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Gay Ducey, Rockridge Children’s Librarian whose “Book Corner stories have charmed readers of the The Rockridge News ove’ the last decade, was seriously injured in an automobile accident recently and will be recuperating at home until after the first...

Storytellers Kate Frankel, right, Elaine Stanley, and Gay Ducey

See “Gay Ducey,” page /3

By Ronnie Spitzer

Librarian Gay Ducey 2 Zoning 3 Earth Day 4

'y Gay Ducey Children's Librarian On Picking What to Read

See “Gay Ducey,” page 14

By Gay Ducey

by Gay Ducey, Rockridge Branch Library Children’s Librarian Transportation picture books work hard. They circulate very briskly, take a lot of punishment, and give a lot of pleasure. While anything with a wheel or rudder will move well, we are always l...

By Gay Ducey

ROCKRIDGE BRANCH LIBRARY 5366 College Avenue 597-5017 by Gay Ducey, children’s librarian I Librarian.” It was not signed, but I’d know my mother’s handwriting anywhere. HOURS: Mon,Tues: Weds,Thurs, Sat: 12:30 – 8 p.m. 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. 12 – 5:30 p.m. CLOSED Closed Sundays and Wednesday, July 4. stole a ...

By Gay Ducey

 Are there community issues you’d like to see covered in The Rockridge News?  Do you have questions about newsletter Librarians Erica Siskind and Gay Ducey distribution?  Want to volunteer to be a Rockridge News Tblock captain?  Would you like to write a letter to the Editor? Contact us at one of the following: he best part of Summer Reading is that kids get to choose whatever they want to ...

By Gay Ducey

by Gay Ducey _ yin was when there were lots of opportunities to Sing,

By Gay Ducey

by Gay Ducey, Children's Librarian, Rockridge Branch Library Sammy the Halloween Menace

By Gay Ducey

by Gay Ducey, Children’s Librarian, Rockridge Branch Library

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by Gay Ducey, Children's Librarian, Rockridge Branch Library Timing

By Gay Ducey

by Gay Ducey, Children's Librarian, Rockridge Branch Library

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by Gay Ducey, Children's Librarian, Rockridge Branch Library

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by Gay Ducey, Children's Librarian, Rockridge Branch Library

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by Gay Ducey, Children's Librarian, Rockridge Branch Library

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by Gay Ducey, Children's Librarian, Rockridge Branch Library Family Gardening

By Gay Ducey

Book Corner by Gay Ducey, Children's Librarian, Rockridge Branch

By Gay Ducey

by Gay Ducey, Children's Librarian, Rockridge Branch Library

By Jennifer Vetter

...the program got underway with direct funding from Head Start, and other grants. The first two training classes were held in the Temescal branch library, but the subsequent sessions have all been hosted at the Rockridge Library. Storyteller Gay Ducey trains story-readers. COURTESY OF GAY DUCEY Gay says, “I have always thought of the library as serving not only the people who come in, but equally the people who do not come in. How do you reach those kids? Go to them.” The children’s lib...

Agenda: RCPC March Town Hall Meeting Thursday, March 20, 7:30 p.m., Rockridge Branch Library, 5366 College Avenue at Manila, Community Room (Upstairs) RCPC Presents ■ ■ Storyteller Gay Ducey: Spinning Straw Into Gold; Using Stories in Community and Family Life. Gay Ducey presents a workshop that will encourage folks to try telling stories, as opposed to reading them. Gay says, “Everyone has stories. Whether we gather children ...

rk Corner a P Rockridge Library Seeks Reading Program Volunteers by Gay Ducey, Children’s Librarian, Rockridge Branch Library I was in O’Hare recently, waiting to board a plane home, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and a woman asked, “Are you Gay Ducey, the one who works at the Rockridge Branch Library?” ...

... members at the April 17 RCPC meeting. The candidates for a two-year term are David Brown, Karen Carlson (Incumbent), Kristine Carraway (Incumbent), Dorothy Hackearth, Jane McDermott, Jenny Scholten (Incumbent), and Kathy Shaw. Storyteller Gay Ducey, center, swapped stories with attendees at the March RCPC Town Hall meeting. Photo: Don Kinkead Storyteller Gay Ducey Featured at March RCPC Meeting

Mandarin, Cantonese, and Spanish. For more information, call 238-7453. Development Centers, introducing children to the pleasure of stories and inspiring excite- ment about reading books. Instructor Gay Ducey is the Children’s Librarian at the Rockridge branch. She is a professor of storytelling at Dominican College, Santa Rosa College, University of California at Berkeley Extension, and the UC Berkeley Library School. She is the former co-chai...

