Citizenship Informational Session on Saturday, October 12 at 1pm

Cypress Park Branch is pleased to offer a Citizenship Informational Workshop offered by the International Rescue Committee on Saturday, October 12, 2013 at 1:00pm. This workshop will cover the benefits of becoming a citizen, how the application process works, how to request a fee waiver, unlawful immigration practice, and how you can get help applying. Free materials to help you study for the citizenship exam will also be provided. This program will be bilingual English/Spanish.

Personal Finance Basics, Saturday September 21 at 2pm

Cypress Park Branch is pleased to host a Personal Finance workshop from 2:00-3:00pm. Our presenter is from CalStateLA Federal Credit Union. This workshop covers how banking works, common issues, how loans work, the dangers of predatory lending, and basic planning and budgeting. This program will be presented both in Spanish and in English.

Alice Bag will join us October 2nd to discuss "Violence Girl"

(Image created by Emilio Medina of www.MuyCreative.com)

Alice Bag was the lead singer of the Bags, the first female fronted punk band to play the Masque during the West Coast punk revolution of 1977. Her new book, Violence Girl, From East LA Rage to Hollywood Stage is the story of her upbringing in East LA, her eventual migration to Hollywood and the euphoria and aftermath of the first punk wave. Violence Girl reveals how domestic abuse fueled her desire for female empowerment and sheds a new perspective on the origin of hardcore, a style most often associated with white suburban males.

Alice is a long-time blogger, turned author and a former bilingual elementary school teacher. An outspoken activist, feminist and a self-proclaimed troublemaker, Alice brings her Chicana punk attitude to the printed page in her new book Violence Girl, East L.A Rage to Hollywood Stage.

Alice will join us October 2nd at 6pm with her book "Violence Girl". She'll be reading excerpts from her book and performing a couple of acoustic numbers. 

Check out some of Alice's music on soundcloud.

Summer Teen Reading Program 2013

We're exciting to be starting our Teen Summer Reading Program for 2013: Reading Is Delicious! Here's a quick list of our upcoming events that teens can participate in at the Cypress Park Branch Library.

Thursday June 20 at 4pm

Shrinky Dinky Shapes

Blast to the past by using Shrinky Dinks to create anything from bracelet charms to key chain accessories!

Thursday June 27 at 4pm

Henna Tattoos with Amaya
Learn about the ancient art of henna tattooing and get a personalized henna tattoo. 

Thursday July 11 at 4pm

Make your own Custom Donuts

 Learn how to use this simple, yummy, and beautiful recipe to entertain and wow your friends and loved ones at special get-togethers.

Thursday July 18 at 4pm
Delicious Green Smoothies

Learn  how to make delicious green smoothies with frozen fruit, kale, and spinach. They're so tasty you won't even notice that they're good for you too!

Thursday July 25 at 4pm

Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Channel your inner chef and make gourmet grilled cheese to wow and amaze your friends. All supplies will be provided.

Thursday August 1 at 4pm

The Art of Pretzel Making

Make a decorative creation that you can eat at the end! Decorate your pretzel with chocolate and other yummy things. So pretty you may not want to eat it!

Lady And The Tramps perform at the Cypress Park Block Party

George Magallanes sings with Mariachi Los Reyes at the Cypress Park Bloc...

Lalo Alcaraz at our Fear And Loathing in L.A. event

Mike "The Poet" Sonksen at Fear And Loathing in L.A.

Deadlee at Fear And Loathing

Marie at our Fear And Loathing in L.A. event April 24, 2013

Luis J. Rodriguez at Fear And Loathing in L.A.

Santino Rivera at our Fear And Loathing in L.A. event

New and Noteworthy Fiction

I am pleased to highlight some recent titles Cypress Park Branch Library has acquired. Get them here first, before I check them out and take them home myself. They can be found in our New Book section.

American Elsewhere, by Robert Jackson Bennett

The heroine of this novel inherits her deceased mother’s house in Wink, New Mexico, a town that doesn't exit on maps. As she begins to learn about the community and its inhabitants, she uncovers the town’s dark secrets. Booklist’s David Pitt calls it, “A beautifully written, claustrophobic, and deeply memorable horror novel.”

Claustrophobic and deeply terrifying. My favorite kind!

Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir by Deborah A. Miranda

Like David Treuer’s Rez Life, Miranda’s memoir is part California history and part biography. If you’re a fan of Sherman Alexie’s fiction and are interested in the history of indigenous people in California, you’ll love this.

Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales by Yoko Ogawa

Japanese author Ogawa was short listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2010. His new collection of stories features 11 unnamed characters whose narratives interlock in unique and imaginative ways. Donna Seaman, reviewer for Booklist writes, “Anger, mayhem, and murder are in the air, yet Ogawa lulls us with psychological tenderness and evocative details until the macabre bursts forth full strength.”

And if those don't doesn't interest you, we have all five volumes of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. I'm finishing up A Dance with Dragons. If you've seen the HBO series Game of Thrones and want to know what happens before waiting an entire year for the new season to start, read the books instead! Request your copy of The Game of Thrones at the Information Desk or go online to www.lapl.org and order it through our website.

