E-CONNECT | SEPTEMBER 2023 UPDATE FROM THE ALTADENA LIBRARIES

Altadena Library Foundation Taste of 'Dena Update

The Altadena Library Foundation has made the difficult decision to cancel our treasured annual event, Taste of ‘Dena for this year. It’s simply a matter of not having the staff support we rely upon to make the event happen.

Although we have cancelled Taste of ‘Dena this year, we are still determined to fulfill our promise to the library, so your support is still needed and deeply appreciated.

We are so grateful for your generous support over the years, and we value your trust in us as a strong organization who provides innovative programming and services for the Altadena Library District.

Respectfully,
Anita Lawler, President
Altadena Library Foundation

The Altadena Libraries will be closed Monday, September 4, in observance of Labor Day.

Thanks to you, Summer Reading 2023 was a huge success!

Thank you to everyone in our community who helped make our summer reading program such a success! Here are just a few of the stats...

The Altadena Libraries now offer free COVID-19 test kits, provided by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

• The COVID test kits are for at-home use.
• One kit per family member, each kit contains two tests.
• These are available while supplies last.
• A library card is not required.

Stop by the Information Desk at our Main Library or the Bob Lucas Memorial Library to pick yours up today!

Celebrate Latino & Hispanic Heritage Month with Altadena Libraries

In honor of Latino & Hispanic Heritage Month, we are hosting a reading challenge on Beanstack for readers ages 0-12.

• Readers must read three titles from the recommended book list, inspired by Mexican American children's author and illustrator Yuyi Morales. (Morales challenges readers to think about the reasons why people and animals migrate.)
• After logging three books from the list in Beanstack, children can come by the Children's Desk at Main or the Bob Lucas Info Desk to pick up a bookmark & enter into a raffle for a Yuyi Morales prize basket.

Sign up through Beanstack or stop by the Info Desk at either of our libraries and we can help you sign up! 

Friends of the Altadena Library Book Sale

Saturday, September 23 • 10am-4pm

Main Library Parking Lot

Altadena Poets Laureate: Poetics of Location with Mike Sonksen

Wednesday, September 20, 2023 • 6:00-8:00pm

Main Library Community Room

Come write a place poem drawing on your life experience, family history, the landscape all around you, and your imagination with this third-generation Angeleno.

Stop by the Altadena Library's Curiosity Connection, which will be making its way to the last Concert in the Park at Farnsworth and other events in September. We hope to see you there!

Open Mic Night at Callisto Tea House

Monday, September 25 • 6-7:30pm

Conversations with Art: "So, Why Is This Art?"

Monday, September 25 •  7-8pm

Main Library Community Room

Arts enrichment facilitator Helane Rheingold is back to lead us through another fun, informative, and engaging Conversations with Art. 

Join us as Helane helps guide us through Conversations with Art, an interactive and engaging program that is far more than an art lecture. She will lead us through selected works of art and share techniques on how to look at, interpret, and analyze them. Artists may include:

Altadena Poets Laureate Ode to the Land: Writing the Heritage Poem 

Workshop with Shonda Buchanan
Saturday, September 30  11:00am-1:00pm
Main Library Community Room

Culture and heritage can be found in the rituals, sayings, religious practices or ceremonies your family kept, or in some cases, ignored. Using the senses and sensory details in this workshop, we will construct/write a heritage poem by unearthing and uncovering those memories hiding and locked in our everyday words, actions, interactions, and our conversation. 

Ode to the Land brings seniors (55+) and high school students together for Saturday poetry workshops.

September/October 2023 Group Art Exhibition: Collage

Artist Reception Saturday

September 16 
1:30-3:30pm

Main Library Community Room

Juxtaposing the works of four artists who use paper and glue for their creations, “Collage” highlights the variety of results that can be obtained through this “simple” technique, based on different material sources, ways to proceed, and especially visions/inspirations. 

Mary Torregrossa creates joyful, luscious, striking tableaux out of magazine clips. Stacy Russo combines watercolor with recycled paper into tender, whimsical narratives. Toti O’Brien incorporates textural and tactile elements to her bizarre dreamscapes. Olesya Volk uses paper and glue in order to build dioramas—miniatures theaters inhabited by fantastic characters and their mysterious stories.

About the Guest Curator:
Toti O’Brien is the Italian Accordionist with the Irish last name. Her paintings, mixed media, ceramics, and textiles have been exhibited in group and solo shows in Europe and the US since 1995. 

Chess Class (Two-Part Series)

Saturday September 9 AND Saturday September 16

10am-12pm

Main Library Community Room

The first hour of each class will focus on beginners while the second hour will focus on more experienced players. No registration required, but scan the QR code to provide information that will help guide the class.

Rachel Curry is a teaching artist, letterpress printer, bookbinder, zinester, and fiber artist from Los Angeles, California. As a queer feminist punk, Rachel’s practice as an artist and an educator is rooted in the belief that art is for everyone, that it is possible to build a better world through creative expression. 

Soft Sculptures with the Fab Lab Artist in Residence Rachel Curry

Saturday, September 9 10:30am-1pm 

Cyanotype Memory Prints with the Fab Lab Artist in Residence Rachel Curry

Saturday, September 23 10:30am-1pm 

English Conversation Club

Every Tuesday (starts September 12)

6:30-7:30pm

Main Library Small Meeting Room

Practice learning, listening and speaking English in a friendly setting. English learners of all skills levels are encouraged to attend!

