#10: Scripps Ranch Branch

SCRIPPS RANCH BRANCH (You gotta have friends)

Visiting Time: 1:00-2:30PM
Did I get lost on my way? No (four for four!)
Book Checked Out: How the Quakers Invented America (David Yount)

Book Selection: 3 bookmarks
Seating: 4+ bookmarks
Staff: 4 bookmarks
Architecture/Atmosphere: 4 bookmarks
Total: 15+ bookmarks

Each day, I am impressed by the history contained in each library and their surrounding area. Who knew California had history?

The Scripps Ranch library opened March 13, 1993. It is 22,000 square feet and was built in the vein of Mission Revival architecture. Thomas and Nackey Scripps Meanley (who also opened this Ace Hardware) were the library's original benefactors, and this branch sits adjacent to where the Meaney's house used to be. The house's original doors and windows were salvaged and installed inside the library (see photos below).

Today I checked out How the Quakers Invented America. A friend from grad school is a Quaker. But other than what he's told me, I didn't know much about the religion. This is a really thoughtful book that, during a slightly hectic day, made me slow down and listen to quiet.

A passage:

"...I have yet to have a Friend (Quaker Church member) approach me to ask if I have been saved. If salvation rests wholly on having such a life-altering experience, I would have to say no. Most Quakers make do with much less. Faith coexists with doubt and is tested by it." (p.21)

Pictures:

(The Meanley house doors that lead into the children's room.)

(Meanley house windows that partition the aisles.)

(Perfect reading area.)

(Video of the interior courtyard.)

#9: College-Rolando Branch

COLLEGE-ROLANDO BRANCH (You gotta have friends)

Visiting Time: 1:30-2:45PM
Did I get lost on my way? No (three for three!)
Book Checked Out: Barron's Pass Key to the LSAT (Jerry Bobrow)

Book Selection: 3 bookmarks
Seating: 2 bookmarks
Staff: 4 bookmarks
Architecture/Atmosphere: 4 bookmarks
Total: 13 bookmarks

Oh, 805. How intimately I've come to know you these past nine days. Why does it seem that al the San Diego library branches are off the 805? When I think the San Diego, I think of the 5, not the 805. But, like I said, this whirlwind library tour is showing me that it's a great wide city out there.

The College-Rolando branch is a little like the Getty. Beautiful exterior, high ceilings, good light. But not a lot inside. It could hold a dozen more bookshelves.

The clerks I spoke with directed me to a fact sheet about the branch. It was initially 4,430 square feet, was opened in 1955, and cost $68,400 (including landscaping and furniture). In 2005, it was increased to 15,222 square feet.

A note on correctly finding my way to a library, for the third consecutive day. Yesterday, I prevented a runaway shopping cart from hitting a car in the University Heights' library parking lot. I think it helped my karma. But this afternoon, I left the College-Rolando branch and realized I'd parked in a lot for a Church, rather than the library. So it might take me an hour to find tomorrow's branch.

Today was the day of rejecting books. What follows is a list of books that I could've checked out because they adhered to my rule of reading outside of comfort zone, but ultimately didn't.
Rescue Me, He's Wearing a Moose Hat: and 40 other dates after 50
-I'm not dating anymore. This could be an eye-opening look into how the other half lives. (Plus, a moose hat?!)

Portuguese Pioneers in the US
-I've only known one Portuguese person in my life, and he no longer talks to me. Perhaps the book would've been a window into him.

The Pluto Files: the rise and fall of America's favorite planet
-True, this isn't a subject I know much about. But frankly, I'm just not interested in a lovefest with a planet.

Here's what I did choose: Barron's Pass Key to the LSAT. I picked it because I wanted to know just how much smarter lawyers are than I. I didn't find this out, but I did learn that the "use 'C'" approach I took with multiple-choice high school algebra exams wouldn't work here, either. I hope Bryan is on his game tonight.

Try this one:

Chrysanthemums that have not been fertilized in July will normally not blossom in October. In October, the chrysanthemums did not blossom.

With the premises given above, which one of the following would logically complete an argument:

A) Therefore, chrysanthemums were not fertilized in July.

B) Therefore, the chrysanthemums may not have been fertilized in July.

