Before Northside Library opened on Aug. 4, a line of eager library-goers extended out to Moreland Way. Over 2,000 people celebrated Northside Library’s 4th anniversary. Early in the day, Kathy Watanabe, Santa Clara Vice Mayor, and Jodi Muirhead, Santa Clara Unified School District Board Member, offered a few welcoming words to attendees and congratulated Northside Library on its 4th birthday.
“What I love about this community is that people here are so engaged with the library,” said Cheryl Lee, Northside Library’s Branch Manager and Program Coordinator. “I know people from this area who have moved to Willow Glen and Campbell and they still come back here to use Northside Library. People love our programs, our community and our amenities. The community worked so hard to get this library open. So each year the library is open is a testament to how hard the community worked to open this library.”
The day’s festivities took off with a presentation from Jungle James Animal Adventures, known for offering children opportunities to interact hands-on with live reptiles. Next, attendees blew bubbles at the bubble pool and burned off energy at the Roar-side Bubble Dance Party, overseen by library employee DJ Lorena. The last event of the day was a visit from Python Ron (Ron McGee), who further fed attendees’ curiosity about reptiles by educating his audience about the big assortment of live reptiles he brought.
McGee explained that his black and white tegu, a lizard from parts of South America, uses its tongue to smell and process its environment. An Asian water monitor that McGhee showed off was referred to as a highly intelligent lizard that likes to seek out human attention. Sharing stories about his African spurred tortoise, McGhee declared that tortoises make wonderful pets and are easy to take care of.
“Willy is unfortunately now an endangered species,” said McGee of his rhinoceros iguana. “You will probably not see this lizard again. The sad thing that’s happening with these is that feral cats are killing them off.”