EConnect July 2023

E-CONNECT | JULY 2023 UPDATE FROM THE ALTADENA LIBRARIES

The Altadena Libraries will be closed on Tuesday, July 4, for Independence Day.

Summer Travel Advisory from Altadena Libraries' Passport Office:

Expect it to take at least 13 weeks for passports to be processed by routine service; expedited service takes about 9 weeks. In addition, it may take up to 2 more weeks for applications to arrive by mail at a passport agency or center and up to 2 additional weeks for you to receive it in the mail.

In short, it could take up to 17 weeks for routine service and 13 weeks for expedited.

There's Still Time to Join Altadena Libraries Summer Reading!

We invite you to “Find Your Voice” through our all ages reading challenge, which runs until July 31.

Sign up in Beanstack (AltadenaLibrary.Beanstack.org) or stop by either library for help signing up. Log your minutes in Beanstack and help us reach our community reading goal of 250,000 minutes. We're about halfway there!

By reading and logging 500 minutes, you will complete the individual challenge and be entered into a virtual drawing for a prize. For more information about summer reading, visit www.altadenalibrary.org/summer.

Concerts in the Park

Saturdays in July, August, and September

7-9pm • Farnsworth Park

Stop by the Altadena Library's Curiosity Connection, which will be making its way to the Concerts in the Park presented by the Rotary Club of Altadena in cooperation with Los Angeles County Parks & Recreation. The concert series starts Saturday, July 8. We hope to see you there!

The Arty Loon Show

Saturday, July 1 • 11am-12pm

Main Library

Get ready to be entertained! Join us for a morning full of magic, storytelling, puppetry, and balloons with family favorite entertainer Arty Loon.

Fab Lab Foundations: Photoshop for Phone Photography

Saturday, July 1, 2-4pm OR Saturday, July 15,
2-4pm • Main Library Fab Lab

Got great photos on your phone? You will learn how to tweak phone settings, check resolutions, and adjust photos with desktop photo software (ie. Adobe Photoshop). Take your photos to the next level and leave the session with a set of photo prints.

Space is limited and registration required.

Open Mic Night Spotlight on Zines!

Monday, July 3, 6 to 7 p.m.,
Main Library Community Room

Calling all zinesters! Read from your zines in this special installment of our Open Mic series, celebrating International Zine Month!

Non-zinesters are also welcome to share!

Intro to Storytelling

Thursday, July 13, 7-8:30pm

Bob Lucas Memorial Library

Join Nikki Levy and Altadena Library staff for a special summer storytelling workshop. Learn how to take your life's stories and tell them in a compelling way. You will work with Nikki through exercises that help you get to the heart of what makes your stories interesting.

The Party Puppet Show

Saturday • July 15

11am-12pm

Main Library

Join us for a unique hand-and-rod puppet theater program that uses puppets, comedy and music to inspire children's imaginations and creativity. Get ready to laugh, sing, and dance!

Zine Machine with Mark and Lili Todd

Saturday, July 15 • 12-2pm

Main Library Community Room

Come work with us to create several handmade books culled and edited from prompts and fun exercises which can include drawing, writing and collage.

By encouraging collaboration and exploration, these unique works of art will serve as a collection of thoughts, processes and truly one-of-a-kind works.

All sorts of fun art making materials will be provided! All ages welcome.

"Liberating Words" Writing Workshop Series with Lorinda Hawkins Smith

Saturday, July 15,
1:30-3:00pm

Main Library Small Meeting Room

In this workshop, led by author Lorinda Hawkins Smith, Elizabeth Freeman will be our inspiration. Elizabeth Freeman was the first woman to ever win her freedom in court in our nation. We will explore writing prompts that will help us examine our own lives to discover those "liberating words" that were able to free us in our own histories.

Space is limited, and registration is required.

Silent Book Club of Death

Monday, July 17, 6-7:30pm

Main Library Community Room

Come read and mingle with new, bookish friends at this special meeting of Silent Book Club of Death! We'll learn about death positivity, then read books of your own choosing in companionable silence. Even if you choose not to read a death-themed book and just want to read quietly in a death positive space, come join us!

