Kids "Read Without Walls" for Children's Book Week in May

Posted on April 24, 2017

This May marks the 98th anniversary of Children’s Book Week, the annual celebration of children’s books and reading. Established in 1919, it is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country.

During Children’s Book Week this year (and on through the entire month of May), Sonoma County Library is challenging every kid — every reader, really — to explore the world through books through the “Reading Without Walls” reading challenge. This challenge was put forth by Gene Luen Yang, who is an award-winning author and artist, as well as the new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. The goal of this reading challenge is to get kids to expand out of their reading comfort zones by reading books that will expand their knowledge and world.

So, stop in to any Sonoma County Library branch location during Children’s Book Week to pick up your reading checklist for the READING WITHOUT WALLS challenge; complete and return it by the end of the month to receive a prize!

Also, when you finish the challenge, take a photo of you and the book (or just the book if you’re shy) and post it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ReadingWithoutWalls. You’ll inspire others to do the same!

STEAM Events Spark Passion for Sciences

Posted on March 30, 2017

STEAM = Science! Technology! Engineering! Art! Math!

When kids and teens explore, create and experiment in an informal learning environment like the library, they learn a lot--and have fun at the same time.
We've assembled a variety of free STEAM-related classes and workshops that will inspire and motivate kids and teens with fun, hands-on learning activities, to bring to all branches of the Sonoma County Library.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) proficiency among youth has been an educational goal in schools since the mid-’80s, when a series of reports indicated that many American children weren’t meeting competencies in these areas. The addition of “Arts” to STEM in the last few years to create “STEAM”, is indicative of a commitment to bring creative, open-ended thinking and innovative problem-solving into STEM activities.

Spend a day with us at the Library being an artist, explorer or researcher. The kids of today are the innovators of tomorrow. Let's spark their passion and creativity for the sciences now!

A Visit with Children's Author/Illustrator Todd Parr!

Posted on February 28, 2017

Todd Parr's visit to the Healdsburg Library originally planned for a date in March has been RESCHEDULED to April 13 at 4pm.  Hurray!

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We’re thrilled to mention another upcoming event that children and parents will particularly enjoy. Bestselling and beloved children’s author/illustrator Todd Parr will come to the Healdsburg Library on -- April 13 at 4pm. This event is great for families with children, ages 5-8, or anyone else who loves the work of Todd Parr.

So what happens at an author visit? 

Well, Todd Parr loves interacting with kids! During his presentation, Parr talks about being an author/illustrator, reads from four to five of his books (he has written more than 40), plays a game, does original sketches on an easel and conducts a Q&A with the kids and adults. At the end of his session in the auditorium, Parr will be available to sign copies of his books, which will be offered for sale courtesy of Copperfield's Books. Also, this will be an opportunity for children to learn about helping out — please bring in a new stuffed animal or book to donate. Your donation will be given to children living in shelters in Sonoma County.

Who is Todd Parr, Anyway?

Todd Parr is the bestselling author of more than forty books, including The Goodbye Book, The Family Book, The I Love You Book, and It's Okay to be Different. He grew up in a small Wyoming town. Art was a passion of his in high school. Working at many other things in life, he knew that art was what he wanted to do. He entered into children’s publishing in 1998, and was able to take the messages of his art and “put them in a simple reading about acceptance, differences and empowerment for kids to feel better about themselves.” His books have been published in 14 languages and have won several awards, plus been featured on the “Rosie O’Donnell Show”. He has partnered with Reach Out and Read, People Magazine, and Target to promote reading.  In 2015 Parr traveled to Singapore, and visited the Singapore American School—the largest one-campus international school in the world. In April he traveled to Canada on behalf of Read Aloud 2015. His children’s preschool show, “ToddWorld”, premiered on TLC and Discovery Kids. The show was nominated for an Emmy Award. “ToddWorld” is now airing in almost every country around the world. He lives in Berkeley, California.

This event is free and open to the public. The Visit with Todd Parr is funded by the Friends of the Healdsburg Library.

An App for That - Sonoma County Library Mobile App

Posted on February 21, 2017

Sonoma County Library launched its Mobile App one year ago on February 9, 2016, to make its free library services available on smartphones and tablets.  The app has had over 6,000 downloads.  The major uses of the Mobile App have been to access the library catalog, manage library accounts, find library locations and hours and access emedia and databases.

The app works on all major smart phones, including iPhone, Android, and Windows and is freely available from the iTunes App Store, Google Play Store, and the Windows Phone Store.  In Sonoma County, the Mobile App had 2,912 iPhone downloads, 1,938 Android downloads and 1,048 iPad downloads.

Searching the catalog of library materials with the mobile app is especially easy. Just type the first few letters of two or three words and search results will begin to appear. For example, if you’re looking up Mark Twain in the catalog, just type “ma twa.”  Customers used the catalog on over 519,000 Mobile App visits.

Sonoma County Library cardholders used the Mobile App on over 210,000 visits to manage their account right from their mobile device.  No need to wait until you are at home or at a branch.  Access and manage your account whenever and wherever you are with the Sonoma County Library Mobile App.

The third most used Mobile App feature was the library locator – used on 13,580 visits.  Customers checked library hours, located the branch closest to their current location and got directions to the branch on their phone.

Other well-used features included access to emedia, databases and the event calendar.  In addition, the Mobile App offers BookLook™ which lets you scan an ISBN barcode to see if the library owns the title. This is an amazing feature! If you see a book that you’re interested in, you can just scan the ISBN, see if the library owns it and—if we do—place a hold on it right from your phone.

We hope you’ll spread the word about Sonoma County Library’s Mobile App to everyone you know with a mobile device. It's easy and it's free.

For more information, see sonomalibrary.org/mobile.