8 Spring 2009 Applegater
Ruch Library News
A Geologic History
of the Applegate
by Mark Prchal
Saturday, May 16 at 1:00
at the Ruch Library
Mark Prchal is a geologist living and
working in the Applegate Valley. He is an
enthusiastic speaker who is always eager to
share his knowledge of our local geology.
Prior to 1988, California’s geologic
map of the Klamath Mountains had many
holes that were not mapped due to being
too complicated. Mark was hired by the
State of California specifically to map the
geology of some of these previously non-
mapped and incorrectly mapped geologic
terrains between Happy Camp and the
Oregon border. This work was published
by the State as Regional Geologic Map for the
Weed Quadrangle, California (RGM004A),
1988. Much of the Applegate Valley is in
the same geologic province as he mapped
for the State of California, i.e., the Western
Paleozoic and Triassic belt of the Klamath
Mountains
This program is free and refreshments
will be served.”
Oregon Reads Books
This winter has been anything but
dull at Ruch Library. Circulation statistics
keep going up, from 1501 in November
to 1692 in December to 1951 in January.
Many people are taking advantage of the
new free highspeed wireless Internet in
and around the library building, and we
just concluded the annual Winter Reads
program for adults with drawings for free
books and a book gift certificate. There
have been staff changes over the winter:
Betsy Brauer is the new Ruch Branch
Manager, following Janis Mohr-Tipton’s
move to Central Point Branch. Lisa
Martin is the library assistant on Tuesdays
and Thursdays; Kristi Kowalski and Thalia
Truesdell staff the library on Saturdays.
And as always the library is the go-to
place for help with schoolwork, research,
job search/resume preparation, and tax
forms, as well as free public computers,
and our collection of books, CDs, movies,
magazines, and reference material.
Ruch School sixth graders spent the
morning of February 19 at the library for
a research session in preparation for the
annual “Night of the Notables,” during
which each student gives a presentation
in character as a historical personage. This
year’s choices of notable people includes
Cleopatra, Georgia O’Keeffe, Thomas
Edison and Ronald Reagan. Betsy and
library volunteers taught the basics of
research which will give students a good
foundation to build on up through high
school, and they also provided individual
help.
Because the next issue of the
Applegater won’t appear until July, we have
to look far into our crystal ball to give you
an idea of library events for that period.
Some aren’t in final form yet, but you can
definitely look forward to these:
Oregon Reads began February 17.
For Oregon’s 150th birthday year (that’s
“sesquicentennial,” to be precise) the books
to be read statewide naturally relate to
the history of our favorite state. This year
there are three choices, one each for adults,
young adults, and children.
Stubborn Twig, by Lauren Kessler
(adults), tells the story of an Oregon family
through nearly a century beginning in
1903, when Masuo Yasui arrived in Hood
River, to seek his fortune. Thirty-seven
years later he and his family are successful
orchardists, active in the orchardists'
cooperatives, the Methodist Church, and
the Rotary Club; in the backlash after
Pearl Harbor, their lives were disrupted
and many were sent to the internment
camps set up for Japanese-Americans. A
fascinating and moving account which
also explores what the American dream
has meant, and what it means to be an
American.
Bat G , by Virginia Euwer Wolff
(young adult), is about a sixth-grade girls’
baseball game in the rural Oregon of
1949, when teams from two small towns
meet for their annual game. Added to the
traditional spirit of rivalry are other deeper
conflicts: one player’s father died at Pearl
Harbor; another girl was interned with
her family in the “relocation camps.” The
School Library Journal has high praise for
this book, which “speaks volumes about
courage, responsibility, and reconciliation.
All in a book about softball!”
Apples to Oregon, by Deborah
Hopkinson, author; Nancy Carpenter,
illustrator (children). The subtitle tells
the tale: Being the (slightly) true narrative
of how a brave pioneer father brought
apples, peaches, pears, plums, grapes, and
cherries (and children) across the Plains. A
reviewer says, “a hilarious tall tale––from
the team that brought you Fannie in the
Kitchen–– that's loosely based on the life
of a real fruiting pioneer.”
Oregon Reads will be taking place
in nearly every public library across
Oregon, with discussions and special
events or speakers. Watch the library’s
bulletin boards for more details; visit
www.jcls.org, or sign up on our email list
(front desk, or send your email address to
akantha@mac.com ) to get notices about
these and other library events. Plan to join
your friends and community in this shared
reading experience, and read these books
with your children too.
We will celebrate Dia de los Niños/
Dia de los Libros with craft activities on
April 30.
Summer Reading Program
for
children and teens begins June 8, 2009.
The theme for 2009 is “Be Creative @
Your Library,” and there will be plenty of
activities and prizes to fill summer days.
Volunteers needed
Would you like to commit an hour
or two a week to helping out at our library?
Volunteers can help in many ways. Just
now, we need:
• Story-hour person, reading to pre-
schoolers and kindergartners, each Tuesday
at 11 am. (about 45 min.). “Storybags”
with books and activities are provided by
the library.
• Display designers and assemblers,
to add seasonal and theme-based displays
around the library and in the display cases.
Here’s a chance to have fun, help the library
be more attractive, and promote interest in
aspects of our collection.
• Helpers for events connected with
this year’s Summer Reading Program.
Events include arts and crafts, and (new
this year!) science activities, for different
age groups. You can help with ideas/
planning/preparation, and hands-on at
the events. The programs and activities
are important for bringing young people
into the library during the summer,
encouraging them to enjoy reading, and
opening new interests to them.
• Shelvers and shelf “readers.” Essential
and always needed in the library, to be sure
all the materials get back to the right places
where they can be found. This is a pretty easy
and relaxing activity. We guarantee you’ll
come across some intriguing books for your
own enjoyment too.
