latest posts
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Revolution dream
Back in the day I published underground magazines. I dreamed about a revolution — not the violent kind, but a revolution of the collective mind. Later in life I learned that revolution is an eternal dream, like life itself, and reality always comes crashing back down. Until one day, it doesn’t.
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All cooped up
These three beauties showing how shelter-in-place is done. But their social distancing still needs some work.
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Little free library
For years I resisted the idea of installing a little free library. This was mostly due to my curmudgeonly nature. I don’t want a bunch of people hanging around the front step, I’d grumble. I spend all day taking care of libraries. I don’t need another one to take care of, bah! But eventually, my better angels prevailed.
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Glass house #3
Panel with geodes, translucent stones, copper, lead and stained glass. The effect is like an organically formed window in an ancient cavern wall, timeless and serene. Sunlight filters through and refracts in a panoply of color and form.
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Roadside encounter
We were driving down a desert highway in the Mojave when we saw this tortoise in the middle of the road. He was in grave danger of being struck by a speeding car. We quickly pulled over, ran back to him, gently picked him up and placed him safely on the side of the road where he was headed. Several cars zoomed by us as we took a quick photo. I pretended to give our new friend a parting kiss before we went our separate ways again
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Into the groove
Back to the future. We found this groovy magazine article about Menlo Park’s “new” library in 1968. Complete with vinyl record listening stations, space-age microfilm reader, and card catalog—where one can “research any subject from aardvark to zythum.” Then, as now, Menlo Park Library is the place where past, present and future intersect.
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Escher: Metamorphosis
An interview with artist of M.C. Escher with a video of his astonishing mural “Metamorphosis” from the 1971 documentary “Adventures in Perception.”
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Little free library incentive program
We’re rolling out our Little Free Library Incentive Program. The program encourages Menlo Park residents to install and maintain Little Free Libraries on their properties by providing 100% of the up-front installation costs at no charge to the property owner. In exchange, participating property owners will sign a written pledge to keep the library on their property, curate its collection of books, and keep the installation in good condition. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Menlo Park Library Foundation and Friends of Menlo Park Library, we will be able to install up to 20 Little Free Libraries this spring.
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Glass house #2
Geodes, translucent stones, stained glass. Reinhart, Sean S. Glass house #2. 2019, stained glass window. Private collection.
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Libraries without borders
Here’s an interesting vignette from my day at the library. Recently, a library user in Argentina sent a message to our Facebook page asking us for help with a book she had checked out from us. She had been in the US on a student visa, presumably to pursue her studies at the university. Over the holiday break, she flew back home to Argentina to be with her family. Before she left, she borrowed a library book to read while she traveled. She planned to return to the US before the book came due. But after arriving in Argentina, she…
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Menlo Park Library, circa 1962
Menlo Park Library, as it appeared circa 1962. This view shows the original entry and façade on the building’s north-facing elevation. This is now a secondary entry to an outdoor patio enclosed by a fence. The original chimney and fireplace are still in place, though not in use, where the magazine area is today. If you look closely at the photo, you can see the reflections of cars in the glass entry doors. It’s hard to tell for certain, but the cars appear to be diagonally parked at a curb close by. This suggests that there was street parking or…
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Artifact: Library fine calculator
Tools of the trade. Cleaning out the old library’s closets in preparation for the big move this summer, we found this nifty vintage “library fine calculator” …
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“Now we can dance: The story of Hayward’s Gay Prom”
Now We Can Dance: The Story of the Hayward Gay Prom is a short documentary film produced by Hayward Public Library in 2013. The film celebrates Hayward’s long-standing Gay Prom event. It chronicles the controversy surrounding the 1995 creation of the gay prom and the significance of having a traditional high school dance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender teenagers. The film was a featured documentary at the international Frameline Film Festival in 2014. Hayward’s Gay Prom was the brainchild of the Lambda Youth Project, an LGBT (Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender) support group. Each year, hundreds of youth from the San Francisco Bay Area…
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Alma mater
This is where I went to college. When I was growing up, both my parents worked hard to keep a roof over our heads and save for our family’s future. I got my first job when I turned 16, at Lucky grocery, and have worked ever since. After high school, I started college at Cal State Hayward. I was paying all my own tuition and fees, because I fortunately had a steady job with flexible hours and decent pay. Then the tuition went up dramatically. I switched to Chabot College for two years for my general education courses because it was…
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Living history
I love finding perfectly preserved leaves and news clippings pressed between the pages of 125-year-old books.
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Branching out
The local newspaper reporter called me up earlier this week, wanting to do a story on our seed lending library. Already, I’m thrilled. So we talk for a while about the project, about libraries, about card catalogs and antique dealers, and in particular about the enduring power of books. All in all, a very nice conversation with a very kind, very generous journalist. Then the story comes out in this morning’s paper. I’m excited to see it there on the front of the local section, but apprehensive because you never know what angle a newspaper will take with a story until…
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Old is new again
People sometimes ask me, “Whatever happened to the card catalog”? Hayward Public Library was one the first libraries to computerize its catalog way back in the 1980′s. Since that time, our card catalogs have been officially out of service. But we have kept them in storage for all these years, just waiting for the right reason to use them again. Meanwhile, library card catalogs have been showing up on the antiques market lately, some at eye-popping prices. According to antique dealers, card catalogs are now considered retro-chic, very desirable, and they are getting harder and harder to find. Just in my…
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Librarians do it quietly
Lately we’ve been seeing more and more common sense, passionate appeals in favor of libraries and their continued importance in society. This new, distinctly 21st century sensibility to libraries has the feeling of rediscovering an old friend, and riffs on a central theme: The public library is a vital local resource; it is well-known and heavily used more than ever before, even in this digital age; and it has a rich and vibrant history rooted in the foundations of human civilization itself. What is perhaps most remarkable, is that this new trend of pro-library sentiment is showing up all over,…
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Documenting the history of Hayward’s Gay Prom
Library Journal published a feature story on Hayward Public Library’s teen filmmaking project, Now We Can Dance: The Story of the Hayward Gay Prom. The film is a remarkable achievement–a moving and inspiring look into the history, meaning, importance, and impact of the Hayward Gay Prom, one of the longest-running LGBTQ youth events of its kind in the country. It features several past and present attendees and organizers of the prom, as well as local leaders who played key roles in forming and supporting the event. Eighteen months in the making, the film was produced by local Hayward youth under the guidance of…
