August 3 in San Antonio history…

1883
The first issue of the San Antonio Light is published. (Originally published starting in 1881 as The Evening Light.)

1949
Seven rural school districts, the Blanco Road Common School District #6, Seay Common School District #7, Olmos Common School District #9, Lookout Valley Common School District #10, Serna Common School District #11, Salado Valley Common School District #10.5, and Coker Common School District #50 consolidate to form the North East Rural High School District.  This will become North East ISD in 1955.

1974
The Happy Jazz Band and the Landing move from the Nix Building to the river level of the Stockman Restaurant.

March 15 in San Antonio history…

44 BC
“Et tu, Brute?”  Julius Caesar is murdered in Rome by Marcus Brutus in a hall next to Pompey’s Theater.  San Antonio will not exist for another 1,762 years.

1980
Phillip J. Romano opens the first Fuddrucker’s burger restaurant at 8602 Botts Lane in San Antonio (right).  It’s still there.

1990
The Black Crowes make their first San Antonio appearance along with Junkyard at Sneakers.

Community Invited to Visit the Overdrive Digital Bookmobile at Encino Branch Library

Visit Encino Branch Library on Saturday, October 31 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to check out the OverDrive digital bookmobile. With instructional videos, interactive computer stations and a fully-loaded gadget gallery, readers of all ages will experience new ways to enjoy digital books and more from the San Antonio Public Library.

Bring your iPad, eReader, laptop or phone to learn how to enjoy digital offerings on your specific device. For more information about the bookmobile, visit digitalbookmobile.com. To check out San Antonio Public Library’s digital collection visit sanantonio.lib.overdrive.com.

MEDIA CONTACT
Marcie Hernandez
Public Information Officer
210.207.2614
marcie.hernandez@sanantonio.gov

Feed your mind and your body at Encino Branch Library

SAN ANTONIO (October 1, 2015) — The San Antonio Public Library and the San Antonio Food Bank have partnered to bring a farmers’ market to the  Encino Branch Library on the first Saturday of every month, starting on October 3.

The farmers’ market offers produce and products from a diverse collection of local farmers and vendors, nutrition education, on-site demos and more.

Vendors will include:
• SA Food Bank produce
•PAWsitivity dog treats
• Madge’s food canning
• Martinez farms produce
• Mascorro tamales and fruit
• Spice Farms food canning
• Nurturing Sol farms soaps and corn bread
• Rodriquez produce
• Elm Creek Vinyards produce

NOTE: Cash, checks, credit cards, WIC, senior vouchers and EBT Lonestar cards will be accepted.

Memorial Branch Library to Host 9/11 Concert

Memorial Branch Library will host A Day of Remembrance – September 11 Concert on Thursday, September 11 at 6:30pm. The Mission Winds, the clarinet quartet of the U.S. Air Force Band of the West, will perform this special commemoration. This event is free and open to the public and families are encouraged to attend.

Memorial Branch Library is located at 3222 Culebra Road 78228 (across from St. Mary’s University). For more information about this and other programs at Memorial, call 210.207.9140.

Visit mysapl.org for a full calendar of events at all branch locations and the Central Library.

 

Johnston Branch Library turns 30 – help us celebrate!

This Saturday, June 18, newly elected District 4 City Councilman Rey Saldaña will join poet Naomi Shihab Nye, Library officials, and members of the Johnston family to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Johnston Branch Library, 6307 Sun Valley. The ceremony will kick off at 2:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

In addition to Councilman Saldaña’s remarks, the program will include a reading by Naomi Shihab Nye, author of You and Yours and 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East; remarks by Carter Johnston, grandson of the branch library’s namesake Leah Carter Johnston; and readings by Young Pegasus poets.

The emphasis on poetry during the anniversary ceremony is a tribute to Leah Carter Johnston, for whom the library was named. Ms. Johnston was the San Antonio Public Library’s first children’s services librarian, serving in that capacity from 1922 to 1955. During her tenure, in 1927, she began the San Antonio Public Library’s Young Pegasus Poetry Awards, designed to recognize and reward the work of young authors up to the age of 18. Still sponsored annually by the Library, the Young Pegasus Poetry Competition is the longest-running such program in the United States. Ms. Johnston was also the author of San Antonio – St. Anthony’s Town, published in the mid-1970s and still in the San Antonio Public Library collection today.

The Johnston Branch Library opened on August 23, 1981, on land donated by Ray Ellison Industries. Construction costs totalled approximately $575,000, funded by the 1980 City of San Antonio bond initiative. On opening day, the 9,000-square-foot branch library had a staff of nine and a collection containing 13,000 items. In 1994 work began to renovate the library and enlarge it by 3,000 square feet, funded by $785,470 from the 1989 City bond election. The updated, expanded facility re-opened in 1996.

