San Miguel Library

Letting the Community In

2011-05-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

On May 12th, 2011 very close to 5 p.m about nine Girl Scouts and a half dozen adults participated in a reception of the unveiling of Girl Scout Troop 914's mural for the San Miguel Library.

In the picture above Brian Reynolds, Director of the San Luis Obispo Libraries, is asking the Girl Scouts about how they decided what to paint and various details of their process. What I found interesting is that each girl presented an idea on paper to their troop, and then the troop voted on what three designs they liked the most. The Girl Scout leader said there was no fighting or hurt feelings after the decisions were made and everyone joined in the painting of the murals.

Out of the picture is a Girl Scout giving a telephone interview to the major newspaper for this county. Many girls talked to the press. You can read about the story here.

After everyone was assembled and the award winning press photographer arrived, the unveiling took place. The mural is two panels each approximately 2 feet by 7 feet of fiber board painted with acrylic paint and mounted with mirror clips. Almost all items were donated as well as the installation that was donated by a licensed contractor.

The beautiful mural of golden poppies (our state flower), native blue irises, and other wild flowers now graces the corner of the library in the children's area. Incidentally this corner was approved for a mural in a miniature make-over for this library about six months ago. The branch librarian (that would be me) was considering painting a floor-to-ceiling giraffe, elephant, and zebra mural to liven up the corner. The big problem, however, was the lack of funds for paint. I wondered if anything would ever come of it. So what a great gift the universe bestowed on San Miguel Library that warm spring day when the Girl Scout leader and her daughter, a Girl Scout, came in and proposed this mural idea. Less than a month transpired from that day to the reception. This was meant to be!

I want to thank Girl Scout Troop 914 and their leaders for this treasure and beautification project, and congratulate them on earning the Bronze award for their community service.

National Poetry Month

2011-04-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

Aside from all the exciting programs that will be happening this month, April is National Poetry Month. Check out this web site to discover all the fun you can have with poetry!

All About April

2011-03-31T15:50:00.000-07:00

In like a lion, out like a lamb. March is finished! So many outstanding events are happening in April.

The local pre-school children are coming in for a visit next week

SLO County Reads Wednesday April 6: a community reading experience

Treasures of San Miguel at the Adobe April 10

National Drop Everything and Read Day April 12

National Library Workers Day April 12

Support Teen Literature Day April 14

National Library Week April 12 - 16

Food for Fines April 12 - 16

Sagebrush Day Parade and Fair in San Miguel April 16

Children's Day/Book Day April 30

I love My library

2011-03-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

Teens! Get involved and make a YouTube. Follow the link in the video for more info. ilovelibraries.org

County Libraries to Forgive Fines for Food Donations

2011-03-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

San Luis Obispo County, CA –San Luis Obispo County public libraries are again celebrating National Library Week by helping to fight hunger in our community. Food 4 Fines week takes place April 11 – 16 at all San Luis Obispo County Public Library branches. Each branch will accept one non-perishable food item in place of any overdue fine or hold fee that totals $1 or less. Other types of fees, such as those for lost or damaged items, are not included in the program. Food items will be donated to the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County. Last year this project brought in enough food to feed a family of four for 10 months.

“The number of times residents need to use the Food Bank has increased this year,” said Wendy Lewis, Associate Director of the Food Bank, “and 43% of the residents served are our County’s children. We’re very pleased to partner with our local libraries for the second time. Like the libraries, we depend on volunteers throughout the County to be able to provide the level of service needed in our communities and to run as efficiently as we do.”

Food donation barrels will be set up at each library branch, and all community members are encouraged to donate items. The Food Bank’s wish list includes canned or dry soup, canned vegetables and fruits, tuna and other canned meats, peanut butter, pasta, rice, beans, and cereal. They also have a need for disposable diapers.

About the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County:

40,000 San Luis Obispo County residents rely on the Food Bank Coalition of SLO County, which works through 190 local agencies. Their services include the following:

· Healthy Food for Local Families - In cooperation with 10 local schools, they provide enough food to share with siblings and parents, at the end of each week of classes, for those without enough food to make it through the weekend. This program makes a big difference in students being able to read and learn better in school.

· Senior Brown Bag Program - Seniors on low, fixed incomes receive a grocery bag of nutritious, nonperishable food and another full of fresh produce, bread and dairy products.

· USDA Commodities – This is the monthly distribution of nonperishable food from the USDA
combined with fresh products from local supermarkets.

· Harvest Bag—This South-County-based program provides 600 to 700 bags of fresh produce and non-perishable foods weekly.

New Hours for the New Year

2010-12-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

The library will change open hours starting January 4, 2011.

