Category Archives: Library
New addition to North Branch library almost complete
While the reopening of the north branch of the Berkeley Public Library is still three to four months away, its new contours are apparent. Construction crews have completed the building and painting of two-story addition to the building, which will house a new multipurpose room, a teen reading area, and a staff room. … Continue reading »
Claremont branch library reopening delayed two months
The reopening of the Claremont branch of the Berkeley Public Library has been pushed back two months because of construction delays.
The Claremont branch will now reopen in late March or April next year, rather than late January or early February, according to Donna Corbeil, the library director.
“It looks like it is four to eight weeks behind our originally anticipated schedule,” said Corbeil.
The delay is a result of some vendors not delivering items on time, Corbeil said. For example, the new windows are taking longer to arrive than expected.
So far, there are no cost overruns for either the Claremont or North branch projects. The North branch remodel is expected to be completed in March or April 2012 as well. … Continue reading »
Crime (mystery that is) flourishes in Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay area, with its picturesque hills and atmospheric fog, has long been a favorite locale for mystery writers.
From the first known Bay Area mystery, The Mysteries and Miseries of San Francisco, published anonymously in 1853, to Dashiell Hammett’s genre-busting 1930 The Maltese Falcon, to Susan Dunlop’s series on Berkeley police officer Jill Smith, the Bay Area has offered fertile ground for stories of murder and mayhem.
There have been at least 1,800 mysteries and detective novels set in the greater nine-county Bay Area region, according to Randal Brandt, the editor of the online bibliography, Golden Gate Mysteries, and co-curator of a new show at UC Berkeley’s Doe Library, “Bullets across the Bay: The San Francisco Bay Area in Crime Fiction.” Writers have not only taken advantage of the weather and signature landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and Campanile in their books, but of historical events like the 1906 earthquake and fire, the region’s various World Fairs, and notorious murder cases, like the Zodiac killer, he said.
To celebrate the San Francisco and the East Bay’s role in numerous mysteries, UC Berkeley will dedicate its Oct. 14 Story Hour series to mystery writers. A panel of authors, including Lucha Corpi, Eddie Muller, and Kelli Stanley, will talk about the region’s influence on the genre. Janet Randolph will moderate the discussion, which will take place from 4 to 6 pm at 190 Doe, right across from the Morrison Reading Room in the Doe Library. There will be a gallery talk with the curators at 3 pm. … Continue reading »
Berkeley settles contentious library lawsuit
The city of Berkeley has reached an agreement with Concerned Library Users over a lawsuit the group filed to stop the demolition and rebuilding of the South and West branches of the Berkeley Public Library.
In a closed session on Tuesday evening, the city council voted to settle the lawsuit by creating a $100,000 fund to provide grants to preserve historic buildings in the city’s south and west neighborhoods, according to Zach Cowan, the City attorney. The city also agreed … Continue reading »
A peek at the renovations at Berkeley’s branch libraries
The Berkeley Public Library has been writing a blog to keep patrons updated on the renovations to the North and Claremont branches of the library. These are photos from that site. The two branches were closed in April 2011. Claremont branch renovations should be done by end of year, according to library director Donna Corbeil, and the North branch will be completed by spring 2012. The library is also posting weekly updates on the construction on its website.
Claremont … Continue reading »
In Berkeley: Thousands of free songs just a click away
It may be one of Berkeley’s best-kept secrets: Residents can access 500,000 classical, blues, rockabilly, rock, world beat, opera and jazz songs through their computers or smart phones.
All anyone needs is a Berkeley Public Library card.
The library subscribes to the Music Online database, which has uploaded thousands of songs from a wide canon.
“It’s one that a lot of people don’t know about,” said Shani Leonards, a supervising librarian at the Central Library. “It’s really nifty and … Continue reading »
“Charity” book bins run by for-profit company
Berkeleyans tend to be generous, civic-minded people, so the bright blue bins in supermarket parking lots marked “Donate Books” could inspire thoughts about clearing clutter from some shelves. Think again. The bins are run by for-profit Thrift Recycling Management, based in Lakewood, Washington. In Berkeley, the bins are now at Andronico’s and Safeway locations. Nationally only about 25% of the books are given to non-profits (locally, Safeway has a different arrangement with no books being sold).
