Programming Coming up This Week

Find the in person programs at our branch as well as a selection of the exciting, virtual programs offered by branches across the city this week below. Visit our online calendar for our complete program selection….

Monday
2:30 STAR Reader: Emily (In person)
4:00 City Nature Challenge With the Audubon Center (In person)

Tuesday
10:30 Baby Toddler Storytime (In person)
3:30 One World of Many People: Stories for Kids (email cahung@lapl.org for link)

Wednesday
10:30 Baby Toddler Storytime (In person)
3:00 STAR Reader: Miss Katherine (In person)

Thursday
12:00 Top Secrets To Buying a Franchise (Streaming live LAPL YouTube)
1:00 Q.Me Free Legal Clinic  (register)

Saturday
10:00 Smart Gardening Beginner Workshop (In person)

Sunday
2:00 The Big Read: Charles Yu in Conversation With Gene Luen Yang (Streaming live LAPL YouTube)

Catch up with us on various sites...

    LAPL platforms:    
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lapubliclibrary/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lapubliclibrary/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/losangeleslibrary

    Arroyo Seco Social Media:    
Blog: arroyoseco5.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArroyoSecoLibrary
Instagram: www.instagram.com/arroyosecolapl
Twitter: twitter.com/arroyoseco5

History of Highland Park

 

Check out this newspaper ad for Violin Lessons. Included is a full on portrait of the instructor, Miss Viola Alfonte. The ad was found in the 14 April 1922 edition of the Highland Park News-Herald & Journal.

If you’re looking for old editions of local newspapers, including our own Highland Park News-Herald & Journal or Highland Park Post-Dispatch, you should check out the California Digital Newspaper Collection housed at the University of California at Riverside and available online at https://cdnc.ucr.edu/

Arroyo Book Club May Pick (NEA Big Read)

 

This year the Arroyo Book Club will once again be participating in NEA’s Big Read program.  This year the book we will be reading is Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu.  Let’s turn to what the NEA has to say about this book:

Charles Yu’s critically acclaimed second novel Interior Chinatown is “satire at its best, a shattering and darkly comic send-up of racial stereotyping in Hollywood…presented, perfectly, in the sharply hewed format of a screenplay” (Vanity Fair). Winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction, the novel is "a moving exploration of race and assimilation" (San Francisco Chronicle), "both rollicking entertainment and scathing commentary" (Booklist), and "a parable for outcasts feeling invisible in this fast-moving world" (Kirkus Reviews). It tells the story of Willis Wu, who has only ever been cast as the Generic Asian Man. Consigned to bit roles in the background of a procedural cop show, he dreams of playing Kung Fu Guy, the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain—or so he has always been told. The novel “recalls the humorous and heartfelt short stories of George Saunders, the metafictional high jinks of Mark Leyner, and films like The Truman Show” (New York Times). It’s “honest, funny, sad, and necessary…” (Thrillist).

Find more information about the book at its NEA Big Read site.

As always there will be copies of the book on the shelf under the window by the Circulation Desk. Since it is the big read there are limited copies. There are plenty of e-copies of the book available via Overdrive / Libby. Search author/title within either app to find it.

We will meet to discuss the book on May 27 at 3:00.  The meeting will be a hybrid meeting so you may join us in person or via Zoom. Email ayosco@lapl.org if you have any questions or would like the meeting link.

Programming Coming up This Week

Find the in person programs at our branch as well as a selection of the exciting, virtual programs offered by branches across the city this week below. Visit our online calendar for our complete program selection….

Monday
11:00 Virtual Toddler Storytime (Register)
2:30 STAR Reader: Emily (In person)

Tuesday
10:30 Baby Toddler Storytime (In person)
6:00 Sharing True Stories (email wwood@lapl.org)

Wednesday
10:30 Baby Toddler Storytime (In person)
3:00 STAR Reader: Miss Katherine (In person)
6:00 Círculo de Lectores

Thursday
1:00 Q.Me Free Legal Clinic  (register: https://qme.io/)

Friday
10:30 LA Made: Gentle Yoga Series With Elisa (In person)
12:00 Credit Reports and Scores (LAPL YouTube)

Saturday
9:00 Docent-Led Art & Architecture Zoom Tour (email lapldocents1@gmail.com for link)

Catch up with us on various sites...

