Staff Report

The Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries are resuming their 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program with all-new reading logs and fun prizes.

1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is an early literacy program popular at libraries across the country. It encourages parents and caregivers to read to their children, which helps prepare them for school readiness and lifelong success by building a strong foundation for later reading and writing.

At the Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries, the program is open to all families whose children are below kindergarten age. To get started, participants can stop by the library to pick up their first reading log. Parents can mark off a circle for each book they read to their child and can mark off a circle for each time they read the same book as repetition is an important part of learning to read. When finished, parents and their children can bring the completed log back to the library to receive a prize and their next reading log.

Once all 10 logs (and 1,000 books) are completed, participants will be contacted with an invitation to the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten graduation party. While parties and other in-person programming have not yet resumed at the Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries, information will be saved to celebrate the child’s accomplishment as soon as programming resumes.

The friendly librarians at the Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries are excited to be offering this program again to support literacy in the community. Logs are available in English and Spanish at the Goleta Valley Library, Goleta Valley Library Bookvan, Buellton Library, and Solvang Library. Those interested can stop by their local branch Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and ask for their first log at the front desk. To pick up a reading log at the Goleta Valley Library Bookvan, check the libraries’ online calendar for hours and locations.

Program materials and prizes at Goleta Valley Library are sponsored by the Friends of the Goleta Valley Library. To learn more or to become a Friend, visit https://www.friendsofthegoletavalleylibrary.org/.

Prizes at Solvang Library are sponsored by the Friends of the Library of Santa Ynez Valley. To learn more or become a Friend, go to: https://friendssyvlibrary.org/.

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Staff Report

Are you looking for a fun and meaningful volunteer opportunity? Would you like to assist in enhancing library services and programming in your area? The Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries are currently accepting applications for adults eager to get involved in their community by volunteering online for the library.

The libraries are welcoming applications for volunteers who are interested in making a difference by becoming Homework Help coaches for K-8 students to succeed academically through the library’s online after-school program. Homework Help coaches tutor remotely from home and assist students with math problems, look over English essays and help with research. Coaches also receive training on using the library’s Homework Help resources, including BrainFuse HelpNow! and ProQuest Homework Central. Tutoring sessions are held by appointment on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Volunteers with experience teaching to the Common Core standards are highly desired and encouraged to apply.

Library volunteers come from all walks of life: students, seniors, youth and community service organizations, religious groups and corporations. Volunteers are vitally important in providing quality service to children in our community. As a library volunteer, you will help enhance and expand the Homework Help program. Individuals with a variety of skills, interests, and abilities are needed to work with children of diverse backgrounds from our community and help enrich the lives of others.

If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out an application found on our website here.

For more information, please contact Supervising Librarian Brent Field at BField@cityofgoleta.org or (805) 690-5137.

This project at the Goleta Valley Library is funded with a grant from the California Adult Education Program and generous support from the Friends of the Goleta Valley Library.

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This spring, local teens were invited to submit a design for a bookmark based on the theme “Equity, Diversity, Inclusion: what does it mean to you?” The contest was part of the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries’ 2021 Book to Action community reading program, which uses the graphic novel memoir “They Called Us Enemy” by actor George Takei.

The Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries received many wonderful entries that were beautiful, empathetic and thought-provoking. The winners of the contest each received a certificate and a gift card for a free smoothie from sponsor Blenders in the Grass.

Winners from the Santa Ynez Valley Libraries are: 

• Best Interpretation of Theme: Jessica Xu, Gabriela Navarro and Reiner Zhang
• Best Artwork: Nolan Waters, Adam Marmorstein and Helen Pruitt-Kennett
• Message Impact: Charlotte Hecker, Brandon Williams and Gray Arredondo
• Honorable Mentions: Alex Gorski, Miu Ono and Addison Osta Smith. 

All of the winning entries were submitted by Dunn School students.

The winning designs can be viewed in an online gallery on the library website, and printed copies of the bookmarks will be available to library patrons through the end of July.

“We thank all the teens who took the time to participate in the contest, and to share their responses to the issues, which are both global and personal,” said Solvang Library branch supervisor Carey McKinnon. “The designs are hopeful, arresting, beautiful.” 

Book to Action continues at the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries with guest speakers, crafts and films through July 31. Information on all programs at the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries can be found at GoletaValleyLibrary.org. 

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After almost 15 months of being closed to the public, the Goleta, Solvang and Buellton library branches reopened in limited capacity for Express Service starting June 2.

“Our library staff have been working hard to prepare for this day,” Library Director Allison Gray said. “While we are thrilled to reopen, we want to remind the public that masks are required to enter the libraries. Also, please be patient as we continue to provide both Sidewalk Service and Express Service. We will gradually increase our hours and the number of people allowed in the buildings. We look forward to pre-pandemic levels of service soon.” 

