Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, April 6, 2019

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ALTADENA - SOUTH PASADENA - SAN MARINO

Mountain View News Saturday, April 6, 2019 

South Pasadena Library to 
Launch ‘Library of Things'

Huntington and Caltech 
Launch Research Institute

South Pasadena: Take the 
Community Budget Survey

 
The City of South 
Pasadena is facing budget 
deficits in the next several 
years ranging from $500,000 
a year to $1 million a year or 
more.

 Your input will help your 
elected representatives 
make decisions on a series 
of potential solutions to 
close the deficit and ensure 
financial sustainability 
to maintain and improve 
the quality of life in South 
Pasadena.

 Before taking the survey, 
please take a few minutes to 
read a budget presentation 
with background and 
detailed information on 
the City’s five-year budget 
forecast.

 The survey and budget 
presentation can be found at 
southpasadenaca.gov

 The Huntington Library, Art 
Collections, and Botanical 
Gardens and Caltech 
announced the launch of a 
new research institute focused 
specifically on the history 
of science and technology. 
Positioned to become the 
preeminent institute of its 
kind in the western United 
States, the Caltech-Huntington 
Advanced Research Institute 
in the History of Science 
and Technology will extend 
collaborative historical research 
between a premier science 
and engineering university 
and a premier research library 
with extraordinary holdings 
in the history of science and 
technology.

 “The Huntington is already 
an important center for 
the study of the history of 
science,” said Steve Hindle, 
W. M. Keck Foundation 
Director of Research at The 
Huntington. “This new 
institute is a collaboration 
that will strengthen existing 
activities, add new programs, 
recruit additional research 
fellows, and ultimately lead 
to the appointment of new 
faculty. I am delighted that 
it will emphasize support for 
younger scholars in particular. 
The creation of the institute 
represents a significant step 
forward for this critical area 
of intellectual pursuit.” The 
history of science is the subset 
of history that focuses on 
the development of scientific 
knowledge over time. “This 
discipline,” said Hindle, is 
“essentially the study of how we 
came to know what we know—
by learning about the rise of 
science, and especially about its 
social and cultural impact.”

 The initial phase of the 
program, slated to begin in 
the summer is an annual 
residential institute that will 
provide doctoral students with 
the opportunity to conduct 
research in The Huntington’s 
collections and interact not 
only with each other but also 
with a cadre of experienced 
historians of science and 
technology from Caltech 
and other institutions. In the 
second year, the institute will 
add a resident senior research 
fellow at The Huntington and a 
senior visiting faculty member 
at Caltech to conduct seminars 
across Southern California. 
In the third year, the program 
will expand to include a 
postdoctoral fellow at Caltech 
as well as additional short-
term visiting scholars at The 
Huntington. In the fourth year, 
a search will begin for a new 
faculty member in the history 
of science and technology at 
Caltech, who will ultimately 
oversee the institute on a 
permanent basis.

 “Despite the fact that the 
world’s societies are ever 
more dependent on scientific 
knowledge and technological 
breakthroughs, the fate of 
the academic discipline of 
the history of science and 
technology remains uncertain,” 
said Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, 
the Rea A. and Lela G. 
Axline Professor of Business 
Economics and Ronald and 
Maxine Linde Leadership 
Chair in Caltech’s Division 
of the Humanities and Social 
Sciences. “Many university 
history departments across the 
nation are shrinking as a result 
of declining enrollments and are 
often tempted to cut programs 
in science and technology. The 
Caltech-Huntington Advanced 
Research Institute in the History 
of Science and Technology aims 
to catalyze renewed enthusiasm 
for this area of inquiry and 
revive the critically important 
conversation between 
historians, scientists, and 
engineers that might serve as 
a model for the dialog between 
the humanities and the STEM 
disciplines.”

 The Huntington’s history of 
science collection is one of the 
largest and most important 
in North America. Its diverse 
materials document Western 
practice and theory in science, 
medicine, technology, and 
a variety of subdisciplines. 
Holdings range widely, from 
a 13th-century Ptolemy 
Almagest manuscript (an 
astronomy treatise) to the 
papers of Edwin Hubble 
(1889–1953), the astronomer 
who discovered the universe is 
expanding. They also include 
the Carnegie Observatories’ 
Mount Wilson Observatory 
Collection, with more than 
1,000 books on the history 
of astronomy and physics, as 
well as directors’ papers and 
photographic archives.

 The launch of the new institute 
has been made possible by a 
generous gift from Stephen 
E. Rogers, a member of 
The Huntington’s Board of 
Overseers and president of the 
Caltech Associates, a support 
group of the university.

 


 A strong public response 
from was received by 
the Library as 286 voters 
responded to the survey 
asking for suggestions on 
the non-book items that 
community members would 
like to be able to check out 
with their library cards. The 
survey is part of a Library 
pilot project that’s on the 
City of South Pasadena 
FY 2018/2019 Strategic 
Plan. During April 2019 
the staff will be developing 
procedures and drafting 
policy while ordering the 
most voted for items. The 
practical, handy items will 
be first available for checkout 
from the Library on May 1.