Rockridge Branch Library, participants will learn the art of story reading from a true professional, Gay Ducey, whose storytelling talents have been featured on The Mister Rogers’ Show. Call 238-7453 to reserve a spot. Space will be limited again this year so call today! All training takes place at the Rockridge Branch Library, 5366 College Ave. Bi...

...o demonstrate how easy storytelling can be for anyone, Ducey invited audience members to pair off and tell each other a story from their own childhood. A subsequent show of hands confirmed Ducey’s point: storytelling is fun and feels good. Gay Ducey is the children’s librarian at the Rockridge Branch Library and staff trainer for story-readers for Oakland Head Start programs. She has appeared at storytelling festivals throughout the United States, Ireland and Canada. Her repertoire in...

By Jennifer Vetter

by Jennifer Vetter, Chair, Friends of the Rockridge Library (FORL) Gay Ducey, longtime children’s librar- ian at Rockridge, likes to say: “The children of Oakland deserve nothing but the very best.” She begins and ends her twice-yearly story-reading course with this inspirational statement, but the real inspira- ti...

atricia Lichter, the head librarian at the Rockridge Branch Library, will kickoff our discussion by presenting the 2005 Master Plan for the Oakland Public Libraries. Then, children’s librarian Gay Ducey will bring our focus to children’s literature. Gay will entice us with the adventures that await young readers in the Rockridge Branch, from children’s programs offered this fall, to hot titles that line the knee-high shelves. Gay has a bi...

...fit our weekly free dinner for the hungry. More information online at www. capcoakland.net or by phone at 510/658-3665. Also, our crab feed fund-raiser is coming on February 23. See details below. ■ ■Rockridge Branch Children’s Librar- ian Gay Ducey has been named manager of the West Oakland branch. We will remember Gay’s amazing story hours and the special gift she has for working with children. She will be missed. Land Use Cmte. ■ ■Erica Siskind is now the Children’s

...ry Thurs through 3/8; 1:15 to 2:15pm. Open Mon. – Fri., 9am to 3pm. 5714 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Info: 597-5085. Staff Changes at Rockridge Branch Library: Temporary? No Guarantees Branch Manager Pat Lichter and Storytelling Librarian Gay Ducey are being transferred to other branches. Pat is going to be branch man- ager at the new 81st Avenue Branch, while Gay

...nt of view. by Don Kinkead, editor “It is easy to forget the landscape of childhood,” so family members must pass on family stories — positive and nega- tive — to the coming generations and anchor that landscape in memory, said storyteller Gay Ducey at the March RCPC Town Hall meeting. College Avenue Claremont Avenue Ducey, invited by RCPC to speak on the importance of stories in family and community life, described how storytelling provides cautionary tales, family history and a sens...

...emonstrated need for an increase in fees for a program that cannot be expensive to administer. If the Council is looking for ways to save money, then consider reducing the street cleaning to once per month in this neighborhood. — Gary Barg Gay Ducey, from page 1 Following Ducey’s presentation, RCPC Land Use Committee chair Stuart Flashman reported on the status of several development projects in the Rockridge area. His report appears on page 5. The RCPC board develops and presents mon...

communal memory. storytellers. If you heard Gay Ducey at the March RCPC meeting, you heard one of the best. Gay will be one of the workshop leaders at the upcoming Bay Area Storytelling Festival, May 17-18 at Kennedy Grove Regional Park in El Sobrante (www.bayareastorytelling.org). At the fes...

...l: www.safewayon- college.com. Crime in Rockridge and Oakland also concerned those at the meeting. Oakland Police Officer Norman Del Rosario, Beat Officer for Beat 12X (Rockridge), discussed The March Town Hall meeting features storyteller Gay Ducey who will present “Using Stories in Community and Family Life.” A graduate of UC Berkeley’s Library School, Ms. Ducey is the children’s librar- ian at the Rockridge Branch Library, and the staff trainer for volunteer storytellers at Oakland...

By Claire Wahrhaftig-Isaacs

a prosperous 2005!” Instructor Gay Ducey is the Children’s Librarian at the Rockridge Branch of the Oakland Public Library. Ms. Ducey serves as professor of storytelling for Domini-

...nstead, most of the cuts were made at the downtown branch. Pat’s position directing programs in the Children’s Room was restructured, and she was transferred to Rockridge. She’s getting a warm welcome there from old friends and colleagues. Gay Ducey, who has been acting head librar- ian, is also a children’s librarian, and the two have worked together on projects in the past, including Head Start training. Pat has also worked on special projects with Erica Siskind, Gay’s partner as Ro...

