​Where were you when Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon?

What were you listening to?

​Bring your vinyl records from 1969 and share your memories. MV Music owner Gary Scheuenstuhl serves up his favorites and guides the journey. MV Library, 375 Throckmorton Ave. 7-10pm. Free. ​MORE INFO.

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At the Human Be-In in front of 30,000 hippies in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Timothy Leary uttered the famous words, "Turn on, tune in, drop out." Music lovers of all ages will have the chance to follow the first two-thirds of Leary's advice at the Mill Valley Library's Summer of Love Record Listening Night.

Set for Tuesday, Aug. 15 at 7pm, the vinyl-centric event looks to transform the "Squaresville" vibe of the Library's Creekside Room with a gather-'round-the-turntable musical trip down memory lane. Mill Valley Music owner Gary Scheuenstuhl will be on hand with his formidable vinyl record collection, and attendees who want to bring a favorite song on vinyl are invited to play them for the crowd – and talk about why they love the song. Refreshments and lava lamps will be provided. 

Need a hand brainstorming your way back the sounds of 1967? Here's a little cheat sheet.

The 411: The Mill Valley Library's Summer of Love Record Listening Night is on Tuesday, August 15 at 7pm in the Library's Creekside Room. Registration is highly recommended.

The Mill Valley Public Library’s Centennial Celebration in 2011 had a pair of notable outcomes: recognition for one of Mill Valley’s hallmark institutions and its ability to evolve in the digital age, and a shot of fundraising adrenaline for the once-disparate organizations dedicated to supporting that institution.

At the Mill Valley Library Foundation’s Beyond the Book Bash Saturday night at the Throckmorton Theatre, the celebration continued with a group of star-studded group of talent from literary, comedic and musical arts. And library supporters’ ability to raise money showed no signs of slowing down.

Foundation officials reported Tuesday that the event raised another $124,000 to support Library programs and services, and that the foundation has raised more than $1 million for an endowment and financial support of programs such as First Fridays and After Hours events; children and teen programming and digital entertainment. 

"Programs like these make the library more relevant than ever," City Librarian Anji Brenner said.

“We want to blow your mind about what a library can be in a community,” MVLF board chair Andy Mercy told the crowd of more than 200 people. “Tonight is a celebration of your thirst for knowledge and the library’s ability to quench that thirst.”

That thirst was quenched Saturday night from every angle, with local comedian Mark Pitta keeping the night moving swiftly with joke-laden segues, including light jabs at City Hall: “I almost didn’t make it here tonight on Miller Avenue; man, someday they might give us drivers our own lane!” and book sales in the digital age: “The title of my new book is ‘Add to Cart.’”

The night’s entertainment included:

• Tam High student Emma Weinswig reading her poem “26 Seconds,” which juxtaposed the rate of high school dropouts in the U.S. and the struggles of children in places like Afghanistan, where the Taliban “scare dreamers into silence.”
• A reading by local author Holly Payne from her new book Damascena: The Tale of Roses and Rumi that took the audience to Turkey in 1270. Payne brought the unparalleled poet Mevlana Rumi to life, unraveling the mystery surrounding a legendary orphaned girl who discovers her gift of turning roses into oil.
• Tam Valley actor, author and ubiquitous documentary narrator (including Ken Burns’ The Roosevelts) Peter Coyote gave a wildly entertaining reading about a youthful jaunt through Mexico from his latest book, The Rainman’s Third Cure, a spiritual memoir that will be published by Counterpoint Press in spring 2015. 
• In a hilarious chat with Pitta, legendary comedian and political humor pioneer Mort Sahl spoke about Last Man Standing: The Life and Passion of Mort Sahl, author James Curtis’ impending biopgraphy, with Sahl drawing raucous laughter with lines like: “There are many wives to chase down and they’ll tell him, ‘Every minute with him was pure hell,’” and “It wasn’t a very puritanical life, but it was a whole lot of fun.”
• Joined by piano, drums and Beyond the Book Bash producer Tom Corwin on bass, longtime Santana singer Tony Lindsay gave a spirited performance, while New Tork Times best-selling author Tom Barbash delivered a reading from "The Break," a story about a newly single mother who in interferes in her son's love life over his Christmas vacation from college – part of Stay Up With Me, his 2013 collection of stories that explore the myriad ways we try to connect with one another and with the sometimes cruel world around us. 

But while the readings, the music and the performances were stellar, it was the tributes to the library itself that stood out.

