By Jon Haupt
What a year this has been for the library—it seems like we have been planning and preparing for the Building Modernization Project for so many years, and yet the final few months in the lead-up to our temporary move to the Healdsburg Community Center were positively exhausting.
Those months passed by, as they all do, and over a third of the project is now already complete. For staff and public alike, the promise of 2025 is a longingly awaited return to the newly modernized library space on Piper Street. We look forward to welcoming the community back into our familiar space as soon as we can.
In the meantime, we have a lot planned for the next few months. We continue to provide all of our usual programs and services—if on a bit smaller scale—including books and other materials by request, the limited browsing collection, public PCs, copying and printing, and a cozy space for people of all ages to read or play for a little while.
For children and families, we offer baby and toddler storytimes on Fridays in January, at 10:30am on the 10th, 24th and 31st. We have Spanish Music & Movement on Tuesday, Jan. 7, at 11am. We also have a Seeds and Reads program, “All About Owls,” for grades K-6 at 4pm on Monday, Jan. 13.
One of the main issues with our current space is simply the distance between the Mini Library and the schools in Healdsburg. We see a lot of families of young children, but fewer school-age children, especially tweens and teens. With that in mind, librarians Charity and Stephanie are inventing ways to meet up with our young library-lovers across Healdsburg in or near their schools.
Through collaborations with Healdsburg USD and the Boys and Girls Club, we offer “tween” programs on Thursdays and teen programs on Wednesdays, such as Universal Yums, crafting, MLK Tiny Art, journals, and “Ramen and Reels,” a remix of our former Anime Club events. We are excited about the ways we have been able to collaborate and engage with our community from our temporary location. For more information, please get in touch with Charity or Stephanie through the library at (707) 433-3772.
For adults, the month of January also features several interesting program opportunities: On Saturday, Jan. 11, at 2pm we offer “How to Cope with Hearing Loss,” presented by the Hearing Loss Association of America.
On Saturday, Jan. 18, at 10:10am Stacie Dooreck will present a Chair Yoga session. Stacie is a certified yoga instructor and the author of SunLight Chair Yoga: Yoga for Everyone!
Finally, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 6pm we will host a Lotería night for all ages. For those who haven’t experienced Lotería before, this Mexican game offers a combination of cards and bingo melded into a fun game night for the whole family. We hope you will join us and win a prize.
Unless otherwise noted, our events take place at the Healdsburg Community Center, 1557 Healdsburg Ave., where our Mini Library is located. All best wishes for the new year.
Jon Haupt is the branch manager of Healdsburg Regional Library, currently located at 1557 Healdsburg Ave. and open daily.