Express Service library hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The hours are the same as Sidewalk Service, which will remain open. Please note, the entire library will be open at all three branches except for the restrooms. Each branch will operate a little differently – you can find information below on your branch:

• Goleta Library: Patrons will be allowed in on a first-come, first-served basis and will have 15 minutes to spend inside picking out material and checking it out on a self-checkout machine, using an Express computer, and/or browsing the Friends of the Library Book Sale. Up to 25 people will be allowed in at a time.
• Solvang Library: This branch will accommodate up to six people at a time. There will be a limited number of public computers available. Solvang Library will take reservations 24 hours in advance on the library website (https://tinyurl.com/SolvangExpressService) and via telephone at 805-688-4214.
• Buellton Library: The Buellton branch will accommodate up to five patrons at a time. This branch will also follow a first-come, first-served basis. Patrons can also call the Buellton Library at 805-688-3115 if other accommodations are needed.

Patrons who choose to come inside the library must wear a mask (ages 2 and over) and maintain at least 6 feet of distance from others. There will also be gloves and hand sanitizer available at the entrance.

Sidewalk Service will remain open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for those who want to quickly grab their holds without entering the building. All programming will continue to be held online only. Click here for the library Events Calendar.

For now, the material available to check out, whether in-person or through Sidewalk Service, will continue to only be from the Goleta, Solvang or Buellton branches. Black Gold Service will resume sometime in July. We will keep you posted.

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The Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries are excited to launch the 2021 Online Summer Reading Program! Community members of all ages are invited to participate in this eight-week program full of great reading, fantastic prizes, and fun livestreamed shows for the whole family.

The program, which will run through Saturday, July 31^st, will be held completely online through Beanstack, a website and app where you can track your reading. Readers who have used Beanstack for previous reading programs at the library can simply log in to their existing Beanstack account and sign up for the Summer Reading Program, and new users can create a free account in just a few steps. Visit goletavalleylibrary.beanstack.org or download the free app for Apple and Android devices to start logging your books on June 5^th.

To encourage participants to keep reading all summer long, many local businesses and organizations have generously donated prizes that readers can earn as they log books in their Beanstack accounts. Participants at Goleta Valley Library will receive their prizes in the mail, and participants at Buellton and Solvang Libraries will pick up their prizes in person during Sidewalk Service/Express Service hours Wednesdays – Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Fabulous online shows will be livestreamed through the libraries’ social media channels through the end of July, including special visits from children’s musicians, a magician, puppeteers, and even the zoo! Details about all of the performances this summer are available on the library Events Calendar.

Teens in search of volunteer opportunities can earn community service hours by submitting book reviews that will be posted on the library website and by volunteering through the Teen Graphic Novel Club, which meets once a month online to discuss all things illustrated. Details on Teen Volunteer Opportunities are available here.

The Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries extend their heartfelt gratitude to each of this year’s Summer Reading partners: Albertson’s, Birkholm’s Bakery, The Book Loft, California Pizza Kitchen Casa Cassara Winery & Vineyard, Chipotle, The Clique, Coffee House by Chomp, Dana V. Wines, Ellen’s Pancake House, The Elverhoj Museum, The Friends of the Goleta Valley Library, The Friends of the Library of Santa Ynez Valley, The Giving Ink, The Good Seed Coffee Boutique, Ingeborg’s Danish Chocolates, Islands Burgers, Kyle’s Kitchen, Los Arroyos, Mesaburger, Mother Hubbard’s, The Mystic Merchant, Nathalie’s Dollhouse, Natural Café, Nothing Bundt Cakes, New Frontiers Natural Marketplace, Old Town Coffee, Pattibakes, Santa Barbara Axxess, Solvang Bakery, Solvang Flavors, Space VR, Stuart C. Gildred Family YMCA, Swedish Candy Factory, SYV Essential Oils, The SYV Historical Museum, and The Wildling Museum. 

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Sweet and Savory: Cooking Conversations — Thursday, March 18, 6 p.m. Solvang Library ONLINE

Join us for a monthly virtual buffet! During our online get together, we’ll exchange tips and tricks, share cultural or personal significance of our recipes, and other aspects of our kitchen adventures, based on the theme for that month. All ages welcome. March’s theme is: Your Favorite Cookbook!

Sweet and Savory: Cooking Conversations meets using GoToMeeting: find the meeting link at engagedpatrons.org/EventsExtended.cfm?SiteID=8565&EventID=424051&PK=692584. 

Happy 110th Birthday Solvang Library! — Sunday, March 21, 3 p.m. Solvang Library ONLINE

Join the Friends of the Library of Santa Ynez Valley for an online birthday party, and a look at the past, present and possible future of Solvang Library. Visit Facebook.com/FriendsofSolvangLibrary for link info, or check the library calendar closer to the date.

Sponsored by The Friends of the Library of Santa Ynez Valley.

Ongoing library programs:

Weekly Preschool Storytime — Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Solvang Library online

Join Solvang Library staff online for songs, stories, and more! No registration necessary, attend at https://www.facebook.com/solvanglibrary/ or https://www.youtube.com/c/GoletaandSantaYnezValleyLibraries

Homework Help — Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3-6 p.m. by appointment Goleta Valley Library ONLINE

Local Kindergarten to eighth grade students will be able to schedule free, online, one-on-one appointments with knowledgeable tutors to receive personalized help with their homework, all from the comfort and convenience of their homes! 

