The Library will be closed on Thursday, November 28 & Friday, November 29, 2024, in observance of Thanksgiving.

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Author Emily C. Hughes and her first book, Horror For Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You're Too Scared to Watch
Photo of author: Oliver Scott Photography
Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch Library, November 21, 2024

Emily C. Hughes (she/her) wants to scare you. Formerly the editor of Unbound Worlds and TorNightfire.com, she writes about horror and curates a list of the year's new scary books. You can find her writing elsewhere in the...

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Collage of books about female spies during World War II

Women Who Risked Everything: Female Spies of World War II

Deborah Savage, Librarian, History & Genealogy Department, Thursday, March 10, 2022

World War II required an enormous number of troops and personnel throughout the world. The unrelenting demand for labor opened up new opportunities for women. For the first time, the United States military established separate branches for women.


Collage of books about unknown genealogy, family tree and adoption

Uncovering Family Secrets: Forming a New Identity

Janice Batzdorff, Librarian, Monday, March 7, 2022

Imagine discovering that the man who raised you is not your biological father. That your mother’s race differs from how she presented herself. That the person you are attracted to is your sibling. That you are the descendant of a renowned individual. A monstrous one.


Author Freya Marske and her debut novel, A Marvellous Light

Interview With an Author: Freya Marske

Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch Library, Thursday, March 3, 2022

Freya Marske is one of the co-hosts of Be the Serpent, a Hugo Award-nominated podcast about SFF, fandom, and literary tropes, and her work has sold to Analog and been shortlisted for Best Fantasy Short Story in the Aurealis Awards. She lives in Australia.


Children eating lunch b & w photo from 1983

5 Picture Books Celebrating California Foodies

Kadie Seitz, Librarian, Youth Services, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

California Nouns: People, Places, and Things
California Food Culture


Author Andrea Hairston and her latest novel, Redwood and Wildfire

Interview With an Author: Andrea Hairston

Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch Library, Thursday, February 24, 2022

Andrea Hairston is a novelist, essayist, playwright, and the Artistic Director of Chrysalis Theatre. She is the author of Mindscape, shortlisted for the Phillip K. Dick and Otherwise awards, and winner of the Carl Brandon Parallax Award.


African-American classical composer, Julia Perry

Julia Perry - American Neoclassicist

Alan Westby, Librarian, Art, Music & Recreation Department, Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Julia Perry (1924-1979) was an American composer of African descent who had remarkable success in Europe and the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s. She made an international impression with her Stabat Mater, composed in 1951, and her Short Piece for Orchestra the following year.


Pictured: Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Mayor Eric Garcetti, Bich Ngoc Cao,City Librarian John Szabo, Meg DeLoatch

Congressman John Lewis: Civil Rights Leader and Trailblazer

Social Science, Philosophy and Religion Department, Central Library, Wednesday, February 23, 2022

John Lewis was born in Troy, Alabama, the third oldest son of ten children. His father was a tenant farmer, while his mother earned extra money doing housework for other families.


Japanese family gather beside an automobile at Wawona Tree in Yosemite National Park

Big Trees, Big Hearts: 5 Picture Books about Redwoods & Sequoias

Kadie Seitz, Librarian, Youth Services, Tuesday, February 22, 2022

California Nouns: People, Places, and Things
Big Trees


Collage of albums by African Americans available on Freegal and hoopla

Celebrate African American History Month With Great Music on hoopla and Freegal

Daniel Tures, Adult Librarian, Edendale Branch Library, Friday, February 18, 2022

February is African American History Month, but every month is a good month to celebrate African American history and culture, and what better place to do so than your local library!


Journalist and editor, Eliza Reid and her first book, Secrets of the Sprakkar

Interview With an Author: Eliza Reid

Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch Library, Thursday, February 17, 2022

Eliza Reid is a journalist, editor, and co-founder of the annual Iceland Writers Retreat. Eliza grew up on a hobby farm near Ottawa, Canada, and moved to Iceland in 2003, five years after winning a student raffle for a date with the man who later became her husband. That husband, Fudni Th.


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