August 5, 2004

Vineland Branch Library News

By Ed Koetitz
Special to the Times

The Hobbit
The Vineland Branch Library will host the Traveling Lantern Theatre Company on Saturday, Aug. 7 at 3:30 p.m. This popular theatrical group will present an entertaining production of “The Hobbit” that is guaranteed to appeal to young and old alike. The Traveling Lantern has been educating and entertaining children nationwide for the past 18 years. Their mission is to bring great stories to children, to draw them into an active theater experience, to excite their minds and to tickle their imaginations. The Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation staff gave their endorsement stating: “Thank you for entertaining our camps. The children were entranced by your outstanding performance. From ages 5 to 35, our kids and staff were engaged and delighted!” This theatrical presentation is part of San Jose Public Library’s Summer Reading Celebration.

Chinese Author Program
“My Life as a Journalist and Creative Writer” will be held Saturday, Aug. 21 at 10:30 a.m. in Vineland’s community room. Debby Chen (Deng Hai-zhu) a longtime Almaden Valley resident, will speak (in Mandarin Chinese) about her journey from journalist to novelist. After writing several books related to her work as a journalist for the Chinese newspaper World Journal, she branched out into freelance creative writing. She soon realized that her career as a journalist had its positive and negative effects on her new literary goals. She will explain how the transition was not as easy as expected.

Events
- Magic, Mu-sic and Stories with “Mr. K” on Tuesday, Aug. 10 at 2:30 p.m.–Enjoy the musical and magical talents of “Mr. K.” and his trusty sidekick, Shaggy the Sheepdog.

- Teens Reach Meeting on Friday, Aug. 13 at 4 p.m.—Teens (ages 13-18) are invited to participate in our monthly meeting in the library’s community room. Community service credits are given to participating students.

- Science Fiction fans—We have a book club for you! We will discuss Walter Miller’s “Canticle for Leibowitz” at our next meeting, Saturday, Aug. 14 at 2 p.m. Visitors are always welcome.

- The Evening Book Discussion group meets on Tuesday, August 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the library’s community room—They will be discussing Rohinton Mistry’s “Family Matters.”

- The book discussion group for seniors (50+) meets on Thursday, August 26, at 10:15 a.m. in the library’s community room—The book under discussion is Kris Radish’s “Elegant Gathering of White Snows.”

- Please note: there are no Story Times offered during August. Regular schedule resumes in September.

Vineland Branch Library is located at 1450 Blossom Hill Road. It is open Monday through Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For questions, please call 808-3000 during business hours. E-mail may be sent at any time: vl.sjpl@sjlibrary.org. Ed Koetitz is a young adult librarian at the Vineland Branch Library.