Welbe Health: Ice Cream Social

Wednesday, July 19, 10:30am-12pm
Main Library

RSVP by calling Gheycell Flores at 626-596-2746.

Native American Dance and Culture with Ben Hale!

Thursday, July 20
3:30-4:30pm

Bob Lucas Memorial Library

A member of the Navajo tribe from Arizona, Ben Hale will introduce us to a variety of dances and stories from tribes across North America including the Eagle Dance, Horse Dance, Grass Dance and Hoop Dance.

Japanese Taiko Drumming Ensemble

Saturday, July 22, 11am-12pm

Main Library

Come and join us for a morning of Japanese taiko drumming by Makoto Taiko. Makoto Taiko is a Pasadena-based nonprofit arts organization that teaches and performs Japanese taiko drumming as a musical, physical, and mental practice.

Indie Author Night

Monday, July 24 • 5-7pm

Main Library Community Room

End of Summer Reading Party

Friday, July 28 • 6:30-10pm

Main Library Parking Lot

Celebrate the end of Summer Reading with a party, where we will screen the movie, School of Rock (PG-13). Enjoy popcorn, snacks, and a photo booth! Bring your family, friends, and chairs! The movie will start around 7:30 pm.

And before you watch Jack Black shred in School of Rock, enjoy a "shred" day" presented by the Fender Play Foundation. Get your hands on some instruments and have fun making music with guitars and basses provided by Fender!

Introduction to the Music Fanzine
Creative Collaboration in the Name of Fandom
Led by Daryl Gussin

Saturday, July 29
12-2pm
Main Library Community Room

In this workshop we will tackle fandom of life-changing art (specifically music) as a creative avenue to build community through collaborative projects. Every participant will be guided through the process and walk away with their own music fanzine, and copies of all the other attendees.

Mujer Peligrosa: Life and Work of tatiana de la tierra

Monday, July 31
6-8pm

Main Library

tatiana de la tierra (1961-2012) was a Latina lesbian writer & trailblazer. Join us for a panel that brings together tatiana’s literary executors, the women of Sincronía (via Zoom), and local writer friends of tatiana’s to read the author’s work and discuss her literary activism and her amazing sapphic life. Come hear tatiana de tierra poetry, music, and enjoy refreshments.

This event is part of the Latina Writers Conference 2023.

July Events for All Ages

Chess Night, every Monday, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Main Library Reading Court

Summer Spa for Tweens

Bath Bomb! Saturday, July 8, 2 to 3 p.m., Main Library

Sugar Lip Scrub! Saturday, July 22, 2 to 3 p.m., Main Library

Monday, July 10, 3 to 4 p.m., Bob Lucas Memorial Library

Monday, July 24, 3 to 4 p.m., Bob Lucas Memorial Library

STEAM Lab at Bob

Children will conduct an experiment or complete an activity that uses science, technology, engineering, art and math. Each session offers a different opportunity. Registration required.

Stuffed Animal Sleepover/Stuffed Animal Pickup & Breakfast

Friday, July 28, 5-5:45pm, Main Library Children's Area
Saturday, July 29, 10-11am, Main Library Front Lawn

Bring your favorite stuffed animal to a special end-of-summer camping-themed storytime, then tuck them in for a sleepover at the library! The next morning, come pick up your stuffed animal and have a light breakfast at the library. We’ll have photos for you to take home and a slide show of all the fun your stuffed animals got into at the library.

July Events for Children

Sew Fun, Thursday, July 13, 4 to 5:30 p.m., Main Library Community Room, Registration required.

