Fallbrook Library

Fallbrook is soon to be blessed with an incredible new library. The grand opening gala is to take place January 15, 2020. The gala is pretty much close to being sold out. This will be a state of the art facility with every conceivable bell and whistle. Books even.

The library is also topped off with a living roof. (Does your library have a living roof?) Much of the facility was funded with local donations, thanks to the wizardry and acumen of one Jerri Padgett, Marlo Miller, the Friends of the Fallbrook Library and many generous donors.

It is also a repository for a lot of art installations from Fallbrook and other local area artists, including James Hubbell, Betsy Schultz, Cristopher Pardell, Michael Stutz, Michael O'Brien, Karen Cunagin, Jim Helms, N. Dixon Fish and others. The thing is just insane.

Some people dislike the postmodern architecture and palette. I am a critical person and happen to like it. After all, everybody knows that orange is the new black.

So bravo to our community and the County of San Diego for gracing us with such a great new library. Thanks to everyone for their hard work.

I am on the art selection committee for the new library. We will have approximately eight shows in the first year. We will also have a separate corridor for occasional solo shows. Visit the Friends of the Fallbrook Library website to submit work for the committee to consider. You can submit for a specific show or into the artist's database that we will keep on file. Work will be permitted to be for sale but prices will not be posted. More information on the site.

Our first show will be a photography show called My Fallbrook. All ages and skill levels are encouraged to submit for this show opening January 15, 2010. Work needs to be framed with a wire on the back. Send in your great photographs of the Fallbrook experience.

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I have been meeting with a lot of library folks the last several months, in the course of my involvement with the art selection group as well as the early construction meetings that were held in my gallery.

I was bitching about the lack of sanctuary in today's library. When I was young we respected the quiet and sanctity of the space. No more. Kids yelling, running, talking, cell phoning, they are no longer quiet places. When I brought this up, I was met with a little opprobrium and suspicion from the librarians. It is by design that the libraries are louder, they stopped caring. I guess that we are thwarting little Johnny and Susie's personal development if we expect them to follow our outdated, victorian concepts like maintaining peace and quiet in the library. They should be fun, happy, loud places! Oh, how I long for a more civil era.

As a sign of my sad remorse at the state of affairs in regards to noise levels at libraries across America, we are going to have a show called Shhh! All media welcome.

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Without sounding like a bourgeois snob, libraries also seem to become the daily spot for personal grooming and affairs for the indigent community. They must be really licking their chops over this baby!

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There is one other show I would like to discuss that we have scheduled for the fall. We are going to host a photographic show called Parallel Worlds, a show exploring the immigrant and hispanic experience in Fallbrook. It is an old concept of mine and I am excited about it. Two different solar systems, that occasionally intersect. Please contact me for more details.