By Rochelle Venuto

...53 or rvenuto@oaklandlibrary.org. Our training begins October 7 at the Rockridge Branch Library over six evenings (October 7, 8, 9, 21, 22, and 23) and one Saturday (October 25). Nationally renowned storyteller and Oakland Public Librarian Gay Ducey leads

...e at the program’s web site, http://51oakland.org/. Storytelling Storytelling is close to the heart of the Rockridge community, being that we have several famous performers living right here among us. Who has not thrilled to the stories of Gay Ducey and Diane Ferlatte? The 26th Bay Area Storytelling Festival is Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19 at the historic Craneway Pavilion, Marina Bay, Richmond. There

the Oakland Public Library (OPL) reorga- nizes to meet changing needs around the system, including the beautiful new branch at 1021 81st Avenue. Two of our librarians, Manager Pat Lichter and Children’s Librar- ian Gay Ducey, have been temporarily assigned to other branches. Luckily, we have marvelous staff that continue to step up to lead our branch, including new acting Branch Manager Sandra Toscano, and our existing library staff who create a wonder- Bikes ...

By Jane McDermott

...uniors from Oakland Tech. The process is coordinated by FORL board member Tracy Weber and Oak- land Unified School District (OUSD) guidance counselor Louis Thomas; the final selec- tion is made by head librarian Pat Lichter, and librarians Gay Ducey and Erica Suskind. According to Lichter, what made Quinn stand out from the other 12 finalists was his experience at demanding jobs, his innate sense of curiosity, and his comfort in talking to people. The librarians believed that he would...

Though not involved in the fundraising effort, Rockridge Branch Head Librarian Pat Lichter has allocated additional shelf space for the DVDs, and lent Rockridge librarians Gay Ducey, Susy Moorhead and Eve Buckner to the project. Together with Randy McDevitt-Parks from downtown, they sorted through the DVDs, selecting 2,877 discs for the branch. (See additional details in the May, 2010 Rockridge News archived online at...

...e Rockridge Muse Make a Note of It The 25th Anniversary Bay Area Storytelling Festival takes place at Kennedy Grove Regional Recreational Area in El Sobrante on Saturday and Sunday, May 22-23. Rockridge will be well represented. Along with Gay Ducey, who we have admired for her many years of delightful storytelling at the Rockridge Branch Library, Diane Ferlatte will join the impressive gathering of world-class story

By Annette Floystrup RCPC

DVDs that would augment the Rockridge Library collection. Head Librar- ian Pat Lichter allocated additional shelf space, and lent Rockridge librar- ians Gay Ducey, Susy Moorhead and Eve Buckner to the project. Together with McDevitt-Parks, they sorted through the DVDs, culling duplicates and unsuitable titles, selecting 2,877 discs for the branch. Much of the work to secure the DVDs for the branch w...

By Annette Floystrup RCPC

...donation toward the purchase of security cases. Watch for the coming fundraising cam- paign to learn how you, too, can help. Jon Gabel contributed to this article Oakland Public Library staff work hard at sorting DVDs. They are, from left, Gay Ducey, Susy Moorhead, Eve Buckner, and Randy McDevitt-Parks. Photo: Jon Gabel for the Rockridge Branch Library. Videots, long a movie buff’s paradise, has been known in the Bay Area for its remarkable selection of American and foreign movie clas...

...ring street tree-damaged sidewalks three times, then it’s your problem. We’ll worry in 300 or so years. And why not call and e-mail the Councilmembers about the scheduling conflict with Inauguration Day and suggest they change the date? by Gay Ducey, Children’s Librarian, Rockridge Branch Library Story Time is the place that children, books and an adult ready to cut up make a transitory community for about a half an hour. A lot happens there. The adult reads wonderful books tailor-mad...

By David Brown

...re. Imagine having a whole library of books that not only need to be stored but need to be accessed at the drop of a hat. Storing the collection of books at the Rockridge library has become a pressing burden to the already busy librarians. Gay Ducey and Erica Siskind found that their precious collection of books, used for the branch’s popular story time sessions, lived in precarious piles on a book truck. As a stopgap measure, Ms. Siskind provided a pasteboard bookcase she brought fro...

...hare. Along with the photo album we’re putting together, we’re planning a historic photo exhibit in the library during the fall. Let your memo- ries become a part of our archives and be enjoyed by the wider community. To offer photos, call Gay Ducey or Pat Lichter at the library, 597-5017, or just stop by the branch. Many thanks in advance! Designed for unisex use, the structure

time, on a schedule we’ll work out together. Please call Erica Siskind or Gay Ducey at 597-5017 to set up an orientation. The library is at 5366 College Avenue at Manila. Summer Reading Land Use Notes from page 5 from page 3 The Summer Reading Program Our program celebrates a child’s private relationship with reading. Kid...