• "Hi I’m Mark and I have a Library Card," Pitta quipped at the evening's outset.
  
• "The Mill Valley Library is showing the way in how to stay relevant in the digital age," Corwin said.
  
• "Our library is a ridiculopusly beautiful place," Barbash said.
  
• "I’m so excited to see all these people out here for this secret leftist institution, the library, paid for by your tax dollars – how discreet," Coyote joked.

"For thousands of years the library has been a vital repository for knowledge and books, a place to explore and touch the physical world," Mercy said. "In Mill Valley, we are blessed also by a place of beauty that nurtures contemplation and collaboration. Tonight's event celebrates that legacy and the innovation that keeps it relevant in today's changing world."

Click here for more information of the 31-year-old Mill Valley Library Foundation.

The Mill Valley Library Foundation has made supporting the Library an increasingly entertaining exercise.

The foundation's annual Beyond the Book Bash, set for Saturday, Sept. 20 at the Throckmorton Theatre, features an entertainment program from some of the most well known and multi-talented people in Marin, with comedian Mark Pitta serving as emcee. They include:

• Mill Valley’s own actor, director and screenwriter Peter Coyote
• Internationally published Discover Great New Writers author Holly Payne
• New York Times bestselling writer Tom Barbash
  
• Legendary comedian Mort Sahl
  
• Grammy-winning musician and Santana frontman Tony Lindsay

"The event, for all involved, isn't just about the library," Foundation board member Lynn Brinton said. "It's about our community and how we seek to connect and support the arts. This event raises money so that we can continue to support the arts at the library, as a place to meet and share not only literary arts but music, theatre, and much more."

The Beyond the Book Bash has consistently provided a unique opportunity to see Marin's most talented artists on one stage, often performing new works for this event exclusively. Participants over the years have included Annie Lamott, Joyce Maynard, Maria Muldaur, Tim Hockenberry, The Kitchen Sisters, Jason Roberts, Liss Fain Dance, teen slam poet Billy Butler, Mac Barnett, Chinaka Hodge, Glen David Gold and James Nash.

Proceeds from the event help ensure that the Mill Valley Library "continues to offer the highest-quality programs, technology, and services and remains one of the most celebrated community treasures in Marin," according to the Foundation. 

Foundation officials said they expect to gross more than $100,000 from this year's event. The Foundation has raised more than $250,000 for the Library over the past four years.

The event kicks off at 7pm with a cocktail buffet featuring local food purveyors and specialty beverage makers, and the show begins at 8pm. 

The 411: Tickets are $150 per person. Go here for more info and to buy tickets.

The 58th annual Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival is looking for volunteers to make this class event a great success.  

Many volunteers are needed for this year's event starting Sept. 19 through Sept. 21. Get free admission to the event, a T-shirt, snacks and lots of praise.  

Positions include:

• Friday pre festival set up
  
• Sunday post festival tear down
  
• Gate greeter and money taker
  
• Artist booth sitter
  
• T-shirt and poster sales
  
• Parking attendants and traffic control

Click here to visit the website and sign up.

Contact Trez the volunteer co-ordinator with questions at: 925.323.7735 (cell) or email: vol4mvfaf@gmail.com.

Film looks at 38-year-old organization committed to deploying media literacy education as an antidote to propaganda and censorship; filmmakers and organization’s director Mickey Huff will be in attendance for free August 13 event.

In the 38 years since Dr. Carl Jensen created it at Sonoma State University, Project Censored, a fervent advocate for media literacy that’s the subject of a film screening and Q&A at the Mill Valley Library on August 13, has never suffered from a lack of material for its annual roundup of the most censored and under-reported stories of the year.

But in its nearly four decades of existence, Project Censored’s purview – corporate journalism and the stories that simply don’t get enough attention – has had to evolve with the explosion of the digital media landscape, providing context not only to what gets covered, but how it gets covered.

Take the latest burst of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, says Project Censored Director Mickey Huff.

“It’s getting plenty of headlines and coverage,” Huff says. “But it’s the perspective that’s not available in most of the coverage that people have access to. If critical thought and media literacy skills aren’t behind the keyboard, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack – people, especially students, just don’t know what to trust.”

Project Censored’s longstanding campaign to improve those media literacy skills – the group calls it “flexing your media muscles” – caught the attention of real estate agents, Sonoma resident Christopher Oscar and Petaluma resident Doug Hecker, a former Project Censored student. The pair spent six years crafting Project Censored: The Movie, a documentary about the organization that was released in 2013.

