New Dieting Books in the Library

Hey! Those holidays are on the way! Maybe you want to lose a few before those big feasts start piling on the pounds. We've recently bought some books to help you on your way. Chow down on some recent classics such as Sugar Busters!, and of course Dr. Atkins' Age-Defying Diet by that late great weight-loss guru.

For gals, there's Look Hot, Live Long by Christine Lydon, and Gary Heavin's Curves. We've got Dharma Singh Khalsa's Food as Medicine and The Everything Nutrition Book by Kimberly Tessmer for those who want to improve their health.

Weight Watchers weighs in with Weight Watchers Coach Approach: How to Motivate the "Thin" You. And finally, here's our favorite: The Little Book of Dirty Diet Tricks: 365 Ways to Lose Weight or Look Like You Did, Without Losing Your Mind Along the Way by Carole Bodger.

Local Luminaries Lobby for Library

On Tuesday, July 22, San Marino Mayor Matthew Lin, Councilmembers Emile Bayle and Betty Brown, Legislative Liaison Suzy Crowell, and City Manager Rob Wishner traveled to Sacramento to lobby state representatives to support the partial funding of a new library building. These state funds are available under the Library Bond Act of 2000 that was created by the passage of Proposition 14.

They met with Assembly representative Judy Chu and Library Bond Act Manager Richard Hall. Hall noted that competition for this second round of funding was stiff as applying libraries from around the state have asked for about five times the amount of funds available.

The San Marino contingent also met with members of the California Public Library Construction and Renovation Board or their deputies. They delivered over 100 letters of support for the new library written by San Marino citizens, along with an executive summary outlining the deficits of the current library building and plans for the new one.

The California Public Library Construction and Renovation Board will announce the winners of its Second Cycle Grant Awards in the fall. More information about the Library Bond Act of 2000 can be found on the Office of Library Construction web site: http://www.olc.library.ca.gov.

The Animal Guys Bring Rainforest Animals to the San Marino Public Library

On Saturday, July 12, 2003, two representatives from The Animal Guys, Andreana Wagner and Veronica Alonzo, brought a menagerie of animals from the world’s rainforest to a program to celebrate this year’s Summer Reading Program theme “It’s a Jungle Out There".

Animals displayed included an Emperor scorpion from Africa, a South American two-toed sloth, and an albino Burmese python.

Andi and Veronica wrestle an albino Burmese python

Sheriff Baca Visits the Library

On Friday, July 11, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca toured the San Marino Public Library.

“It looks like a Rube Goldberg machine!" Baca exclaimed when he saw the mid-century air-conditioning system and the ancient boiler that provide climate control in the building. Mayor Matthew Lin presented Baca with a certificate of appreciation and showed him the plans for the new library building.

New library supporters William and Barbara Steele, Marie and Paul Crowley, Mayor Matthew Lin, City Manager Rob Wisher, Ivy and Richard Sun, Lora Smith and Myra Frank surround Sheriff Baca and present him with a certificate of appreciation.

Internet Classes Continue

The Library’s Internet classes continue in the next couple of weeks. This Saturday (July 19) there will be a class on using search engines, such as Google and Yahoo. If you have used the Internet a bit, but you have trouble finding what you want, this is a good class for you. It starts at 9:00 AM and runs until 10:30 AM. If you can’t make it to this class, the same session will be offered on Saturday, August 2, again at 9:00 AM.

For beginners, there will be one more “Introduction to the Internet” class on Saturday, July 26 at 9:00 AM. This class is ideal for those who are not familiar with the Internet, or even computers. If you have dabbled a bit, but want to know more, this class may help you to put it all together.

Please call the Library to sign up for any of these classes. The phone number is (626) 300-0777.

Are You Fluent in Japanese?

The library has a small collection of books in Japanese, and in the past few years there have been several donations of additional books that may be of interest to Japanese readers. Since the Library does not have any Japanese staff members who speak Japanese, it has been difficult to process these newer books. If you are fluent in Japanese and can help the library staff select from these donations and also translate and transliterate titles into English, the Library could use your help. Volunteers are being sought to help get these books on the shelf for people to read. If you are interested, please call Rex at (626) 300-0776.

New Audio Books on CD

Summer is finally here, and if your vacation travel plans include driving, you’ll definitely want to visit the library to look over the new additions to our collection of audio books on CD. We have the latest non-fiction releases by best-selling authors Bill Bryson and Pat Conroy, as well as Devil in the White City by Eric Larsen, and Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle by Anthony Swofford. There are several new fiction choices as well, including Back Story by Robert B. Parker, Blessings by author and columnist Anna Quindlen, and King of Torts by perennial best-selling author John Grisham. So whether you’re driving across the country or just to the beach and back, our new audio books will help make the trip more enjoyable.