C) Therefore, the chrysanthemums pay blossom later in the fall.

D) Therefore, the chrysanthemums will blossom in the fall.

E) Therefore, the chrysanthemums will not blossom later in the fall.

(Still reading? The answer's B.)

Pictures:

(Video of the rear entrance.)

(Comfortable carpet.)

(Hard wooden chairs that aren't extremely comfortable, but do keep you awake.)

#8: University Heights Branch

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS BRANCH

Visiting Time: 12:30-1:30PM

Did I get lost on my way? No (Twice in a row!)

Book Checked Out: Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey (Alvin Ailey with Peter Bailey)

Book Selection: 2 bookmarks

Seating: 2 bookmarks

Staff: 4 bookmarks

Architecture/Atmosphere: 3 bookmarks

Total: 11 bookmarks

I have decided that, while on this thirty-six-day tour, I will no longer check out a book from an author I've already read. I also can't check anything out that's too "safe," as interpreted by me. Today I left the branch with Alvin Ailey's autobiography, Revelations. All I knew about Ailey was that he had a famous dance troupe. In the book, Ailey says that as a black child in the South, he didn't experience racism... Because he never saw any white people. Wow. They say books can take you to totally foreign places...

The librarian I spoke with, Jennifer, told me this branch opened in 1956. At the time, there was an ostrich farm (Bentley's) nearby. This was also a branch with a Bookmobile. The library's bottom floor was once for the Bookmobile, but is now used for a book sale on the third Sunday of every month. (The floor's not up to code, though, so browse at your own risk.).

Pictures:

(Simple, sturdy wooden shelves.)

(Mural on the outside. Look for the ostrich on left side.)

(Side view. The bookmobile used to pull up inside of those support poles.)

#7: Allied Gardens/Benjamin Branch

ALLIED GARDENS/BENJAMIN BRANCH

Visiting Time: 2:00-3:00PM

Did I get lost on my way? No

Book Checked Out: My Antonia (Willa Cather)

Book Selection: 2 bookmarks

Seating: 2 bookmarks

Staff: 4 bookmarks

Architecture/Atmosphere: 2 bookmarks

Total: 10 bookmarks

To me, San Diego is the 5/56 interchange, La Jolla Shores, the Cove, UTC, and PB and Mission Bay. These are my daily haunts. This library marathon is reminding me that San Diego is much bigger than my bubble.

The two library clerks I spoke with in Allied Gardens told me that this is a close-knit community filled with extremes: older citizens and young families. One clerk, Cheryl, said the library branch was built with funds from a local man. Edwin Arthur Benjamin. A Google search didn't return anything about this man (other than the fact that this branch was one slated to be closed during last year's budget woes). It is pretty cool to think that this man wasn't famous, but merely wanted to make sure people in Allied Gardens had a library. How perfectly simple.

Feeling in need of the comfort of a tried-and-true book, a classic, I checked out My Antonia. While the library is a bit bigger than yesterday's, the chairs and tables are all clustered in the middle, with bookshelves surrounding it. Sitting there reading, I sort of felt on display, a nerd in a zoo. But I got over it when I got completely engrossed in Cather's childhood..

Pictures:

(Like yesterday, one shot pretty much sums up the tiny branch.)

(In the classics section?)

(Plaque outside honoring the branch's benefactor.)

#6: Kensington-Normal Heights Branch

KENSINGTON-NORMAL HEIGHTS BRANCH

Visiting Time: 1:00-2:30PM

Did I get lost on my way? No

Book Checked Out: The Average American (Kevin O'Keefe)

Book Selection: 1 bookmark

Seating: 2 bookmarks

Staff: 4 bookmarks

Architecture/Atmosphere: 4 bookmarks

Total: 11 bookmarks

I spoke with a librarian named Kathy, who told me that this is the smallest branch (2,318 square feet) but has the largest circulation per square foot.

She directed me to a book, Kensington-Talmadge 1910-1997, which gives a full history of the neighborhood and its library. It cost $7,000 to build (including furniture!), and was opened in 1937. In 1962, it was remodeled to increase square footage; if you look at the above picture, the Spanish tile gabled roof is the original one.