The film is Oscar and Hecker “telling their story about us and describing how average people can get involved and make a difference in the world,” Huff says.

Huff, Oscar and Hecker will be in the house at the Library event for a post-screening Q&A. Huff says the film has helped the organization’s visibility beyond its core audience, a boon for a group that is often “preaching to the choir.”

“It reaches beyond the choir and reaches the population beyond those that would ever pick up one of our books,” he says.

Project Censored was recently honored at the National Whistleblower Summit in Washington, D.C., receiving the Pillar Award for Persons of Conscience in New Media and Journalism on National Whistleblower Appreciation Day.

“We’re encouraging people to think critically – to actively search for media and stories rather than just sitting down with a clicker in your hand,” Huff says.

The 411: Project Censored:The Movie screens on August 13 7pm at the Mill Valley Library, 375 Throckmorton Avenue, with a Q&A with filmmakers Christopher Oscar and Doug Hecker, along with Project Censored Director Mickey Huff, to follow. Registration recommended. Click here to register.

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Mill Valley Arts Commission's monthly celebration of local art includes a host of venues, including the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, the Mill Valley Public Library, Robert Green Fine Arts, Terrestra, the Depot Bookstore & Café, City Hall, Gallery 291 at the Image Flow, Thompson Dorfman Partners, Famous4 and the Mill Valley Community Center, Seager Gray Gallery and the Throckmorton Theatre, where an exhibit of the late, legendary Mill Valley photographer Suki Hill's work will be on display throughout the month. Reception is Tuesday from 6–8pm at each venue. More info below.

Click here to access the First Tuesday Artwalk Guide, with a full list of artists and venues. The map below indicates the downtown venues.

Reading and walking at the same time aren't often a good idea – just ask the folks walking and texting in the "No Cellphones" lane on a DC sidewalk – but at the Mill Valley Public Library, the two make for the perfect combination for the Library’s 2014 Adult Reading Challenge: Steps, Lanes, and Paths. Inspired by Mill Valley’s extensive network of over 175 heritage paths dating back to the 1880s, the Library is serving up a literary expedition that encourages readers to explore new literary landscapes while becoming actively acquainted with the city that many call home.

The Adult Reading Challenge centers around a “reading map” featuring the steps, lanes, and paths of Mill Valley. The 133 steps, lanes, and paths featured on the reading map correspond to a particular reading challenge category relating to peoples, places, genres and much, much more. Participants are challenged to read one book for each path by the challenge’s end on December 31, 2014. As participants undertake the literary challenge, they are also encouraged (but not required) to explore Mill Valley and celebrate its perambulatory heritage by walking the corresponding steps, lanes, and paths on the reading map.

“It’s been a personal goal of mine to walk every step, lane, and path in Mill Valley,” said Ali Birnbach, reference librarian and organizer of the reading challenge. “I know how enjoyable and unexpectedly refreshing it can be to explore the city through its back roads, and a reading challenge seemed like the perfect way to share the experience. A good reading challenge gives participants a general guide and lets them decide how they want to approach it. This year’s theme lets you literally choose your own path(s).”
 
The breadth of categories in this year’s challenge is extensive, from “Voyages of Discovery and Adventure” and “International Female Authors” to “How Can I Help You? The Service Industry” and “An Event or Experience Your Parents Lived Through,” among many others. Categories serve as inspirational starting points and are open to readers’ personal interpretation, meaning that readers are sure to find books to spark their interest. If that wasn’t motivation enough, over the duration of the challenge participants will have chances to win fantastic prizes, including an iPad Mini. For each book read, participants will earn one raffle ticket. The more books read, the more raffle tickets earned, and the more chances to win.

The Adult Reading Challenge is open now. Adults ages 18 and older are invited to register online through the Library’s website. Registrants should then stop by the Library Reference Desk to pick up a reading map. If participants are looking for reading suggestions, librarians at the Mill Valley Library can offer book recommendations. The Library’s website also features a wide array of book lists. 

“We announced our reading challenge last Monday and we currently have nearly 100 participants,” said Birnbach. “It’s a great start to what we hope will be one of our best reading challenges yet!”

In addition to the Adult Reading Challenge, the Mill Valley Public Library offers separate summer reading programs for kids, middle schoolers, and young adults. Visit the Library’s website for more information about any of these programs. 

Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food

My daughter loves food and will try anything. Part of having such an adventurous palate stems from knowing where her food comes. Which is why we do everything we can to support our local farms. By visiting the farms and getting to personally know the farmers we have learned how precious our organic farms are.

