BOOK FIRST  -  YEAR SIX!!

Yes, it's year six for the Book First Program. This important early literacy program is funded by the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library with most donations coming each May on the annual Big Day of Giving. 

STUDENT BOOK PACKETS  Book First provides two free books (one fiction and one nonfiction) to first graders in Sacramento's high need schools. This year there are 180 schools throughout Sacramento participating in the program with an estimated 14,000 first graders who will receive brand new books to keep.

Materials were ordered in October and Friends of the Library volunteers assembled book packets at the Central Library or at home. Each student packet includes a large blue envelope into which are placed two books, an activity sheet, a letter to parents and a ticket for another free book when they visit the library. Completed book packets will be distributed to the schools over the next couple months.                                                                     

CLASS VISITS  Librarians at North Highlands-Antelope will start scheduling virtual class visits starting in January 2022. Covid restrictions are still in place so, just like last school year, the visits will be via Zoom.

If you haven't had the experience of participating in a class visit there will be lots of opportunities starting in January.  There's nothing quite so special as seeing the faces of the first graders when they open up the blue envelope and pull out the books-priceless!

Class visits last about 15 to 20 minutes and are done on Zoom so you can participate from home. The librarian orients the students to the materials in their packets and talks about the resources available at the library. You then have an opportunity to say a little about the Friends of the Library.

If you are interested in joining a class visit watch for future informational emails (via SignUpGenius) that will enable you to express your interest. Orientation and training will be provided for all Friends volunteers.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, Katherine McMillan, at

nhantelope.friends@gmail.com

 Message from Karen Wilson, System Friends President

Two weeks from today, Giving Tuesday, November 30, will be an opportunity to show our gratitude for the gift of reading, and to the libraries that make that gift accessible to everyone. This year the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library will be dedicating all funds raised on Giving Tuesday to the Young Readers Fund honoring our retiring Library Director, Rivkah Sass. As she has requested, this endowed fund will be used to provide programs and materials that nurture early readers.     

Under Rivkah’s leadership, the Sacramento Public Library has become a national leader in making libraries accessible and engaging, safe and inspiring. In spite of the challenges posed by the pandemic, our libraries are adapting and providing vital public services. We all look forward to the days when kids and adults can fully use our neighborhood libraries again. The Young Readers Fund will be there to help future library staff provide innovative services that help build lifelong reading skills, and just the plain joy of reading.

A big Thank You to Capital Stage, and its Producing Artistic Director Michael Stevenson, for putting the importance of libraries into words, with videos you will be seeing on social media on behalf of the Young Readers Fund. They feature Capital Stage actors James Ellison, Devin Valdez, Elyse Sharp and Juan Chavez performing quotes from authors on what libraries have meant to them.

Click on the link below to take part in Giving Tuesday in any way you can, and thank you. For more information go to Saclibfriends.org

 

WHY I AM A FRIEND OF THE LIBRARY AND A LIBRARY VOLUNTEER

Helen Alexander is a second-generation Friend of the Library and Library Volunteer! Her Aunt Elizabeth in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, volunteered at her local library for 25 years!

Helen has been a Life Member of the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library since the late 1990's. She started volunteering at the Valley Hi-North Laguna Library about eight years ago. At that time, she volunteered several days a week with the library's ongoing indoor Book Sale. She enjoyed sorting, cleaning, pricing, and artfully arranging books on the shelves, up to ten hours each week.

After two moves, Helen landed in Antelope. She continued her Book Sale volunteer work with the Friends in early 2020. She volunteered at one outdoor book sale with other Friends. She had just done two weeks of indoor Book Sale work there...when the pandemic hit!  For a year, Helen had to stop her library work. She read hundreds of library books, instead. 

Once the pandemic eased, Helen re-started volunteering, but now she helps by doing the weekly Pick List on Wednesdays. Helen finds books requested by patrons throughout Sacramento, and registers them, for a librarian to send out. She enjoys this work, and looks forward to it each week! 

Helen says, "I enjoy discovering the new books patrons are reading, and finding exciting books on the shelves. I like to straighten up the shelves, and to keep the Russian and Ukrainian children's books in good order. The library staff has been so supportive, and helpful to me!"

SAVE THE DATE!

Friday, November 5th and Friday, December 3^rd, 2021, 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Members Only Friday night book sales at the Book Den.

Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 7:00 pm Friends of Sacramento Public Library Board meets via zoom.

Sunday, February 6, 2022 at 1:00 pm via ZOOM. Annual meeting, election of board and officers. 
All Friends Meeting via zoom will immediately follow the board meeting.

MESSAGE FROM THE BRANCH FRIENDS PRESIDENT
CHARLYNE NICHOLS NHAntelopefriends@gmail.com

Dear Friends,

Covid still has our Friends’ activities on hold. Please, please, please, keep your membership current. Until we can again hold some books sales, our annual tea, etc., the membership dues are our only source of funding, monies benefiting not only our local branch of the library but also the North Highlands Antelope community – i.e., YOUR community!

This should probably go without saying…when you visit the library, you must wear a mask and observe social distancing. Only very young children are exempt from the mask requirement. BTW, if you forget your mask, you may pick one up in the lobby. They are free.

A reminder…Library hours are 10:00am to 6:00pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

Also worth mentioning…Several more computers are now available for your use—that is, at least a few more, if not the entire bank of them, than only the 2 or 3 we had to access fairly recently.

