The Betty Rodriguez Regional Library--It's Open!

The Betty Rodriguez Regional Library opened Saturday, January 9, and team members from WoW! lent a hand. Amid speeches, music, refreshments, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony, dignitaries and the public stepped through the doors of the new library building for the first time.

Wow! staffers Joanna Chase, Jonathan Waltmire, Kenny Abramowitz, and Terrance Mc Arthur conducted tours, assisted with computers, gave directions, helped performers, located materials, signed customers up for new library cards,  and introduced people who should get to know each other.

Kenny and Terrance, together again.

 

To showcase the capabilities of the new Innovation Lab, experts made objects with the 3-D printer from "Star Wars" characters to a wrist brace. The lab will be a place for robotics activities, sewing, and building product prototypes.
In the fifty-person-capacity meeting room, local vintage string jazz band Scats on the Sly had the crowd dancing to its infectious rhythms of the 20's and 30's.

In the library's main area, a colorful, neon-like portrait of the group looked down on the crowds of library-goers.


After the band, the E&M Reptile Family thrilled and chilled children and the young-at-heart with bugs, amphibians, lizards, and snakes.

The Betty Rodriguez Regional Library, at 3040 N. Cedar Avenue (southeast of the Cedar/Shields intersection), housed in a former Fresh 'n Easy building, boasts more than twice the space of the old Cedar-Clinton branch. The area near McLane High School now has a state-of-the-art library that will serve the community for years to come.


Hmong New Year Celebration and WoW! Is There

Between Christmas and New Year’s Day, thousands gather at the Big Fresno Fairgrounds for the Hmong International New Year Celebration.

A festival of music, dancing, food, history, a beauty pageant, and meeting old friends and making new ones, it’s a great place to promote library services.

 

The Fresno County Public Library is represented with a booth near the outdoor stage, and the WoW! (WithOut Walls) Library is part of it, making library cards.

 
The Hmong people of Laos were recruited by Americans during the Vietnam War. After the war, they were persecuted by the ruling regime. Many escaped and became refugees. Today, the San Joaquin Valley is home to the second-largest concentration of Hmong outside of Southeast Asia, and the Hmong New Year celebration in Fresno is the largest in the world.

 

Festivities began the day after Christmas, with Terrance Mc Arthur of WoW!, Gaoneng Lee, and Vincent Petrelli representing the FCPL. Terrance brought the laptop, hotspot, and barcode reader needed for card-making. Vincent had lightning-fast fingers for entering application data. Gaoneng had the Hmong language skills to explain library services to the more than 140 people who stopped at the booth to talk on that day. WoW! librarians and other library personnel will be at the fairgrounds to provide services during the celebration. 

One of the features of the 2016 celebration is a series of exhibits on the Hmong culture, its part in the CIA-sponsored war, the migration to the USA, and how the people have survived and thrived in a new land over the past 40 years.

 If you go to the 2016 Hmong New Year Celebration, look for the FCPL booth at the north end of the fairgrounds, west of the main stage. We hope to see you there!
 
 
 

EMQ Families First Holiday Event

EMQ Families First held its holiday crafts event at the Boys and Girls Club of Fresno.  WoW! attended and introduced information about library services for children and teens.  Making new library cards (for many their first one!) is the first step to lifetime learning.

Terrance and Kenny getting ready!

Shannon explaining library services 

Even Librarians can Zoomba!

   

Kenny making library cards

Teens especially are excited about the upcoming grand opening (January 9, 2016 @ 1pm) of the Betty Rodriguez branch (located at southeast corner of Cedar and Shields) which will feature a "maker space."  "Maker spaces can be any area where people gather to make and create. These spaces often include 3-D printers.  In maker spaces, people share supplies, skills, and ideas, and often work together on projects."  http://library-maker-culture.weebly.com/what-are-they.html

"You have more than just books?!" questioned one child.  Many are surprised how many of our resources are available from your mobile device.

Our newest online service to get a "WoW!" is  Freegal, which lets you download 3 songs a week (to keep) and 3 hours of streaming- all for free with your library card.

WoW! in Washington, D.C.

The view from our meeting room…

Our meeting room – The Indian Treaty Room 

WoW! Librarian Michelle Gordon is Fresno County Public Library’s representative to the Central Valley Network for Integrating New Americans (CV-NINA).  NINA is a technical assistance grant funded by the Department of Education, spearheaded by the White House Task Force on New Americans.  There are five networks nationwide that received this technical assistance grant.  CV-NINA has been involved in numerous community events over the last couple of years.  This past June, CV-NINA organized and held a small Naturalization Oath ceremony at Fresno State.

Arriving outside the EEOB:

On October 29^th and 30^th, the five networks gathered in Washington, DC.  Included in this gathering was a White House Briefing for over 30 federal employees representing multiple agencies including: the Department of Education, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Labor, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Department of Health & Human Services, White House Domestic Policy Council and White House National Economic Council.

Liset Caudillo from Proteus, Michelle Gordon from FCPL, Ana Melendez from The Maddy Institute, Lisa Agao from FAS

Lisa Agao of the Fresno Adult School

Before her flight back to Fresno, Michelle managed to spend a little time at the Library of Congress.  She got her Reader’s Card for the LoC and used it to enter into the main reading room at the library.

The Library of Congress

On Display at the LoC was this letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Adams where he makes the statement “I cannot live without books…”

WoW! Outreach at Poverello House

The WoW! team is always looking for ways to promote library services that help the citizens of Fresno.  The Poverello House welcomed us to their outreach, where we shared information on how the library can serve them.  Most asked about computer classes, and how they could learn new skills, especially needed for the workplace.  Some branch locations provide free computer classes, including one on one instruction.  Click here to view current schedule of classes offered in branches.  The library provides free computer & internet use; where you can use essential tools such as email, prepare a resume, and search for a job online.  If you need help with your job search, check out Fresno Library’s Job and Careers Services online, that guides you through the steps.  

Kenny promoting the library's resources!

Girl Scouts Halloween Event

The Girl Scouts of Central California South's invited the WoW! Team to their annual "Trunk or Treat" event celebrating the birthday of founder Juliette Gordon Lowe.  The scouts dressed in their best Halloween costumes, many as their favorite storybook characters, playing games at the activity booths.

The library represented by Mark, Misha, and Joanna.

Bookmarks to color were given out by WoW!

We made library cards on the spot for scouts and their families at our WoW! booth, while promoting the library's K-12 databases.  Popular with students is our homework center, covering subjects from arts to science, with invaluable research tools including encyclopedias, dictionaries, calculators, atlases, newspapers and journal articles. Remember that the library's databases are fact checked by experts, easily cited for reports, and encouraged by teachers to use over basic websites- which may have inaccurate information. (You can access most of our resources from home with your library card!)

The Halloween costume contest!

Give some of our K-12 sites a try, expanding your children's knowledge- and watch for those A+ grades!

The WoW! team makes 60 library cards at Rowell Elementary!

A big thanks to Rowell Elementary school for welcoming the WoW! team to their Parent Teacher Conference, where we made 60 library cards for students and their families on the spot.  Everyone was eager to plan a visit to their local library and use their shiny new cards.  We showcased the library’s many resources for children, including grade level reading suggestions.  We also introduced our newest e-service Beanstack, where parents can discover great children's books with fun learning tips and activities.  The earlier children are introduced to the library the more prepared they will be for their future learning.