Most volunteer positions can be
flexible in hours and days (Tuesday,
Thursday or Saturday) and can require a
commitment to specific events or to one
or two hours per week for at least several
months (since some training may be
involved).
Ruch Library hours are Tuesday
11 am-5 pm, Thursday 1 pm-7 pm, and
Saturday 12 pm-4 pm.
Betsy Brauer,• 541-899-7438
Manager, Ruch Branch Library
Friends of Ruch Library
(FORL)
Through fundraising, volunteer
time, and sponsoring special events (our
current series is described elsewhere in this
issue) Friends of Ruch Library works to
support our branch library and maintain
expanded hours and service. Here are some
highlights of what is underway for 2009.
Support for extended hours
Expanded service at Ruch––being
open on Saturdays, and open 16 hours
weekly instead of just 8––depends on
community financial support. The county’s
reduced budget provides only 8 hours a
week for our library.
FORL is the group heading up the
work to continue extended hours. Our
fundraising in 2007 and 2008 paid for
expanded hours for 2008 and 2009, and
now we are raising the money for 2010.
All the proceeds of FORL activities
have always gone to supporting the library,
but the need to raise $12,000 each year for
expanded hours has required much more
than our traditional A-Frame Bookstore
and annual book sale can provide.
Fundraising for 2010 began with
the book sale in October 2008 and the
December Art Show and Sale, and we are
now planning for more events through the
rest of 2009.
The FORL Board cannot do this
alone: we need your ideas and participation.
The annual members’ meeting (on a
Saturday in April) will include discussion
of ways to raise the money for extended
hours. Watch for details of time and date,
as well as an accompanying special event.
If you have ideas or want to help
in any way, you can phone or email the
two contact people listed at the end of
this article. The campaign will need a
variety of volunteer help: ideas, planning,
and organization; set-up/take-down/
and other hands-on work at each event;
phone-calling, publicity design, and more.
There's something for everybody and every
level of involvement. The 2007-2008
campaign featured very successful concerts
by generous local musicians. Others with
special skills may wish to donate the
teaching of a class with the proceeds going
to the cause of extended hours. What are
your ideas? Please let us hear from you!
Small Canvas Art Sale
Artists: we have had about 40 small
stretched canvases (about 6 x 8 inches)
donated, which we’d like to distribute
to Applegate artists for painting/collage/
sketching, with a theme of “The Applegate
Valley”. The completed works will be
sold in an event to benefit Ruch Library.
Contact one of the individuals below, to
get on the list if you’d like to participate.
The A-Frame Bookstore
Our bookstore is tiny on the outside,
but inside is a whole world of books (as well
as CDs and DVDs) at the most reasonable
prices you’ll find anywhere, from twenty
five cents to one dollar. All proceeds
support the Ruch Library.
We now have one bookcase full of
New Arrivals, changing every month. The
Children’s Room has a section of materials
for learning/teaching math, science,
language, and so on (home schoolers, take
notice!). Other special sections feature large
print books, and books on cassette.
The A-Frame Bookstore is open the
same days at the library but slightly fewer
hours: Tuesday 12-4 pm, Thursday 2-6 pm
, Saturday 12-4 pm.
Stop by for a visit soon. And your
donations of books/CDs/DVDs are always
welcome. Recycle, clear your shelves, and
help your library!
Keeping in touch with FORL
Our web site at www.forl.org has
the up-to-date Calendar of events at the
Library, a page of expanded descriptions
(“More About Events”), and pages about
“Staff and Volunteers”, “Library News”, a
form to print out and join FORL ($6/year)
and “Library Resources”. This last page has
how-to’s about some not-so-well-known
services and features, including: download
free audiobooks; get books at another
branch sent to Ruch for you to pick up;
find help, during library hours or not,
with web searches, reference questions, and
homework; renew your books by phone or
computer; find out about delivery of library
materials to housebound individuals.
The new Applegater online calendar,
http://www.applegater.org/Community_
Calendar.htm, is a great new listing of
community events including those of
FORL. And the Outpost’s website has
a community calendar too, at http://
outpostintheapplegate.com/pages/events.
Check both these resources for fun and
useful stuff and be sure to submit your
group’s events to them.
FORL also sends out emails (prior
to each FORL event) and a newsletter
every two or three months. The newsletter
goes out to our email list and we will be
posting printed versions on the library
bulletin boards.
Ruch Library is our community
center in so many ways, and FORL is the
community organization formed long ago
to support it. We want to include everyone.
Please let us hear from you.
Contact Cynthia Cheney, akantha@
mac.com to be added to our email list,
participate in the Small Canvas Art Sale, or
with suggestions about the website.
Contact Kaye Clayton, FORL
President, 541-899-1044 to volunteer,
offer ideas about fundraising or FORL
activities, or participate in the Small
Canvas Art Sale.
Applegate Library
News
Oregon celebrated it’s 150th
birthday this past February. The Oregon
State Library is promoting a statewide
reading program. The program is about
early immigrants who settled in Oregon.
The reading material consists of three
books, one for each of three age groups.
The adult book is “Stubborn Twig”
by Lauren Kessler. It is about several
generations of a Hood River Japanese
Family. There will be some special
activities at some of our library branches
that you may want to participate, watch
for news releases in the near future.
Speaking of special activities,
Bev Mays won the Barnes and Noble
gift certificate drawing for the adult
Winter Reads Program this past year.
Congratulations Bev!
It’s not just the books that make
us remember the library, it’s the services:
Phyllis, Thalia and Carole who are there
to answer your questions, help you use
the computers, lead you to the “sale
shelf ” where you can purchase barely used
books for a dollar. And don’t forget the
meeting room, the place we all count on
for so many of our own uses: Applegate
See APPLEGATE, page 9