, nearly new specially priced books.  If you are looking for some bargain gifts for your holiday gift giving, come on by on Saturday, December 1st between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00. 

With money earned at booksales the Library is able to offer a rich assortment of programs that would be impossible otherwise: for example  this past year we  bought  an AWE early literacy computer station for the children’s section.  At $3,000 this computer station has 26 programs offering math and early reading games for children.  The Friends purchased all the supplies and materials needed to start Mother Goose on the Loose, a highly successful early literacy program that now occurs twice a week. The Friends are the primary sponsor of Dublin Reads, providing funding for the books, and just about all the Chautauqua programs. They fund summer children’s programs and the two adult book discussion groups.

In the PR materials that FOLUSA has on their website is a sample proclamation in praise of Library Friends groups.  Paraphrasing that proclamation, here are a  couple of my favorite phrases from it that I think really epitomize Dublin’s group:

“Friends raise money that enables our library to move from good to great.”

“The work of the Friends highlights the fact that our Library is the cornerstone of the community.”

“The Friends gift of time and committment to the Library leads to positive engagement and the betterment of the community.”

This week while you are in the library, look for some special bookmarks the Friends have printed for National Friends of the Library Week, with great quotes about libraries.  On Wednesday and Thursday, library staff are bringing cookies, cake and tea to thank our Friends.

If you love libraries and/or have benefited from some of the programs that the Dublin Friends have funded, consider becoming a member or even just use this blog as a forum to say “thank you.”  Dublin’s Friends care about their community and their library and we take this opportunity to voice a resounding Thank YOU.

So thank you Eileen, Noreen, Fritz, Barbara,Connie, Karin, Jean, George, Judith, Carolyn, Betty and all the many folks who come out and volunteer to help with the booksales.  We salute you!

 

Day on the Glen

The city’s annual Day on the Glen is just about here!  Check it out at Emerald Glen Park Saturday from 10-7 and Sunday from 10-5. Every year the Library shares a booth with the Friends of Dublin Library answering questions and promoting all our programs.  We’ll be back this year, especially to launch an exciting new event, Dublin Reads.  Watch this blog for a separate entry on Dublin Reads coming up soon. 

This year we will also share our booth with the Dublin Heritage Center.  The Heritage Center has written an Arcadia “Images of America” book on Dublin.  Copies of the book will be for sale and the author, Mike Lynch, will come on by between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m to sign copies of the book.

We’ll have our prize wheel along with some fun prizes for those who answer those oh so difficult questions on the wheel.  (Hint: Do you know how much a library card costs?  Can you spell library?????)  Come and see us Saturday and Sunday; we are across from the Civic Center booth and next to the School District!

 

It’s Booksale Time!

Today the Friends of Dublin Library and all their volunteer helpers (including Boy Scout Troop 874, thank you very much!) are setting up for the Fall  booksale. It’s alot of work trundling books out of  storage and into the community room!  The sale starts tomorrow evening at 6p.m with a members-only preview.  If you are not currently a member of the Friends you can join at the door, starting at 5:30 p.m. Members always get first look at what’s available; we’ve had lots of donations this time, so there is plenty of great books to choose from including children’s books. 

 The sale continues throughout the weekend, open Saturday 10-5, Sunday, 1-5 and Monday, Noon - 6p.m.    Funds raised by the booksale greatly benefit the Library providing money for many of the programs we offer as well as furnishings and equipment needs such as the Early Literacy computer station in the children’s area.