New Hours

Tuesday 12 - 4pm
Wednesday 11am - 4pm
Thursday 12 - 6pm

Seasonal Closings

2010-11-23T13:59:00.000-08:00

San Miguel Library will be closed for Thanksgiving, Thursday November 25th.

The library will also be closed Thursday December 23rd for Christmas, and Thursday December 30th for New Years.

Back to School and Back to a Schedule

2010-08-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

The summer has flown by as usual and now we return to early mornings and homework.

Keep those summer readers reading by bringing them in on a regular schedule.

It's easy to do. Just plan on a day and develop some guidelines.

One mother comes in every Wednesday after school. She tells her three children that they can pick out three books and one DVD. After the items are checked out, she puts them into a basket, and when they are not being read or watched, the items are to be returned to the basket.

Since she has developed this strategy, she hasn't had problems with missing or late items, and she claims there is a higher motivation to finish their homework so the children can watch their DVD.

End of School Celebration

2010-06-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

We had our annual Raising A Reader celebration at the library earlier this month. The children were each given a blue bag with their very own book and certificate. Some children received their first ever library card. Such a fine looking card it is too!

National Library Week at San Miguel Library

2010-04-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

This week the library has a barrel to collect food for the 40,000 people that go hungry everyday in our county.

The library has joined with the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County to collect can food and cereal in lieu of paying overdue fines or ordering fees. One can equals one dollar. Also general contributions are welcome.

The sign on the barrel says, "Hunger has a cure...Drop food here to help."

Happy 90th Little Library

2009-11-04T11:38:00.000-08:00

As I described one year ago, San Miguel Library's rich history began ninety years ago.

4th of July Open House

2009-07-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all who participated in San Miguel Library's Open House. The Native Daughters of the Golden West presented the librarian with a California flag. And it was the first official day that the library flew the American flag that was donated by the San Miguel Friends of the Library. For the festivities, the library was decorated with historical flags and balloons, and the bulletin board proudly displays the "things" of California. Thanks goes out to the Lions Club for use of their facilities, and the Native Sons for BBQing some delicious eats.

Raising A Reader

2009-06-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

On Thursday June 4 the local pre-school and this library had a "Raising A Reader" program. Thirty children were presented with certifcates celebrating their reading. They were given a special library blue bag that zippers shut with their very own book inside. Most of children received their first library card too.

Some children had already picked out a few books to check out and sat down to read them.

The Raising A Reader Fund comes from San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation. Photos courtesy of Janice Fong Wolf, Director of Grants and Programs.

Sagebrush Day

2009-04-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

Saturday April 25th San Miguel will celebrate Sagebrush Day starting with a parade at 11am.

Happy New Year

2009-01-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

The raffle was a huge success! Thanks to everyone who participated. In fact everyone who entered won something, so that pleased me a great deal. And the rocks, the geodes both cut and uncut were all chosen by girls. Rock on future girl geologists!

So what's ahead this year for San Miguel Library? Well, for one thing, it's the best deal in town.

FREE DVDs!

FREE CDs!

FREE books!

A ton of magazines to check out, take home, and peruse.

All this is available to any good-standing library card carrying child or adult. And I think just about everyone in San Miguel has a card.

My stats say 861 adults and 406 children have a library card in San Miguel. The population here is around 1,400. So Wow! YAY! San Miguelians love their little library.

The Raffle Is On!

2008-12-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

The Friends of the San Miguel Library
IT’S A NEW YEAR RAFFLE!!!!!

Six winners on December 24th

Six winners on December 31st

Only 25 cents a ticket
A dollar buys you five tickets

Great prizes!! Something for everyone!!

Need not be present to win. Choice of prize is first come first served

SAN MIGUEL LIBRARY
Open
Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday
11am to 4pm

I'm Now A Member Of GoodReads!

2008-11-26T11:26:00.000-08:00

The Viper by Lisa Thiesing

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Thrills and chills to the very end!

View all my reviews.

Happy 89th San Miguel Library

2008-11-04T11:39:00.000-08:00

San Miguel Library started November 4, 1919. Originally it was in the annex of the Dr. W. McNaul Building. (The note states that this building was "on Main Street, between 12th and 13th, not numbered at that time, building no longer exists. burned down.") However, Dr. Leo L. Stanley's book, San Miguel At the Turn of the Century, puts Dr. W. McNaul's Office and Drug Store just off the corner 13th Street on the main street (Mission Street). No building exist there today.

Regardless of which side of 13th Street the building was on, the library resided there "until the County bought the building now used by the Library and Justice Court." That's the very same building that I am currently sitting in. The wall that separated the two has been knocked down and the library fills the entire space. No more Justice Court in San Miguel.

This history was given to Susan B. Roettger by Mrs. Belle Parker (both former librarians) on July 10, 1957. This date also significant because it means the "Justice Court" still existed in 1957 and did not go away after World War II as I previously believed. When did it go away? I'll have to research this.