According to a recent investigation by D. K. Row for The Oregonian, Thrift Recycling Management (TRM) has revenues of about $26 million a year and 200 employees. The books collected in the bins are sorted into three groups: about one-quarter are sold through online sites like Amazon, about half are pulped, and the final one-quarter is given to non-profits. Most of these go to Reading Tree, a non-profit registered in Utah. Row’s investigation revealed unusually close links between TRM and Reading Tree. TRM President Jeff Mullin is also president of Reading Tree. (Reading Tree’s 2009 990 form can be seen here. The organization had gross receipts of over $10 million in 2009.)
“They’re not being straightforward,” said Diane Davenport, president of Friends of the Berkeley Public Library. “TRM made $26 million last year from books that they’d gotten out of these blue bins.” … Continue reading »
Library architect apologizes to Berkeley
The architect who worked with Concerned Library Users, the group suing Berkeley to stop the demolition and rebuilding of the south and west branch libraries, has sent an apology for his actions to the City Council and City Manager.
In a letter dated June 17, 2011, Todd Jersey apologizes for “causing more harm than good,” by presenting two designs that he said would “save the original buildings.” Jersey said his work was a misguided effort to resolve the dispute between the city, which wants to tear down the two branches and build entirely new structures, and CLU, which contends bond monies raised to renovate the city’s branch libraries cannot be used for demolition.
“This clearly backfired in many ways that in retrospect I should have known,” Jersey wrote in his letter. “Therefore I am also writing to apologize for the stress and hardship that my participation in the project caused you as City officials. Looking back on this now I can see that I naively thought that my participation could help settle the suit and alter the course of the projects in a good way. Obviously I failed to understand the amount of community investment in the work done by the other firms and furthermore, that in a lawsuit, there really is no opportunity for discourse. Instead of helping, my efforts created hardship for the City and for the Library Staff and The Friends of the Library. For that I am personally sorry. Clearly I have no intention of doing anything like this again.” (emphasis is Jersey’s)
Jersey wrote that he was never a signatory to the efforts of CLU to sue the city. In fact, he said, he does not support suing his own municipality.
The letter will not have any legal bearing on the CLU lawsuit against Berkeley, which will be heard before a judge on September 9th, according to Berkeley City Attorney Zach Cowan.
But Councilman Darryl Moore, who sits on the board of the public library, hopes Jersey’s letter prods CLU to reconsider its actions.
“The lawsuit is causing nothing but difficulty and pain throughout the community,” said Moore. “I hope those who filed it will read it, take it to heart, and consider dropping the lawsuit.” … Continue reading »
Friends of Berkeley library resurrect beloved book sale
The last time the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library held a huge used book sale, hundreds of people lined up early in the morning to get first crack at rare and unusual books.
That was back in 1999.
In the ensuing 12 years, the Friends have sold used books at their two bookstores, one located on the first floor of the main library and the other at 2433 Channing near Telegraph. But the two stores don’t move inventory quite like a big sale, so the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library have decided to resurrect their once-much-beloved book sale.
It will take place Saturday May 14 from 10 to 4 pm in the community room on the third floor of the Main Library.
“In the past year, more book donations than ever have poured in, and it was these surplus donations that convinced the Friends to re-institute an annual sale — not yet as big as the “old” sale and with three big changes: everything will sell for 50 cents, the sale will be held inside the Library, and more than books will be sold — videos, phonograph records, maps, pamphlets, DVDs, CDs, and so on,” the Friends announced in a press release. “There’ll even be a whole section for vampire books!” … Continue reading »
Berkeleyans rally to move forward on library renovations
The rally, which took place at 6:00pm before the regular City Council meeting, was organized by a group calling itself New Libraries Now.
“The West and South branch libraries are incredibly important,” said Rachel Anderson who was holding a placard at the rally. “They are the last remaining community centers in the city.” Referring to the Concerned Library Users lawsuit, she said: “I am deeply worried that such a small number of people can have a large amount of power.” … Continue reading »
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