Cypress Park Community Appreciation Day

We're thrilled to announce a joint effort with Councilman Ed Reyes' office to host a Cypress Park Community Appreciation Day Block Party. Our library parking lot will be closed off to cars so that city departments and local non profit organizations can join us to talk to residents about all the services they offer. Alice St. will be closed halfway down the block starting at Cypress Ave to make room for a stage where live bands will entertain the crowd.

The fun takes place, Sat. June 8th from 12-6pm. Join us.


Already confirmed to join us.

                                                           The Library Store on Wheels

                                                               Friends of The L.A. River 

Greater Cypress Park Neighborhood Council

Latina Mamis

Cypress park Family Source Center

                                               Gang Reduction Youth Development

Aztecs Rising

                                                      Paradise Fine Cookies and Ice Cream

                                                       CambalaCHE's Gourmet Food Truck



Entertainment 

 

Marisa Ronstadt-Mendoza 

4-6pm DJ Prodijay

DJ Prodijay

                                          
                                               

                                                   

If you're a local non profit organization and would like to reserve a booth, please get in touch with us. We'd be happy to reserve a booth for you.

Stay tuned. More updates to follow.

Click here to download and print the flyer.

News from Cypress Park Library

Hello Cypress Park! I'm Erika Caswell, the new Senior Librarian. I was appointed in late March, and I hope to bring you updates on our collections, resources, programming, and other events of interest happening at the library. I'm very happy to be here and look forward to getting to know the community.

We now have a new book section! It is located near the Citizenship Corner, right by the Information Desk. Currently there are only a few titles on the shelf, but check back for updates. We purchase books, music CDs, DVDs, and other materials every month and receive packages daily, so look there for new fiction, non-fiction, and staff picks.

In the coming month, I will be writing reviews of materials, especially cookbooks and nonfiction. I am an avid cook, and I frequently check out cookbooks from the library to test them before deciding to purchase them for personal use at home. I'm also an avid reader, so I'll be posting about new and noteworthy fiction titles as well.

If you have suggestions for what to buy, please email us at cypprk@lapl.org and let us know. We welcome any and all input that you can provide to make our library more relevant to your needs.

Fear and Loathing in Los Angeles: Spoken Word, Music and Arte for the next Revolution.

              Author, independent publisher and friend of the library, Santino Rivera, is making another trip West to Los Angeles in April so you know we have to collaborate for another program. If you joined us for our previous "¡Ban This!: An Evening Of Mass Education" book signing you know what we're talking about. We had 23 of the books' 39 contributors sharing their contributions. If you missed it, you can check it out here.

           This time around we want to to something just as cool but a little different. We're calling this April 24th (6-7:30pm) event "Fear and Loathing in Los Angeles: Spoken Word, Music and Arte for the next Revolution. 

           Artists will be displaying their Art/Photography and Poets will be sharing theirs with a live band providing some tunes. We're still adding to the list of performers as they confirm and this is what we have so far.


Poets 

Santino Rivera



Luis J. Rodriguez

Listen to "My Name's Not Rodriguez"

Frank S. Lechuga

Mike Sonksen

Deadlee

Ricardo Lira Acuña

Jim Marquez

Art/Photography

Lalo Alcaraz

Art Meza

More announcements to come. Stay tuned!

Stickers designed and donated by Emilio Medina with www.MuyCreative.com commemorating this program will be available for sale at this event for $3 each or 2 for $5. All proceeds will go to The Friends of The Cypress Park Library and will be used to fund future library programs, events and activities.
 

You are not going to want to miss this event BUT just in case getting here is geographically impossible, remember you can still join us online at
 www.livestream.com/cypressparklibrary 

It's our pleasure to welcome the super talented students from PUC Schools as our musical guests for the evening. They will be providing the soundtrack for the evening's poets.
 

Yancey Quiñones and Antigua Coffee will be in the house donating some light refreshments for this event. 

"East L.A. Interchange"

                   Join us Wednesday March 20th, from 6-7:30pm for a screening of  "East L.A. Interchange", a documentary put together by Producer/Director, Betsy Kalin, and her team. This is a FREE screening and open to all ages. 

 "The premise of our documentary is that the diversity of today is not essentially different from the diversity of the past. Using Boyle Heights, the oldest neighborhood in East Los Angeles as an example, we explore its history, challenges, and triumphs throughout its 40 years as a multiethnic community."  

 

Check out a short trailer of East L.A. Interchange here. 

For more information visit www.bluewatermedia.org and consider donating to the indiegogo acct. here. This documentary is a work in progress and your support can help complete it.

Spoken Word is Alive in Los Angeles

  Our Open Mic returns Thursday March 14th  (6-7:30pm) and it returns with a bang. We welcome our friend, L.A. Poet, Journalist & Historian, Mike Sonksen A.K.A. "Mike The Poet" to our library.

Mike brings Spoken Word to life in Los Angeles. Just check out this video clip below. 

                               

Also, check out this interview we did with him back in Sept. of last year. "Poetry is Alive in Los Angeles"

The Open Mic is open to everybody. No one will be turned away. You've got the voice. Let us help amplify it. 

Can't join us in person? Follow along online as this program will be live streamed at www.livestream.com/CypressParkLibrary beginning at 6pm. We'll also be sharing pictures so follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @CypressParkLAPL.

For more info on Mike Sonksen and where you can catch his live performances including monthly shows at The Last Bookstore in Downtown L.A. follow him on Twitter at @MikeThePoetLA or check out L.A. Letters on www.kcet.org.