In celebration of National Preservation Week, San Jose Public Library is offering a way for you to preserve your personal and family memories. Library staff will be on hand to help you scan photographs and documents that have meaning in your life, and perhaps that you would like to share with others.

I have a photograph of my grandfather, a World War II veteran, who passed away last year. My grandmother gave me this image and also shared with me a few stories about how they first met and what their early years together were like. I would like to share this image and her personal stories with my 20 cousins spread throughout the United States. In this way the family memories can be saved and handed down.

Let us help you do the same. We welcome you to attend a Scan Day at any of the following times and places. Please bring up to ten items to scan and we will help you save the digitized images to a CD.

West Valley Branch Library

Thrusday, April 4th 11-1 pm

Berryessa Branch Library

Friday, April 5th 2-4 pm

Rose Garden Branch Library

Thursday, April 11th 11-1 pm

Evergreen Branch Library

Thursday, April 11th 4-6 pm

Leaving India : my family's journey from five villages to five continents by  Minal Hajratwala.

From the Indian state of Gujarat, descendants of the Khatri clan have migrated and scattered aroundthe globe. Beginning with the story of her great grandfather who went to Fiji and became a successful merchant, Minal Hajratwaladescribes her extended family’s diaspora, focusing on a particular relative in each generation while discussing the historical, political and social issues that led to their leaving their home country and settling in another.  Her relatives in South Africa built their business under apartheid; an ancestor in India participated in Gandhi’s salt march.  Minal’s own family of origin, who eventually settled in the United States, highlights the complications of immigration: at one time each member travelled on a passport from a different country of birth.  At the end of the book, Minal’s relatives reside in India , Fiji, Australia, Great Britain, South Africa, Hong Kong, Canada and the United States.  A fascinating story of immigration and the process of assimilation into new cultures and identities.

National Preservation Week is later this month and on Saturday at King Library you can participate by bringing in some of your historic photographs or documents to be scanned.  Library staff will be on hand to assist you and you will receive a copy of your scanned photos on CD.

Scanning will take place from 11am to 1pm on the 3rd floor in Study Room 390.  Bring up to 10 items for scanning on a first come, first served basis.

Making digital copies of old family photos is a great way to share your past with your children and other family members who may live far away.  This photo is of me on Easter Day in 1969. 

The Almaden Community Center is offering a Genealogy and Family History Class beginning on January 2. The class will meet only on Tuesdays at 9:30-11:30 AM and will continue through February 13.

Class Description:

Learn how to find out about your ancestors. This class will give you the tools you'll need to discover those missing links. Pamela Erickson will be your instructor.

Cost:

$34.00 for Almaden Community Center members

$42.00 for non-members

How To Sign Up:

Stop by the Community Center's front desk or sign up online at www.sanjoseca.gov/prns.

Questions:

Please call Bekah at 408-268-1133.

When Heidi was just a newborn, she and her mentally disabled mother mysteriously appeared at the door of their kindly next-door neighbor, Bernadette. Although Bernadette has agoraphobia and is afraid to leave home, she discovered a connecting door between the two apartments that made it possible for her to look after Heidi and her mother. The three of them create their own unique household and family bond. As a young child, Heidi is content and has little reason to question her origins or her unusual living arrangement. However, at age 12 several nagging questions begin to haunt her. Her mother calls herself So B. It… does she have another, more conventional name? And what is the meaning of the strange word, soof – the only word in her mother’s 23-word vocabulary that isn’t a common one? When Heidi discovers some old photographs showing her mother at a Christmas party in Liberty, New York, she vows to find answers about her family history… even though it means embarking on a solo cross-country bus trip from Reno to New York. In So B. It, author Sarah Weeks has created a strong and likable heroine. You’ll find yourself routing for Heidi in her quest to unravel the mysteries of her past and discover her true identity. Recommended for grades 6-9.