Read Locally, Think Globally

Welcome to “Read Locally, Think Globally,” a blog devoted to reading, literacy, librarianship, and community.

I'm Candice, the Teen Services Librarian at the Encino-Tarzana Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library.  My goal in starting this blog is to share the love I have for reading and information with local children, teens, parents, and educators, and also let interested community members know that there is much more going on at our local library than just books.

Literacy

As a librarian, I’m a big fan library science pioneer S.A. Ranganathan and his idea: “Every book its reader. Every reader his book.”  What I interpret this statement to mean is that those who claim they do not like reading simply may not have been introduced to the right book for them yet.

 It’s my job, challenge and passion to find that right book (or more often than not, books, plural) for that right reader. In library land, we call that “readers’ advisory.”  My particular area of expertise is readers’ advisory for tweens, teens, and young adults but I try to keep current with popular series and authors for children and adults, as well.

To help readers find new titles to sink their teeth into this summer, I will be showcasing new books, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks and more for children and teens to check out in my next post, which leads me to…

Libraries are More than Books

The days of Ye Olde Library with the stereotypical librarian with the bun and the stacks of musty old books is, for the most part, dead. (In fact, the next time you see me, I will probably have pink hair.) While the Encino-Tarzana Library does have a wonderful selection of picture books, encyclopedias, mysteries, celebrity tell-alls, cookbooks, fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, science fiction, large print, paperbacks, titles in Persian, Russian, and Spanish, we also have:

• Entertainment DVDs in a multitude of languages, particularly Persian and Russian
• Documentary DVDs  on many subjects including travel, citzenship, and study guides
• Music CDs in a multitude of genres
• Audiobooks on CD
• Teen programs at the library every Thursday (sometimes twice a week), which include movie nights, Teen Advisory Board (where local teens and tweens help plan library events), crafts programs, poetry events, art events, concerts and college and career workshops
• Children’s programs on Tuesdays including story-times, crafts, musicians, magicians, movie nights and other performers
• Adult programs such as computer classes, book clubs, movie nights, finance workshops, avoiding senior fraud, emergency preparedness for seniors
• Desktop computers, which allow library card holders two hours of computer use per day
• Free wi-fi for laptop users
• Grandparents and Books program, where community volunteers read to children for a few hours in the afternoon, Tuesday through Saturday
• Teen/Tween Volunteer Program, where local teens and tweens can earn community service by helping out at the library
• Teen Library Blog, with photos from past teen events and book reviews by local teens and tweens

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! 

I look forward to sharing more of the library’s resources with you in upcoming posts.