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What’s Happening

22 Sep

Posted at 20:14h in What's Happening

Modern libraries are books at their core but are also responsive to community needs, working with community groups to mobilize services and resources. What does that mean? Rock shows in the Santa Barbara Public Library! We aren’t making this up and the Library hasn’t changed their mission. This summer the Santa Barbara Public Library’s MakeSB mini-grant program, meant to inspire and support making and creating in many forms, embraced what it means for a Library to be more than books. The event featured three local bands: Sissyfit, Stood Up, and The Daphnees. The hardcore, thrash, and garage bands performed to an

31 Aug

Posted at 03:14h in What's Happening

Every year, the Santa Barbara Public Library brings our community together through the power of reading. We are thrilled that the Library has announced the captivating novel, A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende, as the featured title for Santa Barbara Reads 2023. This initiative encourages Santa Barbara residents to become part of a shared experience as we read the same book, engage in meaningful discussions, broaden our perspectives, and explore the world through literature. A Long Petal of the Sea takes readers on a sweeping journey, following the lives of two refugees from the Spanish Civil War as

26 Aug

Posted at 18:31h in What's Happening

SB Library Foundation Welcomes New Board Member! The Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation is excited to announce our newest board member for 2023-2024: Belma Micheal Johnson. The 2023-2024 officers include Jim Jackson, Board President, Anna Alldredge, Vice President, Jim Sterne Secretary, and Roy Martinez, Treasurer. Belma Michael Johnson has crafted a varied and prolific career as a creative executive and creative talent in numerous fields within the entertainment industry. By working in positions in front of the camera and behind, in music marketing and talent development, as a music-magazine writer and editor, as a television host and producer, as a show

28 Jun

Posted at 22:09h in What's Happening

The Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation launched the inaugural Jessica Cadiente Library Champion Award at a National Library Week kickoff event on Monday, April 24, 2023. This award was created to honor Library Director Jessica Cadiente’s visionary leadership and will be given each year to someone who goes above and beyond for our Santa Barbara Public Library. Ms. Cadiente has worked in almost every role within a public library throughout her career and as Library Director she has set the gold standard for Santa Barbara’s libraries. She believes in the power of the Public Library to adapt to the ever-changing needs

25 Mar

Posted at 17:54h in What's Happening

National Library Week (April 24 - 28, 2023) is a time to celebrate our Santa Barbara Public Library, library workers' contributions and promote library use and support. The theme for National Library Week 2023 is "There's More to the Story," illustrating the fact that in addition to the books in library collections, available in a variety of formats, libraries offer so much more. Our Santa Barbara Public Library lends items like museum passes, games, musical instruments, and tools. Library programming brings communities together for entertainment, education, and connection through book clubs, storytimes, movie nights, crafting classes, and lectures. And library

10 Mar

Posted at 22:05h in What's Happening

"I LOVE the Library. I always have. When I was a kid, the Carnegie Library in my small Minnesota town was a treasure box of books that opened the whole wide world to me. I know that lots of us are nostalgic about libraries. We may see them through the lens of childhood storybooks or school age study halls or young adulthood refuges. But my experience in Santa Barbara has launched me out of nostalgia. When I retired in 2015, I knew that I wanted to do something in the Library, like shelve children’s books. I entered my retirement hoping

24 May

Posted at 23:18h in What's Happening

On Tuesday April 12, the Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors held a Budget Workshop to discuss the preliminary budget for the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year. The meeting heard from the Community Services Director George Chapjian regarding where funding for the Santa Barbara Public Library stands in the preliminary budgets. Chapjian reported that the Board of Supervisors funds almost $4.6 million annually into every library in the county and has also approved a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to its per capita funding, meaning the FY 22-23 per capita will increase 3.8 percent. The Board of Supervisors and the Community Services Director clarified

09 Apr

Posted at 02:03h in What's Happening

The Santa Barbara Public Library is so much more than just an open space filled with books, it is now a hub for social services available to all ages in the community. The Adult Literacy Program, run by Devin Cahill the adult education librarian, is made up of volunteer tutors that help people in the community who are working as native speakers of English and are struggling with their literacy. Inspired by the San Francisco Public Library’s “Fog Readers Program,” the SBPL models this program using the Orton Gillingham curriculum which is designed for people with dyslexia and trains

09 Apr

Posted at 01:53h in What's Happening

This week the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation is celebrating National Library Week with the Library and hosting a Library on the Go Happy Hour. This year's National Library Week theme is “Connect With Your Library” with themed events every day such as The State of America's Libraries Report: Special Edition, National Library Workers Day, National Library Outreach Day, and Take Action for Libraries Day from April 4-9, 2022. The Foundation is highlighting the work of the Library and the Library on the Go Van with an announcement for a $60,000 fund to help sustain the van's operations and outreach! Celebrate

04 Apr

Posted at 21:04h in What's Happening

On March 29, 2022, the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation celebrated its efforts to renovate the Santa Barbara Public Library Downtown Library Plaza. A project that has been years in the making, the Santa Barbara City Council approved the contract to begin construction of the downtown Library Plaza, the new ADA Elevator project, and the Lower Level staff area update. This joyous occasion gained notable news coverage by publications such as the Santa Barbara News Press, Noozhawk, and The Santa Barbara Independent. The Santa Barbara Central Library Renovation Project will cover a 10,000-square-foot plaza with space for festivals, events, and more.