The library was built on park land, and in 1983 a children's playground was installed. While in the library, it was nice to stroll the aisles and hear children playing outside. I doubt the building has a/c, so the windows were all opened and let in this great breeze.

Yesterday, Bryan thought the RB was claustrophobic, despite its tall ceilings. Kensington, the tiniest branch in the city, felt cozy and communal.

I checked out The Average American. As I'm on this thirty-six-day library mission, I think I was drawn to the author's own mission, which was to find the quintessential average joe/joan.

Because I'm checking out a book a day and for only a day, it's not possible to read them cover to cover. Before starting this project, I had been a read-every-word type of reader. The title page, the dedication, the foreword, the afterword. And even, when I'm feeling punchy, the note on the type. But this experience is changing my relationship with books. Of course they're written with the intention of being read from one cover to the other. But you can also read parts of a book and then turn it back in and be completely satisfied. I am certainly exposing myself to things I wouldn't otherwise know about.

Pictures:

(One photo pretty much captures the whole library.)

(Kensington history book.)

(Children's play area next to the library.)

#5: Rancho Bernardo Branch

RANCHO BERNARDO BRANCH

Visiting Time: 2:00-2:45PM

Did I get lost on my way? Yes (First Google Maps, now MapQuest leads me astray.)

Book Checked Out: Consider the Lobster: and other essays (David Foster Wallace)

Book Selection: 3 bookmarks

Seating: 4 bookmarks

Staff: 4 bookmarks

Architecture/Atmosphere: 3 bookmarks

Total: 14 bookmarks

Bryan accompanied to this library, my first such visit with a companion. The above rankings reflect our collective opinion. We would've given the architecture/atmosphere four bookmarks, except parking was really difficult, and spots were narrow. The library shares a lot with several restaurants and companies.

We talked with a half-time clerk name Peter, who said the library was opened in 1997. Local residents had raised $6M worth of seed money to begin the library's construction. The RB branch has the largest collection of large-print books, which Peter said was due to a wealthy, elderly, visually impaired local woman who donated money.

RB is also the second-busiest branch in terms of circulation. Apparently, the busiest is Bryan's and my home branch, Carmel Valley. We're number one! We're number one! I like to think I have a not-insignificant part in that top standing.

I checked out David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster, and read its titular essay. It begins with a discussion of the Maine Lobster Festival, but ultimately shifts to a discourse on whether lobsters feel pain when boiled. Included is a discussion of both physical pain and mental anguish, and also what it means for a human to inflict this suffering on another creature. It was heartbreaking to read such essay about suffering, especially knowing the author would go on to commit suicide four years later.

Pictures (with an older, non-busted camera):

(Water feature just inside the door.)

(Main entrance.)

(Cozy fireplace.)

#4: Serra Mesa-Kearny Mesa Branch

SERRA MESA-KEARNY MESA BRANCH

Visiting Time: 12:15-2:00PM

Did I get lost on my way? Nope

Book Checked Out: Tell Me a Story: Fifty Years and 60 Minutes in Television (Don Hewitt)

Book Selection: 3 bookmarks

Seating: 4 bookmarks

Staff: 4 bookmarks

Architecture/Atmosphere: 4 bookmarks

Total: 15 bookmarks

Holy cow, this has been my best experience yet. Here, I met a librarian named Adolfo. Who, when I told him about my 36/36 plan, gave me a tour!

SM-KM has a really large children's area and, in a few months, will also have an outdoor play area. There's currently a reading patio. How come none of the Orange County libraries I frequented in my youth had outdoor reading areas?

I have decided that libraries have a disproportionate amount of people who talk to themselves. And this despite the plethora of "Quiet" signs.

Tell Me a Story is Don Hewitt's memoir of his life and his time with 60 Minutes. Tonight, Bryan is going to hear a chapter from it, probably the one about reporting on big tobacco.

SM-KM opened in 2006, and is decorated in pine woods and dark blue. Nice and relaxing. I read two chapters from the Hewitt book in a great arm chair in a room with a high, vaulted ceiling.

Pictures:

I dropped my camera upon exiting the library, and it seems to be busted. I'll try to get the photos off it, and post them.