The Quilt Show at BPL-North Branch, May 7, 2008

More than fifty quilters, their guests and BPL's librarians gathered on this early, cool Wednesday morning for the 27th Quilt Show at the North Branch. It was started by two North Branch librarians, Phyllis Partridge and Starr LaTronica in 1970s, and became an annual tradition at North. If you're interested, please stop by North Branch to see these beautiful quilts, they will stay up until May 28.



Two breakfast tables that are full of goodies, coffee and tea. A friend told me that North Branch is famous for its customer service and good food that staff and patrons bring to programs or as treats to fellow workers, librarians and friends.











Quilts that are hung from the beams and walls in the Adults' Reading Room.



North Branch Circulation Room's beautiful ceiling.



Debbie C. is a librarian at Central library, and she's one of the main organizers of the quilt show. She is very passionate about the quilt show and also a super baker. We, at the library give her a dear nickname, the "Baking Fairy." So staff, if you come across a dish full of cookies, bread and such at your site and they taste delicious, chances are that it may have come from the Baking Fairy's magic kitchen.



Tara R., a manager/librarian at North Branch welcomed quilters, co-workers and guests at the quilt show.
























Below are some of the middle sized and large quilts at the show. Each one of them has an interesting story to tell.











Detail of a big quilt.












Quilts in the Children's room.















Some of us library workers are posing for pictures and joking around. Hey! We are not always serious, Hush! Hush!, stereotypical librarians that everybody often thinks of -- the ones with glasses and hair done up like an onion -- authoritarian types that don't know anything but books. I got that impression a lot when I tell people that I work at the library, they would say "You don't look like a librarian at all!" We are a BPL's diverse bunch and we know how to have fun like everyone else too ... Sometimes.

Third Annual Children's Day at BPL-Central, May 3, 08

We celebrated the Third Annual Children's Day at Berkeley Public Library a little earlier in the day than the previous years - from 10am to 12pm instead of in the afternoon so only about thirty parents and children showed up, but we had fun nevertheless. We had music and songs with Juan Sanchez, magic with Andrew, and of course, origami with me, Nga Trinh.





Here I am with the senior librarian in charge of the program, Erica G. She got us all the supply that we need that day. Thank you Erica and the Friends of the BPL.



I showed the children and their parents to make a pinwheel, a jumping frog, a fan and a glider. The pinwheel was a big hit with everybody.



This young lady (I forgot her name) told me that she came to the library just for the origami. She got very excited, eager to learn and was neat with her fold. Her main objective was to learn the popular crane fold, which I taught exclusively to her that day.



These two young ladies became my assistants throughout the program. They were fast learners, and they helped out a lot with the children and the clean up afterward. Thank you, ladies.




Here! Would you like to make a jumping frog? A little-jumping-frog made from a business card that can actually jump, which fascinates kids and adults alike.









While we were busy with the folds, my son, Hong-Bao went around and took pictures of other programs, and he really did a great job. Thank you, Bao.



Fun music with Juan Sanchez.









Free books and CDs for parents and their children.



...And Bao came back to my tables to take more pictures.



This mother made a beautiful red pinwheel for her baby.









It's always nice to see parents and their children making their own toys. Origami is a fun-to-learn, hands-on process that turns a two dimensional sheet of paper to three dimensional object in just a few seconds. Pretty neat! See you all next year or at my near future workshops at the North Branch! Please check out some origami books at our five libraries; we have lots of them - from easy to intermediate to sophisticated folds. Cheers, and keep on making beautiful things and enjoy being creative!