Books

Mark R. Madler When the Friends of the Burbank Library first met in June 1980, their bank account held a mere $55. As the group marks its 25th anniversary today, its members can look back with pride at the $750,000 donated to the library over the years for purchase of books and other materials and to fund programming for children and adults alike. "We do things the city won't do," said Mort Sollod, who, with his wife Elaine, is a charter member of the Friends.

Rosette Gonzales Walter the porcupine held a carrot in one paw and contently gnawed on it while the audience of curious children watched him. When he finished his carrot, he held up his paw and waived goodbye to everyone, then left the stage. "Goodbye, Walter," the children responded in unison. Walter doesn't sing or dance but he's used to entertaining. He and several other exotic animals visited Northwest Branch Library Tuesday for the kindergarten through eighth-grade summer reading program.

ST. BEDE SCHOOL NAMES STUDENTS OF THE MONTH Four students have been named Students of the Month at St. Bede School. They are Andy Gonzalez, Connor Vandagriff, Jack Maron and Matthew Gorski . They were chosen for their outstanding service to the community. They will be awarded a certificate at a special lunch with the school?s principal, Ralph Valente . ? MILITARY PERSONNEL GRADUATE FROM TRAINING Army Pvt. Jonathan Lee has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C. Lee is the son of Chang Woo Lee of Glendale.

Residents can put old items to good use when the city offers recycling opportu- nities Saturday at the city's recycling center. Mercury fever thermometers can be swapped for nontoxic oral thermometers that don't use mercury, which is banned from thermometers sold in California. Meanwhile, old tennis shoes of any brand can be dropped off. They will be transformed into athletic surfaces and other products made by Nike that fund the company's community donation program.

Two students from John Muir Middle School are participating today in a panel discussion at the Festival of Books at UCLA. Eighth- grader Sunny Patel and seventh-grader Bethany Daniels will discuss the novel "A Northern Light" by Jennifer Donnelly from noon to 1 p.m. at the ETC Stage for radio station KPCC's Book of the Air For Young Adults program. The students will also question Donnelly, who will be at the discussion, said John Mercado, an English and journalism instructor at Muir Middle School.

Karen S. Kim BURBANK -- For children looking for intellectual stimulation during the summer months, the Burbank Public Library offers Summer Reading Club 2001. Children from kindergartners to eighth-graders are invited to join the club, a program that encourages children to read for pleasure. Club members must read at least six books at their own reading level and turn in a written report on each book. Children who complete the requirements are awarded certificates at the end of the program.

Burbank Noon Lions “Children Know Peace” is the theme for the 2011 International Peace Poster contest sponsored by the Burbank Noon Lions club, and on November 16, the club recognized the winners in a ceremony held at the Burbank Central Library. This is the first level of competition. The peace poster contest was established by Lions Clubs International to promote the awareness of world peace internationally among youth. Burbank City officials, students, teachers, Lions and parents gathered for the awards presentation to honor the winners from three Burbank Middle schools and the Boys & Girls Club who took part in this year's contest.

McDonald?s to give books to children McDonald?s restaurants in Southern California and the National Center of Family Literacy will celebrate National Family Literacy Day by giving away books. From 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, McDonald?s employees at 1701 W. Olive Ave. in Burbank will give away an age-appropriate children?s book to each child who visits. Parents will receive a bookmark with tips written on it for improving their children?s reading and writing skills. The Burbank McDonald?

JUNE CASAGRANDE For the last few weeks, I've been reading two books: "The Iliad," which makes me sound smart but feel dumb, and Stephen King's "The Stand," which has the opposite effect. The former is a classic tale of men who, for various reasons, want to kill men and attack and enslave women. The latter is a less-respected work about men who, for various reasons, want to kill men and attack and enslave women. The former is readable to me mainly because Hollywood's recent popcorn epic "Troy" helps me to picture Brad Pitt as a barely clad Achilles.

A little whimsy, a little satire, that's what meets the eye when viewing Sam Brown's exhibit at Wax Poetic Gallery. The show is a collection of his stick figure drawings accompanied by sentences superimposed on the art contributed by people who have visited his website. The subjects in his pieces are stick figure people reacting to dogs, ducks, robots or monsters. Some of the pieces are dark, while others are light and playful, but Brown and his fans agree, there's plenty of room for viewers to come up with their own interpretations.