More on Day Worker Center and Media Center Collaboration

The Media Center's work with the Day Worker Center of Mountain View continues to get some good press. The latest is an article in the Mountain View Voice. Unfortunately, nearly all the comments that the article generated are very negative about undocumented immigrants. There's a saying that "an enemy is someone whose story you have never heard" and perhaps the video about the lives of day workers will change a few minds. Our work is an attempt to build bridges within our diverse community through the sharing of stories and personal expression.

This summer we've been so lucky to have an intern, Julio Navarrete, who is a video whiz and is also bilingual. He has helped out enormously in our work with the Day Worker Center and is now teaching a blog-writing class in Spanish there. He made the following short video at the center as well.

SNEAK PEEK AT THE DOWNTOWN LIBRARY

Guest Blog courtesy of Joyce McClure.


Today Joyce visited the downtown library as a representative of the Media Center.  Accompanying her were two MC interns who rolled camera and will be producing a video.  Joyce took some stills for us and handed in this report.  Thank you, Joyce!  Where would we be without our cadre of volunteers?  

Children's Area at the Downtown Library

The newly remodeled Palo Alto Downtown Library offered a sneak preview to  members of the press today, giving them a chance to meet the new library director, Monique le Conge, and take a tour of the refreshed facilities.

The public is invited to attend the grand opening on Saturday, July 16, from 9:30 to 6. 

Special events at the grand opening will include a ribbon cutting ceremony and  storytelling session by Palo Alto mayor Sid Espinosa. The street in front of the main entrance across from City Hall will be closed off, and there will be information booths from local support groups, treats for all, and entertainment including a magician, puppet shows, and the highly anticipated “Cowgirl Karen.”

According to former mayor and current library foundation president, Bern Beecham, the library has been transformed from a dark cramped space, to a more useable facility with better access to the light and outdoor areas, and a more attractive computer area.

Jim Schmidt of the Friends of the Palo Alto pointed out that a public library has occupied nearly this same space in downtown for well over 100 years, including the Carnegie Library where City Hall now stands. 

The remodeling project came in on schedule and under budget, owing in part to the downturn in the economy which lowered construction costs from the projected 4.4 million dollars to about 3.3 million dollars.

The Group 4 architects credit the City of Palo Alto for encouraging high participation and input from the community, and the architects feel that the new design reflects the community’s values. The design may qualify for LEED silver certification, for environmental and energy efficiency.

The library includes self-check-out, a small section for the Friends of the Library book sale, a group study room, and a meeting space that can be rented by the community.

The most charming space by far is the new children’s area which was a gift from the Friends of the Palo Alto Library. With magnetic paint in a cheerful lime green, small cozy turquoise chairs, a child-sized computer station, poufs to sit on, and a child-sized stage area, the neighborhood children and their families will greatly enjoy this 

improved space.

The library is planning to hold author evenings and family fun nights.

The Palo Alto Garden Club provided flowers, and Whole Foods donated refreshments.

Light Fixture in Meeting Room

Bookshelf Area

Library Director Monique le Conge and Library Foundation President Bern Beecham

Work Stations

Spacious Walkway 

Short Video and Article on Day Worker Project

The Media Center has been working with the Day Worker Center of Mountain View to make a video documentary about the lives of Day Workers. The project is made possible by an "Immigrant Integration" grant from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The project also includes a blog site for Day Workers and I (Elliot) have been volunteering as a "Blog Teacher" every week at the DWC.

Here is a short, snappy, video that our summer intern, Julio Navarrete, made about the blog class.
http://youtu.be/AmLHxo53C0Q

Here is an article about the documentary and blog class that was done by a Mercury News summer intern.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mosaic/ci_18374990

MC Producer Henrietta Burroughs Wins Coveted Hometown Award!

At this year's annual conference of the Alliance for Community Media, MC producer Henrietta Burroughs will receive the coveted Hometown Award for an episode of her program Talking with Henrietta.  The episode, Strengthening the Bonds Between Fathers and Children, was taped on August 26 of last year here in the studio.  This episode competed with shows from all over the country and took the prize for "Best Informational Talk Show."  The award will be officially bestowed Friday, July 29 at the annual Hometown Video Awards & ACM Leadership Awards Dinner, to be held this year in Tucson.

This episode features two experts on fatherhood, Bruce Collins, Chairman of the Fatherhood Collaborative of San Mateo County and Hector Sanchez Flores, Director of Policy and Initiatives for the Latino National Fatherhood and Family Institute. Both guests are fathers themselves and along with Henrietta explore stereotypes about fatherhood in communities of color but most importantly review new statistics that prove that men in these communities are more involved in their families than previously thought.  The program addresses the important social supports that are available to train all men to be good fathers, and how to transform families by training sons, and not just daughters, to be family-oriented adults.

This is a heart-warming, stereotype-busting insight into a topic that is often misunderstood and often controversial.   The two guests are deeply committed to their own families and in working with young men -- especially ones whom society tends to marginalize - in order to show them what an important role they have to play in their families and larger community.  When we feel connected to family and community we become their strong protectors.  Not rocket science, but it's a message that itself gets overlooked by the mainstream media in favor of more sensational headlines.  

We are grateful to Henrietta for getting this message out and we are proud of Henrietta for bringing such acclaim to our station by producing her award winning show here.

Here is a link to Strengthening the Bonds Between Fathers and Children which may be watched Video on Demand (VOD) from our youtube site.

As well as being available VOD, we will be running this episode in addition to the regularly scheduled episodes of Talking with Henrietta throughout July and August.  Here is a link to the program schedule.

Talking with Henrietta is produced biweekly and can be seen on Comcast Channel 27 at 4 pm on Sundays with replays Tuesday and Thursday at 8 pm.  Ms. Burroughs is an East Palo Alto-based journalist and is editor of the print and online newspaper - EPA TODAY.