Tuesday, September 12 • 7-8pm

Bob Lucas Library

Join us for an in-person meditation session led by Amy Rutledge. The class will begin with a guided meditation focused on gratitude, abundance, and love. Enjoy the journey of this one hour sound bath using crystal bowls, gong, Tibetan sound bowls, wave drum, steel drum, and different chimes!

Space is limited, and registration required.

Gratitude Meditation and Sound Bath with Amy Rutledge

Mosaic Workshop with Ellen Dinerman

Thursday, September 14 • 3-5pm

Main Library Community Room

Come enjoy an introduction to mosaics with Ellen Dinerman. You'll gain practical experience with the artform while working through a project from start to finish. 

This program is for adults only. Space is limited, and registration required.

Fab Lab Foundations: Cover Design for Banned Books Using Photoshop

Saturday, September  16 • 11am-1pm •  Main Library Fab Lab

In honor of Banned Books Week (from October 1 – 7, 2023), we invite you to take inspiration from a banned book and design a visually compelling book cover. You will learn various Photoshop techniques to edit images, work in layers, add text, and print a new book cover.

WelbeHealth Grandparent's Day

Friday, September 22 • 10:30am-12pm

Main Library

Call Gheycell at 626-596-2746 to RSVP.

Altadena Costume Swap

Saturday, September 30 • 10am-12pm

Bob Lucas Memorial Library

Code Orange! Kick off the Halloween season with the Altadena Library.

Bring your gently used Halloween costumes (all ages accepted) to donate and take home a new-to-you costume. Please note that you don’t have to donate a costume in order to participate in the swap.

You can drop off costumes at the Bob Lucas Memorial Library starting September 25 or you can bring them to the event. 

We'll also have fall crafts, themed games to play, and some special guests! A perfectly creepy, good time awaits!

September Events for All Ages

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

Radical Tween Art Club
Wednesday, September 27
4:30-5:30pm
Main Library Community Room

Join our Youth and Families Librarian for a monthly Radical Tween Art Club. Together we will learn and explore projects featured in the book "Anti-Racist Art Activities for Kids" by Anti-Racist Art Teachers. 

September Events for Children

Children's Seasonal Craft at Bob Lucas, Wednesday, September 6, 4-5 p.m., Bob Lucas Memorial Library, registration required.

Curiosity Hour (for ages 2-5), Curious little ones will explore different STEAM concepts through stories, songs, and activity stations. Friday, September 15, 10:30-11:30 a.m., Main Library Community Room

Sensory Storytime at Bob Lucas, Saturday, September 16, 10:30-11:15 a.m., Bob Lucas, Registration required

Baby & Toddler Storytime, every Monday, 10:30-11:00 a.m., Main Library Front Lawn

Storytime at Bob Lucas, every Tuesday, 10:30-11:00 a.m., Bob Lucas Memorial Library

Preschool Storytime, every Thursday, 10:30-11:00 a.m., Main Library Front Lawn

Pajama Storytime, first and third Monday of the month, 6:00-6:30 p.m., Main Library Community Room

Teen Gardening Is Back...and It's Grown

Teen Gardening is back for fall, but this season it has grown to offer expanded opportunities for you to participate.

Harvest & Feast, first Saturday of the month, 9:00-11:00 a.m., Main Library Parking Lot

Hydration Club, third Saturday of the month, 9:00-10:00 a.m., Main Library Reading Court

September Events for Teens

Teen Leadership Council, Saturday, September 16, 2-3:30 p.m., Main Library Teen Space

Teen Volunteer Orientation, every Thursday, 5:00-6:00 p.m., Main Library Teen Space

Teens (ages 14-17) are invited to volunteer and can earn service hours. Learn more at https://www.altadenalibrary.org/teens.

Seed Library: Roundtable Discussion with UC Master Gardeners

Saturday, September 2 • 10:00-11:30 am

Main Library Community Room

Bring your gardening questions, quandaries, and experiences to our round table discussion. 

Seed Library goes on an extended hiatus beginning in September 2023.

September Events for Adults

Huntington Health Screenings, Monday, September 11, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Main Library

ChapCare Heath Insurance Enrollment Workshop, Tuesday, September 12, 3 to 7 p.m., Main Library

Adult Craft: Orange Slice Wreath, September 15, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., Plant Material, 3081 Lincoln Ave., Registration required.

Adult Craft Hour: Orange Slice Wreath, Wednesday, September 20, 4 to 5 p.m., Main Library Small Meeting Room, Registration required.

Altadena Moms Consciousness-Raising Group
Monday, September 11  • 6-7:30pm 

The Altadena Moms Consciousness-Raising Group is a monthly meeting where you can be a part of and learn from a group of moms. Let's chat and bond over our shared journey as mothers! Please no little ones.

Book Clubs

Saturday, September 9, 4 to 5 p.m., on Zoom
Books: "Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?" by Crystal Smith Paul and
Guest Author Talk 

Saturday, September 23, 4 to 5 p.m., on Zoom
Book: "American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land" by Monica Hesse

Drawn Together: A Graphic Novel Book Club
Tuesday, September 26 • 6-7pm

Homestate

Meet other comic lovers and discuss the book, "Eight Billion Genies" by Charles Soule.

Do you have a spooky, bone-chilling, or supernatural experience that happened to you in Altadena? Then we want to hear from you.

We are accepting real-life story submissions from the community for the chance to be a part of our “Spooky Altadena” display in October.

Submit your story by Monday, September 11.  

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 this participating Read Local, Shop Local Business: Lucy's Restaurant

This neighborhood Mexican//American restaurant offers quick, authentic meals, dine in or to go.

Lucy's Restaurant

3029 N. Lincoln Ave

Altadena, 91001

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