A spring trip to Windrush Farm and last autumn to Skyline Chestnuts gave us a reality check on how the farms we love struggle to keep their operations going. Because of the lack of rain this year, Skyline had no chestnuts and Windrush Farms has to give up half their flock.

So this summer, I‘m urging you to do what you can to support local organic farms. It’s easy to do and is a valuable lesson for us all. Start with the farmers at the market, look into Community Supported Agriculture (or CSA) boxes, venture out to a Pick Your Own farm, visit a local farm and try growing your own. Here are some simple suggestions to help get you started.

Farmers Markets
Buy food “in season” and make a list of what you plan to purchase. Food “in season” is usually less expensive and tastes better. Let your child pick one thing from that list they love to eat and encourage them to try something new. Set an example by picking something new too. Talk directly to the farmer at the stand with your child, let the farmer show you how to pick the best produce, ask for a taste and ask questions.

Pick out something that might not be on your list such as honey from Marshall’s Farm, olive oil from McEvoy Ranch, raw milk from Strauss, yogurt from Saint Benoît Creamery, butter from McClelland’s Dairy, and, in the case of Windrush Farm, Mimi’s gorgeous yarn!

Enquire about visiting their farm and the best time to go. Last year, I gathered our 4H group to visit the Achadinha Cheese Farm and learned all about making goat cheese. We went when they had baby goats to play with, milked the goats, learned all about making goat cheese and had a very memorable time.

You can also take a guided group tour of the farmers markets and let them introduce you to the farmers. Contact your local farmers market for more information.

Check out the full list of local farmers markets.

CSA
CSA stands for Community SupportedAgriculture. CSA gives us direct access to high quality, fresh produce grown locally by regional farmers. When you become a member of a CSA, you’re purchasing a share from a regional farmer. Here in Marin, we have a wide variety to choose from which include meat, produce, flowers, and home products. Just to name a few: Betty’s Organics, Eatwell Farm, Frog Hollow Farm, Full Belly Farm,Bloomfield Farm, Marin Sun Farms and you can meet many of these farmers at our local farmers markets too. When you open the box, expect to see something that you are not familiar with and get excited about it! Most CSA boxes include excellent recipes too.

U-Pick
The Bay Area has access to so many amazing farms that encourage visitors to pick your own food. Another amazing opportunity to teach kids about healthy seasonal eating. Check out the website PickYourOwn for a list of farms nearby. Dress for getting messy and bring your own bags you and your child can carry. Show your child how to look for the ripe produce. Even a 2 year old knows the red strawberries are the ones to pick.

Grow Your Own
And finally, have your child pick out one plant to care for over the summer. Nothing beats the hands on learning experience of caring for your own plant. You don’t need a garden, you can grow a plant in a pot. Sproutbot is a great website to learn what and when to start planting in your neighborhood. Some guidance and reminders are necessary but they will squealed with delight to pick and eat from their own plant.

Support our local organic farms and have a wonderful summer!

Tuesday, July 1, New Moon

Turbo, Century Rowland Plaza, Novato, 10am, 10 shows for $5 or $1 per show.

Little Sprouts: Jump and Dance, 11-11:45am, 5 and under, Jaime Lee Currier of Your Song My Song rocks classic kids’ songs, funky originals, and unique covers on her ukulele. With felt board puppetry and imagination adventures she leads the kids in a magical, interactive exploration, Mill Valley Library.

Julian Sterling Magician, 3:30pm, all ages, Mystery and magic from Julian Sterling, a local (young!) magician, Sausalito Library.

Lego Club, 3:30-4:30pm, Bring your imagination and we will supply you with everything you need to create with LEGOs, San Anselmo Library.

Calling all fans of baseball, poetry, and anyone who enjoys some good old wordplay and repartee: the Mill Valley Public Library is hosting the Third Annual Poetry World Series, a poetry event unlike any other, after hours on on Friday, May 16.

The Poetry World Series turns the format and feel of standard poetry readings on its head, combining the lively, spontaneous energy of a poetry slam with written poetry that’s had the benefit of invested time and revision. So how does it work?

