good morning and welcome to mosaic. the world is so complex and one of the ways to interact with the complexity is to develop the way to read. and so we would like to invite you into a wonderful conversation this morning with vivian who is the program coordinator for pg library and howard who is the director of

the jewish library here in san francisco. welcome. >> thank you very much. >> what is pj labor rather frnl the p. j. stands for pajamas. it provides jewish children everies books and music to -- children's books and music to jewish kids in the area. and also p. j. our way which are chapter books and graphic novels also free with jewish content for kids 9 to 11 years of age. >> fantastic. is it just a local program for something that -- >> it's an international program started here in the u.s. but it currently is in 12 different countries and in the past ten years, has given away over 12 million books just in the united states and canada. >> fantastic i know we'll come

back to p. j. library but howard let's talk about the jewish community library here in san francisco. >> sure. it is like any other library but we are basically dealing with jewish topics. with that said, it's with the whole gamut of the jewish experience not only religion but culture and history and every aspect imaginable. we have our main branch in san francisco. >> i was thinking in some ways we take read fog granted. that's something we have a lucks rye -- luxury of here in bay area. in the bay area we have a high degree of literacy and interaction with books and reading and something we take grant. i'm wondering if each of you can talk a little bit about the kinds of programs you offer and

the ways the people interact with your books and reading and what that does for folks. howard talk about some of the programs at the jewish community library and then we can ask vivian. >> sure. from any angle i don't -- my angle i don't take it for granted that we can read. time and technology has an impact on the way woe read meaningfully. at the library -- we read mean fully. at the library we try to promote book groups and promote people getting together to talk >> rea hn.

kids, 5 and under. p. j. library wants to enhance sacred time of parents reading to kids at bedtime. that's why we call it p. j. and reenforce the content with stories. jewish values are values people can relate to and when you read to a child you're connecting with them in a different way. it's important for bonding and for children to appreciate stories and have their imagination go different places and really just -- really with a busy day to be calm and be in a st it's a beautiful time for families. >> we'll a take a quick break. before we do say in a concrete way how do

sign up for p. j. library. >> there are a variety of ways but the easiest ways is online. you can easily enroll for any child in your family. each child gets their own book delivered straight to the home in the mail and it's entirely free. it's children are thrilled to get their own books. the envelope comes with their name on it and every month they have a new story to read about a holiday coming up or a story about a brave young girl or boy for something that children can relate to and learn from. >> wonderful. we're going to take a quick break and come back in just a moment. please join us back on mosaic in just a moment. maria, so how's work?

maria: it was 4th period biology. our students just weren't getting how easily viruses spread. so ms. bell and i had them role play a zombie virus outbreak.

all the living...were dead. hey, how's your job going? carlos: oh, that big sales meeting i planned? next year, i might get to go. kid: cool! good morning and we will -- welcome back to mosaic and i'm rabbi eric weis and glad to be with you this morning. i would like to reintroduce you to vivian who is the program direct -- coordinator of the p. j. labor rear, p. j. meaning pa pajamas and howard who is the e jewicommhere in san francisco.

welcome back. >> thank you. >> howard, we were talking about the break about the notions ading for granted and how its changing and how it impacts perhaps even the way we understand the world. can you speak a little more to that and the ways in which the programming at the jewish community library actually in the most basic sense encourages reading. >> sure. from my perspective i sometimes judge by my experience on the bus. say it was 15 years ago, a lot of people were reading physical books on the bus. ten years ago, a lot of them switched to scheduleses. nowadays -- to kindles. nowadays a lot of people have their head in their phones. there is less read are of if i could and nonfiction, more sustained reading than there was. a lot of people are doing facebook and communicating and the truth is that our time is

