Library

Apr 062012
 
A Weekend of Books & Eggs.

A library sale and an Easter egg hunt promise fun for young and old. Saturday April 7th, is the much awaited spring Library Sale – your chance to fill up your bookcases with all those guilty pleasure reads, while feeling good you are funding the library’s children programs.  It starts at 9 AM for “Friends of the Library” members (you can become a member on the spot, it’s $10 for individuals and $15 for families) and at 11 AM for non-members. Note: the professional book resellers get there first and they race with their scanners to get the best books [Continue Reading]

May 312011
 
A short look back in time: When San Leandro tried to censor its own history.

The demographics of San Leandro have changed dramatically in the last few years.  According to the 2011 census, just 27% of San Leandrans identify themselves as white, down from 51% in 2000.  In 1970, however, a full 97% of San Leandrans were white.  Africans American today make up almost 12% of the population; in 1970 they were 0.1%.  Those numbers were not happenstance, rather, they were the result of very specific and very successful policies of racial discrimination that kept non-whites, and in particular blacks, from moving into the city.   Originally, non-whites were kept out of town by restrictive covenants.  [Continue Reading]

May 022011
 
The Librarian is watching you... but not while you surf.

Last Thursday’s San Leandro Times included a number of interesting letters from local citizens.   One that particularly caught my eye was sent by Leo West and concerned the use of monitoring software on the networked computers at the library.  According to the letter, “any librarian can log in and watch what any computer-user is watching – contacts, contents of materials received or sent, websites used, everything”. I talked to the library about this issue and I was told that the software in question has been installed so the city’s IT department (the library does not have its own) can troubleshoot [Continue Reading]