Parks, Museums, and Attractions: Raising Bakersfield

American Kids Presents Parent Night Out Halloween Style!

American Kids Sports is hosting a Parent Night Out!

LOCATION: American Kids SW 4401 Ride St. (behind 24hr Fitness on White Ln. & Gosford) PHONE: AKSC SW 833-3986 & AKSC NW 589-2100 E-mail: INFO@AmericanKidsSports.com

WWW.AmericanKidsSports.com

Fri October 31st (Halloween) & Sat November 1st

Time: 6:00-11:00

Price: 1st child $20 - $13 for additional kids

This is a great opportunity for Parents to provide their Children with a Halloween like no other! Parents can go and enjoy a night out without the kids or any worries. American Kids Sports SW is the place for a fun and safe environment this Halloween! Kids will enjoy:

-Costume Contest

-Haunted Maze

-Spooky and Fun Game Booths with Prizes

-Halloween Games

-Halloween Movie & Snacks

City of Bakersfield Parks & Recreation Map

Check out the city of Bakersfield's interactive map of parks & recreation. You can search by address or map. You can even search for trees!

Another map by Btownmaps.com is in beta form, but it is a easier to use!

Bakersfield & Kern County Libraries Map

The Kern County Library system has more than two-dozen branches, including the Beale Library (main branch), plus two bookmobiles. The system offers more than 1 million volumes, and also borrows books from other public libraries in the state.

Services provided by the library system include microfilm and microfiche, duplicating, typewriters, CD ROM reference, audiovisual material, Kurzweil readers that scan a printed page and then convert it to speech for partially sighted readers, computers and Internet access, books on tape and audiovisual listening stations. Library cards are free to county residents. Late fee for books is 25 cents per book per day.

Main branch: Beale Memorial Library, at 701 Truxtun Ave. in Bakersfield, 868-0701. The county’s main branch features an auditorium, atrium and two meeting rooms. It also has rooms on local history, genealogy, geology, mining and petroleum. Beale hours are: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, noon to 9 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Closed Sunday.

Buena Vista Museum of Natural History

The Museum is known for its displays as they relate to earth science, through its displays of paleontology, geology, anthropology, fossils and American Indian artifacts, among other treasures.

The museum is open every Thursday through Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM, and by appointment.They are closed on most major holidays.

Regular Admission: Adults $7
Child/Senior/Student w/ ID: $4 for children Under 18 years 5 and younger Free
Students (with ID) and Seniors (55 older) $5
Student Group rate (20 or more) Students: $3.00
Student Chaperones: $4.00
One teacher free for each class
The Third Thursday of each month is FREE ( individuals and family only)
The First Saturday of each month is Family day (2 adults and up to 6 children = $20)
Adult Group rate (20 or more): $2.00

Buena Vista Museum of Natural History: 2018 Chester Ave., 324-6350.

Bakersfield Museum of Art

Bakersfield’s municipal art museum, recently renovated, with three gallery spaces for national, rotating exhibits. They also offer classes, lectures and school tours.

Hours:
Tuesday-Friday 10am-4pm
Saturday-Sunday 12-4pm
Closed Monday and holidays

Admission:
Members - Free
Adults - $5.00
Seniors (65+) - $4.00
Students - $2.00

Every third Friday of the month, all admission FREE!

Bakersfield Museum of Art: 1930 R St., Bakersfield, 323-7219.

Beale Memorial Library celebrates 20 years; embraces new reference age

These days, the Kern County Library doesn’t even care if you come into one of its facilities to use its services.

Get it online — that should be their motto.

“This way, the library never closes,” said Brenda Scobey, reference coordinator for Kern County Library.

The current location of Beale Memorial Library may be turning 20 this week, but several of the county’s top librarians don’t want you to forget their online resources, along with the oldies-but-goodies in the stacks.

And with any luck, doing more to branch out into the digital frontier will help Beale and all Kern libraries stay current for another two decades.

“It’s no longer that you have to come to us,” said Kris Ogilvie, digital programs consultant with the California State Library. “It’s connecting people with information, and that’s what we do.”

BLOGGING

Kern County Library staff started a blog on book recommendations last month and wants residents to comment on the selections, said Gail Lancaster, support services specialist for the Kern County Library.

The blog includes recommendations for kids, teens and adults, along with some special selections for National Poetry and Music Appreciation Month.

Among this month’s recommendations are “Blood and Chocolate,” a book by Annette Klause in which a 16-year-old girl werewolf falls in love with a human boy, and “The Somnambulist” by Jonathan Barnes, in which a stage magician/detective and his silent sidekick try to re-create apocalyptic prophecies to bring down the British Empire.