less than what it once was. many of us especially in the bay area which is tech savor bring our office home at -- say --savy bring our office home with us. the library is to try to call importance to the read -- attention to the importance of reading and create opportunities for people to want to read and share experiences and learn about the books they read from other people' perspectives and to share experiences with authors. lots of opportunity for people to make reading central to their lives and that's a priority. >> interesting. you said sustained reading, meaning part of what you observed is that maybe i'm sort of thinking this, because we only have a focus for e-mail

duration that's not sustained reading and sustained reading and a novel a story a -- story, a bobbying. sustained reading. >> correct. -- a book. vained reading. >> -- a book. correct. the re-- >> correct. the research tells us it enters us in a different way than say the articles when we refer to than when looking at tablet or on phone and we're substituting one kind of reading for the other kind of reading and our encounter with the world is changing as a result. >> interesting. vivian, p. j. library, literally when you sign up -- >> yes.

>> your child light really gets a booing in the mail. >> yep. >> the aumion ischil will be sitting down with an adult in their lives, typically a pafrnt but might be a different adult in their lives, literally reading the full book to them out loud. >> yes, when they sign up the books are age appropriate and developmentally appropriate. so babies get board books and so on. they grow as the child grows. in the very early ages those books would be read to kids and i would say on howard's point about technology and attention span, it's important to have books in your home, kids see that. they see you're reading as a parent and it's important to you and not only to your child but reading in general. kids need to see that and need to see parents off cell phones r we at p. j. library have been struggling with the idea of

putting books on kindles because many families use them instead of paper books. we keep coming back to is there something magical about not having technology and having a paper book in front of you that you can turn the pages in front of you and talk about the story. it really way is to engage the child on a whole different level and have undivided attention both as a parent and as a child. each p. j. library book has informational flaps that talks a little about the story, what the jewish holiday may be that's being celebrated for the value of the book, what it illustrates. it has recipes or online links if you want to learn more and handson activities to do with your kids based -- hands-on activities to do with your kids

based on what you learned. we'll continue the conversation here in mosaic in just a bit. [ cell phone rings ]

>> yeah, i'm watching it too. i see them every day. >> the curtains, they're always drawn in this place. >> i know. >> that guy, it seems like he's in charge of them. i don't know, i don't feel very good about this. >> we have to report this. >> yes, absolutely.

good morning and welcome back to mosaic. we're in the middle of a wonderful conversation with vivian and hurd whoshgs is the director of the of the jewish community library in san francisco talking about reading in the complex world. howard talk about some of the programs that the library has such as the one bay, one book program. >> sure, the library does a lot to support book clubs. they are wonderful and one of y areaso many people are in the

involved in informal experiences like book clubs and we try to support by providing our book in a box program. we have 120 titles for people to choose from and they are available free for any book club for a month or two and also a program one bay, one book which we select one book for a given year that we invite readers throughout the bay area to read and discuss each other. our selection this year is september in chiraz it is set in iran just after the revolution it's about a family stuck there and the father is unfairly imprisoned. it's a fine book and the author will come to speak both in palo alto and san francisco in june with all the people reading the book this year. >> if somebody has never been a part of a book club and is interesting in joining one or

starting one, what kind of services would that person get for constructing their book club, what do they get from the library. >> we have a droppin book club who aren't part of a book club or don't want the commitment. we help people set up nir own and connect with other people and have a guide to holding effective discussions and have all the books to choose from, making it easy to start up. >> should we say the contact for the jewish community library to go on the webatjewish webatjewishcommunitylibrary.org or call you at the number on the screen. >> we've done book clubs with kids with a number of books available in the program vivian runs. this is wonderful because when

people are at that age, we're talk about -- talking about the late elementary grade primarily, they can engage with jewish history and aspects of the jewish experience that are much harder to share when a kid is much younger. rich discussions for instance in a book called the secrets the house of delgado, the experiences during the spanish inn question significance, a -- inqisition, and a book called black raddishes about a boy in france. . >> so vivian, when somebody for example has a child and sign up for p. j. library, that child gets their own book once a month from, say, birth until -- through the age of 8. so a child that signs up as a baby, could get a book, a free book a

