Librarian Cardenas earns national honor, $5,000 prize in New York ceremony

Olga Valencia Cardenas, youth services outreach librarian at the Stanislaus County Library in Modesto, received the I Love My Librarian award and its $5,000 prize during a ceremony in New York.

One of only 10 recognized nationally this year, joining two other Californians – Lia Kharis Hillman of San Francisco and Sherri Ginsberg of Pasadena – Cardenas took valuable library programs and services to underserved residents in the community, and promoted early literacy to parents and caregivers working in agriculture by visiting a plant nursery to offer free books and tips on how to incorporate reading into daily life. She distributed information about story times and other free literacy events and services available at the library. She also signed up workers for library cards. And at the local juvenile hall, Cardenas reached out to incarcerated youths through her passion for books and reading, organizing a book club that has expanded to include two books every month.

The ceremony was hosted by Carnegie Corp. of New York, which co-sponsors the award along with The New York Public Library and The New York Times. The American Library Association administers the award through its Public Awareness Office, which promotes the value of libraries and librarians.

Visit ilovelibraries.org/ilovemylibrarian to see a complete list of the winners and for more information about the award.

Boy Scouts collect food for Salvation Army

Local Boy Scouts collected 6,672 pounds of food for the Salvation Army’s Modesto Citadel Corps food bank.

“This will help fill the many Christmas food baskets that will be given out on Dec. 17 and throughout the season,” according to the group’s weekly newsletter. The newsletter also said students from Big Valley Christian and Turlock Christian schools assembled the cardboard boxes that will be used for the Dec. 17 food giveaway.

Merced County conservation planner honored

Jarrod Martin was named the 2016 Conservation Planner of the Year by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in California. Martin, the district conservationist for Merced County, won the award for work done as a conservationist in Stanislaus County.

Bank helping United Way feed folks

Tri-County Bank donated $8,000 to the United Way’s CHEF program to provide holiday food bags for 370 students and their families. Each bag contains more than 20 pounds of fruits, vegetables, canned goods, stuffing, ingredients for green bean casserole, apple cider and other items. The program is at Caswell (Ceres) and Brett Harte (Modesto) elementary schools; for both schools, more than 92 percent of their students are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches. Tri-County employees helped in packing the bags Friday.

Modestans serving in Navy carrier

Petty Officer 1st Class Sean Torrealba, a 2007 Grace M. Davis High School graduate and Modesto native, is a crew member on the Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson, which assisted in earthquake recovery efforts in Kaikoura, a town on New Zealand’s South Island. The crew, originally scheduled to participate in New Zealand’s International Naval Review commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Royal New Zealand Navy, rendered assistance to those affected by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that shook the South Island on Nov. 14. Sailors flew ashore in MH-60R helicopters to distribute water, aid in infrastructural repair, assess damage and pass out information packets that informed residents about available services.

Seaman Katherine Schederbieschin of Modesto is serving aboard the carrier USS John C. Stennis. The ship is on its way to Hawaii to conduct routine training and participate in National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day events.

Author! Author!

Modesto resident Jon Cullum, under the pen name Viktor Messick, is the author of “Sherlock Homes and the Hole in the Devil’s Tail.” The book is published by MX Publishing of the United Kingdom and is available through Amazon and other booksellers in Kindle and paperback.

This story was originally published December 3, 2016 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Librarian Cardenas earns national honor, $5,000 prize in New York ceremony."