Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, January 26, 2019

4

SOUTH PASADENA - SAN MARINO

Mountain Views-News Saturday, January 26, 2019 

Library Set to launch pilot 
project ‘Library of Things’

Jackie Robinsons 100 Birthday

NASA Opportunity Rover 
Logs 15 Years on Mars

 


 In honor of the 100th 
Birthday of Jackie Robinson 
(1919-1972), a free 
screening of “The Jackie 
Robinson Story,” a classic 
1950 film starring Jackie as 
himself will be presented at 
the South Pasadena Public 
Library. The free event for 
all ages will be celebrated 
in the Library Community 
Room on Thursday, January 
31 at 7 pm on the eve of 
Black History Month. It 
is sponsored by the South 
Pasadena Public Library, 
the Friends of the South 
Pasadena Public Library, 
and the Lucille and Edward 
R. Roybal Foundation.

 Jackie Robinson was born 
in Cairo, Georgia on January 
31, 1919 and his family 
moved to Pasadena in 1920. 
As an outstanding four-sport 
star, Jackie attended Muir 
Technical High School and 
Pasadena Junior College. 
After his graduation, 
Robinson transferred to 
UCLA, becoming the 
school’s first student athlete 
to earn varsity letters in all 
four major sports.

 In 1942, Robinson joined 
the Army in Fort Hood, 
Texas. Despite the racism 
he encountered, Robinson 
eventually triumphed over an 
unjust court martial hearing 
and was given an honorable 
discharge. He then spent a 
year as the Athletic Director 
at Sam Houston College 
before receiving offers to 
play professional baseball 
in the Negro Leagues. After 
earning All Star accolades, 
Brooklyn Dodgers President 
Branch Rickey broached the 
idea to him to play on the 
Dodgers minor leaguer team 
in Montreal where he earned 
the league’s Most Valuable 
Player honors.

 Upon his call-up to the 
big club with the Brooklyn 
Dodgers in 1947, Jackie 
Robinson broke the 
color barrier in Major 
League Baseball. With 
his tremendous courage, 
outstanding play, and 
dedicated work for social 
change, he changed the 
consciousness of an entire 
nation. During his ten 
seasons, he was the first 
African-American to win 
a batting title. He was also 
the first black to be named 
a league MVP and he led 
the Dodgers to 6 pennants 
and a World Series title. 
Jackie Robinson was also 
the first Black player elected 
to the Hall of Fame and his 
number 42 is the only one 
permanently retired in all of 
Major League Baseball.

 Jackie Robinson worked 
tirelessly as a leader in the 
Civil Rights Movement and 
none other than Martin 
Luther King, Jr. called him 
a legend and a symbol in his 
own time. Rivaling only Babe 
Ruth as the most historically 
significant baseball player 
ever, Jackie Robinson is 
considered by many to be 
the most important figure in 
American sports history.

 “The Jackie Robinson Story” 
was initially released to 
theatres in 1953 during the 
era of racial segregation but 
was nonetheless accorded 
critical praise and strong box 
office receipts. It featured an 
outstanding performance by 
Ruby Dee as Jackie’s wife, 
Rachel Robinson. Although 
not a professional actor, 
Jackie Robinson’s potentially 
difficult portrayal of himself 
also earned high praises for 
its confident assuredness 
and restraint. And as 
might be expected, the re-
enacted baseball scenes are 
outstanding -- and in many 
ways they are superior to 
those in “42”, the 2013 
Jackie Robinson motion 
picture starring Chadwick 
Bozeman.

 Introductions to the film 
will be made by Mark 
Langill, Official Historian 
of the Los Angeles Dodgers, 
and Alex Boekelheide, 
Executive Director of 
Strategic Communications 
and Marketing, Pasadena 
City College.

The South Pasadena Public 
Library Community Room 
is located at 1115 El Centro 
Street. Doors will open 
at 6:30 p.m. no tickets or 
reservations are necessary, 
and refreshments will be 
served. Special surprises are 
planned as well. Thanks to 
the Los Angeles Dodgers, 
Pasadena City College, 
210eastsound, Videotheque, 
The Rose, and Movie 
Licensing USA. For more 
information, please call 
the South Pasadena Public 
Library at 626 403-7350.

 Celebrated with Film 
Screening at South 
Pasadena Public 
Library 

 As part of the City of South 
Pasadena’s FY 2018/19 
Strategic Plan, the South 
Pasadena Public Library will 
be launching its own ‘Library 
of Things’ as a pilot project 
during the first three months 
of 2019. A Library of Things” 
is a collection of non-
book, non-traditional items 
available for community 
members to borrow. The 
materials will be available for 
checkout from the Library 
in much the same way that a 
cardholder would check out 
a book or a CD.

 A ‘Library of Things’ could, 
for example, contain items 
like binoculars, garden tools, 
a telescope, a compass, a 
camera, a heavy duty stapler, 
and a cellphone charger. It 
could also contain a violin, 
a ukulele, and an acoustic 
guitar so library users could 
try them out on their own 
before deciding to buy one 
or start lessons. It could 
also provide toys, games, 
or sports equipment that a 
young family would only 
want to use for a short time.

