Community’s help sought to save a treasured O.C. bookstore
Good morning! It’s Wednesday, Dec. 25, Christmas Day and the first night of Hanukkah. I’m Carol Cormaci bringing you this week’s TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events.
As is true in our business, independent bookstores have been struggling for years because consumer habits have changed vastly during the digital age. You’ve no doubt heard of news deserts, those communities across our nation that are no longer served by local newspapers, but you might not have heard as much talk about the corresponding wastelands called book deserts.
Santa Ana, arguably the heartbeat of Orange County as it is the county seat, is perilously close to becoming such a Sahara. I learned this over the weekend when I read this TimesOC article about LibraMobile, the only independent bookstore in the city of more than 310,000 residents.
Like the owners of many independent shops during challenging times, Sarah Rafael Garcia sometimes finds herself dipping into her own bank account to keep her labor of love alive. She doesn’t make money from the store, as it is a nonprofit she founded in 2016 as LibroMobile Arts Cooperative when the city’s only other bookstore, Librería Martínez, closed.
The city’s Main Library, meanwhile, is closed for renovations until 2026.
In addition to being the shop’s volunteer founder, Garcia is a mentor for the youth employed there through work study programs.
The hybrid nonprofit works to cultivate diversity through literature, free art programming and prioritizing BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) voices.
“We have a bunch of books that are not like the ones they sell at Barnes & Noble. We have bios and memoirs, poetry by people of color,” Ortiz told the reporter on the story, Sarah Mosqueda. The store also stocks bilingual books.
“We have been watching book sales decline for the last six months … but I can’t say that we were thriving off of book sales; I can say we were surviving,” said Garcia. “What we were really thriving off of were grants.”
LibroMobile typically gets two grants each year, totaling about $50,000 in funds, used to pay for free art programming and to give stipends to young artists and cultural producers who keep the shop open, according to the article.
Cuts in arts funding have made it unclear if LibroMobile can stay open beyond next June. Should Santa Ana lose the shop, it will lose a true gathering place where community members rely not only on the titles it carries in its stacks but also for its resources, services (kids can even study there using the free Wi-Fi) and the programs it offers.
“The California Arts Council itself lost a percentage of funding which caused a trickle down impact … it’s not that we didn’t qualify; they can no longer support as many recipients as they used to,” said Garcia.
LibroMobile will need the help of all who want to keep its doors open.
Councilman Benjamin Vazquez, a teacher at Valley High School, suggested a book sponsorship program Garcia was quick to launch called “Santa Ana Reads” that invites members of the community to sponsor books. He said he hopes others will take up the cause to save the shop.
Feeling charitable in this season of giving? Anyone interested in book sponsorship through the “Santa Ana Reads” initiative can apply through LibroMobile.
MORE NEWS
• It was announced during a news conference last Wednesday that the Diocese of Orange had reached a $3.5-million settlement in a sex abuse case centering on a former principal of Mater Dei High School, Msgr. Michael Harris. The settlement came just days before a jury was set to be selected for a trial at the Orange County Superior Court’s North Justice Center in Fullerton. Attorneys representing the plaintiff said two more cases against the private Catholic school in Santa Ana involving sexual abuse are expected to go to trial next year.
• The director of human resources for the city of Newport Beach has filed suit against the city. Barbara Salvini alleges in her suit that City Manager Grace Leung and City Atty. Aaron Harp retaliated against her and tried to cover up the results of a 2023 audit suggesting Leung and Fire Chief Jeff Boyles had violated policy to obtain financial gain. Leung and Boyles may have improperly manipulated employee leave time, and it was “highly suggestive of an illegal gift of public funds,” Salvini’s attorneys claimed in the suit. The only comment the city spokesman offered to the Daily Pilot in response was officials “have looked into these allegations and found them to be without merit.”
• Seven wards of Orange County Juvenile Hall were presented certificates from Santiago Canyon College last week, recognizing their hands-on education in the field of dog training. The young men learned the necessary skills through a program called Cell Dogs, a program that teaches inmates dog handling by pairing them with pets rescued from shelters, according to coverage of the ceremony by the Daily Pilot.
• A longtime surfer known around Newport Beach just by his first name, Rick, was gifted this month with a new wetsuit by the people who recently saved his life. Footage monitoring the waves at Blackies beach caught a surfer collapsing next to his board in ankle deep water as he was returning to the shore. Lifeguards raced to his side, found Rick in full cardiac arrest, resuscitated him and got him to the hospital for treatment. The only challenge he faced besides recovering was that he was without his only wet suit because it had to be cut into as his rescuers worked frantically to save him. Its replacement was presented to him during a ceremony Dec. 12 and was paid for by the lifeguards with help from the owner of Frog House surf shop who gave them a generous discount.