Volunteers are needed for the Book First program, a program that gives two new books to every first grader in the entire SPL area. If you have a few hours to donate please consider participating in book packet assembly and/or a virtual class visit that will be conducted via Zoom. Emails with signup information will be forthcoming. The Book First program is a very worthwhile and rewarding volunteer opportunity.

To find out more about the program and volunteer opportunities visit the Friends website at https://saclibfriends.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Year-6-Book-Pack-Assembling-eBlast-2.pdfhow

Storytime resumes! Yay!! The program will be taking place outdoors. What fun! Storytime is a program for our little tykes (infants to 6 years old) that includes songs, rhymes, and stories designed to build early literacy skills of young children.

Weather permitting, these fun-time events will start October 27th and will be held at Brock Park, 3730 Antelope Road, every Thursday at 10:30am. https://www.mapquest.com/us/california/brock-park-378564690

This program is for parents and caregivers with young children, older siblings all are welcome to attend.

Fall and winter mornings can be chilly, so take care to dress for the weather. Also note that the program may be cancelled due to inclement weather or poor air quality. Bring blankets or cushions to sit on. Spaces will be marked off allowing for social distancing.

MESSAGE FROM THE SYSTEM FRIENDS BRANCH LIAISON

KAREN LINDH  Karen.lindh@icloud.net

Rivkah Sass. As I am sure you know, Library Director Rivkah Sass will be retiring at the end of the year, after twelve years at the helm of the Sacramento Public Library. The search for a new Library Director has entered its final stages, with an announcement to come soon from the Library Joint Power Authority. The Friends have been a part of the selection process.

Young Readers Fund.  The Friends Board, along with our legacy giving arm, Friends Investing in Sacramento Public Library, has created a new fund to honor Rivkah Sass. We hope to raise public awareness of the Library as a vital community asset with the Young Readers Fund, providing funds into the future to nurture young readers. These are new initiatives for the Friends, and they build on the success we have had with the much-loved Book First program. We will be taking part in Giving Tuesday on November 30 on behalf of the Young Readers Fund. We also encourage our Branch Friends groups to consider a donation to support this exciting new endowment program.

Book First. This amazing program is entering its 6th year! For the next book distribution to first graders, we will continue to provide two books to each student, one fiction and one nonfiction. Book First will serve an additional eight schools this year, for a total of 180 schools and an estimated 14,000 first grade students receiving Book First books! Thanks to the generosity of the entire Sacramento Community and all our Friends, in May we raised over $100,000 for this program, which is more than a four-fold increase since the initial Book First campaigns. Volunteers will again be needed this year to assemble book packets, either at home or in-person work parties at the Central Galleria. To find out how you can help, or to volunteer, sign up through our SignUpGenius form: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EA8AC2FA6F8C25-book1.
Further instructions will be provided to all our volunteers.

The Book Den is now officially open. Official hours are 9-1pm on Wednesdays, Fridays, and non-warehouse sale Saturdays. You can shop the store and the warehouse with no appointment. Warehouse sales will continue by appointment only twice a month. In November, the Book Den will re-institute the monthly Members Only Friday night sales. This is a great perk to all our Friends members, so be sure to stop by during one of these Members Only sales. The first two will be November 5th and December 3rd from 5pm to 8pm.

Annual Meeting Friends meeting is set for Sunday, February 6, 2022 at 1:00 pm via Zoom. This is the meeting where you can vote for the officers and Board members taking office in 2022, so mark your calendars now. Upon the conclusion of the Annual Meeting, we will hold our regular All Friends, and I hope North Highlands-Antelope branch Friends will participate.

Among Friends. If you haven’t had a chance to review the FSPL Winter edition of Among Friends, you can check it out here: https://saclibfriends.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2021-Winter-Newsletter.pdf?blm_aid=23826.

INTRODUCING CHLOE HORSMA, NORTH HIGHLANDS-ANTELOPE LIBRARY'S NEWEST LIBRARIAN 

Chloe joined the team at the North Highlands-Antelope Library in April 2021. In addition to several years with the Sacramento Public Library, Chloe has an arts and creative writing background, is an avid knitter and craftsperson, and is the proud human companion of a one-year-old pug named Fig! So far at the North Highlands-Antelope Library, Chloe has worked on inviting teen volunteers back to the library, co-led the library’s Summer Meals program, and conducted virtual outreach to hundreds of 3^rd – 8^th graders in the Sacramento Public Library’s first Reading Ambassadors program. She is also a member of the Library Freedom Project, which trains librarians as privacy advocates in their communities. Chloe often reads several books at once, across genres, formats, and age ranges. She is currently reading a paper copy of I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness by Claire Vaye Watkins and the e-audiobook for YA title The Witch King by HE Edgmon. Among her most recent favorite picture books are Crocodiles Need Kisses, Too by Rebecca Colby and Alphonse, there's mud on the ceiling! by Daisy Hirst. Come see her at the library, or at an Outdoor Family Storytime near you!

Come see Chloe at the library, or at an Outdoor Family Storytime near you! Or join Chloe or another librarian to Zoom into a classroom full of excited young readers by signing up for a virtual Book First visit in the spring.

HALLOWEEN by Charlyne Nichols

Halloween has a long and interesting history dating back to ancient Celtic days, and has not always been associated with scary things or bags of candy! In fact, even in the early days in Europe and England, it had religious significance with special observations. If you are interested in exploring the history, mythologies, and superstitious about Halloween, check out the history of Halloween at History.com  https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween

Read a scary story! So many great resources available at the library.