Last year the Employee Advisory Board (EAB) collected over 500 high-need items such as blankets, socks, and detergent through its Winter Blanket Drive—thanks to the generosity of Pasadena’s municipal employees.

EAB is again partnering with Pasadena’s Friends in Deed (Bad Weather Shelter, Women’s Room) and Union Station to do another drive this holiday season. They are seeking your support to provide blankets, socks, and suds for those less fortunate.

You might be wondering why suds. Shelters such as the two mentioned say there is a great need for laundry detergent at their facilities. In addition to contributing to good hygiene, clean clothing offers a sense of normalcy and dignity for those experiencing homelessness. To borrow a phrase from Tide’s Loads of Hope program, “clean clothes look, smell and feel like hope.”

Your donations offer HOPE to those going through a difficult time.

The Winter Blanket, Socks and Suds Drive will continue to January 10, 2019. A donation box is located in the Staff Lounge at Central Library if you would like to drop off a blanket, socks, or laundry detergent.   These items will go a long way in helping our local homeless services agencies assist and serve our local homeless population.

Your donation is greatly appreciated!

Last year the Employee Advisory Board (EAB) collected over three hundred blankets, socks, and umbrellas through its Winter Blanket Drive–thanks to the generosity of Pasadena’s municipal employees.

EAB is again partnering with Pasadena’s Bad Weather Shelter and Union Station to do another drive this holiday season. They are seeking your support to provide blankets, socks, and suds for those less fortunate.

You might be wondering why suds. Shelters such as the two mentioned say there is a great need for laundry detergent at their facilities. In addition to contributing to good hygiene, clean clothing offers a sense of normalcy and dignity for those experiencing homelessness. To borrow a phrase from Tide’s Loads of Hope program, “clean clothes look, smell and feel like hope.”

Your donations offer HOPE to those going through a difficult time.

Thank you to those who donated to this drive during our Holiday Party.  Your donations are greatly appreciated!

The Winter Blanket, Socks and Suds Drive will continue to January 18, 2018. You can still drop off a blanket, socks, or laundry detergent in the donation bin at Admin.

Don’t forget, this Saturday, August 19, is the Pasadena Employee Softball Tournament at Brookside Park! Come and support our library staff and colleagues from other departments who will be playing ball! Hamburgers and hotdogs will be served, so bring family and friends for the fun!

This isn’t the first time that the City has held a softball game. In the early 1980s, Public Works, Water & Power, and a few other City departments got together after work to play softball. They formed teams based on department affiliation and played against one another. These early informal games soon gained the support of the City, which then helped form a city employee softball league that later included the Library and several other departments.

Participating departments formed their own team and competed against other departments. The Library softball team was fittingly called the Infomaniacs and had its own jersey made (not all departments were as flashy and cool as us with a spiffy name and team uniforms).

The employee softball league was sort of a big deal, as it meant bragging rights if your team won. The Library and other departments practiced at various locations throughout Pasadena to hone their game, but official games were all played at a place called “Johnson Field,” which was located in the undeveloped area south of JPL and north of Devil’s Gate Dam.  According to Bryan Sands, former library staff (now with DoIT), Johnson Field was a special place for a variety of reasons:

 Johnson Field was a “private” field created by City employees in undeveloped land in the Arroyo Seco using surplus parks equipment like backstops, benches, and picnic tables.  Several employees volunteered after hours and on weekends to build the field specifically for the City employee softball league.  The field was named after a former Water & Power General Manager.  The field fell into disrepair some years later when it was no longer used by employees for softball games.  Then a few years back it was removed altogether in an effort to restore the habitat in the area behind Devil’s Gate Dam.

This is the only photo that I’ve found in the Archives showing the library softball team. It was in an envelope with a label that reads “Library softball team summer 84” and a caption “Oh please, can we have another inning?” It may have been taken before jerseys were made available, hence the regular clothes. The person in the foreground is Liz Bischoff, former Principal Librarian for Technical Services, and who can guess the person in the red shirt and blue jeans on the left?

The Infomaniacs played in the softball league for a year or two before hanging up their jerseys in 1985 or 1986. The league continued on until the late 1980s.

The big game this Saturday will be the first citywide softball tournament in thirty years. It’s great to see the Library and other departments back in the game. Our own “infomaniacs” Tiffany Duenas, William Porras, Kristen Annes, Dana Crisp (honorary member), Susan Zehnder, and Michelle Perera (backup) will be teaming up with colleagues from Public Works as Team Smash/Catch Fire. Let’s show them our support!

Many thanks to Tiffany Duenas, Bryan Sands, Penny Sands, Nick Smith, and Laurie Whitcomb for their assistance in the creation of this blog.

Attention, sports fans!

The Employee Advisory Board (EAB), with the approval and support of the City Manager, is planning a softball tournament for city employees to be scheduled prior to the 2017 Employee Appreciation Picnic (September 14, 2017). This year’s picnic will have a sports theme, so get ready to wear your favorite team’s jersey and represent!

The softball tournament will be a competition between Departments and will be held for 3–4 weekends prior to the picnic. Teams will play until they lose.

Interested in forming a library softball team and playing ball? Sign up with Tiffany Duenas or Young Phong.

The Employee Advisory Board (EAB) wants to thank the Pasadena Public Library for its generous donation of blankets, socks, and umbrellas to its 2016 Winter Blanket Drive.

We collected two large bags of blankets, socks, and umbrellas at our annual Holiday Party! These items will be donated to local organizations that provide services to the homeless and those in need.

The Winter Blanket Drive has been extended to the end of December, so blanket donations are still accepted! If you have a blanket you’d like to donate, please drop it off at Tiffany Dueñas’ desk or at Library Administration.

Thank you, PPL!

Click on the flyer below to RSVP by September 8th to the main event!

This year’s charity drive is sponsored by the Employee Advisory Board. EAB invites all city employees to attend its Charitable Giving Campaign Kickoff event at City Hall Wednesday, June 8, from 2:30–4:00 p.m.

Why you should go!

• There will be great speakers who will talk about the various charitable organizations and how your donations will help them.
• Opportunity to meet and talk with other city employees.
• Raffle drawings and a chance to win awesome prizes!
• Show your support (just by being there)!
• There will be cookies! And it will be fun!

Stop by if you can and show your support!

Please let your supervisor know if you would like to attend this event.

The EAB Food Drive has been extended to February 5th! So if you have non-perishable food items that you’ve been meaning to drop off, there’s an additional week to do so! Thank you for your donations!

City of Pasadena Employee Food & Cold Weather Clothing Drive

When: December 17, 2015–January 29, 2016 February 5, 2016

Where: Central Library, west balcony staff break room. Bins will be collected every Thursday.

What: Non-perishable food items.  Most needed: peanut butter, canned tuna, canned chicken, cereal, rice, cooking oil, sugar, and flour. Other needs include proteins (chili, beef stew, dry beans), whole grains (pasta, oats, corn), shelf stable or powdered milk, jelly, tomato and spaghetti sauces, and soups. No glass containers.

• Please, no clothing articles! The Library will not be participating in the cold-weather clothing drive. Staff can donate clothing to participating departments. Please Contact Tiffany Duenas or Young Phong for a list of departments that accept clothing donations.
• Branch staff who would like to donate food items should make arrangements with their supervisors to have them deliver donations at their next meeting at Central.

(click on image for full size)