PUBLIC SAFETY
• Anthony Michael Hanzal, an Anaheim resident who is alleged to have stolen Legos from a Fullerton store last Wednesday, then led police on a pursuit that resulted in a crash and the death of another motorist in La Palma, has been charged with felony gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Hanzal, 43, has also been charged with one felony count of evading a peace officer causing death, and one felony count of petty theft with two prior convictions. The woman who died in the crash was identified as Marianne Mildred Casey, 67.
• A motorcyclist died and police arrested a 25-year-old motorist with a prior DUI conviction on suspicion of drunk driving in the wake of a three-vehicle crash in Huntington Beach Thursday evening. The motorcyclist, a 28-year-old Huntington Beach resident, was riding a Harley Davidson Dyna traveling south on Springdale Street at about 7:20 p.m. when he was struck by an SUV attempting to make a left into a strip mall. The man on the Harley lost control and slammed into a Lexus CT200H that was exiting a driveway.
• Israel Claustro was an Orange County prosecutor who in 2022 was elected to an open post on Orange County Superior Court, where he still serves. When he was working in the district attorney’s office, Claustro had a side job operating a medical billing and healthcare management firm which appears to have landed him on the wrong side of the law, according to this Los Angeles Times report that cites federal court records. The judge is now facing accusations of fraud and of taking part of a conspiracy with a Pasadena doctor. The physician, Kevin Tien Do, agreed to plead guilty this month to one count each of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and signing a false tax return, according to court records. As part of the plea agreement the doctor listed a co-conspirator described not by name but as a former O.C. prosecutor who in 2022 became a judge. Paul S. Meyer, Claustro’s attorney, did not respond to written questions and told The Times: “It is premature to comment.”
• The Seal Beach Police Department on Monday touted the success of its social media campaign, including a video featuring two women who had been arrested for shoplifting cosmetics complaining about new laws that are tougher on thieves. “The video, part of the department’s ‘Don’t Steal in Seal’ social media campaign, has garnered significant public attention and serves as an educational tool on the updated theft-related laws in California,” police said in a news release, according to this City News Service article.
LIFE & LEISURE
• Fashion Island is now home to RH Gallery Newport Beach. Formerly known as Restoration Hardware, the retailer officially opened its new 97,000-square-foot store on Dec. 13, according to a TimesOC report. The four-story space is filled with home furnishings. Shoppers can visit one of the store’s two wine bars to pick up Champagne or wines from Napa Valley for sipping while checking out the displays or enjoy brunch, lunch or dinner in its RH Ocean Grill on the top floor.
• Second Harvest Food Bank is reaping a bounty of produce at its Founders Farm, the first harvest since the farm established a space at Southwinds Farm & Gardens in Irvine, according to this Daily Pilot feature story on the endeavor. It’s not the food bank’s first foray into farming to bring fresh produce to the families in need that it serves; Second Harvest has been growing its own produce since 2021 at Harvest Solutions Farm on more than 40 acres at the University of California South Coast Research and Extension Center.
CALENDAR THIS
• On New Year’s Eve an event suitable for families called First Night Fullerton will take place from 7 to midnight at Downtown Fullerton Plaza, 125 E. Wilshire Ave. The celebration will include fireworks, carnival rides, games, face painting, a balloon artist, food booths and more. Also, there will be live performances by bands including the Dreamboats, Tania y su Nueva Era, Electric Vinyl, Soundbytes and Lady Ivy. Tickets are priced at $1 each and each activity requires a specified number of tickets. For example, a ride on the Ferris wheel is six tickets, other carnival rides range from four to 10 tickets and face paintings require three to 12 tickets, depending on design. Cash will not be accepted at the event. Call (714) 738-6575 for more information.
• Take a bracing New Year’s Day plunge into the Pacific during the silver anniversary edition of Surf City Splash, a fundraiser benefiting the International Surfing Museum in Huntington Beach. As I write this, the water temp off Huntington Beach is 58.8 degrees. Brr. The Splash itself takes place at noon, preceded by announcements, speeches by dignitaries, an 11:15 a.m. costume contest and an 11:45 a.m. water-safety presentation by Huntington Beach lifeguards. Wednesday’s main event is part of a three-day shopping experience at the annual Splash Vendor Village located at Pier Plaza that begins Monday.
It’s my understanding that last night the official NORAD Santa tracker was again at work keeping tabs on the jolly old elf. I can’t tell you exactly when he was sighted in Orange County this year, but in 2022 and 2023, the tracker captured Santa and his reindeer crossing Orange County into Los Angeles County from south to north and showed the sleigh flying directly over several cities, including Anaheim. I’m hoping some form of holiday cheer was dropped from that sleigh in your direction, wherever you may be.
See you here on New Year’s Day,
Carol
KEEP IN TOUCH
I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to [email protected].
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