INSTANT MESSAGING

Got a burning research question at 2 a.m.? Ask a librarian.

The Kern County Library participates in AskNow, which provides real-time access to a librarian in California from your computer 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Sessions usually last less than 15 minutes, and the librarian can either give you the answer or show you how to find the answer yourself, according to the Web site.

The librarians get several requests for genealogy and obituaries info, said Sherry Gomez, deputy director of libraries.

DATABASES, DIGITAL PHOTOS

From the comfort of your desk you can access roughly 60 electronic resources and databases.

For some of these, you will need a library card, but these are available for free from the library.

Here are some of the databases:

• Informe, a collection of articles from Hispanic magazines from around the world;

• Health and Wellness Resource Center, which provides access to health and medical publications;

• Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, a social issues database that provides articles from all points of view;

• Auto Repair Reference Center, a database of repair information, wiring diagrams and a repair cost estimator;

• ReferenceUSA, a nationwide directory that provides information on businesses, competition, potential customers and legal actions;

• NewsBank, which provides full-text articles from 730 U.S. newspapers including The Bakersfield Californian, and

• Grolier Online, which provides information for school reports on states and countries.

The library also offers LearningExpress, which provides prep for tests including college entrance, Advanced Placement, law enforcement and the California Basic Educational Skills tests.

Patrons can also search for historical photos on two local history photo databases.

THE FUTURE OF LIBRARIES

Using the library as a source for quiet research and reflection isn’t completely gone.

That’s why Bakersfield resident Ashley Lee has frequented the Beale library lately. It gives her a place to study for her new job in pharmaceutical sales in peace.

“At home I would be running around and doing laundry,” the 35-year-old said. “And if I needed to look up an anatomy book, I could.”

Beale provides a sanctuary for 20-year-old Amanda Fryslie.

On a recent afternoon, she sat patiently waiting for a computer to check her e-mail.

“It’s particularly helpful if you want to get away from a home situation,” said Fryslie, who comes to the library almost every day. “It keeps me out of trouble.”

While quiet places can still be found, you only see librarians pulling books and telling people to hush in old movies, Ogilvie said.

Librarians are branching out into virtual worlds, like the computer-based virtual world Second Life.

“People will stop and ask you questions” in the virtual simulation, Ogilvie said. “In a way, that’s sort of where it’s going.”

While “Google has made almost anyone a librarian,” the need for librarians and libraries hasn’t diminished, she said.

If anything, they’re all the more important.

“When people can’t find the information with their simple Google search, they go to the library,” she said. “And the questions are getting even harder and more difficult.

“It’s even more important that we know what’s out there.”

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KERN COUNTY LIBRARY HISTORY

1866: People in Havilah, Kern’s first county seat, start a library association. Anyone could be a member for a $2 fee and 75 cents a month.

1894: Women in Kern City, which is now East Bakersfield, form a library association and turn an old schoolhouse into a library.

1896: The Kern Library Association turns the library facilities over to the City of Kern, and the library is moved to the old town hall. This becomes the Kern City Library, the first publicly supported library in the county.

Jan. 11, 1898: The City of Bakersfield is re-incorporated, and discussions about a public library start about two weeks later.

1899: Truxtun Beale, then Minister of Persia, wrote to S.M. Pogson, his agent in Kern, offering to build a library for Bakersfield. The city council accepts Beale’s generosity.

June 2, 1900: The library, a memorial to Gen. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, Kern pioneer and Truxtun Beale’s father, opens at 17th Street and Chester Avenue. The library was to be known as the Beale Memorial Library for “now and forever,” according to the transaction agreement.

1910: Bakersfield consolidates with the City of Kern, and the Kern City Library becomes the East Bakersfield branch of the Beale Memorial Library.

July 11, 1911: The Kern County Free Library is established in the basement of the county’s new $350,000 courthouse.

Feb. 28, 1922: The city council votes to consolidate the city and county libraries. Mayor George Haberfelde and the county supervisors agree to this more than a year later. The adult book collection is consolidated in the courthouse basement, and the Beale Memorial Library becomes the headquarters for children’s works.

Aug. 22, 1952: An earthquake hits Bakersfield, destroying the courthouse and Beale Library. The library is temporarily located in tents in the courthouse parking lot.

Oct. 7, 1957: The new central branch of the Kern County Library opens at 1315 Truxtun Ave.

June 2, 1966: The central branch was dedicated and re-named the Beale Memorial Library.

