MOVING PICTURES: RETRATOS/PORTRAITS IN MOTION

Look for the Portraits in Motion Ford Art Reach Van at your local library! Portraits in Motion invites children to create digital self portraits using period costumes and life sized backdrops inspired by art from the exhibition.

The van was created in conjunction with the special exhibition Retratos: 2,000 Years of Latin American Portraits, on view at the San Antonio Museum of Art until April 30, 2006. Learn more about Retratos and look for the van at your neighborhood library in March!

The City of San Antonio is calling for ‘275 Days of Celebration’ to mark the 275th anniversary of the construction of San Fernando Cathedral, the oldest standing structure in Texas, and the settlement of the Canary Islanders in San Antonio during March of 1731.

The Canary Islander settlement was an important one. The King of Spain ordered a group from the Canary Islands to inhabit Texas, so 16 families led by Juan Leal Goraz made it to the Presidio of San Antonio de Bexar. These immigrants formed the first regularly organized civil government in Texas.

But don’t call March 9, 1731 San Antonio’s Birthday! Many in the city contend that the founding date for San Antonio is 1718 when Father Antonio Olivares dedicated the original mission of San Antonio de Valero. Others may call 1691 the founding date when Father Damian Massanet celebrated mass on the feast day of St. Anthony and the location was hereafter known as San Antonio de Padua, which would mark a whopping 315 years.

So while this March celebrates 275 years as the anniversary of the arrival of the Canary Islanders, many in San Antonio would light many more candles on the birthday cake.

• Handbook of Texas Online
• Chronology of San Antonio

The Texana Department at the San Antonio Public Library has many materials documenting the founding of San Antonio and the arrival of the Canary Islanders and their importance in the history of our city. Just a few of them include:

Yanaguana's Successors: the Story of the Canary Islanders' Immigration into Texas in the Eighteenth Century by Samuel M. Buck
976.4 BUCK

Journey of the Canary Island Families to Texas, 1731: Founders of the City of San Antonio, Texas by John Ogden Leal
TEXANA 976.435 LEAL

The Noble Pilgrims of Texas: the Canary Islander Families and Their Descendants, Founders of the City of San Antonio, Texas in 1731, by Royal Decree of his Majesty, King Phillip 5th, First King of the Royal Bourbon Family of Spain compiled by John Ogden Leal.
TEXANA 976.4351 LEAL

A Chronology of Events in San Antonio; Being a Concise History of the City Year by Year from the Beginning of its Establishment to the End of the First Half of the Twentieth Century by Edward Heusinger
TEXANA 976.41 HEUSINGER

Fundación de San Antonio de Texas: Canarias, la Gran Deuda Americana por Armando Curbelo Fuentes.
TEXANA 976.4351 CURBELO FUENTES

Each year, the American Library Association honors books for children and young adults that are truly distinguished. The award winners for 2006 are available in the San Antonio Public Library’s collection.

Winner of the John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature:
Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
JUVENILE AWARD PERKINS

Winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:
The Hello, Goodbye Window written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris Raschka
JUVENILE AWARD JUSTER

Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
Looking for Alaska by John Green
YOUNG ADULT FICTION GREEN

Winner of the Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award:
Day of Tears by Julius Lester
YOUNG ADULT FICTION LESTER

Winner of the Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award:
Rosa written by Nikki Giovanni and illustrated by Bryan Collier
JUVENILE BIOGRAPHY PARKS

Winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book:
Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Suçie Stevenson
JUVENILE BEGINNER RYLANT

Winner of the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children:
Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley by Sally M. Walker
JUVENILE 973.757 WALKER

To learn more about this year’s ALA awards, visit their website.

The San Antonio Public Library will showcase the work of New York photographer Mark Roddenberry in a photo exhibit titled "Avenue of the Strongest." The exhibit opens on Tuesday, March 7, 2006, and runs through Thursday, March 30, in the Central Library Gallery, 600 Soledad. An opening reception with the photographer will take place on Tuesday, March 7, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The reception is open to the public.

Originally from Florida, Mark Roddenberry moved to New York to pursue his career as a professional photographer. In New York, Mark began experimenting with the creation of panoramic images by taking overlapping photographs and then assembling them into composite single images. Mark's photographs have been published in FEMA's World Trade Center Building Performance Study and in the book September 11th Photo Project, a compilation of selections from the New York exhibit bearing the same title. On September 11, 2005, the exhibit was displayed at the International Museum of Arts and Science in McAllen, Texas.

The twenty-four panoramic photographs making up "Avenue of the Strongest" are divided into two groups, the first twelve images shot on September 11, 2001, and the second twelve on September 13. The exhibit's title, "Avenue of the Strongest," is inspired by a street with the same name in lower Manhattan, located about one mile north of the World Trade Center site.

Of this exhibit, Roddenberry says, “It is my hope that the exhibit will serve not only as a tribute to those who lost their lives but also as a reminder of how important it is that we, as a nation, remain vigilant. I hope that through this memorial exhibit I can help prevent this moment in history from ever repeating itself.”

For more information and to view pictures of the exhibit, please visit http://www.avenueofthestrongest.us.
 

STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS

Adam Spana, Central Library Reference, searches the stacks for a good book to read.

Currently Reading:
The Black Sheep by Honoré de Balzac.

Favorite Fiction Books:
The Snarkout Boys and the Avacado of Death by Daniel M. Pinkwater.
The Adrian Mole Diaries by Sue Townsend.
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier.
1984 by George Orwell.

Favorite Non-Fiction Books:
The Queen of Whale Cay: The Eccentric Story of "Joe" Carstairs, Fastest Woman on Water by Kate Summerscale.
Lobster Boy by Fred Rosen.

Favorite Children's Book:
Mike Mulligan and His Steamshovel story and pictures by Virginia Lee Burton.
The Funny Little Woman retold by Arlene Mosel, pictures by Blair Lent.
The Plant People by Dale Bick Carlson.

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