With the Library's Main Reading Room serving as the stadium, two teams of Bay Area poets will take turns “batting up” to a poem topic “pitched” to them. Emcee Will Durst, the satirist and nationally acclaimed syndicated columnist, will do the pitching, while a panel of judges, including Mill Valley resident Brian Murphy of KNBR’s “Murph & Mac” show and poets Dean Rader and Melissa Stein, will score each “batter’s” reading. The two competing teams have some heavy contenders: poets Heather Altfeld, Rebecca Foust, Amy Glynn, Judy Halebsky, Troy Jollimore, and Robert Thomas, with Roy Mash of the Marin Poetry Center serving as timekeeper and first player alternate. These talented poets have racked up plenty of accolades and experience (see bios below), but which of them will hit home runs?

The brainchild of Marin poet Rebecca Foust, the Poetry World Series is an event that serious fans of literature, serious fans of baseball, and serious fans of whimsy and excitement in any form will all enjoy.

The 411: The Third Annual Poetry World Series is Friday, May 16 from 7 to 9 pm in the Mill Valley Public Library's Main Reading Room. Pre-game refreshments, including popcorn, beer, and wine, will be available for pre-registered guests starting at 6:30 pm. The event is free and is open to adults and high school students only. Space is limited, so registration is recommended. Click here for more info on the participants or to register, or call 415-389-4292, x3.

The following is part of Ronnie's Awesome List, an unbelievably comprehensive roundup of family-friendly events throughout the Bay Area. Click here for the full list!

The Very Hungry Readerpillar

Forty five years ago, the warm sun came up, and POP, out of the mind of Eric Carle came the classic illustrated children’s book, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar.’ To mark this milestone and encourage children to develop their imaginations through storytelling, is a list of all the story times in Marin for every day of the week, throughout the summer. It’s a great opportunity to feed young minds with creativity and energy from our amazing storytellers who will turn your child’s world into a beautiful butterfly.

On Monday he ate through one apple, but he was still hungry.

• 10:30am & 11am, Baby and Toddler Storytime, 0-3 years, San Anselmo Library, except August
• 10:30 am & 11 am, Baby Bounce, 2 years and under, Belvedere Tiburon Library, June 23 thru Aug 4
• 11am Storytime with Judy Buchanan, Ages 3 to 5, Stinson Beach Library
• 2:30pm, Stories and More, all ages, Mill Valley Library
• 6:30pm, Pajama story time, all ages, 2nd Monday, Mill Valley Library

Click here for the full list of events through May!

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It’s been called the greatest synchronized sex show on earth: A few nights after the November full moon, corals release millions of pink bundles of egg and sperm that drift to the surface in an enormous upside-down blizzard, resembling what it must be like on the interior of a shaken snow globe. Only the very lucky few have been witness to this mass spawning event in the waters of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, but on Friday, May 2nd, attendees of the Mill Valley Public Library’s First Friday event, “Sex on the Coral Reef,” will receive a front-row seat to this exotic and rarely seen world. Using gorgeous images, marine biologist Erika Woolsey will provide an inside look at coral reef ecosystems, including the annual spectacle that keeps divers and scientists traveling from around the globe.

A native of Marin, Woolsey has been living in Australia, where she is currently finishing her PhD with the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Her area of expertise is coral reproduction, and her research seeks to understand how warming oceans will affect the ability of coral reefs to replenish themselves and recover from disturbance, which is especially important in changing oceans. As she shows photos and shares her experiences Down Under and underwater, Woolsey will discuss the threat that climate change poses to the long-term future of coral reefs.

Often referred to as “rainforests of the ocean”, coral reefs are diverse ecosystems that cover less than 1 percent of the sea floor, yet support about 25 percent of marine species. These fragile environments are dependent upon healthy oceans to survive, and unfortunately, about 60 percent of the world’s coral reefs are under immediate threats from climate change and localized human disturbances.

“Coral spawning is truly an incredible natural phenomenon,” says Woolsey. “It’s been happening for millions of years all over the world, and no other sex event in the Animal Kingdom is this well organized. Not only is coral spawning fascinating and visually stunning, it allows coral populations to persevere. Without baby corals, we wouldn’t have adult corals that build important ocean habitats. Contemporary climate change and human disturbance are severely impacting these ecosystems, so it’s becoming more and more important to understand how young coral react in a changing ocean.”

The 411: Part of the Mill Valley Public Library’s ongoing series of First Friday events, Sex on the Coral Reef takes place May 2 at 7 pm in the Library’s Main Reading Room. A wine reception for pre-registered guests will begin at 6:30 pm. This event is free, but registration is recommended. First Friday events are open to adults and high school students only. To register, call 415-389-4292, ext. 3 or sign up online at www.millvalleylibrary.org.

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