Friends Hosts Booth at Ultimate Play Date
It was a day of fun and learning as the Friends once again supported Scottsdale Public Library’s Ultimate Play Date on Saturday, December 7 at Civic Center Library.
In addition to sponsoring the face painting exhibit, the Friends featured a booth with a prize wheel. Children could win bookmarks, pencils, and candy.
The Play Date was filled with free educational and entertainment activities for children, including exhibits focused on science, music, and language. This annual event typically occurs during the spring, but was pushed to December this year due to construction on Scottsdale Mall.
The Friends also solicited donations for our 2020 fundraising project, expansion of the children’s story time room at Civic Center Library. If you’d like to help with this effort, please consider a tax-deductible donation.
Spring is Busy Time for Scottsdale Public Library
With winter visitors and beautiful weather already started, the Scottsdale Public Library has plenty of fun events on tap for spring 2017.
On March 4, the Civic Center branch will feature the 4th Ultimate Play Date from 9am to 2pm. This event is catered to children ages 0-8, and will include Play Zones specializing in everything from music & dance to science & technology. There will also be a grilled cheese food truck. All activities are free of charge.
From March 27 to April 1, Mustang Library will be hosting Garden Week. Every day will have free special events, including a flower show, presentations from the Butterfly Wonderland and the Maricopa Audubon Society and tips on landscaping, urban farming and Xeriscape. It will culminate on April 1 with a book sale.
From April 9 to April 15, celebrate National Library Week. This annual national celebration has been promoting appreciation of our local libraries since 1958. The theme for 2017 will once again be “Libraries Transform,” and two-time World Cup champion Julie Foudy will serve as honorary chair.
Lastly, be on the lookout for the first Books2Go installation at Chaparral Park in March. Shaped like a doghouse to match the dog park where it’s located, it will be a micro-library supporting the “take a book, leave a book” system. No library card is required to use this program.
Friends Sponsors Four Library Fellowships
The Friends of the Scottsdale Public Library helped make four key Library programs a reality by facilitating four fellowships through the Experience Matters program.
Each of the Fellows will work on special Library programming through financial support of Intel. Since 2011, Intel has placed and funded 60 former employees yearly in positions with non-profit groups that may utilize their experience in fields like engineering and project management.
For the Library, here are the four programs funded for 2016-2017:
- Justin Bingham will serve as Project Developer for Story Stroll. Story Stroll is an opportunity for families to read a children’s book, page by page, as they walk through parks and other outdoor areas. This is a year-long fellowship.
- Arnie Dominguez will serve as Project Developer for the Ultimate Play Date. This annual event in March brings together children ages 0-8 to experience learning at different Play Zones like adventure, music & dance and science & technology. The 2017 Ultimate Play Date will take place March 4. This is a six-month fellowship.
- Jim Nance will serve as Builder for the Books2Go Program. Books2Go is a series of micro-libraries in City of Scottsdale parks filled with free books for the public in a “take one, leave one” style system. This is a year-long fellowship.
- Jim Willittes will serve as Coordinator for the STEAM Program. Short for science, technology, engineering, art and math, the STEAM Program will be a series of events designed to educate children in these important fields. This is a year-long fellowship.
The Friends coordinated all the paperwork for these fellowships and is serving as the operations agency on behalf of the Library.