MAY 24, 2018 // 9
‘Godmother Death and Other
Tales’ at the Astoria Library
ASTORIA — Travel to
faraway places and have
exotic adventures, without
leaving the safety of your
chair, under the spell of
tales spun by storyteller
Alton Takiyama-Chung,
6 p.m. Saturday, May 26,
at the Astoria Library, 450
10th St.
The event is intended
for adults and teens, but
everyone is welcome.
Admission is free.
Takiyama-Chung will
perform “Godmother
Death and Other Tales,” a
compilation of folktales
and legends from Mexico,
Japan, Hawaii and Chi-
na. The stories are about
spring, rebirth, death and
things that are not always
what they seem.
Japanese-Korean
storyteller Alton Takiya-
ma-Chung grew up with
the superstitions and mag-
ic of the Hawaiian Islands.
He tells stories of Hawaii,
WWII Japanese-Ameri-
COURTESY ASTORIA LIBRARY
Cannon Beach Library
cans, and Asian folktales.
He has performed at the
Timpanogas and St. Louis
Storytelling Festivals, and
at storytelling festivals
in the Cayman Islands,
Singapore, Vietnam and
Thailand. He will be a fea-
tured teller at the National
Storytelling Festival in
October 2018. To learn
Old, new books abound at
Cannon Beach Library sale
more, visit altonchung.
com.
The Astoria Library
is guided by the mission
statement: “Explore ideas,
engage minds, excite imag-
ination.” For information
about library programs and
services, contact library
staff at 503-325-7323 or
visit astorialibrary.org.
Earth, wind and firing: meet
ceramicist Richard Rowland
ASTORIA — Local artist,
instructor and kiln-builder
Richard Rowland will give
a presentation on his use of
natural processes and the
elements at 7 p.m. Tuesday,
May 29, at the Astoria Library
(450 10th St.).
Rowland, who in recent
decades has worked exten-
sively in the hot, changing
atmospheres of the Anag-
ama firing process, will take
attendees on a visual jour-
ney of his experiences with
wind, fire, clay and earthen
materials. His discussion
will explore the way human
communities and nature mix
and unfold into a different
environment.
DOUG WOOD PHOTO
Storyteller Alton Takiyama-Chung
Rowland has participated
in exhibitions throughout the
Pacific Northwest and interna-
tionally, in Tasmania and
New Zealand. Locally, he has
created art for installations,
including the ceramic mosaic
at the Columbia Memorial
Hospital Cancer Center, and
for fundraisers such as the
Community Bowls benefits
for women’s resource centers.
The Astoria Library is
guided by the mission state-
ment: “Explore ideas, engage
minds, excite imagination.”
For information about library
programs and services, con-
tact library staff at 503-325-
7323 or visit astorialibrary.
org.
COURTESY ASTORIA LIBRARY
Richard Rowland, an Asto-
ria artist
CANNON BEACH — From
thousands of books residents
and visitors donated to the
Cannon Beach Library this
past year, library volunteers
have selected hundreds of
rare, old and classic books
for an annual Memorial Day
Weekend fundraiser.
This year the Rare &
Old Book Sale takes place
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday
through Monday, May 26
to 28, at the library (131 N.
Hemlock St.).
The books selected for
this special sale range from
$1 to $600 each — prices
far lower than found online
and in brick-and-mortar
used bookstores. Most books
are priced under $10. This
sale features first-edition,
author-signed, collectible,
richly bound and simply
interesting old books.
Collectors will find
surprises, including many
Modern Library and Every-
man’s Library editions and
numerous books signed by
the late author Ursula K. Le
Guin, a resident of Portland
and Cannon Beach.
Cannon Beach Library
differs from a public library
in that it is a member-owned
nonprofit organization that
has served the library and
information needs of resi-
dents and visitors in Cannon
Beach and Arch Cape since
1927.
The City of Cannon
Beach provides a small sub-
sidy to the library and patron
fees help, but numerous
fundraising events, such as
this Memorial Day Weekend
sale — along with donations
from library members, resi-
dents and visitors, and pro-
ceeds from an always-open
Book Sale Room — cover
the costs of new books and
videos, a paid office man-
ager, building maintenance,
office equipment, supplies
and utility bills.
Volunteers managing the
three-day book sale are also
selling tickets to a drawing
for a stunning handsewn,
heirloom “Grandmother’s
Flower Garden” quilt
donated by Marlene Laws,
a longstanding library
member.