Preparing for "An Evening of Mass Education"

A lot of preparation went into what might be the biggest literary event we might see for a good while. We pulled out all the stops for "An Evening of Mass Education: ¡Ban This! Book Reading/Signing". We first put the word out on Twitter and with the help of many friends we've made online, it spread like wild fire. Through collaborative efforts from many allies on Twitter, articles on websites like www.aztlanreads.com and KCET.org and Lalo Alcaraz mentioning the program on his radio show, "The Pocho Hour of Power", on www.KPFK.org, before we knew it, 25 of the book's 39 contributor's had agreed to be here to join us - including the book's editor, Santino Rivera, who flew out from his home in St. Augustine, Florida.

Emilio Medina, graphic designer and owner of www.MuyCreative.com created and donated a design to the Friends of the Cypress Park Library who would sell it as stickers and raise $115 at the event.

We had big names like Lalo Alcaraz, creator of La Cucaracha comic strip, local writers like Matt Sedillo, Jim Marquez and Frank Mundo. College professors like Francisco X. Alarcon and Dr. Rodolfo F. Acuña read their contributions from the book. Their participation showed great support for the spirit of the event, for the other writers,  as well as for the editor/writer responsible for  ¡Ban This!,  Mr. Santino J. Rivera.

Santino Rivera reading his poem, "Librarian's Creed". He wrote and dedicated this poem to our branch.

Earlier in the day, while he was at L.A. City Hall, a reporter asked Councilman Ed Reyes his thoughts on Dr. Rudy Acuña appearing at our event.  Mr. Reyes decided at that moment that he had to come to Cypress Park to not only see Dr. Acuña in person, but to make a public pledge of gratitude for the impact Dr. Acuna's work has made on the councilman's life and intellectual awakening. In the video clip below, Councilman Reyes addresses the people in attendance and talks about how important our online reach has proven to be.

"We're going to be breaking through a lot of walls because your voice will be heard." - Ed Reyes

Here are some of the pix we pulled off Instagram to show the experiences our guests wanted to share with the world.

    

KPCC's Adolfo Guzman Lopez wrote an article on Santino Rivera, his book and our event. You can read it here.

Here are a couple of screen shots of tweets from the night.

 

We livestream every big event online at www.livestream.com/cypressparklibrary.
Viewers worldwide are able to join in on programs and chat with other viewers. For this particluar event we reached a total of 25 viewers.

Online ally and friend to our library, Cindy Marie Jenkins did an amazing job live blogging the event. Please check out her awesome work here.

There are a lot of people who have yet to realize the power of social media. Social media has proven to us to be an effective tool when it comes to connecting us with patrons within our own community and those outside as well. 

We have Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook accounts that are all linked to much more efficiently spread the word on any branch related news. We also post tons of info on our library blog at www.cypressparklapl.blogspot.com.

Follow us online. Let's connect.