Curiosity Hour, Tuesday, July 11 , 6 to 7 p.m., Main Library Community Room

Bubble Play!, Tuesday, July 18, 4 to 5 p.m., Main Library Front Lawn

Baby & Toddler Storytime and Playdate, every Monday (ends 7/24), 10:30 a.m., Main Library Front Lawn

Family Storytime, every Tuesday, 10:30 a.m., Bob Lucas Memorial Library

Cuenticos Bilingües, every Wednesday, 10:30 a.m., Main Library Front Lawn

Preschool Storytime and Craft, every Thursday, 10:30 a.m., Main Library Front Lawn

Tween Lego Club, every Friday, 3 to 4 p.m., Main Library Community Room

July Events for Teens

Smash Tuesdays, every Tuesday in July, 6 to 7 p.m., Main Library

Teen Anime Movie Night, Monday, July 10, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Main Library Community Room

Art & Chill: Cyanotype Tote Bags and Shirts, Wednesday, July 26, 4 to 5:30 p.m., Main Library (see below)

Teen Leadership Council, Saturday, July 29, 2 to 3:30 p.m., Main Library Teen Space

Teen Gardening Club

Saturday, July 1 & 15,

9 to 10:30 a.m., Main Library

Join us on the first and third Saturday of the month to plant and tend to our vegetable garden, indoor plants, seedling greenhouse, and compost. Participants can receive volunteer service hours if enrolled in the Teen Volunteer Program.

Weekday Teen Gardening Club

Wednesday, July 5 & 19,

4 to 5:30 p.m., Main Library

Join us on the first and third Wednesday of the month to plant and tend to our vegetable garden, indoor plants, seedling greenhouse, and compost. Participants can receive volunteer service hours if enrolled in the Teen Volunteer Program.

July Events for Adults

DIY Succulent Sphere, Wednesday, July 5, 3 to 5 p.m., Main Library, Registration required.

Huntington Health Screenings, Monday, July 10, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Main Library

ChapCare Heath Insurance Enrollment Workshop, Tuesday, July 11, 3 to 7 p.m., Main Library

From the Garden: Native Bees and Their Relationship with Native Plants, Saturday, July 15, 10 to 11:30 a.m., Bob Lucas Library, Registration required.

Adult Craft Hour: Sun Printing, Wednesday, July 19, 4 to 5 p.m., Main Library Small Meeting Room, Registration required.

Adult Craft at Bob Lucas: Sun Printing, Friday, July 21, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., Bob Lucas Memorial Library, Registration required.

Stitch a Yarn/Crochet Club, Thursday, July 27, 10 to 11 a.m., Main Library Reading Court

Murder Mystery at the Main Library
Murder on the Grill
Wednesday, July 26 • 6:30-8:30pm

Check Out Our Book Clubs

Saturday, July 8, 4 to 5 p.m., on Zoom
Books: “Peaces” by Helen Oyeyemi and
“Mother Trucker: Finding Joy on the Loneliest Road in America” by Amy Butcher

Saturday, July 22, 4 to 5 p.m., on Zoom
Book: "The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America’s Wilderness" by Jon Billman

From Page to Table

Friday, July 21, 12 to 1 p.m.,
Main Library Community Room

Make a recipe from a cookbook from our collection or yours and share it with the group!

Drawn Together: A Graphic Novel Book Club

Tuesday, July 25 • 6-7pm • Bob Lucas Memorial Library

Meet other comic lovers and discuss the book, "The Best We Could Do," by Thi Bui.

Looking for something to

do this summer?

Check out a metal detector or something else from our Library of Things and have some fun in the sun!

Join Our Read Local, Shop Local Program!

Read Local, Shop Local has been revamped! This updated library rewards program motivates Altadenans to visit and “check in” with a rewards card at local participating businesses to earn exclusive library district merchandise.

For full details about program benefits for both library users and local businesses, visit us at www.altadenalibrary.org/shoplocal.

Stop by these participating Read Local, Shop Local Businesses: Two Dragons Martial Arts Studio and Carciofi Design

Two Dragons’ belief is that Martial Arts training is the core that will strengthen students' character, judgment, and sensitivity. Students will be self-disciplined, show leadership, exhibit creativity in all areas of instruction, be skilled in problem-solving, demonstrate strong social skills, and be model citizens who display integrity and respect for all.

Two Dragons Martial Arts Studio

2490 N. Lake Avenue

Altadena, 91001