Chinese New Year

On Jan. 19, come celebrate the Chinese Year of the Dragon! Chinese dragons traditionally represent strong, good powers, especially with control over water, rainfall, hurricanes and floods. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength and good luck.

This school-age program will be held on Thursday afternoon from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Make crafts and have your Chinese horoscope read.

The McKinley Park Library is located at 601 Alhambra Boulevard in Sacramento. For additional information, call (916) 264-2700 or visit www.saclibrary.org.

Clergyman and social reformer Henry Ward Beecher once said, “A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.”

HIGH TECH LIBRARY. The Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library offers digital technology and old-fashioned reading help – all at one 21st century, modern facility. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Corrie Pelc

More than 100 years later, Google has made rifling through thick reference materials obsolete, and e-readers allow avid readers to download the latest novel with the click of a button.

Could it be then that the public library is not needed anymore?

Definitely not, says Brendle Wells, branch supervisor of the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library.

“I think people have a very outdated view of libraries – they think of them from their childhood and we’re not about just books anymore,” she says.

Opened in August 2010, the idea for the library took off in 2003, thanks to the efforts of then Sacramento City Councilman Robbie Waters. It took about six years for the Library to be built, according to Kathi Windheim, board member of the Friends of Pocket-Greenhaven Library.

Windheim refers to the Library as the “jewel of the Pocket” and “the hive” of the community.

“The parking lot is full every day when I drive by there,” she says. “I see it as ‘the hive’ with everybody going in and out – the moms taking their kids, the teens with WiFi to meet up, the seniors to check out the latest Lucky Day book. There’s something for everyone and it keeps changing as technology changes.”

Tech friendly

The Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library has embraced technology from the beginning, starting with its modern eco-friendly design featuring numerous electrical outlets and 24/7 WiFi throughout the building. The free wireless Internet access also lets the Library provide a service to the entire community.

“There are a lot of people that do not have Internet access – we provide that free-of-charge,” Wells adds. “They may have a laptop but they can’t get WiFi and we provide that.”

The Library also features 20 public Internet access terminals and when those are all full, library patrons can check out one of 20 netbooks. Wells says the laptop computers are very popular, especially for parents to use while with their young children.

Tech help

For those in need of some technology help, the branch’s “tech guru” Dave provides free one-on-one technology help to anyone who needs it.

“The very first appointment (Dave) had, he helped somebody with no computer skills learn how to fill out a job application online,” Wells says. “He’s helped people with e-readers use them with library books, helped people who just want to learn how to surf the Internet better – just pretty much anything he can help with.”

Technology is also important for the students from the next door School of Engineering & Sciences that frequent the library’s Teen Section after school. The area allows them to socialize, work on homework, and play computer games together. This has also spurred the library’s Teen Advisory Board (TAB), which Windheim says has two representatives on the Library Board.

Reading help

While technology is a main part of the library, that’s not to say reading is not. For early readers, the library offers the Ready to Read Room, offering hands-on activities to help with literacy learning.

“There’s a lot of activities that just build early literacy skills because early literacy skills have a number of different components – it’s not just reading,” Wells says. “The activities we have in there help build those skills.”

Reading Tower, mural

Readers of all ages can enjoy Windheim’s favorite section of the Library, the Reading Tower – a circular room with windows, padded seating, and a $20,000 commissioned mural that was a gift from the Friends of Pocket-Greenhaven Library to mark the Library’s first anniversary. The mural features pictures from literary treasures like Little Women, The Wizard of Oz, and Treasure Island.

“It’s really neat just to sit there and watch the kids go in and their eyes just pop open,” Windheim says.

Your ‘Lucky Day’

For adult book readers, the Library features monthly staff picks. Wells says the library staff is always happy to make a reading recommendation. And if you’re looking for a bestseller, it may be your “lucky day.”

“One of the things the Friends of the Library sponsor are the Lucky Day books, the best sellers,” Windheim says. “You don’t have to sign up to be on a waiting list – if you come in and you see the book there, it’s your ‘lucky day’ and you can check it out for three weeks.”

Popular programs

The library offers a number of events throughout each month, everything from book and movie discussion groups to a knitting group to its popular Lego Block Party. In January, the library will be offering programs for the college-bound on scholarships and financial aid. In February the library will be launching an ancestry workshop, and in February and March there will be programs for those looking for employment. Wells says the library is always looking for community members to come in and host new programs as well.

LITERARY IMAGES. A $20,000 mural depicting characters from beloved childrens’ books is a feature of the Reading Tower at the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library. The mural was a gift from the Friends of the Library, celebrating the library’s first anniversary last August. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Corrie Pelc

Become a Friend

As this modern library looks to continue to be a place for the community, Windheim says they need the community’s support to keep it going. Ways the community can help include purchasing books through the Friend’s bookstore in the Library and becoming a member of the Friends.

“With the budget cuts and economy, it would be a tremendous help for families of the Pocket to become Friends of the Library members to help us with the programs because we want to keep as many programs as we can,” she says.

Busier than ever

It’s the ability of the library to provide services and programs for everybody in the community that Wells says is one of the best things about the library.

