Programs & Special Events

Here are some of the great programs to look forward to at the Lafayette Library and Learning Center this week:

The Seaborg Learning Consortium Is Fully Launched!

The Seaborg Learning Consortium is in high gear with programming already scheduled out for the next 6 months. See below for programs coming up in the next few weeks. For a list of all the events we have currently scheduled, click here.

Glenn Seaborg Learning Consortium

Chabot Space and Science Center

Saturday, August 14 | 10:00-Noon | Arts and Science Discovery Center

Chabot in Space

Fee: $5. Groups of 5 receive a 20% discount.

Be an astronaut for a day. Wear a spacesuit, see a robotic arm, space toilet and (yes) diapers!

Click here to register

Commonwealth Club of California

Wednesday, July 28 | 6:30-8:30 PM | Community Hall

The Future of Books

Access to information is constantly changing, and the popularity of e-books and online material is on the rise. Will the printed word become obsolete? What advances are being made in the world of e-readers, and what are e-reader manufacturers doing to assuage user concerns? How do authors feel about these changes? Are they concerned about a decrease in profits or excited about being able to reach out to the larger reader pool that digital content provides them? Learn about how new innovations will affect us both socially and economically and learn how industry insiders are keeping up with the changes.

Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program
Cost: $12 members, $22 non-members, $7 students (with valid ID)

Get tickets online today or call (415) 597-6705

Thursday, August 19 | 6:30-8:30 PM | Community Hall

Mary Roach: Journey Through Outer Space Without Leaving Earth

Author, Stiff and Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

She took us into the world of cadavers and examined the anatomy, physiology and psychology behind sex. Now, Roach discovers the surreality and weirdness of space. For example, what happens when you've been in space for a year? And is it possible for a human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? From the space shuttle training toilet to NASA's crash simulation tests, Roach explores the strange universe.

Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book signing
Cost: $12 members, $22 non-members, $7 students (with valid ID)

Reservations are available through the Commonwealth Club.

John F Kennedy University

Tuesday, August 31 | 7:00-8:30 PM | Arts and Science Discovery Center

Museums and Their Impact

The Museum Studies program at JFK University is one of the nation’s most recognized museum studies programs. Enjoy a lively conversation about creative arts, museums, and their impact on our world vision.

Click here to register

Lafayette Library and Learning Center Foundation

Classic Film Series

Thursdays in July | 7:00-9:00 PM | Community Hall

Summer Vacation in the Movies

Inside stories and discussion moderated by James Keller, playwright and instructor in world drama, film and poetry.

July 8: Holiday
Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn star in this sophisticated comedy that asks, what are we going to do with life--is it a burden, a duty, or a holiday?

July 15: Monsieur Hulot's Holiday
Pipe-smoking Monsieur Hulot, Jacques Tati's endearing clown takes a holiday at a seaside resort where his presence provokes one catastrophe after another. You don’t have to read subtitles here to laugh out loud!!!!

July 22: Summertime
A spinster from Ohio vacations in Venice falls for the city and in love.  Katharine Hepburn clears the hurdle of middle age.

July 29: Pauline At The Beach
Two young cousins on holiday in France. A witty subtle comedy about romantic self-deception by the French Master Eric Rohmer.

Tickets: $8, $6 seniors/students. $30 for the complete series.

Click here to register

Wednesdays in August | 7:00-9:00 PM | Community Hall

Memory in the Movies (role of flashbacks in movies)

August 4 - Citizen Kane
The Orson Welles classic film about the newspaper baron Charles Foster Kane and the mysterious "Rosebud."

August 11 - Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman)
Professor of medicine Isak Borg travels to Lund University in order to receive his anniversary title. Along the road he meets strangers and relatives, and in his dreams he is confronted with his own past as well as fear of insufficiency.

August 18 - After Life (award-winning, touching Japanese film)
Every Monday morning, a team of advisors welcome a group of people that have just died, helping each one of them to select their best memory. On Thursday, filmmakers begin to recreate the selected memory, and at the end of the week they screen it.

August 25 - Forever
A documentary about the power of memory.

Tickets: $8, $6 seniors/students. $30 for the complete series.

Click here to register

Celebrity Chef Martin Yan

Tuesday, August 17 | 7:00-8:30 PM | Community Hall

Chef Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook

The celebrated host of over 3,000 cooking shows broadcast world-wide, Martin Yan enjoys distinction as a certified Master Chef, a, respected food consultant, a highly entertaining cooking instructor and a prolific author.

Tickets $10. Limited Seating

Click here for reservations

Friends of the Lafayette Library and Learning Center

Sweet Thursdays

Thursday, September 30 | 7:30-8:30 PM | Community Hall

A Conversation with Vendela Vida

Vendela Vida is the author of the critically acclaimed novels And Now You Can Go and Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name, as well as Girls on the Verge: Debutante Dips, Drive-bys, and Other Initiations, a journalistic exploration of female coming-of-age rituals. She is a founding coeditor of The Believer magazine.

Join us for a conversation with Bay Area author Vendela Vida, September 30th at 7:30 PM.

Friends Corner Book Shop!

We're currently looking for people available to volunteer on Saturday afternoons. Interested? Send an email to info@friendscornerbookshop.com

Are you on Facebook? We are, too! Join us there on The Book Shop's Facebook Page.

Lafayette Library Programs

Special Programs at the Lafayette Library

Spring / Summer Programs

Make a Splash @ Your Library runs Saturday, June 5th through Monday, August 16th. Starting June 5th, reading records will be available in community libraries, or online at ccclib.org—pick one up to earn prizes for your reading time! Make a Splash Summer Reading is for all ages, with programs for babies, kids, teens and adults.

Rossmoor Big Band Rehearsals, every Wednesday night all summer long from 7:30-9:30 pm. Music and informal dancing under the stars!

V.I.P. story time and crafts every Wednesday in July, 10:30am.  Join Lafayette's mayor, chief of police and others as they read stories and talk about why they love the library.

Puppet Theatre Workshop, July 26, CANCELLED

Ongoing Programs

Improve Your Chess Game!  Monthly chess club open to all ages, all abilities.  Take instruction, get tips, or just find someone to play.  Free, drop in.  Third Saturday of the month from 4 pm - 5 pm.

Lafayette Book Club, 4th Wednesday of the month at 7:30pm.  Call 385-2280 for the current title or come in to pick up your copy now - this month's selection is Dreamers of The Day by Mary Russell.

Story times with Miss Donna Summer session runs June 14 - July 29, in the Homework Center.

        Mother Goose Time for 0 - 3 year olds 10:15 and 10:55 am
        Preschool Story Time for 3-5 year olds at 11:30 am

Pajamarama   It's family storytime and you are invited to hear stories, sing songs and learn new fingerplays and rhymes. Wear your jammies and slippers and don't leave Teddy behind! July 27, and August 31 at 7 pm.

Other Lafayette Library programs are listed on the Lafayette Library Calendar.

For a complete schedule of events in Lamorinda area and other community libraries, visit the Contra Costa County Library's website at ccclib.org.

LLLCF provides forums for the exchange of diverse perspectives. Views expressed at LLLCF events are those of the participants.