This document also lists the "names and dates of past Branch Librarians."

Alyce Clemons 1920 to 1924
Belle Parker 1924 to 1942
Barbara DePew 1940 to 1944
Mrs. Pearl Neuby 1944 to 1945
Barbara DePew again 1945 to 1947
Susan B. Roettger from Nov. 1 1947 to 1978
Mrs. Edna Eyler (Rose Ripel's mother) was Roettger's assistant (since 1951) till when I do not know.

In 1978 San Miguel Library shut down briefly because of Proposition 13 and the mass hysteria that ensued. According to another document: "The next long-time person in charge was Betty Cockrum." (Rose Ripel replaced Cockrum in 1986.)
Rose Ripel 1986 to 1991
Carol Flash Feb. 1991 to 1996
Temporaries including Rose Ripel 1997 to 1998
I was hired in March 1998.

Looks like I'll be the next one to be here for a long time, but will I match Ms. Roettger's record of 31 years? Only 21 years to go!

The Eleventh Hour Of The Eleventh Day

2008-10-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

All libraries will be closed Tuesday November 11 to honor Veterans Day.

Does Anyone Want To Share Their Collection Or Art Work?

2008-09-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

The Friends of the San Miguel Library donated this lovely display case. Currently it houses two old photos of the building back when it was a courthouse.

I would like to invite artists, collectors, and interesting people, all of San Miguel, to show their pieces of whatnot to the community.

Come by with a sample and talk with me. What do you collect?

New Database

2008-08-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

Global Road Warrior! An all new travel database! I've just dashed through it and learned tons of stuff. It has a good layout with a pop-up sidebar and lovely crisp pictures. I went over to Australia and discovered they think 87 is the devil's number. Interesting!

The Little Library That Could

2008-08-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

When I arrived at work on Wednesday, I saw a utility truck parked near the building. My heart skipped a beat. Could it be? Yes it could. My bike rack has finally arrived. It was one of the items in my budget plan to improve and update the library. Plus in this town, people walk and bike a lot, so they're always leaving their bikes against the railing (and in the way). A bike rack is necessary.

The county did such a good job. Poured concrete and bolted it down.

The county guy even changed the administrator's initial layout himself, turning the two of the slots the opposite way, "so the handle bars have more space." Good going, I said. Makes better sense.

Now all we need is a picnic table and some landscaping, and this little library could be the hub of San Miguel!

A Wild And Crazy Swap

2008-08-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while librarians like to mix it up. Just a wild and crazy bunch, we are. So looking around this little one room library, I spy the fiction VHS video collection. Not in its entirety. Only through the Q (and there's only one of those, Quest For Fire). R and up are on the carousel.

So I'm thinking I'd like to use the top of this bookcase to display books. It's what we call prime real estate.

This is the before photo of adult fiction videos.

I decided to move it all into the corner.

This is the after photo, now called the Video Corner. Looks pretty cool there, doesn't it?

Well, it does to me because look what it was like before.

This the before photo of the Spanish language area.

¡Qué desastre!

So I swapped spaces, putting videos in the corner and Spanish language material out to the middle of the room where the videos used to be. Kids' stuff on the right, and Grumps on the left with a few board books thrown in the mix.

This is after photo of the Spanish language area.

That leaves the top to display picture books. After all picture books are meant to be displayed.

Score!

2008-07-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

Nothing, and I mean nothing, feels as good as hooking someone up with the perfect book. Especially when that someone is a six year boy who wants a book on "construction" as his mother asks. I'm thinking construction? Like building a highrise? And she quickly adds, "or tanks."

So I'm in the juvy section flipping around the 620s and a lightbulb explodes over my head.

I grasp, "I have something I think you will like." I circle around to the adult oversized books (coffee table books) because I remember a special donation a few years ago, a giant book called Heavy Equipment.

So I grab it and say it's a pretty big book, maybe your mom will have to carry it. It's like 2 foot by 2 foot. I show it to him, and his eyes light up.

"Wow! Mom, look!" He takes it from my hands. It's half his size.

"I can carry it," he says. Meanwhile Mom is going through the "don't drop it, be nice to it" speech, and he's already got it to the children's area and is sprawled out on the floor, flipping through pages, saying over and over, "Wow! Mom look!"

The Burning Dollar Bill Trick

2008-07-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all who came out to enjoy the show. We had a packed house, probably more people than the fire chief would allow, but he wasn't there, and thank goodness he wasn't because he probably wouldn't have liked this stunt.

Read any good books lately?

Live Performance Tomorrow!

2008-06-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

Wednesday June 25th at 2pm JIM WILSON will perform at the San Miguel Library.
Comedy! Magic! Juggling!
Come join the fun!

