Lisa is the most cheerful, positive person you will most likely ever meet. When Heritage Park’s Children’s Librarian was promoted, Lisa stepped up and took on 6 storytimes each week. These storytimes draw crowds of 50-170 people and Lisa treats each program as an opportunity to share her joy and talents with the Irvine community. She gives dozens of high 5s to her young admirers each day and takes the time to pay attention to each child and each parent. Her optimism and energy never flag and her attitude is golden. The County is focusing on embracing the open mindset mentality and Lisa could be their ideal standard - for her, obstacles are challenges and the good is found in every task. Her joy is contagious - she makes it easy to smile and easy to see the value in what we do.
Congratulations to Melanie, OC Public Libraries’ employee of the month. Starting out as a clerk, Melanie learned the basics, but because of her exceptional customer service skills and attention to detail quickly became the lead clerk. Now, in the position of Library Assistant, Melanie is moving beyond the front desk, creating off-site tech programming with a local Senior Center, and creating an adult crafting program on-site where there hasn’t been one. Melanie is taking professional risks with incredible results. She is a team player backing up for children and teen programming, and always there with her knowledge and skill when needed at the front desk. Melanie is an asset to the OC Public Libraries system!
Costa Mesa, Calif. (June 17, 2019) – Four adult graduates will be accepting their high school diplomas at OC Public Libraries’ Career Online High School Graduation Ceremony on Thursday, June 20, 2019, from 7- 9 p.m. at the Costa Mesa Donald Dungan Library located at 1855 Park Ave, Costa Mesa, CA 92627. This is the second annual Career Online High School Graduation Ceremony.“I want to congratulate the graduates for achieving this important milestone in their educations,” said Chairwoman Lisa Bartlett, Fifth District. “I am thrilled that OC Public Libraries can offer this valuable resource to members of our community.”With the support of the State Library and San Clemente Friends of the Library, OC Public Libraries has made it possible for adults, ages 19 and older, to earn accredited high school diplomas and credentialed career certificates online through Career Online High School since 2016.
The Costa Mesa Donald Dungan Library staff are our employees of the month for June!Library staff went above and beyond to get the new library ready for the Grand Opening on May 24th. The new library is two-stories and much larger than the previous location, with separate Children’s and Teen rooms, computer and laptop areas, and two large community rooms. While the branch was being constructed, library staff went through the materials for quality control and ordered new items to ensure a vibrant collection of books, magazines, and media were available when the library reopened. Once the building was complete, Costa Mesa staff worked in record time to make sure all materials were in their proper place, everyone knew the layout and operations of the facility, and new programming was ready to begin once the library opened. Costa Mesa Donald Dungan staff’s commitment to excellence, flexibility with construction timeline changes, and dedication to serving the public, contributed to the new library opening with great fanfare and patron satisfaction.
In addition to providing excellent service at her home library, Dina did a superb job as a volunteer at Literary Orange this year, ensuring a great experience was had by attendees, authors and moderators.
As a keynote author guide she went above and beyond in her role, making sure that the keynote speaker had everything they needed before and after their presentation. Throughout the day Dina demonstrated flexibility and a willingness to assist in any area of need.
Her support and positive attitude contributed to the success of the event. Congratulations Dina!
Andrea has been a staple of her local community for several years. She consistently provides excellent customer service and always exhibits a calm and professional demeanor. She is always willing to assist her colleagues in any task and efficiently uses her time to complete a litany of assignments throughout the branch. She promotes adult literacy by leading discussion for our monthly book club. Congratulations, Andrea!
Best-selling authors Tara Conklin, Martha Hall Kelly and Alan Brennert
to serve as keynote speakers at this sold out event
Newport Beach, Calif. (April 2, 2019) – OC Public Libraries will be hosting its thirteenth annual Literary Orange event at the Newport Beach Marriott on Saturday, April 6, 2019, from 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. This premier literary event brings together over 500 attendees, including authors, readers and libraries for a celebration of literature. Tickets for this year’s event went on sale in January and sold out in the first three days.
Popular best-selling authors Tara Conklin, Martha Hall Kelly and Alan Brennert will serve as keynote speakers, along with over 50 authors of various genres.
Tara Conklin is a writer and former lawyer. Her first novel, The House Girl, was a New York Times bestseller, #1 IndieNext pick, and Target book club pick. It has also been translated into 8 different languages. Martha Hall Kelly is the author of Lilac Girls, which became a New York Times bestseller the week it was published in April 2016. The prequel, Lost Roses, is being released this month. Alan Brennert is the author of Honolulu and Moloka'i, which won the 2006 Bookies Award for the Book Club Book of the Year. His additional accolades include an Emmy Award and a People’s Choice Award for his work as a writer-producer on the television series L.A. Law. He has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award and the Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Teleplay of the Year.
Literary Orange offers attendees multiple opportunities to engage with an exciting array of authors, including purchasing and signing of books, asking questions, and learning about the writing process. There will be 15 panel discussions covering a variety of genres including Inspirational and Literary Fiction, Mystery, Genealogy, History, Memoirs, and more. More information is available at http://www.literaryorange.org/.
On Tuesday, February 19th, OC Public Libraries hosted Gloria Steinem at the Bowers Museum. With a crowd of approximately 700 attendees, the following staff members were instrumental in ensuring a successful event:- Jenny - Nervana- Jason- Brandi- Susan- Steven- Marisa - Serene Every single person demonstrated flexibility and adaptability as well as taking the initiative where needed in order to offer attendees the best event experience possible. This group delivered stellar customer service and went above and beyond with a smile on their faces. Their professionalism was evident from the start to the very end of the event. OC Public Libraries is proud and fortunate to have such reliable and talented individuals on staff.
Congratulations to February’s Employee of the Month, Ericka Reeb! Since becoming the Branch Manager at the Laguna Niguel Library, Ericka’s goal has been to enhance the patron experience by providing excellent customer service. She and her staff work hard to create a warm, welcoming environment and meaningful, relevant programming for the community. Ericka is passionate about libraries and library service. She recently demonstrated this passion and enthusiasm when she observed long lines of patrons, some sitting on lawn chairs, outside the library hoping to get tickets for author Gloria Steinem’s lecture at the Bowers Museum. Not wanting to disappoint, Ericka told the group how many tickets were available at the Laguna Niguel Library. The group decided amongst themselves to limit the number of tickets to two each. Meanwhile Ericka contacted nearby branches to ask if they had lines and referred patrons to locations where no one was waiting. The result was a few new library cards and very happy patrons!
Thursday, January 17th. The catalog will be unavailable due to routine maintenance. During this time catalog searches may return inaccurate results. We apologize for the inconvenience.
