Magician, Poet and Puppeteer Headline Summer Programs at Three Branch Libraries

The Pasadena Public Library will host a magic show, an author talk and a puppet performance at three of its branches over the coming days, summer programming that is running entirely through the system’s neighborhood branches while the landmark Central Library remains closed for a seismic overhaul.

The events open with Dave Skale the Library Magician at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 27, at the San Rafael Branch Library, 1240 Nithsdale Road. Later that day, at 1 p.m., the Lamanda Park Branch Library, 140 S. Altadena Drive, hosts an Authors & Their Journeys talk with Rey Rodriguez, who will discuss his bilingual poetry collection “Todos Somos Sagrados / All Are Sacred.” The series continues with Party Puppets with Mr. Markus at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 2, at the La Pintoresca Branch Library, 1355 N. Raymond Avenue. Tim McDonald, the city’s director of libraries and information services, described the season as an invitation to interest-driven learning, according to the City Manager’s weekly newsletter.

Rodriguez’s collection honors the mothers of Proyecto Pastoral in Boyle Heights and explores themes of resilience, community healing and the transformation of hardship into collective strength, according to the newsletter.

The branch programs carry added weight because of where they are not being held. The Central Library, the 1927 Myron Hunt-designed centerpiece of Pasadena’s Civic Center, has been closed since May 3, 2021, after a structural assessment found the unreinforced masonry building vulnerable to collapse in an earthquake. Before its closure, the building drew more than 1,000 visitors a day and supported nearly 900 community meetings and events a year, according to a city staff report. Programming has been reduced during the closure, the library system has said. The work is targeted for completion in 2028.

In the interim, the library has relocated much of the Central collection — nearly 300,000 items — to a city-owned storage site and a modular building, and continues to operate its branch network and digital services. The summer programs are part of that branch-based offering, which the library system frames as a way to keep learning and gathering space available across the city while its main building is rebuilt.

Dave Skale the Library Magician performs at 11 a.m. June 27 at the San Rafael Branch Library, 1240 Nithsdale Road. The Rey Rodriguez author talk begins at 1 p.m. June 27 at the Lamanda Park Branch Library, 140 S. Altadena Drive. Party Puppets with Mr. Markus performs at 10 a.m. July 2 at the La Pintoresca Branch Library, 1355 N. Raymond Avenue. For more, visit PasadenaPublicLibrary.net.