month until they are through the age of 8. at that point, we want to continue this beautiful p. j. library experience and they can sign up for our p. j. our way program, which howard mentioned which is geared towards kids 9 to 11 years of age. they sign up online at web web pj our way.org what's nice about that they can -- pjourway .org. what's nice about that is that they can connect with others online and discuss reading in other books. >> the bay is very diverse and so many of us are enter connected with family nationally and internationally. if somebody in the bay area is

listening about p. j. library but have a young member of the family in a different state or country, even. can they access p. j. library? >> absolutely. p. j. library is available in over 200 communities across the u.s. it's also in can -- canada,australia, united kingdom, russia, latin america and so they can sign up online. google p. j. library and they can find the country in which the child is or easily sign them up. in fact, if they go on the website and put in the zip code of the child, it will pop up which community they can sign up in. >> fantastic. another quick break andon

good morning. and welcome to mosaic i'm rabbi eric weis and your host. we are about to end a wonderful conversation with vivian browley, the program director of the p. j. library and howard freed man the director of the jewish community library. welcome back. >> thank you. >> the diversity of the books in the library and also in the

context of p. j. library and the context that a child from 6 months to 8 years old and beyond can receive each month, what trends do you see in children's lit a tour in the kinds -- literature in the kinds of book being written and being read. maybe howard start with you and vivian you can chime in and talk about the actual diversity of the books available through p. j. library. >> it's an important question. we just had a survey of the bay area jewish community that found about a quarter of the bay area jews live in a house with people of color. it's important we realize and act on the knowledge that we are very diverse in community. the truth is i know jewish children's books pretty well and they have not historic ale reflected that fact and it's --

historically reflected that fact. we are seeing children's books that reflect the ethnic and national diversity of jews so kids grow up with a sense that dark-skinned jews are no different from jews with light skin. that's an important thing for people to grow up with and we're seeing that now and i'm very happy. >> and for p. j. library, absolutely we embrace the diverse jewish community that's really reflected across the community but i would say no moreso than in the bare area. this is our community and we welcome that can and we want to embrace it. we want that reflected in the books as well. we want diverse families but also female drifrn main characters which is -- female

main characters which is what we wehave in history of women who have stepped up. in terms of diversity there was a book that came out in november in remembrance of hannu ka. it's a wonderful book about a hin do you jewish family that incorporates the indian dose which are similar into their plans. there is precocious little center who ends up saving the day. -- sister who ends up saving the day. it reflects the lovely family that really represents all of the, you know, different skin colors and what makes up a family. no family is like -- alike these days and it's important for not only parents but also

for kids to see themselves reflected in books. it makes them feel valued and feel like they're a part of the community and we want that. it's important for families to know that the jewish community embraces them. >> it seems important when talking about children's books, when we talk about diversity, that's a big word. it seems to me, when we get really concrete about it, what it breaks down to is that an illustration reflects a child of color, a jew of color. >> yeah. >> and a diversity of, let's say, skin color in a family and reflects different behavior so there is ways in which to give significant analysis in diversity which is wonderful by the way they connect in cooking of food or an outing, something they do. are there other ways in which

the books reflect diversity for a child's mind that involves inclusion. >> the only one club, which i love about a little girl who goes to public school and she -- she feels she's the only jew in the class and what she soon discovers, yes, she may be the only jewish child but there are other children like the only once with red hair or frisk yells. everyone has their -- or freckles. everyone has their own situation and respect that. we have come to the end of our program and please pay attention to books in children's lives and thank you

park... live from the cbs bay area studios, this is kpix5 news. a party in the park peppered with bullets, three people in the hospital after a drive by shooter takes aim in -- drive-by shooter takes aim in the bay. and a we'd killer concern. and a california woman who had to call the hospital to give birth after her bus was hauled away buy ice units. let's get over to julie for the weather. >> a quick check to start off the day. i want to take you to an a local tower cam.