by Jill Forman
The good news continues for Ventura’s libraries. Ventura County entered the Red Tier on the 15th, which means computer access returning at the branches. Contact your local branch for hours, and to make reservations. Also, the Friends of the Library can plan a book sale next month. We have so many quality books at our warehouse and are excited to share them with the book loving community members.
New Librarian
Dolly Knight has been appointed Senior City Librarian for Ventura, starting the week of March 23rd. Staff have been covering that position in addition to their normal duties plus dealing with the constant changes of the pandemic. They deserve a lot of appreciation for the job of keeping everything running smoothly.
Dana Vinke, Deputy Library Director, sent this information about her: Dolly began her library career at the Ojai Library as a Library Technician. She later worked at the Camarillo Library, then served as Director of the Ventura County Law Library for 3 years… She has been a Senior Librarian for the Santa Barbara Public Library where she oversaw Patron Services and Branches. Ms. Knight was City Librarian for the Ventura County Library’s East Region overseeing the Ray D. Prueter, Piru, Fillmore and Oak Park Libraries.”
Grant awarded
Kudos to our amazing Fund Development Team for their work securing this.
Ventura Friends of the Library has announced an initial gift of $7,000. from Aera Energy LLC to kick off its funding campaign for Ventura County Libraries online tutoring program BrainFuse.
BrainFuse is a virtual, free, bilingual tutoring program for students from elementary school through early college. The tutors help students work through their problems so that they can do it themselves next time.
To access BrainFuse, go to the main library website, vencolibrary.org, click on the elibrary tab, and scroll down the alphabetical listing to Help Now. Or use this address: https://www.vencolibrary.org/library-collection/help-now-brainfuse
There is an instructional video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgUXOeP2IFs&list=PLCz8pIXNBjhi-L22vZecNVHVtE5pGJpiI. There are videos in English and Spanish.
“It is no secret that our students are struggling during this pandemic and we need to do what we can to support continued learning,” explains Michele Newell, public affairs representative for Aera Energy. “BrainFuse is a free program families can use to keep students on track and provide them the extra help they may need. We are partnering with Ventura Friends of the Library because Aera has always been a steadfast supporter of education and programs that help our children be their absolute best. They are our future and we are keenly invested in the future of our community.”
Change in Hill Road book group date
Due to a schedule conflict, the group will meet Tuesday, April 6th at 5 PM. Linda Cherry will send out a Zoom link in the coming weeks. The book is The Vanishing Half.
Online bookstore update
“Lots of good fiction and DVD’s” says Leslie Bellmore, the online bookstore guru.
