Stacks of Fun

This Saturday, the Oxnard Public Library will leap into the future while it it takes one step back into the past.

The occasion is the library’s 90th anniversary celebration. And as many hearty, modern nonagenarians are doing these days, this one is getting a computer. Several, in fact.

The first thing on the library’s birthday schedule will be the 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting to celebrate the installation of new Internet-enabled terminals, including one in the children’s area of the library.

Then the nostalgia part of the celebration, a 1900s costume contest for kids and adults, takes place an hour later.

Afterward, it’s party time--with a rock band, mariachis, a puppet show and free food.

At the computer event--with Oxnard’s mayor, the city librarian and other dignitaries looking on--the actual ribbon-cutting will be done by 15-year-old Jeremy Jung, one of the “Internet volunteers” the library has recruited to show patrons of all ages how to use the new facilities.

As is known to anyone with a computer at home and a teenager who’s allowed to use it, a kid is the best person in the world to explain the mysteries of computers and the Internet.

Jeremy, a sophomore at Villanova High School in Ojai, is just an ordinary--that is to say computer savvy--kid. But he’s rather more generous of spirit than most.

Jeremy said that when he saw a poster asking for volunteers to help at the library’s computer facilities, he said to himself, “I think that looks great.” He had already volunteered to set up his school’s Web page. And, when interviewed for this column, he invited readers to check it out at: https://www.villanova.pvt.k12.ca.us, as well as at his own Web page: https://geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/6578/opl.html

He and several other volunteers of varying ages will be demonstrating the Internet’s capabilities at 1, 2 and 3 p.m.

To become an “Internet volunteer” for two hours a week this spring and summer, call (805) 385-7500.

The library offers a “Homework Center” program for elementary school kids, which is held after school from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and is conducted in Spanish and English. But from this week on, the center will be Internet-equipped.

For younger students and those interested in a low-tech, personal experience, there is a weekly “Story Hour” offered by a live reader, who on Thursdays at 5 p.m. reads stories in Spanish and at noon on Saturdays reads stories in English.

BE THERE

Entertainment--At the Oxnard Public Library’s 90th Anniversary Jubilee on Sat., prizes will be awarded to costume contest winners, kids and adults, at 12:30 p.m. A puppet show, “The Enchanted Toy Shop” by Greg Ballora, is at 1:30 p.m. The musical groups “Loud Hounds” and “Mariachis Nacional” will perform from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.