July 1986: Groundbreaking for a new Beale library.

April 30, 1988: The Beale library is dedicated at its current location at 701 Truxtun Ave.

Sources: “A History of Kern County Library,” compiled by Louise Blanford; The Kern County Library; Californian archives

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Originally published at http://www.bakersfield.com/138/story/420596.html on Saturday, April 19, 2008.

BEALE MEMORIAL LIBRARY 20TH ANNIVERSARY EVENTS

All events are free to the public and will take place at the Beale Memorial Library, 701 Truxtun Ave.

9:30 a.m. Monday, anniversary celebration kick-off and ribbon-cutting.

7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, author Mark Salzman talks about his work. Salzman received the New York Public Library’s Literary Lions Award and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for “Iron and Silk,” a memoir about his years in China.

2 to 3 p.m. Saturday, historian Chris Mayse will speak about the history of the Beale Air Force Base. Mayse will talk about the mission of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and why an Air Force base was named after a Navy officer.

7 to 9 p.m. April 30, author, storyteller and musician David Holt will talk about tall tales, folk ballads, ghost stories and urban legends. Holt has won four Grammy Awards.

2 to 3 p.m. May 3, Mexican folk ballet by SoLuna.

7 to 8 p.m. May 6, Bakersfield Symphony presents a Bakersfield Classicus Clarinet Choir pops concert.

7 to 9 p.m. May 8, children’s author Marsha Arnold talks about her works “Roar of a Snore,” “Hugs on the Wind” and “Heart of a Tiger.” Her program is most appropriate for 3- to 7-year-olds.

2 to 4 p.m. May 10, local author and talk show host Terry Phillips discusses his first historical murder mystery, “Murder at the Altar.” Phillips is host of National Public Radio’s Quality of Life.

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LIBRARY ONLINE RESOURCES

The Kern County Library:
www.kerncountylibrary.org

Kern County Library blog: www.kerncountylibrary.blogspot.com

AskNow:
www.asknow.org/portal.cfm?lib=KERNCL

Electronic resources and databases: www.kerncountylibrary.org/databases.html

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Photos:

This is a front view of original Beale Memorial Library, which opened in 1900. It was named for Gen. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a Kern pioneer. This photo was taken in the 1920s. (Photo courtesy of the Kern County Local History Photograph Collection, Kern County Library)

The original Beale Memorial Library opened in 1900 at northwest corner of 17th Street and Chester Avenue. It was damaged in 1952 by an earthquake, and no longer exists. The vine-covered reading-room pergola is visible on right side of photo. (Photo courtesy of the Kern County Local History Photograph Collection, Kern County Library)

This is the Boys and Girls' Library in the original Beale Memorial Library. (Photo courtesy of the San Joaquin Valley & Sierra Foothills Photo Heritage Collection, San Joaquin Valley Library System)

Margaret Newman worked for the Kern County Library until 1921. (Photo courtesy of the Kern County Local History Photograph Collection, Kern County Library)

Tents were set up for the library in the courthouse parking lot following the 1952 earthquake, which destroyed the library in the courthouse basement and the Beale Library. (Photo courtesy of the San Joaquin Valley & Sierra Foothills Photo Heritage Collection, San Joaquin Valley Library System)

This is a temporary building for the library after the 1952 earthquake destroyed the library in the courthouse basement and the Beale Library. This was taken in January 1953. (Photo courtesy of the San Joaquin Valley & Sierra Foothills Photo Heritage Collection, San Joaquin Valley Library System)

The second Beale Memorial Library building, which opened in 1957, was at 1315 Truxtun Ave. This building is now used by jury services and the public defender. (Photo courtesy of the Kern County Local History Photograph Collection, Kern County Library)

This is the first use of the auditorium by staff in the second Beale Memorial Library at 1315 Truxtun Ave. (Photo courtesy of the Kern County Local History Photograph Collection, Kern County Library)

Children sit around for story hour in the the Boys and Girls' Library in Beale Memorial Library. (Photo courtesy of the San Joaquin Valley & Sierra Foothills Photo Heritage Collection, San Joaquin Valley Library System)

Students from Richland School pose with craft animals at the Boys and Girls' Room at the Beale Memorial Library. This photo was take in 1962. (Photo courtesy of the San Joaquin Valley & Sierra Foothills Photo Heritage Collection, San Joaquin Valley Library System)

This is the current Beale Memorial Library after the 1999 snowfall. (Photo courtesy of the Kern County Local History Photograph Collection, Kern County Library)