 More than 100 different 
items received at least 1 vote 
in the survey and 12 of the 
most popular items will be 
made available. In order 
of preference, they are a 
telescope, a National Forest 
Recreation Pass, a Go/Pro 
wearable video camera, a 
VHS to DVD converter kit, 
a universal travel adaptor 
kit, an engraving tool, a 
heavy duty binding stapler, 
specialty cake pans, a hiking 
and birdwatching kit, a pasta 
maker, and a bicycle repair 
kit (including a pump).

 The Library will also be 
providing a basic household 
tool kit, as many votes 
were split among various 
common tools. Borrowers 
will need to be responsible 
for the items they check 
out to be returned in good 
working order -- and to 
return the ‘things’, just as 
would be the case for a book, 
a DVD, or a CD.

 
If the ‘Library of Things’ 
pilot project is successful, 
the collection is expected 
to be expanded and other 
items that did not make the 
first cut could be added. 
These include a soldering 
iron, a steam cleaner, a 
power sprayer, a paint roller, 
and a dolly. It’s anticipated 
that the community would 
be surveyed again for the 
next round of ‘things’ for 
the Library collection. But 
despite the vote it received, 
a chainsaw will probably not 
be in the Library’s collection 
anytime soon. Nevertheless, 
the Library is thankful 
for all the community’s 
suggestions.

 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 useful 
items that they may only 
want once a year or during a 
certain season or project.


San Marino Free Bulky 
Item Pick-up Scheduled

 A free bulky item pick-
up day is scheduled for 
Saturday, July 13th. Please 
call the City’s trash hauler, 
Athens Services, to make 
an appointment if you have 
bulky items you would like 
removed. Athens’s customer 
service number is (888) 336-
6100.

 “Bulky” items are those that 
are oversized or overweight, 
such as stoves, refrigerators 
(Freon free), water heaters, 
washing machines, 
furniture, sofas, mattresses, 
box springs and large rugs.

 
San Marino Compost Giveaway

 A free compost giveaway 
self-serve event will be held 
on Saturday, April 27th 
from 9 a.m. until noon at 
Lacy Park in the west end 
parking lot. Bring your own 
sturdy containers. There is 
a 30-gallon limit during the 
first hour and no limit from 
10 a.m. until noon, or while 
supplies last. Plastic bags are 
not allowed. Bring your 
ID card or Athens bill. For 
more information, contact 
Ed Chen at (626) 703-9726 
or chen@athensservices.
com. or Dana Hang, 
Administrative Analyst at 
(626) 300-0789 or dhang@
cityofsanmarino.org.

 The San Marino budget 
process for Fiscal Year 
2019-2020 is currently 
underway, and City 
Council is considering 
what special projects – or 
priority initiatives – staff 
should dedicate time and/
or financial resources to (in 
addition to their standard 
operating tasks) next year. 

 Using the City’s 8 “Critical 
Success Factors” as a 
framework, City Council 
has identified 21 initiative 
ideas to consider further. 
These 21 options are still 
in the idea phase; they 
are not fully fleshed out 
plans. Before making any 
final decisions and turning 
them into fully planned 
initiatives, City Council is 
interested in hearing which 
initiative ideas community 
members think are the most 
important. 

 If you have clarifying 
questions about any of 
the potential initiative 
ideas, please feel free to 
call us at (626) 300-0781. 
To take the survey visit: 
cityofsanmarino.org. 

Community 
Input 
Requested: 
Next Year’s 
Priority 
Initiatives

Celebrating Asian 
American And Pacific 
Islander Heritage Month


Celebrating Asian American 
and Pacific Islander Heritage 
Month

Pasadena Public Library 
is proud to celebrate 
Asian American and 
Pacific Islander Heritage 
throughout the month of 
May.

USC PAM @ the Library: 
Listen, Learn, Create!

Mondays, April 29 & May 20 
• 3:30 p.m.

Central Library/Studio on 
4th 

Explore Asian cultures, 
arts and practices through 
storytelling and hands-on 
art-making. Enjoy stories of 
Chinese folklore with The 
Shady Tree by Demi (April) 
and Japanese culture with 
Suki’s Kimono by Chieri 
Uegaki and illustrated by 
Stéphane Jorisch (May). 
Then create a work of art. 
Presented by educators from 
Pacific Asia Museum. To 
sign up, call (626) 744-4066, 
option 4.

The Asian Roots of 
Pasadena’s Arts & Crafts 
Architecture

Thursday, May 9 ? 7:30 p.m. 

Central Library/Donald 
Wright Auditorium

Pasadena has perhaps the 
best examples of Arts and 
Crafts architecture in the 
Western United States. 
One distinguishing factor 
is the influence of Asian 
architecture by Greene and 
Greene and other architects 
as well as Mid-Century 
Modern Asian-influenced 
masterpieces by architects 
Buff and Hensman.

