At the June 8 Summer Reading Kickoff held at Northside Library, Musician mikO Tolliver from the Rock Star Guitar Academy channeled her love for the poetry of music by performing Top 40 pop-rock hits. Other Summer Reading Kickoff events took place at Central Park Library and Mission Branch Library as well.
People can visit santaclaraca.gov/government/departments/library/events/summer-reading-program to sign up for the Summer Reading Program. Between July 1 and Aug. 15, the library will collect reading logs and distribute prizes.
“This year’s summer reading theme is called ‘Summer of Discovery,’” said Celeste Steward, Program Manager for Youth Services at Central Park Library. “All participants — children, teens, and adults — must read five books or read a combination of one book and do any STEAM-related activity to complete the program. People can combine STEAM activities with their reading.”
New to this year’s Summer Reading Program is the potential to earn digital badges.
“When people register online, [they can see] there are different digital badges for either activities or reading,” Steward said. “People get one digital badge for each book they read or STEAM activity they record online. The reason people want to claim those digital badges is because folks are entered into a digital raffle taking place after Aug. 15.”
“At the Monday Night concerts…at the Central Park Pavilion, there will be live music for all ages. People can bring a picnic dinner,” Steward said of some of the programming at the Central Park Library this summer. “On June 20 is a Make A Galileoscope program. On June 21, there will be a Pride Party.”
Rachel Schmidt, Adult Services Program Coordinator at Central Park Library, added that on July 8, the library is hosting a talk about the moon by Astronomer Andrew Fraknoi. Schmidt explained that this year is the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon.
Cheryl Lee, Northside Library’s Branch Manager, shared that Northside Library is planning an Italy Day in July, with a panini making class, painting class, and a Montessori-themed program. Also, in July will be a college experience panel and water wars for teens.
Justin Wasterlain, Mission Branch Library’s Branch Manager, discussed a partnership the library has with the Santa Clara Unified School District.
“This summer, Mission Branch Library is doing something called Lunch at the Library,” Wasterlain said. “From June 10 through Aug. 2, we are providing free lunch for any child from 11:30 – 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. It’s first come, first serve, and the lunches are provided by the Santa Clara Unified School District. We are the only City of Santa Clara library offering these lunches. We are working within the summer reading theme to provide daily programs that will connect educational opportunities to the lunch service.
“Every day during the summer, we have the Imagination Playground out that the kids can play with,” Wasterlain continued. “The Imagination Playground is essentially giant building blocks that kids can design whatever they want with.”
Visit santaclaraca.gov/government/departments/library/events for more details on all of this summer’s events with the Santa Clara City Library.