    LAPL platforms:    
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lapubliclibrary/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lapubliclibrary/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/losangeleslibrary

    Arroyo Seco Social Media:    
Blog: arroyoseco5.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArroyoSecoLibrary
Instagram: www.instagram.com/arroyosecolapl
Twitter: twitter.com/arroyoseco5

History of Highland Park

 

The article “Verdugo Rationing Headquarters will be Discontinued” discusses the distribution of rationed canning sugar. It announces that the Verdugo playground distribution site will be moved to (interestingly) 6145 N. Figueroa St. (that’s the library). The article was found in the 24 September 1942 edition of the Highland Park Post-Dispatch.

If you’re looking for old editions of local newspapers, including our own Highland Park News-Herald & Journal or Highland Park Post-Dispatch, you should check out the California Digital Newspaper Collection housed at the University of California at Riverside and available online at https://cdnc.ucr.edu/

Monthly Trivia Question (Answer)….

 

This month our question was how much would a teacher have earned in a year in colonial era (say 1650’s) New England?  According to “Value of a Dollar, Colonial Era” a schoolteacher in Dorchester, MA earned 30 pounds in the year 1651 whereas one in Dedham, MA earned 20 pounds that same year. According to that same source, a pound in 1650 would be equivalent to $120 in 2002. So, our teachers earned between $1400 and $1600 (in 2002 dollars) for their year of teaching.

“Value of a Dollar, Colonial Era” is a library resource. You can find it on our Research & Homework page and access it with your library card. You’ll find it under V.  Once you click in you’ll be on the publisher’s page. This shows all the products from that publisher the library makes available so you’ll have to scroll down to find the specific book.

Smart Gardening Workshop

When: Saturday, May 6 from 10:00-11:30

Where: The Arroyo Seco Branch Library

Join us for a free workshop and learn the basics of backyard composting, water-wise gardening, worm composting, grasscycling, and edible gardening.  The workshop is designed to help you improve your lawn and garden as well as to learn how to reduce waste.

No reservation is needed.  Everyone is welcome so bring your friends and neighbors.

This workshop is sponsored by CleanLA.com and Los Angeles County Public Works (smartgardening.com).  Workshop attendees will be eligible to purchase a backyard compost bin and/or a worm compost bin at a substantial discount.  

Programming Coming up This Week

Find the in person programs at our branch as well as a selection of the exciting, virtual programs offered by branches across the city this week below. Visit our online calendar for our complete program selection….

Monday
2:30 STAR Reader: Emily (In person)
4:00 Eco Vehicles With Two Bit Circus (In person)

Tuesday
10:30 Baby Toddler Storytime (In person)
2:30 Korean Introduction Class (email language@lapl.org)

Wednesday
10:30 Baby Toddler Storytime (In person)
3:00 STAR Reader: Miss Katherine (In person)

Thursday
1:00 Q.Me Free Legal Clinic  (register)

Friday
10:30 LA Made: Gentle Yoga Series With Elisa (In person)
4:00 Your Author Series: Krystal Marquis (LAPL YouTube)

Saturday
3:00 Arroyo Book Club (In person OR via Zoom / email ayosco@lapl.org)

Catch up with us on various sites...

    LAPL platforms:    
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lapubliclibrary/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lapubliclibrary/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/losangeleslibrary

    Arroyo Seco Social Media:    
Blog: arroyoseco5.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArroyoSecoLibrary
Instagram: www.instagram.com/arroyosecolapl
Twitter: twitter.com/arroyoseco5

Reminder -- Yoga!

 

Remember... We are having 3 sessions of LA Made sponsored Gentle Yoga beginning today!  Sessions are at 10:30 and will take place 4/14, 4/21, and 4/28. Join us for a relaxing stretch.

History of Highland Park

 

As an example of the fun local information that can be found in an old community newspaper I lay before you the “Franklin Hi-Lites” article from the 2 April 1942 edition of the Highland Park Post-Dispatch. This article, written by Donna Hays, is full of small details about life at Franklin High School. Over the course of the article we learn the names of the baseball team and their upcoming game, who has been awarded “ephebian” honors, the promotion and assignment of a new ROTC unit commander, goings on in algebra class, plans for an upcoming dance, and news of the school’s a capella group. 

