Boulder Creek Library Branch on a sunny morning this past week |
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The Word from the Friends:
Here at the Friends we want to take one moment to acknowledge the sad anniversary of the 2020 shelter-in-place order that brought the reality of the pandemic home to us in Santa Cruz. At that time the library staff amazed us all by jumping in to help answer the phones at the Helpline, serve as Emergency Service Workers, and work as West Cliff Hosts to help people social distance. The library has continued to step up and provide wonderful and responsive service throughout the series of crises that marked the past summer and fall.
This March, many of our volunteers and other partners have started receiving vaccines and hope as well as springtime is in the air! On that note, we are pleased to be able to celebrate the reopening of the La Selva Beach Branch Library and to welcome Laura Albrecht to our Board of Directors!
- Rebekah Scott, Operations Manager
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Welcome to the Board: Laura Albrecht |
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At the Friend's board meeting this past month, we voted in our newest board member, Laura Albrecht. Laura is a Santa Cruz native and lifelong library lover. She is currently in her second semester of the SJSU's Masters Program in Library and Information Science and hopes to work for Santa Cruz Public Libraries in the future. She is thrilled to join the FSCPL Board and bringing fresh perspective and energy to the FSCPL's 2021 goals and beyond. Welcome, Laura! |
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Aptos
Our Community Reads 2021 has had amazing presentations and presenters! The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai was an outstanding selection by the OCR participants in Santa Cruz County for this year with our current pandemic. It has been fascinating to see the parallels and the differences in the way each situation was/has been handled by the scientists, the medical professionals and the public at large. Many of our presenters, such as State Senator John Laird, Dr. Jerry Solomon, and Jo Kenny (seen above), provided personal reflections about themselves and their family, the community, and the world's responses to these events. Our last event for the season, Pandemics, Politics, and Public Health is scheduled for March 4th from 7-8:30pm and will be available virtually. Register for this special event here.
The new Aptos library is on schedule with construction expected to start in second half of 2021 after the opening of Capitola and La Selva Beach branches. Although book sales remain on hold in Aptos due to COVID, our volunteers are continuing to meet all donors who have books available for donation to ensure shelves are full upon re-opening. Books and volunteers are poised for sales!
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Capitola
The crescendo is building for the completion of the new Capitola Library. No specific date has been announced yet. We all know how difficult it is to predict the completion of a complex project, right? We do, however, have a rough idea of what to expect. Barring unexpected supply or work issues, the City of Capitola will likely hand over the keys to the SCPL sometime early in April. The library staff will take six to eight weeks to transform a building into a functioning library. The Capitola Friends and library staff are tentatively planning an opening event for early June. All this could change, but the point is that three years after closure and more than ten years after a meeting held by the City to gather community input about a new library, the end of the wait is well within sight.
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Felton
In March of last year, the Felton Library Friends launched a monthly newsletter to inform the community on the latest Felton Library and Discovery Park news. These newsletters also feature profiles on library staff member and Discovery Park plants (such as Flowering Currant, March 2021's Park Plant of the Month, seen left). To subscribe to the newsletter, visit The Felton Library Friends Website.
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La Selva Beach
The La Selva Beach Branch Library will have a Zoom Grand Opening on Saturday, March 20th at 10am. Register here.
The festivities will include a video tour of the branch so everyone can see the truly transformed library. The branch has new windows, heating upgrades, all new furniture and fixtures, and a much more comfortable and flexible space. Thanks to the Monterey Peninsula Foundation's matching grant there is also a fabulous new patio space for programs and very cool new spaces for children and families. After being closed for construction and COVID, Grab & Go services will begin for patrons on Tuesday, March 23rd from 1-5pm.
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La Selva Beach exterior in 2019 |
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La Selva Beach exterior today - ready for opening |
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Scotts Valley
This month, The City of Scotts Valley and Santa Cruz Public Libraries are pleased to announce a Virtual Community Open House to preview the Scotts Valley
Branch Library Renovations. Funded by Measure S, the Scotts Valley Library will see about $3.75 million in updates and upgrades to enhance services to the community. Community members are invited to join this event via Zoom on March 11th at 6PM. Register for this event here.
Additionally, The Scotts Valley Friends of the Library have sponsored a writer’s open mic night for over a year with the last several months of events taking place online via Zoom. The group members represent a wide range of genres – comics, poetry, novels, short stories, movie scripts, essays, memoir, nonfiction, and children’s storybooks. The group meets the first Wednesday of each month from 6pm to 8pm. The next open mic is Wednesday, March 3rd. All are welcome – writers and fans of writers as well. Here’s the link to reserve a spot for the March meeting.
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friends@fscpl.org
www.fscpl.org
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