Endeavour in LA - A Moment in History

Photo by J. Atkinson, Sr. Librarian, Playa Vista Branch

In October 2012, the Space Shuttle Endeavour made its way through West Los Angeles to its permanent home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The 12-mile journey of Endeavour was one of the most exciting and historic events in recent history.

Read more about NASA and past and future space missions today at the Playa Vista library using the many electronic and print resources on space exploration, astronomy available!

2012 Summer Reading Programs Were a BIG Success!

These posters reflect the themes of Summer Reading Programs for 2012 at Playa Vista Branch Library. Teens celebrated "Own the Night," while children observed the theme "Dream Big." Summer 2012 had the greatest participation in Summer Reading ever!

The 2013 Summer Reading Programs will be starting soon, but teens and kids can visit the Playa Vista Library or your local branch all year long for programs, movies, great books, homework help and more!

New Attractive Eco-Friendly Landscaping Surrounds the Library

New landscaping was installed courtesy of Playa Capital this past year. Now the lawn, bushes, and trees are in full bloom this spring!

You may not know it, but Playa Vista is the first planned community in Los Angeles to use 100% recycled water for landscaping needs.

Interested in making your landscape and gardening projects eco-friendly? Stop by Playa Vista or your local branch library and browse through the many books on the subject and find out about workshops offered through the LAPL. Workshops on Organic Gardening, Recycling, and more are offered throughout the year!

STARs at Playa Vista

Playa Vista features STAR storytellers in a program that brings children and adults together from diverse cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds to share in the joy of reading. STAR stands for STorytellers And Readers.

For more information, come in to the Playa Vista Branch Library.

Check out the volunteers in our gallery of STARS!

Winning at the "Game of Kings" - the PV Teen Chess Club

On Saturday, March 9, 2013, at Loyola Marymount University, 36 youngsters from the ages of 5-16 played the "Game of Kings" in the LMU Invitational Youth Chess Tournament. Chess teams from the Playa Vista Public Library Chess Club, Venice Abbot-Kinney Public Library Chess Club, St. Mark School Chess Club, as well as several independent chess players applied their intellectual skills in a test of mental competition.

Special thanks to Clarence Griffin, Director, LMU Community and Government Relations for making this event possible and successful. Sponsors of the event included the Friends of Playa Vista Public Library, Anita Finkelstein, REALTOR®, Coldwell Banker, Santa Monica, CA., Isabelle Duvivier, Duvivier Architects, Venice, CA., E. Frank Graham, & Assoc's., the Commercial Real Estate Committee of the Beverly Hills Greater LA Assn. of REALTORS®, Aloha Royal Hawaiian Realty; with the kind and generous support& cooperation of Joseph Atkinson, Sr. Librarian, Playa Vista Public Library and Rachel Bindman, Sr. Librarian, Venice-Abbot Kinney Public Library. The tournament was overwhelmingly well received by the participants, parents, and hosts!

Chess tournament champions were: Alex Wang, Nidhi Muralidharan, Adarsh Pashikanti, Daniel Liang, Miquel Cruz, Shrijan Muralidharan, Tai Rutledge, William Huang, Jean-Marc Murray, Devanshu Singh, Khayman McDaniels, and Lea Arnoult, Honorable Mention.

 

The Playa Vista Library Teen Chess Club meets every Wedensday throughout the year from 4:15pm to 5:15pm. Players in grades 6 - 12 of any level - beginning, intermediate or advanced - are all welcome!

Celebrating Black History Month 2013 with "James Baldwin: A Soul on Fire"

On February 4, 2013, New York actor and editor Charles Reese brought famed American writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin to life by performing selected excerpts from the book and play which he edited, "James Baldwin: A Soul on Fire." His performance highlighted the 50^th anniversary of the historic meeting of James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne at a round table discussion on race relations with Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

 

Attendees for this special event came from throughout the Westside Los Angeles area.

 

See the Wikipedia article for more information on the play, "James Baldwin: A Soul on Fire," and search the LAPL catalog for more information James Baldwin.

Charles Reese can be reached via Twitter at @rcrexp.

A French Galleon Sails Into Playa Vista

 A generous anonymous donation brings French maritime history to the branch: A scale model of a famous French galleon, Le Mirage, now graces the Playa Vista Branch Library facility.

17th century France saw a fierce rivalry between naval architects, artists and craftsmen as each tried to outdo the other in constructing the finest and most lavish ship. A fine example of these excesses is Le Mirage, built during the reign of Louis XIV in 1675. Le Mirage was a first rate flagship, armed with 84 guns, in service with the French Navy.
 
The library has many excellent references on naval history, among them:

• The age of the ship of the line: the British and French navies, 1650-1815 / Jonathan R. Dull
• Battle at sea : 3,000 years of naval warfare / R.G. Grant