Librarian Wants Local Bookworms Busy This Summer

A Concord resident and Walnut Creek librarian intends to keep local book worms busy this summer.

Adults, children and teenagers are encourage to participate in the 2012 Summer Reading Festival, said Caroline Gick, the new senior community library manager for Walnut Creek's two libraries.

Library patrons of all ages are greeted by volunteers at the summer reading table and offered information, said Gick, who started in Walnut Creek in April.

When festival parcipants turn in book reviews they are entered in drawings for prizes from library sponsors, which include Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Academy of Sciences, the San Francisco Giants, Oracle and Renaissance Club Sport in Walnut Creek.

With the theme of "Dream Big Read!", the festival continues through Aug. 18, when the back-to-school sales will be in full bloom. It continues through Aug. 18, when the back-to-school sales will be in full bloom.

Check the library's website throughout the summer for charts of information on how many books participants have read.

Tell us in the comments if you're one of the participants and what books you're reading!

Aside from "Dream Big Read!, Gick is keeping adult readers deep in the Civil War right now with the "One Book, One City" project, an involved bookclub currently featuring The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara. Follow the previous link for the details.

And keep up to date with the library calendar for summertime fun!

Caroline Gick

Caroline Gick has been with the county library system since 2003, while she was still doing course work for a master's in library science from San Jose State. In nine years she has worked at system libraries in El Sobrante, Hercules and Orinda before starting in Walnut Creek in April, succeeding Cindy Brittain as Walnut Creek library manager.

She said her spirits are lifted by the constant activity at the two Creek libraries— always something going on, she said.

"The wealth of activity and the diversity of activity and the people we're serving kind of astounds me," said Gick. "There are always people here. It always makes me curious." She gives some credit to the great walk-in location downtown on North Broadway.

Gick, who grew up in Connecticut, said she's always been a bookworm. She graduated from Clark University in Worcester, Mass., with a bachelor's degree in art history. She first worked for nonprofits and in public relations before gravitating to libraries and the degree in library science.

Her summer reading project is to return to a favorite novel from 2000, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon. "I didn't expect to like it with its male characters and comic books," Gick said, "but I loved it."