Director of Libraries Message
In recent years, modern public libraries have increasingly shifted in providing traditional services through non-traditional means as technology evolves and our daily lives become busier. It is also abundantly clear that many of you have incorporated reading eBooks or eAudiobooks as your formats of choice. In the last 3 months alone, 44% of library checkouts were for copies from our digital collections. This may be because it is easier to manage reading multiple books on a single device, or because you can adjust the font size and displays to make reading easier, or it may be because you enjoy listening to books on your commute and your newer car doesn’t come with a CD player. Or it may be that you enjoy selecting your next library book from the comfort of your own home, on your own time, with a warm beverage at hand.
I would like to share about another terrific program available to you from the comfort of your home and on your own time, our Virtual Author Talks in partnership with the Library Speakers Consortium. This service, supported through the generosity of our Friends of the Capitola Branch Library, brings a variety of interesting and well-known authors to Santa Cruz residents each month for free. The live-streamed events, which include interactive Q&A portions, are listed in our calendar of events. If you can’t make the live-stream, the recordings are maintained for you to view on your own time afterward. Past author talks include Liane Moriarty, Shelby Van Pelt, Elizabeth Acevedo, Madeline Miller, Kate DiCamillo, Rebecca F. Kuang and our very own Nina Simon. Upcoming talks for November include a conversation with Navajo Ranger Stanley Milford Jr. on his memoir The Paranormal Ranger, which covers “ bizarre cases of the paranormal and the unexplained in Navajoland.” Two separate events, one in Spanish and one in English, will include Salvadoran poet Javier Zamora discussing his incredibly moving memoir Solito, which recounts his journey as a 9-year-old boy to rejoin his parents in the U.S. Later in November, Mona Susan Power will talk about her novel A Council of Dolls, which was long-listed for the National Book Award and described by Louise Erdrich as “a wild river of a book.”
Our Capitola and Boulder Creek Libraries will host watch parties for both Power and Milford’s author talks. Visit this link on our calendar of events if you would like to join any of these discussions. You can find more upcoming Virtual Author Talks on the SCPL page. Once you register, you can opt-in to receive a regular newsletter with listings of upcoming authors, so you don’t miss anyone good. Importantly, you do not have to be someone who reads eBooks to join Virtual Author Talks. You don’t even need your library card. Just bring your curiosity to learn more about the author and the topic they’re writing about, an hour’s worth of your time, and perhaps a good cup of tea. It will be time well-spent.
Christopher Platt
Director of Libraries
Mensaje del Director de Bibliotecas
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