Join us for a lecture 
highlighting the connections 
between ancient Chinese 
and Japanese wooden 
architecture and these 
twentieth century Pasadena 
building styles. Presented 
by Dave Nufer, program 
developer and docent with 
Pasadena Heritage and 
the L.A. Conservancy, and 
the son of a Mid-Century 
Modern homebuilder who 
built homes influenced by 
Asian architecture. 

Asian Pacific Islander Day

Saturday, May 11 • 11 a.m.-4 
p.m.

Central Library/Great Hall & 
Donald Wright Auditorium

11 a.m. • Moving Histories: 
Japanese Americans After 
the Wartime Incarceration

Join us for a conversation 
with two women writers who 
grew up in the Pasadena area 
and whose writings have 
focused on the World War II 
mass detention of Japanese 
Americans. 

• Naomi Hirahara will read 
excerpts from her historic 
novel in progress, Clark & 
Division, and share photos 
of Japanese Americans 
temporarily settling in 
Chicago immediately after 
being released from World 
War II incarceration camps.

• Sharon Yamato will 
show her most recent 
documentary, Moving Walls, 
that tells the little-known 
story of what happened to 
the thousands of poorly 
constructed barracks that 
served as ramshackle homes 
for Japanese Americans 
during the war. 

This program was made 
possible in part by the 
Pasadena Arts & Culture 
Commission and the City 
of Pasadena Cultural Affairs 
Division.

1:30 p.m. ? Hawaiian 
Dancers 

Experience traditional halau 
as Halau Hula Moani’a’ala 
Anuhea showcases Hawaiian 
culture through dance, 
language and music.

3 p.m. ? Alan Brennert 
discusses his new novel, 
Daughter of Moloka’i, 
the highly anticipated 
sequel to his national 
bestseller Moloka’i.It is a 
richly emotional tale of 
two women, mother and 
daughter—different in some 
ways, similar in others—
who never expected to meet, 
much less come to love, one 
another. Told in Brennert’s 
vivid, evocative prose, it 
conjures up the beauty and 
history of both Hawaiian 
and Japanese cultures. Books 
will be available for sale and 
signing. 


Boston Court’s 15th Annual 
New Play Reading Festival

 
Boston Court Pasadena 
announced the full details 
of its 15th annual New Play 
Reading Festival, April 13-
14. Curated by Literary 
Manager Emilie Beck, 
in concert with Artistic 
Directors Jessica Kubzansky 
and Michael Michetti, the 
New Play Reading Festival 
is a key component of 
Boston Court Pasadena’s 
commitment to nurturing 
playwrights and new work, 
and continues the company’s 
core mission of developing 
and programming works 
that are inherently theatrical, 
textually rich, and visually 
arresting.

 This year’s Festival includes 
Alma by Benjamin Benne, 
Normaler Than Everyone 
by Brian Joseph, Three 
Girls Never Learnt The Way 
Home by Matthew Paul 
Olmos, and Two Lakes, Two 
Rivers by Laura Jacqmin.

 Last year’s New Play 
Reading Festival included 
Kit Steinkellner’s Ladies 
and E.M. Lewis’ How the 
Light Gets In, which will 
both have World Premiere 
productions at Boston Court 
Pasadena during the 2019 
Season.

 “This year each playwright 
has ties to Los Angeles, 
whether they grew up 
here, wrote about the city, 
or live here now,” said 
Emilie Beck. “The plays 
show hidden experiences 
that happen behind closed 
doors. They shine light on 
the most personal decisions 
and heart-wrenching 
relationships. The New Play 
Reading Festival offers us 
the opportunity to meet new 
works and writers, and to 
explore forms that we haven’t 
yet considered, and this 
year’s slate includes a more 
intimate naturalistic play, 
and a one-person musical, as 
well as the theatricality that 
our audiences have come 
to expect from us. We’re 
thrilled to share these scripts 
with our community.”

 Since Boston Court 
Pasadena opened in 2003, 
the theater has mounted 63 
productions, 34 of which 
have been world premieres – 
18 of those world premieres 
were first discovered as part 
of the New Play Reading 
Festival.

 In addition to the readings, 
on Sunday, April 7 at 5pm, 
there will be a free preview 
of the Festival including a 
discussion of what makes 
a “Boston Court Pasadena 
play” and an inside look 
at the play development 
process. Literary Manager 
Emilie Beck and Artistic 
Directors Jessica Kubzansky 
and Michael Michetti will 
be joined by some of the 
festival playwrights for a 
lively discussion and an 
audience Q&A.

 The New Play Reading 
Festival is open to the 
public and free-of-charge, 
but reservations are 
recommended. Information 
and reservations are 
available online at 
bostoncourtpasadena.org, 
by calling 626-683-6801. 


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