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Summer Reading Games at San Bernardino Public Library

The San Bernardino Public Library's 2009 summer reading game for children and teens, "Get Creative @ the Library" kicks off Monday, June 15, and ends Saturday, August 8.

Everyone who signs up for the reading game will receive a free book bag.

Children and teens may sign up for the summer reading program at the Feldheym Central Library or at any of the three branches. As children read books, they earn points for great prizes.

Preschoolers can participate by having a parent or older brother or sister read to him/her.

Prizes include reading game themed prizes such as bookmarks, stickers, pencils, finger puppets and coupons for food, drinks, and games from the following sponsors: AMF Arrowhead Lanes, Auntie Anne's Pretzels, Fiesta Village Golf, Home Town Buffet, Rainforest Café, Jose's Mexican Food, Elephant Bar Restaurant, Pat and Oscar's Restaurant, Mimi's Café, In-N-Out Burger and Baker's Drive-thru.

There will be special activities throughout the summer beginning with a new Swazzle puppet show, Water Color, the story of undersea creatures that come to life with colorful results, Saturday, June 20, at the Norman F. Feldheym Central Library in the Bing Wong Auditorium at 2:00 p.m. Swazzle, formerly known as the L.A. Puppet Professionals, is a performance company dedicated to the art of live puppetry. Each show includes a special behind the scenes presentation. Swazzle was founded by twins Patrick and Sean Johnson who began building puppets and performing puppet shows at the age of 13. They are active members of The Puppeteers of America and have served on the board of both the San Francisco and Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry.

Watch for details about additional special events including a cartoon work shop on Saturday, July 11, and a South Seas dance show and lessons on Saturday, July 25.

For more information about this FREE program, please call 909.381.8235.

Academy of Public Scholars Discussion

According to Dwyer and Kessler, "The Academy of Public Scholars is for those interested in participating in a spirited discussion on challenging topics in a welcoming environment" Newcomers are always welcome. It's not necessary for newcomers to read the material before the meeting.

View the survey of authors to be covered in the future. For more information, please call Eric Kessler at 909.997.3726 or William Dwyer at 760.218.9422.

Articles about the Academy:

Press Enterprise, May 2008
Press Enterprise, 2007
The Sun, July 1, 2007

Ask Now - Free 24/7 Reference Service Available at San Bernardino Public Libraries

Experienced reference librarians are available to answer your questions at the San Bernardino Public Libraries 24/7 - 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

AskNow is a free live online interactive reference service, available to library users 24/7. AskNow combines the speed and convenience of the Internet with the information savvy of experienced reference librarians.

When you connect to AskNow, the librarian online may not be from the San Bernardino Public Library and will not have access to your personal library account information. The librarian may be from any of over 100 California libraries or elsewhere in the national 24/7 reference cooperative.

For more information, please contact Ed Erjavek, Information Technology Manager, at 909.381.8216.

Library Cards Available to Foster Children at San Bernardino City Libraries

The San Bernardino Public Library and the San Bernardino County Department of Children's Services have worked out a unique plan where foster (out-of- home-care) parents can receive special library cards for the children they care for. Children will be encouraged to be responsible and to return all library materials on time. Foster parents don't have to worry about being stuck with huge library bills. The library will forgive overdue fines and the county will pay for missing or unreturned books.

The costs of this program are underwritten by the Department of Children's Services (DCS). Therefore only children that are a part of this program are eligible. Foster parents will need to show their agreement for the child to verify that they are eligible for the program.

For more information, please call 909.381.8201.

Volunteers wanted for Arda Haenszel California Room

The San Bernardino Public Library is seeking volunteers to work in the Arda Haenszel California Room, located on the second floor of the Norman F. Feldheym Central Library. Docents should enjoy history and/or genealogy and enjoy sharing that knowledge with library customers. Docents are needed to work at least once a week for a minimum of three hours. New volunteers will work with a more experienced docent.

The Arda Haenszel California Room is a treasure trove of priceless materials about the City of San Bernardino, the County of San Bernardino, the Inland Empire and the state. There is no other facility like ours that maintains such a complete history of our area that includes people, homes, farms, railroads, lakes, springs, businesses, lost buildings, roads, wildlife and fun things to do.

There is no librarian assigned to the Arda Haenszel California Room. Budget cuts forced its closing. It is open only when docents are available.

Fortunately, there is a group of dedicated volunteers who are truly living treasures and living encyclopedias of this area, but they are looking for people to train.

For more information, please call Millicent Price, Principal Librarian at 909.381.8226.

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