We are a branch of the Los Angeles Public Library located in Highland Park. Keep yourself updated on our doings here...
Don’t hesitate to give us a call at 323-255-0537 if you have any questions. Email ayosco@lapl.org
This month’s trivia question asked how you could find a poem on the topic of the start of school. While there are many ways one way is to make use of the library’s database “Lit Finder.” Once in the database you’d want to do an advanced search using the search term school and limiting the results to full text poems. One of the results is the (somewhat saccharine) poem “The Father in School” by Amos R. Wells. The poem begins:
Unfamiliar work and rule, --
Little Lad's first day in school.
"Stay! O papa, stay with me!"
Thus he murmurs tearfully.
And, though business calls away,
Papa stays the livelong day.
Wells, Amos Russel. "The Father in School." The Collected Poems of Amos R. Wells, by Amos R. Wells, Christian Endeavor World, 1921, p. 44. Gale Literature: LitFinder
Find the Lit Finder database on the library’s Research page (https://www.lapl.org/digital-library/search) search for it by title and access it with your library card.
This bookplate is for the Akron Public Library. It is dated 1908 and is a black and white plate of an Olympic runner holding a torch above the library's name which is bordered by a decorative trim.
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark is set in an alternate history Cairo. In this world a researcher managed to open a hole between our universe and one inhabited by mythological beings sometime in the mid-1800s. The resulting migration of some of those beings as well as the technological and scientific discoveries enabled by the whole situation resulted in Egypt coming to prominence in the world. In this particular story we follow two investigators for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities as they investigate a tram car that is haunted getting a close look at this interesting different version of the world along the way.
This is a fascinating exercise in world building that is supported by an interesting plot and likeable characters. I would heartily recommend it.
This month’s trivia question is more about process. Let’s celebrate the start of a new school year with a poem. How could you find a poem on that topic (i.e. the start of the school year)?
Saturday, September 19 at 3 p.m. at the Arroyo Seco Branch Library
Join us for an interactive game, where you get to play a benevolent world overlord and try to solve the climate crisis in just 60 minutes. Nothing like working against the clock on one of the biggest challenges of our lifetime!
This interactive game will utilize the climate solutions simulator En-ROADS, co-developed by the climate nonprofit Climate Interactive and the MIT Sloan School of Management. This session is open to all, no expertise on climate science or solutions needed. We will not overwhelm you with data, but rather help you build a mental model of what needs to happen for us to ensure a livable future.
Our goal is to give you hope and inspiration about possible real-world solutions – no doomerism here!
Email us at ayosco@lapl.org for more information.
The movie featured in today’s poster is The Mark of Zorro. This was a 1920 movie and in the poster Don Diego Vega/Señor Zorro (Douglas Fairbanks) is shown leaning on a large barrel, upon which there is a portrait of Fairbanks. The text on the poster says “Douglas Fairbanks in 'The Mark of Zorro'; Directed by Fred Niblo from the "All Story Weekly" novel "The Curse of Capistrano" by Johnston McCulley.”
Find the full poster here: https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/movie/id/6/rec/1
The Arroyo Book Club will be reading An Immense World by Ed Yong for our September discussion. To quote from the catalog
description:
The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world. This book welcomes us into a previously unfathomable dimension -- the world as it is truly perceived by other animals…
Stop by the branch for a copy of the book.
We will come together to discuss the book on Saturday, September 26 at 3 p.m. It will be a hybrid meeting so you have the option of attending in person or via Zoom. If you’d like to join us via Zoom send an email to ayosco@lapl.org so we can get the link to you.