ACTIVE LIVING IN
SANTA MONICA

Santa Monica’s year-round mild climate is perfect for an active lifestyle! As part of the city’s first Active Living initiative, a free “Walk Santa Monica” map highlighting local walking routes, is available at City Hall, all libraries, the Ken Edwards Center and the Senior Recreation Center. You can also find the map on-line at walk.santa-monica.org.

Little things add up to big results through active living. Here are some ideas
for integrating more activity into your daily routine:

• Forget the car! Walk, skate or bike to work

• Go for a walk during your lunch hour

• Take a Sunday walk instead of a Sunday drive (an easy choice now that gas is $3 a gallon!)

• Get a dog and explore your neighborhood together on foot

• Play with your kids at least 30 minutes a day (use small hand weights during a game of
  “Simon Says”)

• Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator

• Park farther away from your destination and walk to it

• Try sunwalking instead of sunbathing. Throw on some sandals and walk along the beach path (but don’t forget the sunscreen)

• Don’t take the easy route! When walking or biking,
  go up hills instead of around them

Swimming and bicycling are also excellent activities to incorporate into an active lifestyle. In addition to our world-famous beach bicycle path that runs the
entire length of the city, there are bike lanes and routes on many streets in the city. The Santa Monica Swim Center, named the best pool in Southern
California last year by Los Angeles Magazine, offers swimming, water exercise and lifeguard classes, as well as lap and open swim times. Please visit
swim.santa-monica.org for more information.

Watch for more Walk Santa Monica and Active Living information at city events this fall, including the reopening of the newly expanded and rejuvenated
Virginia Avenue Park and the grand opening of the new Main Library.

MONTANA AVENUE BRANCH, 1704 MONTANA AVENUE, 829-7081

Book Discussion Group meets the third Wednesday of every month, 7 – 8:30 p.m., to discuss fiction. For more information, visit www.smpl.org/reading.

FAIRVIEW BRANCH LIBRARY, 2101 OCEAN PARK BLVD., 450-0443

Write Away meets every Tuesday , 12 noon – 3 p.m., and evenings on the third Monday of each month, 6 – 9 p.m. For more information, contact Mr. Smith at 458-4675 or visit www.eowyn-rose.com. The Book Club Meets the first Saturday of each month, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Current, classic, fiction and non-fiction books.

Literature Book Club meets the second Saturday of the month, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. September 10: George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss; October 8: Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray; November 12: Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure. For more information, call 450-0443 or visit www.eowyn-rose.com.

WWW.SMPLKIDS.ORG

Kids, do you need help with a homework assignment? Do you want to know what new books are in the library, or how to find a cool website full of weird and wonderful things—like a demonstration of smashing cheese?

Parents, are you looking for a good book to read to your 3-year-old? Wondering what resources are available to prepare your child for reading? Interested in the plans for the new Main Library?

Teachers, would you like to bring your class to the library? Do you need books, videos or DVDs to supplement your lesson plan?

The new Santa Monica Public Library Youth Services website (www.smplkids.org) can help kids, parents, teachers and other caregivers with all these needs! The “pre-reader” section includes educational games to help prepare children for reading. There’s a listing of recommended reading, including picture books, non-fiction and chapter books; plans for the new Main Library’s children’s area and teen lounge; pathfinders to locate material for homework assignments; and booklists for various ages and genres. There’s also a quarterly calendar of library programs. (And don’t forget that teens have their own website at www.smplteens.org.)

SMPL FRIENDS BOOK STORE UPDATE

The Friends of the SMPL book store will open along with the new Main Library in January ‘06. We need volunteers and used books! Donations will be gratefully received when we move to the space by late October.

Currently, we are still seeking volunteers for shifts of three hours at least once a week, as well as “stand-by” substitutes. A volunteer orientation will take soon—please contact Kent Lewis at klewis37@adelphia.net to sign up!

Our used book sales in all branches have raised $12,000 a year for library programs. With the opening of the store, we hope to increase that amount considerably—and we can do it with your help. Thank you for your support!