New Citizens! ! !

Enrique Camargo and his wife Gloria Montes de Camargo have gained their citizenship. They are shown here with their Citizenship teacher Amparo Ramos.

Moneyball Premieres at San Lorenzo Library

The San Lorenzo Library will be showing the film, Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt, on January 14 at 2 p.m. This film is rated PG-13. Popcorn will be served. This event is free.

Chess Club at San Lorenzo Library

Visit the Library for chess instruction in a stress-free environment. Members of the East Hills 4H will teach kids grades 2nd and up the basic fundamentals of chess. Then, enjoy a friendly game.

The next meeting of the Chess Club will be Wednesday, February 1 from 2pm to 4pm. Therever, the Club will meet on the first Wednesday of the month. Parents are welcome too. Bring a chess set if you have one.

Contact Lael Takiguchi at the San Lorenzo Library for more information, 510-670-6283 ext. 14.

Food for Fines–Hurry to the Library this Week!

You have a special chance to erase some of your Library fines by donating cans of food for the homeless. This week only! Bring up to ten cans of food and have a dollar of your Library fines erased for each can. Cans must not be expired. This is your chance to do good for the world and get rid of those pesky Library fines. Come to the Accounts Desk at the San Lorenzo Library.

Meet George Derieg: Hometown Hero & Lawyer in the Library

George Derieg, San Lorenzo Lawyer in the Library

Attorney George Derieg will be present  in the San Lorenzo Library every second Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm. You do need to sign up in advance but even if you don’t, George will often squeeze you in. George is a whiz at giving good, solid, advice on legal matters relating to criminal law, family law and estate planning. If George can not help with your legal problem, he is direct about saying so. George can often direct you where to get help if he can not be of assistance.

George and his wife, Dr. Bonnie Merritt, were high school sweethearts who met at Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo. Dr. Merritt is a clinical psychologist who currently practices at La Clinica de la Raza in Oakland. George recently worked for the Public Defender’s Office in Alameda County but he resigned to take on the job of full-time stay-at-home father. George and Bonnie have two children, Lydia, 20 months, and George Benaiah, 4 months. George feels that he has landed the most rewarding job on the planet.

George is also the minister at the “Three Crosses” church in Castro Valley. He has many qualities that make him approachable and easy to tell your troubles to. If you would like further information about the San Lorenzo Library’s Lawyer in the Library, call the Library’s Information Desk at 510-670-62834 ext. 14 and speak with a librarian. This program is a partnership between the Alameda County Library and the Alameda County Bar Association.

A Little Like Netflix, Only Free!

This month’s DVD Express will come thundering down the track on Thursday, December 15 from 1:30-3pm at the San Lorenzo Library. DVD Express at the San Lorenzo Library offers a special block of time for Library customers to reserve the new DVDs that aren’t on the shelf because they have holds on them.

Branch Manager, Anthony Dos Santos, will be present to make sure that you can place holds on all the brand new movies you would like to see. When your name comes up in the “hold queue,” the San Lorenzo Library will call or email to let you know that you can come down and pick up the movie.

Once notified that the movie is at the Library for you, you have about ten days to pick it up. You can check the movie out for a period of seven days. If there are no remaining holds on the movie, you can renew the film for another seven days. You are able to maintain a list of ten movies on hold at all times. In other words, when you check a movie out, you have the opportunity to place a hold on a new one.

If you are not familiar with how to check your personal account on the Alameda County Library website, www.aclibrary.org, let your librarians know. You can sign up for a computer class at the San Lorenzo Library during which a librarian will work with you one-on-one to help you become confident using this wonderful tool.

Last but not least, drop by the Library on December 24 to enjoy holiday cookies with your favorite librarians. They would love to see you.

 

Holiday Photo Booth at the Library

We, San Lorenzonians, love to have our fun. In the spirit of family and holiday cheer, the San Lorenzo Library hosted a holiday family photo booth with free photo print outs for participants!

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This program was a part our December “Family Portraits” display in the Teen area. “Family Portraits” comes just in time for the holidays and hopes to start conversations about family. For the rest of the month, we’re hosting a community art Post-Secret project for teens to anonymously submit their thoughts on family. Come check it out!

Family Portraits Flyer!

Three New Citizens Tonight

New citizens Jagdeep Singh Rai, Julia Bonilla Garcia  and Aldo Chavarria with their teacher Amparo Ramos.

We Are Mobile

Take your library on the go. It is easy and convenient.

Use your mobile device to find library directions and events, find and request books or connect to us on Facebook and Twitter. Download our app, which works on all major platforms.

To download this FREE app, go to http://acl.boopsie.com using your mobile device’s internet browser.

iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android users can also download directly in the Apple App Store, Android Market or Blackberry App World. Search for Alameda County Library.

For more information go to http://guides.aclibrary.org/mobile

Fascinating Work of Non-Fiction

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

 

Most advances in health and medicine since the 1950s have come about because of the HeLa line of human cells. HeLa cells have been readily available for purchase by researchers and scientists since they were discovered and cultivated by George Gey in 1951.

Author Rebecca Skloot remembers hearing her high school school science teacher attribute the HeLa line of cells to an unknown woman named Helen Lane. The name made sense since cells’ names were composed of the first two letters of the donor’s first and last name. Unfortunately, the name was a hoax and the hoax was intentional. Some years later, Skloot would pursue the real woman behind the HeLa line of cells, Henrietta Lacks.

Henrietta Lacks was a young African-American wife and mother living in Baltimore near Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951. When Henrietta developed cervical cancer, she went to Johns Hopkins for care. The hospital at that time was completely segregated but did provide low-income patients with basic medical care. They were not able to cure Henrietta who died a horrific death within the hospital walls only months after her diagnosis.

During the initial stages of her treatment, hospital personnel working for a researcher named George Gey did a biopsy of Henrietta’s cervix without her knowledge or consent. Up until that time, all cells he cultured had died but Henrietta’s cells would prove to be immortal. Thus began the story of HeLa.

Skloot’s work contrasts the story of the HeLa line of cells and their incredible history with the saga of the Lacks family. Henrietta’s family would not understand the part she played in history until Skloot approached them about her book. One of Henrietta’s adult children points out the irony in the fact that HeLa cells have reaped companies and individuals billions of dollars while most of Henrietta’s family can not afford health care.

As good as any medical thriller and it’s all true. A comment on the history of race relations in our country. Reserve this title on-line through the Library’s website or visit us at the Information Desk. Ask us for other exciting books for reading or holiday gift-giving.