By Jon Haupt
The Healdsburg Library has been very busy so far in 2024. Our in-person visits continue to rise as we see people of all ages coming to study alone or in groups, play games, attend a musical event or get help accessing a digital audiobook. The library and the staff look forward to helping you when you visit for these activities and more.
We continue to anticipate the upcoming improvements to our building in the coming year. Like any construction project, delays have pushed this modernization project out several times, and we will be overjoyed when it is completed.
Meanwhile, we continue to work to determine the best ways to offer services while the building is closed. The project is still a few months out from the start date, and we look forward to sharing more information about the timeline and project plans in the coming weeks.
We can’t wait to enjoy the outdoors, books, songs and dances with our local families once again. We’ve been working on sprucing up our BiblioBike for the new season and our upcoming trips to the park, the Plaza, the L&M, the Twilight Parade and more.
With the end of April at hand, we will welcome a new season of Storytimes in the Park. Miss Charity will begin making the short trek to Giorgi Park for three Fridays—April 26, May 3 and May 10—for Family Storytime at 10:30am.
We will roll out our latest Summer Reading festival, kicking it off with a party on June 1, featuring a performance by the acclaimed Mexican roots band Los Cenzontles. We are working on the details of our party and can’t wait to share more with you next month.
Finally, we want to share with you another upcoming project that will take place during the 2024–2025 school year. Through an exciting and generous Library Innovation Grant, we are preparing to offer a new program called Take Time To Read, or Disfruta la Lectura, in Spanish.
The two-part literacy program will offer a series of community events each month on Saturdays featuring a celebration of reading together with our own families and sharing the joy of reading. Reading might feel like a chore when all our reading takes place around school assignments, and this program will remind us about the importance of reading for enjoyment. We will also share a meal together at each event, provided by local restaurants.
In addition to the Saturday events, Take Time To Read will feature a Book Buddies program. Teens will be paired with children to enjoy reading after school together. This program, hosted at Healdsburg Elementary School, will present another opportunity to share the joy of reading and also offer teens an opportunity to connect with younger students and their families.
As a celebration of their work in the program, teens will receive a scholarship for participating. The details of this program are still under construction as well, and we look forward to sharing more soon.
The Healdsburg Regional Library is located at 139 Piper St., at the corner of Center. It opens daily at 10am, 1pm on Sundays.