If you’re looking for old editions of local newspapers, including our own Highland Park News-Herald & Journal or Highland Park Post-Dispatch, you should check out the California Digital Newspaper Collection housed at the University of California at Riverside and available online at https://cdnc.ucr.edu/

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

 

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley is a fascinating, vaguely steampunkish novel set in Victorian England.  Thaniel is a clerk who is narrowly saved from a bomb by a mysterious watch.  Grace is a scientist, in a society that gives women no space to be anything. Keita Mori is a Japanese watchmaker with some extra knacks.  The watch that saves Thaniel leads to him meeting and befriending Mori with Grace eventually falling into their orbit to somewhat disastrous effect.  Perhaps the best character of all, a mechanical octopus, functioning on the rules of chance that manages to acquire a personality all his own.

All in all an excellent book that I would recommend to anyone with a taste for intricately worked alternate histories.

Programming Coming up This Week

Find the in person programs at our branch as well as a selection of the exciting, virtual programs offered by branches across the city this week below. Visit our online calendar for our complete program selection….

Monday
4:00 Picture Book Party: Family Food Traditions  (In person)
6:00 Opera at Masada (email wwood@lapl.org for link)

Tuesday
10:00 The Transformative Power of Community Doulas (LAPL YouTube)
10:30 Baby Toddler Storytime (In person)

Wednesday
10:30 Baby Toddler Storytime (In person)
3:00 STAR Reader  (In person)
6:00 Círculo de Lectores (In person)

Thursday
1:00 Q.Me Free Legal Clinic  (register)

Friday
10:30 LA Made: Gentle Yoga Series With Elisa (In person)

Saturday
9:30-12:30 Free Income Tax Preparation and Filing (In person)

Sunday
2:00 Sunday Movie: Dead Poets Society (In person)

Catch up with us on various sites...

    LAPL platforms:    
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lapubliclibrary/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lapubliclibrary/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/losangeleslibrary

    Arroyo Seco Social Media:    
Blog: arroyoseco5.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArroyoSecoLibrary
Instagram: www.instagram.com/arroyosecolapl
Twitter: twitter.com/arroyoseco5

History of Highland Park

 

Check out this newspaper ad.  It is for the North Figuer-O Café and is promoting their Mexican dishes.  You could get a quite filling meal for 50 cents. This was an ad found in the30 December 1941 edition of the short-lived Highland Park Post-Dispatch.

If you’re looking for old editions of local newspapers, including our own Highland Park News-Herald & Journal or Highland Park Post-Dispatch, you should check out the California Digital Newspaper Collection housed at the University of California at Riverside and available online at https://cdnc.ucr.edu/

Monthly Trivia Question…

This month our question is how much would a teacher have earned in a year in colonial era (say 1650’s) New England? 

LA Made Gentle Yoga Series with Elisa

 

If you’re looking to dip your toe into the pond of practicing yoga or if you are a long-time practitioner of yoga and want a congenial group for a few sessions or if you’re anywhere in between then you’ll want to know about our upcoming LA Made Gentle Yoga Series.  Elisa will be joining us to lead 3 sessions of gentle yoga.  The sessions are scheduled for:

Friday, April 14

Friday, April 21

Friday, April 28

At 10:30

Join us to release habitual tension in your body and mind, linking breath and movement as you unwind through the ancient practice of Yoga. Create more strength, flexibility and balance in your body while soothing your soul. Learn and practice proper Yoga alignments. Be present while letting it all go. 

Wear stretchy clothing and bring a towel or yoga mat

All levels welcome.

Programming Coming up This Week

Find the in person programs at our branch as well as a selection of the exciting, virtual programs offered by branches across the city this week below. Visit our online calendar https://lapl.org/whats-on/calendar for our complete program selection….

Monday
12:00 Monday Meditation With Don Cadora (email eden@.lapl.org for link)

Tuesday
2:30 Korean Introduction Class (email language@lapl.org for link)

Wednesday
10:30 Baby Toddler Storytime (In person)
3:00 STAR Reader  (In person)

Thursday
12:00 How to Get a Business Loan (LAPL YouTube)
1:00 Q.Me Free Legal Clinic  (register: https://qme.io/)

Friday
10:00 Yoga & Meditation With Master John (email dmatthews@lapl.org for link)

Saturday
9:30-12:30 Free Income Tax Preparation and Filing (In Person)
10:30 Music of Ancient Mexico With Martin Espino (In Person in Park next to Library)

Catch up with us on various sites...

    LAPL platforms:    
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lapubliclibrary/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lapubliclibrary/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/losangeleslibrary

    Arroyo Seco Social Media:    
Blog: arroyoseco5.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArroyoSecoLibrary
Instagram: www.instagram.com/arroyosecolapl
Twitter: twitter.com/arroyoseco5