We all need to get away every now and then. Instead of spending hours on a plane or a car, why not discover a nearby Bay Area gem?  The newly reopened Exploratorium in San Francisco is no doubt on the to-do list of most families. But that's just scratching the surface of a rich and vibrant region.

Whether you're new to the area or lived here your whole life, there is much to explore outside of your door. From restaurants, museums, hiking and biking, there's something for everyone.

The library has a rich selection of resources to help you plan a fun excursion. In addition, our Discover and Go service offers free or reduced ticket prices for Bay Area Museums. 

Here are some library materials to help you discover the Bay Area:

• Newcomers
• Foodies
• Dog Lovers
• Families
• Missions
• Hiking
• Biking
• Museums
• Fishing
• Weekend Getaways

We are surrounded by a cultural windfall of so many venues for viewing fine arts in the Bay Area. Last summer I had the serendipitous pleasure of stumbling upon a great exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California entitled All of Us or None: Social Justice Posters of the San Francisco Bay Area. This collection of unique local history provides an archival trove of beautiful poster art, some of them recognizable images of various eras, for which we have an accompanying catalog for that show in the California Room of the King Library. This show coincided at about the same time the New York Times was writing this piece about the revolutionary & radical roots of Oakland from the Black Panthers to the recent Occupy movement to remind us of a period and a place which is known for its fervent willingness to express social outrage, whether you support those expressions and ideas or not. Now, unfortunately, we have but the one solitary copy of the All of Us or None catalog in a location that is for library use only, but this being the internet/social media era and all (whooo!) I can share this link which will get you to the entire archive of the poster collection for your viewing pleasure.

Now, it would seem that nothing brings out the creative art of the poster quite like global politics and individual propaganda (well, maybe music?), so here are a couple of additional great-looking titles to share that might be worth a look as well: ¡Revolución!: Cuban Poster Art and Art for Obama: Designing Manifest Hope and the Campaign for Change. In the end though, nothing quite trumps opposition and political outrage as a vehicle for a determined creativity. I’m guessing that Ernesto "Che" Guevara will forever outsell our 44^th President in long-standing sales of pop culture imagery and for that reason I’m thinking that poor Che continues to roll in his dusty grave. ¡Viva el capitalismo!

The San Jose Museum of Art is launching a new book club this month.  In their first selection, Color: A Natural History of the Palette, author Victoria Finlay shares the history and stories of colors from around the world.  Library copies are available through Link+.     Finlay's title is a perfect fit for the museum's exhibit "Local Color," which runs through mid-January 2013.  Drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection, the exhibit explores the primacy of color in a range of works.   Enjoy the book and plan now to join the museum's Color Party and Book Club launch on Oct. 18.  Admission is only $5.00 after pm.  Five special color tours are also scheduled throughout November and December and are free with museum admission.  Speaking of museum admission, did you know that through the library's Discover & Go program your library card now offers you discounts to the San Jose Museum of Art and other museums and points of interest throughout the bay area?  For a complete list of available venues visit tickets.sjpl.org.  Museums and Libraries--a perfect partnership! 

San Jose Public Library is offering a new service to library cardholders.   Discover & Go offers free or reduced price tickets to Bay Area museums for Bay Area library cardholders!

What does this mean to you?  Always wanted to go to the San Jose Museum of Art but couldn't afford the ticket?  Log in and while passes are available you can download them FOR FREE !  There are a limited number of passes available on a first come, first served basis.  Every month more passes become available. Watch the tutorial

Some museums will allow you to use your smart phone to display your downloaded pass, but all will accept a printed pass that you download.

Check it out!

Wonder Struck (AR 4.0, Level 5.4) by Brian Selznick is a beautiful book.  This title follows the story of Ben and Rose.  Ben's story unfolds in words and Rose's story unfolds in pictures.  Both characters are connected by a desire to find people that are missing from their lives.  After the death of Ben's mother, he yearns to find his father.  Ben's mother, Elaine, has told him nothing about his father.  However, after accidentally finding information that may lead to his father, Ben sets out for New York City, where his father last lived.  Will Ben find his long-missing father?

Rose is desperately unhappy living with her father.  She has been creating a scrapbook about the career of a  mysterious actress, Lillian Mayhew.  Feeling that Ms. Mayhew can help her, she sets off for New York City.  What will she find there and how will Ms. Mayhew help her?

Both stories are set apart by fifty years.  However, both characters are similar in that they are both deaf.  What is truly remarkable about both characters is the lack of sadness or anger about their disabilities.  Both courageously go to one of the largest cities in the world, sure of their purpose.  The reader is immediately drawn into both stories because of the remarkably life-like drawings and compelling stories.

Brian Selznick, the Caldecott Medal winner for The Invention of Hugo Cabret (AR 4.0, Level 5.1) once again makes a movie-like book.  Mr. Selznick has said that his interest in this story began when he learned about the new sound technology in 1927, which would affect the deaf community.  Prior to 1927, both hearing and deaf people could enjoy the movies together.  After 1927, deaf people were left out of the experience of enjoying film.

It was an amazing discovery for me! I had no idea I would enjoy a trip to the Computer History Museum so much. This museum is located in Mountain View and very easy accessible from 101 freeway. Two hours went unbelievably quickly and there was still so much to look at, to read about, to try out. I think that this museum should be discovered by everybody who lives in our area or visits Silicon Valley. You will find out how this all started from regular mechanical calculators to first models of calculating machines that were created by Charles Babbage. Then this journey will take you all the way to first computers and computer games and at the end - to the most modern computer models.

Our library resources include lots of interesting books on this subject as well. I would like to recommend several of them:

• Memories That Shaped an Industry: Decisions Leading to IBM System/360 by Emerson W. Pugh
• The Universal History of Computing: From the Abacus to the Quantum Computer by Georges Ifrah
• The Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer by Georges Ifrah
• Computer: A History of the Information Machine by Martin Campbell-Kelly and William Aspray