They Call These Incentives

2008-06-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

But I call them cute! Read ten books and it's yours plus many many other things. (The color in these photos is kind of wonky!!)

Treats For The Summer Reader

2008-06-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

Fifth grade and younger will either fall into one of two catagories. Those children that can read will attempt to finish ten books at their reading level. The children that are too young to read will have 20 picture books read to them by parent or sibling.

Six graders and older also will attempt to read ten books.

The rewards for concluding the ten (or 20, as the case may be) are numerous this year.

Everyone gets to select a free book from a wide variety, and everyone gets a canvas book tote bag (two to choose from). A cell charm is rewarded for the older children, and free admission to the Paso children's museum for younger kids and stickers (plus certificates from Chili's, and HomeTown Buffet. Everyone gets certificates from Round Table (free pizza - yum!) and IN-N-OUT Burger. And everyone gets a coupon for a Gymnastic camp and a free admission to Legoland.

Worth reading ten whole books? You bet!

Catch The Reading Bug

2008-05-13T11:59:00.001-07:00

The motto of this year's summer reading program is "Catch The Reading Bug." The library has been receiving all sorts of bug books to prepare for this fun event.

To participate, each child will read ten books according to his or her reading level filling out a log as they go.

Children who cannot read yet can join the program as well. In their case, someone, either parent, grandparent or sibling, or perhaps a combination of family, will read 20 books to them.

Prizes include food coupons, a book bag, and a free book. There are a lot of books to choose from this year.

Also this year the library will have a performer on June 25th at 2pm. More on that later.

Sagebrush Day Parade 2008

2008-03-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

The Friends of the Library organize two parades a year. Upcoming is the annual Sagebrush Day Parade to be held on April 26th, the last Saturday in April. It starts around noon with the line up starting at 11am just north of River Road/14th on Mission Street. If you want to be in the parade, show up there to sign up.

Women's History Month

2008-03-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

The SLO downtown library is having a celebration March 15 Saturday to honor women and her stories. You are invitied to join in. Please visit this site for more information.

A Survey

2008-01-29T12:54:00.000-08:00

The San Miguel Library would like to focus on promoting the unique aspects of our community life.

Please let us know, either in person or in writing, what one aspect of community life that you are proud of that others should know more about, and one aspect that causes concern.

You may post anonymously.

Thank you in advance.

Another New Database!

2008-01-15T13:43:00.000-08:00

The library now offers "Facts On File: World News Digest" to our home and in library web users. Check out Year 2007 in review. A lot happened last year. Makes you wonder what's in store for this year.

New Stuff On www.slolibrary.org

2008-01-09T13:14:00.001-08:00

For all of us who practically live online, here's what's new for kids at our world wide web library.

Tumble Book Library "e-books for e-kids" This site can be reached through the San Luis Obispo County Library's Website. From there you will see "What's Happening" in the upper right hand area and click on the link for New for Kids! TumbleBook Library to enter that website.

Tons of fun stuff to explore. New books, games and audio books to name a few.

Check it out!

More Hours and the Holiday Schedule

2007-12-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

San Miguel Library is very fortunate to have its hours increased this year. Eight open hours a week wasn't enough for this community, and it wasn't on par with other small branches. The Board of Supervisors approved additional hours for the San Miguel branch, and starting in September, the library is now open 15 hours a week! Some people wanted the library open in the morning, some wanted afternoons. Now we have both! And the hours are the same for each day, so you don't have to remember any weird schedule.

Tuesday 11am to 4pm

Wednesday 11am to 4pm

Thursday 11am to 4pm

Please note: The Library will be CLOSED on Christmas and New Year's Day, but it will be open on both Wednesday and Thursday of those two weeks.

Come To The Parade

2007-12-13T12:56:00.000-08:00

The 16th annual Street Festival and Electric Light Parade starts at 2pm this Saturday the 15th of December. There will be lots of fun stuff. The parade starts at 5:30pm, and The Friends of the Library and the Native Sons of the Golden West, along with Fire Station and the CSD are throwing a party at the fire station after the parade. A very special person has been invited to the party too. Ho Ho Ho! You won't want to miss him!

Welcome to the San Miguel Library!

2007-12-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

San Miguel Library is one of the smallest branches in the San Luis Obispo County, but that doesn't mean we don't offer some of the best of what libraries have to offer. New books, new DVDs, tons of magazines, a children's area plus more. In addition, you have access to the Blackgold system where you can order any book, DVD, CD that you want in a three county area (San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura), and it will be delivered right to your hometown library.

This is the display case next to the front door. The town of San Miguel has a rich history. In fact, the current library was once the town hall!

Check back here for various links and photos and coming attractions. There's a plot afoot to have Winter Reading Program for kids and adults filled with fun prizes and giveaways. Be sure to post a comment if you're interested!