“I think there are people who say libraries are obsolete, books are dead, and that is just not true,” she adds. “We’re getting busier and busier because people need us. We fill that digital divide.”

For more information on the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library and the Friends of the Pocket-Greenhaven Library, visit www.saclibrary.org.

corrie@valcomnews.com

The first phase of the renovation of Camp Mokitana – the old Camp Fire Girls camp located in River Bend (formerly Goethe) Park – will be celebrated when the camp’s amphitheater is dedicated in memory of Rotarian Chandler Copps on Sept. 15 at 10 a.m.

HAPPY CAMPERS. These Sacramento area children were among the last to attend traditional day camp at Camp Fire’s Camp Mokitana in Goethe (now River Bend) Park in 1999. / Photo courtesy

The renovation is the result of the hard work of the Sacramento area’s local Rotary clubs. Last year, Rotary District 5180 entered into a five year partnership with SaveMart Supermarkets for the purpose of raising funds to restore Camp Mokitana in Rancho Cordova.

The camp site is significant and holds great sentimental importance to generations of Sacramento area children – now adults – who attended summer Camp Fire camps at Camp Mokitana for well over a half century. Camp Fire was particularly strong in Sacramento from the 1910s up until the early 2000s, serving thousands of children and making many resources available to the community. In fact, in the early 20th century, Camp Fire Girls partnered with its “brother” organization, the Boy Scouts of America – as both organizations were founded in 1910. For example, scouting groups leased the property from Camp Fire for their outdoor programs from time to time.

It was at Camp Mokitana that children discovered “Charley” – the caterpillar who can only eat Dutchman’s Pipevine, who later spins a chrysalis (complete with hold-fasts) to later emerge as the Dutchman’s Pipevine Butterfly. Camp Mokitana is Charley’s habitat, and young people learned how threatening the habitat could threaten the life of the butterflies. Kids learned the importance of conservation. Many made “We camp with Charley!” their rallying cry.

Camp Mokitana campers made their first friendship bracelets, honed their archery skills, learned outdoor skills, hiked together…and made new friends as they ate their first s’mores and sang camp songs around the bonfire in the old amphitheater.

The Camp Fire Girls became co-educational in 1974, becoming Camp Fire Boys and Girls. During the 1990s, the council was headquartered in East Sacramento. A decline in membership and lack of community funding for Camp Fire programs eventually led to the sale of the Sacramento-Sierra Council’s other camp, Camp Minaluta, in 2004. Eventually the Sacramento-Sierra Camp Fire USA Council closed in 2008, ending nearly a century of service to the Sacramento region.

As the council declined, Camp Mokitana fell into a state of disrepair. Rattlesnakes were no longer the only hazard. Trails to the American River were overgrown, the block house was in shambles, the Climbing Trees needed a safety check and the camp sites all needed repair. A valuable resource for children’s education was lost to the community.

It is, in some ways, appropriate that the organization whose motto is “Service Above Self” – Rotary – would come to the rescue of a facility of an organization whose slogan was “Give Service” – the Camp Fire Girls. Rotary is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional, and community leaders. Members of Rotary clubs, known as Rotarians, provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. To restore Camp Mokitana to serve the community made sense to one local Rotarian in particular.

Chandler Copps, the founding president of the Rotary Club of Rancho Murietta, saw the need to restore this outdoor resource to the children of the community. He spearheaded

MAKE NEW FRIENDS. Camp Mokitana was a place where children could learn new games, study the natural world and build friendships – as these children in 1999 did. Rotary District 5180’s efforts will restore the camp for use by youth organizations in the Sacramento regional community. / Photo courtesy

the effort to persuade members of Rotary’s District 5180 to support this effort. Funds would need to be raised, he realized, and strategic partnerships made with local authorities and businesses. Copps also reached out to SaveMart Supermarkets, which in turn stepped up to help.

A golf tournament held last October successfully raised over $57,000 for the restoration project. This money has helped the first phase of the restoration to near completion.

Phase 1 of the project includes the renovation of the camp’s parking area, the path leading to the river, and the amphitheater. When completed, Camp Mokitana will again be useable by scout groups, church groups, Boys and Girls Clubs, and other youth groups as a camping facility in a rural area within an urban setting. The property is now owned by Sacramento County.

Chandler Copps, a respected Rotarian and member of the Paul Harris Society, passed away in early 2011.

“Chandler was an outstanding Rotarian who was responsible for getting us involved with SaveMart and the partnership that made this project a reality,” said Clarence Parkins, Rotarian and past district governor. “The amphitheater will henceforth be known as the Chandler Copps Amphitheater in his memory.”

Members of Rotary District 5180 will continue to hold future work days at Camp Mokitana as their work to renew the facility continues. They will also host the 2011 SaveMart/Governor’s Cup Golf Tournament at the Rancho Murieta Country Club on Sept. 23. Funds from the tournament will help Rotary to continue to raise the funds necessary to rebuild this camping facility for the community. To purchase tickets, make a donation or for more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/rotarytournament.