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The Santa Maria Public Library is giving out free Spring Gardening Kits from April 12 - 17.
This is the fourth time the library’s Adult Services Department is offering the kits, an initiative started in 2020 during the pandemic.
Each one comes with six small pots, soil, plant markers, and seed packets. The kit also includes a live succulent cutting and a bookmark.
Gillian Speicher is a librarian at the Santa Maria Public Library. She says offering this service is one of the library s many efforts to bring locals together during the pandemic.
“We were closed for such a long time but we still wanted to connect with our patrons and still keep them involved in the library,” Speicher said. “So we started to come up with craft kits, the gardening kits, just to engage our community.”
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During each week, the two libraries will hold drawings for prizes such as themed gift baskets, gift cards to local restaurants, stickers, games, art kits and books. Readers are eligible for these prizes each week that they log at least one book.
In addition to the local prize drawings, the 10 libraries in Santa Barbara County with the highest participation in the challenge will win virtual visits from authors such as Sharon M. Draper and Stuart Gibbs, as well as a collection of 50 books from the Simon & Schuster Books Like Us collection.
The Santa Maria Main Library, at 421 S. McClelland St., is also holding two Winter Reading Programs. Through the youth program, which runs through Jan. 23, participants can log their reading online for a prize and entry into a grand drawing at the end of the program. Those who complete the program also receive an award from the library.
Two libraries in two distinct areas on the Central Coast have stepped up to carry on being a direct resource for all ages during a time when most facilities have had to limit or halt their services during this pandemic. The doors of the Paso Robles City Library were temporarily closed for several months, but it never stopped providing services to the community, especially online access to digital material and ensuring students had library cards, according to librarian Angelica Fortin. click to enlarge Photo Courtesy Of Bruce Cook
LIBRARY CONNECTIONS The Paso Robles and Santa Maria City Libraries have only heightened their resourceful natures by adapting to the pandemic and offering virtual services to their respected communities.
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Libraries up and down the Central Coast are learning how to meet the community where they re at during the pandemic
By MALEA MARTIN & KAREN GARCIA
Libraries have always been about more than the books. A library is a community gathering space, a place to access the internet, and a creative learning environment. So when the pandemic not only forced the city of Santa Maria Main Library’s physical doors to close, but also threatened its funding, the stakes were high for community members who rely on these resources.
ON THE GO
The Santa Maria library’s bookmobile allows library services to meet people where they’re at, something especially needed during the COVID-19 pandemic.