...gathered at the College Avenue Presbyterian Church, Rockridge neighbor Nancy McKay weilded a spindly 4-foot ruler like a classroom- pointer as she discussed architectural drawings and explained that Safeway intends to demolish the existing Gay Ducey, page 4 ¤ ¤ Safeway, page 10 ¤ ¤

By Erica Siskind

...onday and Tuesday: 12:30 - 8 Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday: 10 - 5:30 Friday: 12 - 5:30 Sunday: Closed Your job may include explaining the read- ing game to kids, helping them keep track of To get details and sign up, call Erica Siskind or Gay Ducey at 597-5017 Articles submitted for publication may be e-mailed to the above address. Submissions are limited to 600 words; must include the author’s name, phone

...t it’s not going to happen overnight.” Annual Rockridge Photography Show (October 1-30) All levels of experience are welcome. We are also looking for an organizer this year. The Spoken Voice Or al Histor y and Stor y telling Workshops with Gay Ducey (fall). Help us capture local stories. Dates for workshop to be worked out. Local outdoor cultural activities to consider this summer include the Annual Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tours scheduled every weekend July through

By Jennifer Vetter

...d 22. The final graduation performance is on Saturday, February 24. Although the attrition rate for volunteer story readers is relatively low, people do move away or start new jobs, so there is always a need for more volunteers to sign up. Gay Ducey explained that Julie Odofin, of the Oakland Public Library, had the idea for the program more than 10 years

...he tells incarcerated readers that there is freedom in books because you can go anywhere in the imagination. These writers certainly have gone everywhere, and they have taken us with them. with renowned storyteller and children’s librarian Gay Ducey. Oakland Library Direc- tor Carmen Martinez and Deputy Director Gerry Garzon represented the City. Friends Of the Rockridge Library (FORL) chair Jennifer Vetter began the evening by assuring the audience that they were not going to be aske...

...UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive, Berkeley (above Cal Memorial Stadium in Straw- berry Canyon). For more information: 643-2755 or http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu. Friday, 12 to 5:30pm Closed Sundays. Workshop For Story Readers Gay Ducey, Children’s Librarian at the Rockridge Branch Library, will hold 7 training workshops on story reading and storytelling skills, starting Tuesday, September 13 from 6pm to 8:15pm at the Rockridge Library. Participants will learn the art of ...

By Claire Wahrhaftig-Isaacs

...ldren to the pleasure of stories and inspiring excitement about books and reading. In a comprehen- sive storytime class that begins Tuesday, January 18 at the Rockridge Branch Library, participants will learn the art of storytell- ing from Gay Ducey, whose storytelling talents have been featured on the Mister Rogers show. can College, Santa Rosa College, UCB Extension and her alma mater, the Uni- versity of California at Berkeley Library School. She is the former co-chair of the Natio...

At the November RCPC Meeting Thanks to Rockridge Children’s Librarian Gay Ducey, Pegasus & Pendragon Books Store manager Joy Hucklesby, and author Melissa Lion (in order from top, below), the audience at RCPC’s November 18 Town Hall meet- ing learned a lot about what children and teens are reading and what books to bu...

...t of occupying their bustling youngsters on long, rainy, television-susceptible days. Many of us are also contemplating holiday gifts that won’t stunt brainwaves during those same indoor hours. On both counts, may we  Children’s Librarian Gay Ducey: adventures awaiting young readers in the Rockridge Branch.  Local author Melissa Lion: her first novel for young adults, Swollen, was published this year.  Children’s literature specialists from Diesel and Pendragon bookstores share tre...

By Marilyn Citron

... read- ers in February, the city backed away from closing branches and cutting back hours to make up for its budget deficit. The community let it be known that it opposed “a draconian approach to cutting services,” says Rockridge librarian Gay Ducey. “That was important information for the city to hear.”

ecorner Gay Ducey Children's Librarian

Parade for young children takes place along College Avenue on Saturday, October 28 2000. This year’s fesuvities will begin with Halloween Tales told by our own storvteller, Ms. Gay Ducey. She will be in the rear lot of the Rockridge Branch Library beginning at 2 pm The Parade will follow the storytelling. It will begin at the library and proceed up both sides of College Avenue and end at Claremont Avenue. Participating Col...

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By Chad Thompson

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Rockridge librarians are looking for volunteers in middle or high school to help run the summer reading program. Volunteers are welcome to come for just a few hours, or for a regular shift. Call Gay Ducey or Thanh Ho for

By Cy Gulassa

2. RdckridgeNews pT *Y Gay Ducey Children’s Librarian