Dinosaur Days Are Here Again

Turning children on to the joys of reading is an objective of most public libraries.So how do they lure today’s Digital Age kids away from Nickelodeon and Nintendo and into the world of books?

If you’re the Los Angeles Public Library, you turn to a subject that has been fascinating children for countless generations: dinosaurs.

On Saturday, a family-oriented Dinosaur Days festival at the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles will launch a series of events centered on these alluring prehistoric creatures. After Dinosaur Days, similar events will take place this year at some of the Los Angeles Public Library’s 67 branch locations.

“Dinosaurs are a real passion with kids, especially between the ages of 5 and 8 or 9,” says Anne Connor, manager of children’s services at the Central Library. “You see these little boys and girls who can rattle off these Latin names [of dinosaurs]. They can put each one in their proper era and they get really annoyed if you say the name wrong! It’s kind of a precocious love that kids have because it’s so complicated and so far beyond them, but they just connect with them. I guess it’s because they’re so mysterious, big, strange and wonderful.”

Dinosaur Days will be the most elaborate and multifaceted event in the series. The proceedings from noon to 4 p.m. will feature numerous displays, lectures and interactive activities.

The visual centerpiece of the festival will be a life-size triceratops skeletal structure that will be on display in the sprawling library’s rotunda area. It will feature both authentic triceratops bones and obviously faux metal bones. (This skeletal structure and other dinosaur fossils are on exhibit through Feb. 26 at the Central Library.)

Paleontologist Marcus Eriksen, who discovered the real triceratops remains while on a dig in Wyoming, wanted to make it clear which parts of the skeleton were real and which were fake. Museums often fill out their incomplete dinosaur skeletons with man-made bones that appear to be genuine, thus giving the impression that what is on display is completely authentic.

“When paleontologists find dinosaur fossils, they don’t find the whole thing,” Connor says. “They find parts. I think our triceratops contains part of the head, part of the back and part of the spine and part of the tail. [The rest is fake.] So it shows kids what’s real and what in a museum would be re-created to look real but is not.”

Eriksen will present four hourly lectures on Saturday, beginning at 12:30 p.m. He will discuss the work paleontologists do, the behavior of dinosaurs and theories about their extinction.

‘Jurassic Park’ Consultant Inspired Dinosaur Days

Robert Bakker, another paleontologist who was a consultant on the film “Jurassic Park,” will also offer four hourly lectures beginning at 12:30 p.m. He includes a trivia contest for kids, with winners receiving Bakker’s own cartoon-type drawings of dinosaurs.

It was Bakker who inspired Connor to organize this series of dinosaur events at the various Los Angeles Public Library locations.

“He spoke at a young adult program last year [at the Central Library] called Astrofest,” she recalls. “It was a program about astronomy. He talked about how a comet may have caused the extinction of the dinosaur. He was like a magician talking about these dinosaurs. He connected with kids in such a way that I thought, ‘We’ve got to get this guy back and just have a whole day for dinosaurs because the kids would love this so much.’ ”

Dinosaur Days will also feature dinosaur drawing classes led by artist John VanDenEykel. And children’s entertainer Ken Frawley will present stories and songs about these prehistoric creatures throughout the afternoon.

Of course, visitors can also check out books from the library’s bountiful collection. Connor says that the Central Library has a wide array of dinosaur books. Items that are borrowed from the library can be returned to any Los Angeles Public Library location and most libraries in Los Angeles County.

The Central Library was remodeled, renovated and expanded after a 1986 fire at the facility, which first opened in 1926. After it reopened in 1993, the library began to reach out to a broader community of patrons, not just researchers, scholars and downtown residents.

“We have children’s programs every Saturday at 2 p.m.,” Connor says, “and every Sunday we have a video showing or a different kind of programming. On the weekends this place is just packed with families. Still, there are people all over who never make the trip here. That’s one reason why we have festivals like Dinosaur Days.”

Parking around the Central Library can be an expensive proposition during the week. But on weekends, library visitors can park for only $1 with validation. There are also nearby Metro Rail lines connecting the library to Hollywood, Long Beach and the San Fernando Valley.

Connor expects the Central Library to become a more popular destination in a few years.

“The new Disney Hall opening [in 2002] is going to be really good for us,” she enthuses. “People are already talking about a ‘cultural corridor’ in downtown L.A. that will run from the Central Library up Grand Avenue to MOCA, the Disney Center and the Music Center. It’s great.”

*

* Dinosaur Days, Los Angeles Public Library’s Central Library, 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles. Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Free. (213) 228-7500 or https://www.lapl.org.