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Friday, December 17, 2010

Attention SAPL Spurs Fans!

Are you a Library fan AND a Spurs fan? Here's your chance to support both! Friday, January 14, 2011, is San Antonio Public Library Night with the Spurs, and we're playing the Dallas Mavericks!

A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales for that night will benefit the Library. To pick your seats and order your tickets online, go here. Then:
• Enter special promotion code: Library
• Create a new account (or log in to your existing one)
• Pick your seats and location
• Enter your billing information and print tickets at home

Tickets are available at a variety of prices, so reserve yours now!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Giving e-book readers as holiday gifts?

We keep hearing that e-book readers will be among the most popular gifts this holiday season - as we mentioned earlier, don't forget to tuck a Library card application in before you wrap your presents! Your gift recipients will appreciate the ability to download free e-books, audiobooks, movies and music online.

If you're wondering about what kind of reader to buy, probably one that can download from multiple sources would be best. To find out what kinds of e-book readers support free library downloads, go here - there's a wide range of compatible readers. The library also has more general information about digital resources and how to access them here.

And watch for more information about special sessions we'll be offering after the holidays to help you get started using your brand-new digital reader!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Holiday shopping? Think about a Library card!

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, consumer electronic sales will reach the highest level ever this year. Here’s what this means: 7 out of 10 wish list items support e-Book reading.

Okay, so it looks like just about everyone on your gift list will want an e-Book reader this year. That makes shopping easy, but once the gifts have been unwrapped, where will all the recipients find books to read?

Here's a helpful San Antonio Public Library holiday hint: include an application for a Library card with every e-Book reader or mp3 player you give! We have more than 2,000 e-book titles and more than 4,000 audiobook titles available for free download 24/7 on our website. A San Antonio Public Library card is free, and any resident of Bexar County is eligible to receive one. You can pick up a library card application at any San Antonio Public Library location, and your gift recipients will appreciate your thoughtfulness!

Monday, October 25, 2010

It's ¡Tamalada! time @ the Library!

UPDATE: All tickets have been distributed and are no longer available.

Tickets for the San Antonio Public Library’s popular annual holiday celebration ¡Tamalada! will be available at the Central Library, 600 Soledad, beginning Monday, November 1, when the library opens at 9:00 a.m.

¡Tamalada! gives San Antonians a chance to enjoy the long-standing tradition of getting together at the home of a friend or relative to make tamales for the upcoming holiday season. The Library’s version offers two classes on how to make tamales, with a choice of times, 10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m., or 12:00 noon-1:30 p.m., followed at 2:30 p.m. by a preview presentation of the hilarious bilingual play Las Nuevas Tamaleras, a San Antonio holiday tradition in its own right.

This year’s ¡Tamalada! is scheduled for Saturday, November 20. All activities are free and open to the public, but seating is limited, and tickets are required for admission. Each customer may pick up two tickets for a tamal class and two tickets for the Las Nuevas Tamaleras performance, while supplies last.

The cooking classes are presented by Sandra Vásquez, the inventor of the Más Tamales masa spreader. Sandra offers glimpses into the long tamalada tradition while giving tips on short cuts and time-savers to help busy families make their own tamales.

A comedy which can be enjoyed by English-speakers and Spanish-speakers alike, Las Nuevas Tamaleras follows the adventures of three modern Hispanic women as they try their hands at making tamales for the first time. During their “ordeal” they are guided by the spirits of traditional Hispanic women who have been allowed to return as invisible angels to oversee the project.

Las Nuevas Tamaleras was written and is directed by San Antonio author and playwright Alicia Mena, and first opened in Houston at El Teatro Bilingüe’s First Annual Latino Playwright’s Festival. Its first San Antonio performance was in 1993 at the Guadalupe Cultural Center, and it has since become an annual tradition.

¡Tamalada! is presented by Bolner’s Fiesta Products, Burras Finas Productions, Mex-Sales Company, the San Antonio Public Library Foundation, the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department, and the San Antonio Public Library.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Welcome home, Fiesta Tower!

In October 2009, Dale Chihuly’s colorful glass sculpture, Fiesta Tower, was disassembled from its display location in the Central Library and placed in secure storage during roof work and replacement of the Central Library’s skylights located directly over the tower.

Now the Fiesta Tower has been reinstalled and the Central Library’s second-floor atrium will shortly reopen.

To celebrate the Fiesta Tower’s homecoming, the San Antonio Public Library will host a family craft event from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 23, in the second-floor atrium at the Central Library, 600 Soledad.

During the come-and-go event, local artist Susie Monday will guide participants in creating their own Chihuly-style works of art. The event is free and open to the public. One hour of free parking is available in the library parking garage with validated ticket.

A gift of the Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts through a grant to the San Antonio Public Library Foundation, the Fiesta Tower was originally installed in the Central Library in 2003 as part of the celebration of the San Antonio Public Library’s 100th anniversary.

Notes: The Memorial Branch Library, 3222 Culebra Road, will close for renovations on Monday, November 8, 2010. The project is expected to take approximately one month to complete.

All San Antonio Public Library locations will be closed on Thursday, November 11, in observance of Veterans Day.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read

Saturday, September 25, sees the kickoff of Banned Books Week, an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. The website of the American Library Association, which originated the annual observance, says, “Intellectual freedom – the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular – provides the foundation for Banned Books Week, [which] stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.”

Most of the books spotlighted during Banned Books Week have been the subject of challenges about their inclusion in school or public library collections, or on students’ assigned reading lists. Books that have been challenged or removed include The Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill a Mockingbird, the Twilight series, Huckleberry Finn, Gone with the Wind, the Goosebumps series, The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, A Wrinkle in Time, and probably some of your favorites (I know some of mine are in the list above.)

Why is it important to talk about this? I think it’s because we are reminded that if you or I can ban a book someone else likes, then it’s entirely possible that a book we find important can be banned as well. Part of the price of an open conversation is that sometimes we might hear something we don’t like.

If you’re interested in continuing the conversation about what we read, join us on Thursday, September 30, at 7:00 p.m. in the Central Library Auditorium, 600 Soledad, when Dotty Griffith, ACLU of Texas Public Education Director, will discuss the Banned Books report for this year. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, she will also reflect on the book’s significance for us today.

What books would you want to protect? Drop us a line and let us know.

Monday, September 13, 2010

¡Viva Mexico! The San Antonio Public Library celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month


In 2010 nuestro vecino to the south is celebrating the Bicentennial of Mexican Independence and the Centennial of the Mexican Revolution, and the San Antonio Public Library is honoring this observance during Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15 through October 15.

Join us at the Cortez Branch Library from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 18, for ¡Viva México!, a celebration in music, story and art of Mexico's battles for independence and democratic government.

All month long, there will be programs at branch libraries throughout the City. Pick up a calendar of events at your library, or visit our online calendar (click on "Hispanic Heritage Month" at the top of the page), and look for these activities:

Crafts, Humor and Short Stories - a series of short animated films focusing on the war for Mexican independence and the Mexican Revolution.

Rhythm of a Revolution - how corridos motivated the Mexican revolution, with special performances by Los Inocentes.

Children are also included, with El águila y la serpiente, a craft series based on the eagle and snake imagery of the Mexican flag. Call your branch library for details, or pick up a calendar of events on your next visit.

You're invited! All programs are free and open to the public.

Reminders: The Central Library, 600 Soledad, is open, even though renovations are underway.
The McCreless Branch Library, 1023 Ada Street, is currently closed for renovations