 Novelty cake pans, a 
thermometer, kitchen 
utensils, a punchbowl, and 
party supplies could also 
be offered by a “Library 
of Things,’ while other 
provide materials that are 
curriculum-related, such as 
globes and maps, art supplies, 
and educational kits---- 
or just about anything else 
that isn’t too big, expensive 
or present risks or safety 
concerns. Things to avoid 
are items that are not durable 
and won’t hold up to heavy 
use.

 Borrowing from a 
‘Library of Things’ is one 
way of participating in 
the Sharing Economy. It’s 
also a sustainable, money-
saving practice. To start the 
operation, the Library will be 
drawing on its strengths of 
acquisition, circulation, and 
circulation in order to help 
community members to have 
free access to practical items 
that they may only want once 
a year or during a certain 
season.

 SHARE, a Library of 
Things in Frome, England 
has been credited with 
starting the movement that 
has been growing steadily 
during recent years in public 
libraries near and far. A 
community-centric ‘Library 
of Things’ should reflect the 
needs and desires a broad 
cross-section of its residents. 
It’s expected that residents 
of South Pasadena would 
want to check out different 
types of items than those of 
English townsfolk or even 
dwellers of somewhere else in 
California. Consequently, the 
Library will soon be posting 
a link to a brief survey that 
asks for suggestions from 
the public on this website 
in the next week or so. In 
addition, the Library will be 
distributing bookmarks and 
announcements about the 
survey process. Respondents 
will be able to suggest items 
they would most like to see 
the Library offer in its pilot 
Library of Things project 
expected to start in March. 

 For more information visit 
southpasadenaca.gov click 
on "library."

 
NASA’s Opportunity rover 
begins its 15th year on the 
surface of Mars. The rover 
landed in a region of the Red 
Planet called Meridiani Planum 
on Jan. 24, 2004, sending its first 
signal back to Earth from the 
surface at 9:05 p.m. PST (Jan. 
25, 2004, at 12:05 a.m. EST). 
The golf-cart-sized rover was 
designed to travel 1,100 yards 
(1,006 meters) and operate on 
the Red Planet for 90 Martian 
days (sols). It has traveled over 
28 miles (45 kilometers) and 
logged its 5,000th Martian day 
(or sol) back in February of 
2018.

 “Fifteen years on the surface 
of Mars is testament not only 
to a magnificent machine of 
exploration but the dedicated 
and talented team behind it 
that has allowed us to expand 
our discovery space of the Red 
Planet,” said John Callas, project 
manager for Opportunity 
at NASA’s Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory in Pasadena, 
California. “However, this 
anniversary cannot help but be 
a little bittersweet as at present 
we don’t know the rover’s 
status. We are doing everything 
in our power to communicate 
with Opportunity, but as time 
goes on, the probability of a 
successful contact with the 
rover continues to diminish.”

 Opportunity’s last 
communication with Earth 
was received June 10, 2018, 
as a planet-wide dust storm 
blanketed the solar-powered 
rover’s location on the western 
rim of Perseverance Valley, 
eventually blocking out so 
much sunlight that the rover 
could no longer charge its 
batteries. Although the storm 
eventually abated and the skies 
over Perseverance cleared, the 
rover has not communicated 
with Earth since then. However, 
Opportunity’s mission 
continues, in a phase where 
mission engineers at JPL are 
sending commands to as well 
as listening for signals from the 
rover. If engineers hear from 
the rover, they could attempt a 
recovery.

 Opportunity and its twin 
rover, Spirit, launched from 
Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 
2003. Spirit landed on Mars in 
2004, and its mission ended in 
2011.

 For more information about 
Opportunity and the Mars 
Exploration Rover program, 
visit: mars.nasa.gov/mer/
home/index.html

Crowell 
Public 
Library 
Events


Advances In Healthcare

Hal Slavkin, Professor and 
Dean Emeritus from USC, 
returns with a six-week 
class on Tuesdays, through 
February 12 at 12:30 p.m. that 
outlines the past and possible 
future of healthcare in this 
country. Learn about new, 
significant medical discoveries 
that may transform medicine. 
Sponsored by the Friends of 
the Library. No reservations 
are required. 

Movie Classics 

3rd Thursday of every 
month at 1:00 pm Join us for 
complimentary popcorn and 
free screenings of some of the 
best films ever made:

Jan 17: Money Ball, 2011

A baseball general manager 
reinvents the Oakland A’s 
by employing unorthodox 
scouting methods that 
initially make him a laughing 
stock in the major leagues.

Feb 21: The Hours,2002

Three women cope with 
sadness and dissatisfaction 
with their lives in this 
tale of Virginia Woolf, 
a ‘50s housewife and a 
contemporary book editor. 
Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore 
and Nicole Kidman star.

Mar 21: Sense and 
Sensibility,1995

This Oscar-nominated 
adaptation of Jane Austen’s 
novel about the still-single 
Dashwood sisters and how 
they cope with men, marriage 
and money after their 
father dies, features Emma 
Thompson and Kate Winslet.

 Crowell Public Library 
is located 1890 Huntington 
Dr, San Marino. For more 
information call (626) 300-
0777.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com