We couldn’t do it without them!

At 2:00 p.m. at the Central Library on Sunday, June 12, the San Antonio Public Library Board of Trustees will honor individuals and organizations who have contributed to Library service in the community by presenting them with Library Champion Awards. Join us to celebrate the gift of volunteering!

This year’s honorees are:

Councilmen Justin Rodriguez and John Clamp

Deedee Lu

Library Volunteer Marketing Team
Mari Aguirre
Mike Bacon
Angela Bartels
Becky Bridges
Jessica Cerda
Rosenda Rios
Andi Rodriguez
Anamaria Suescun-Fast

Mercedes O’Higgins

The Rackspace Foundation

Karen Sagun

Chairs of the San Antonio Public Library Foundation
Gene Ames
Pat Flynn
Kye Fox
Nick Hollis
Alice Lynch
Dennis Martinez
Mike Molak
Guillermo Nicolas
Carol O’Malley
Debbie Prost

Also being recognized are the three individual volunteers with the greatest number of service hours:

Richard Kierbow – 1,158 hours
Paula Parra – 845 hours
Pamela Miller – 693 hours

Thanks to all of you – we couldn’t do it without you!

Bannwolf Library at Reagan High School discontinues public library service

At 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 29, the Bannwolf Library at Reagan High School will discontinue its public-library operation. The opening of the new Parman Branch Library at Stone Oak allows the San Antonio Public Library to offer full-time public library service to the north central area, in turn allowing the Reagan High School facility to return to full-time service as a high school library. San Antonio Public Library items currently housed at the Bannwolf Library will be transferred to other branch libraries throughout the system.

The innovative school-public library partnership opened its doors in October 1999, and its success led to a second collaboration, the Pruitt Public Library at Roosevelt High School. The Pruitt Library will continue its dual service as both a public library and a school library.

Ramiro Salazar, Director of the San Antonio Public Library, thanked partner North East Independent School District: “We appreciate that the North East Independent School District and their librarians embraced this new service model to bring public libraries to underserved areas. The school district’s cooperation and support helped us offer public library service to new neighborhoods and continue to make a difference in our community.”

Former users of the Bannwolf Library are invited to visit the Parman Branch Library to take advantage of the full range of San Antonio Public Library resources, programs and services.

2011 Young Pegasus Poets try their wings!

This weekend San Antonio’s young poets will be recognized at the 85th annual Young Pegasus Poetry Awards ceremony, scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 15, at the Hermann Sons Grand Lodge, 515 S. St. Mary’s. This year more than 2,000 poems were submitted for consideration, with 71 poems by 61 young authors – ranging in age from 6 to 18 – selected for publication in the 2011 Young Pegasus Poetry Anthology. Those lucky enough to attend will hear these creative young writers read their own poems aloud.

Items of interest:

Two new libraries are now open to serve you!

Mission Branch Library, 3134 Roosevelt Avenue 78214 (on the former site of the Mission Drive-in Theatre)
Parman Branch Library in Stone Oak, 20735 Wilderness Oak 78258

Don’t forget it’s almost time for Summer Reading, sponsored again this year by Mayor Julian Castro! For information on the kids’ program, gohere, and to find out what the teens are planning, go here.

We couldn’t do it without them!

Do you know someone – a volunteer – who is the support and mainstay of your local branch of the San Antonio Public Library? Someone who is always there to help with storytime, to shelve books, to assist teen services staff with projects? A business or organization that has sent volunteers or donated funds to support Library programming or provide new resources? The San Antonio Public Library Board of Trustees wants to hear from you!

The Library Board is seeking nominations for the 2011 Library Champion Awards. These awards recognize individuals (not employed by the Library), businesses, and community organizations for their substantial involvement with the Library system, or who have contributed time, talent or resources that resulted in the enhancement of library service in San Antonio.

Anyone may submit a nomination for Library Champion. Previous recipients are eligible for nomination. A nomination form is available on the Library’s webpage or by calling (210) 207-2638.

The deadline for nominations is March 1. Recipients will be honored at an awards ceremony on Sunday, April 17, at the Central Library.

The San Antonio Public Library Board of Trustees created the Library Champion Awards in 1996 to honor notable contributions to the Library system. Past award recipients include Dr. Amy Freeman Lee, former San Antonio City Manager Alex Briseño, author Barbara Stanush, Wings Press publisher Bryce Milligan, the Friends of the San Antonio Public Library, the San Pedro Hills Women’s Club, the San Antonio Express-News, and the San Antonio Public Library Foundation.