Tutoring sessions will be offered by appointment only on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-6 p.m. Appointments will be either 30 or 60 minutes long and can be scheduled through a form on the library’s Request Homework Help webpage.

Once you schedule an appointment, a friendly library staff member will send a confirmation email containing your reservation details and a link to the secure meeting room for your tutoring session. Appointments are held using the free meeting platform GoToMeeting, which allows students to video chat with tutors directly and share their screen for an interactive tutoring experience.

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Madi Wilson, a local third grader, is gifting the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries with her special “World Changer” pencil sets to use as prizes for the libraries’ upcoming Winter Reading Challenge, “Books Like Us.”  

“Giving the pencils makes my heart so happy, like a burst of confetti! I want all the kids to know that they matter to the world,” said Madi.

Through her nonprofit Madi’s Treasure Box, Madi and her mother, Vashti Wilson, are realizing a mission to provide multicultural tools promoting literacy and inclusion to schools and libraries across the United States. 

This past summer, Madi asked her mom if she could raise money to bring multicultural books and crayons to local schools. Thanks to media coverage across the nation, including The Washington Post, NBC Evening News and more, the fundraiser, aptly titled Madi’s Treasure Box, raised more than $40,000 within six weeks of fundraising on GoFundMe. The initiative will provide 14 U.S. schools and the nonprofit, Children’s Bureau, with multicultural books and crayons.

Each 24-pack of crayons consists of 16 skin colors, 4 hair colors and 4 eye colors. Madison says she wants kids to have more options for skin colors than just peach and brown.

“Madi and her inspiring mission are a perfect fit for our Winter Reading program, Books Like Us, and we are so grateful they’ve reached out to us,” said Carey McKinnon of the Solvang Library. 

Soon the libraries will be able to offer patrons books from Madi’s Treasure Box collection, as the nonprofit is working to donate books to all three libraries: Goleta, Solvang and Buellton. More details on that will be forthcoming as the books arrive at the libraries.

Meanwhile, readers of all ages can sign up for the Winter Reading Challenge that started Jan. 1 at goletavalleylibrary.beanstack.org, or download the free app for Apple and Android devices to log their books on the go. The six-week program for children, teens and adults will run through Feb. 13, with other prizes donated by Blender’s, Chili’s, The Home Depot, Islands, Mesaburger, Miner’s Ace Hardware and Sprouts, as well as by the respective Friends of the Library of Goleta, Santa Ynez Valley and Buellton.  

For more information on programs and events at the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries, see the calendar at www.GoletaValleyLibrary.org or check out the Facebook pages of the different library branches at facebook.com/goletavalleylibrary, facebook.com/buelltonlibraries or facebook.com/solvanglibrary.

Now that Madi’s Treasure Box is a nonprofit, those interested in donating can do so directly on the website www.MadisTreasureBox.com. 

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From January 1 to February 13, the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries will host a six-week Winter Reading Challenge for children, teens and adults to start off the bright new year with the transformational power of reading!

This year’s Winter Reading Challenge will be held completely online through Beanstack, a website and app that makes keeping track of your reading incredibly easy and fun, and its theme – Books Like Us – invites readers to celebrate diversity and the power of seeing their stories reflected in books. Readers who used Beanstack for the 2020 Summer Reading Program can simply log in to their existing Beanstack account and sign up for the Challenge on January 1^st, and new users can get started by creating a free account in just a few minutes. Visit goletavalleylibrary.beanstack.org, or download the free app for Apple and Android devices to log your books on the go. 

During each week of the Winter Reading Challenge, the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries will hold drawings for exciting prizes such as themed gift baskets, gift cards to local restaurants, stickers, games, art kits, books and more, thanks to the generous support of our local partners. Readers are eligible for prize drawings each week that they log at least one book in their Beanstack account. Books of all kind are welcome, including print books, eBooks, graphic novels, and audiobooks.

In addition to local drawings, our community also has the chance to win national prizes from the publisher Simon & Schuster, the sponsor of the Books Like Us program. The ten libraries with the highest participation will win virtual author visits from the likes of Stuart Gibbs, Sharon M. Draper, and many more, plus a collection of fifty books from the Simon & Schuster Books Like Us collection.

“We are thrilled to launch this program and to read together as a community as we did over the summer,” says Goleta Valley Library Children’s Librarian Elizabeth Saucedo. “Expanding our annual Adult Winter Reading Program to include readers of all ages this year is an exciting opportunity for all of us to start off 2021 with a fun goal and a great book!”

The 2021 Books Like Us Winter Reading Challenge will open January 1^st. For more information on programs and events at the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries, see the calendar at www.GoletaValleyLibrary.org or check out the Facebook pages of the different Library branches at facebook.com/goletavalleylibrary, facebook.com/buelltonlibraries or facebook.com/solvanglibrary.

Happy reading, Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley!

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During September, children from the Santa Ynez Valley responded to local libraries’ invitation to draw a bookmark based on the theme “A Friend is…” Those entries are now on display to the public at both Buellton and Solvang libraries and all of the drawings have been printed into free bookmarks for library visitors to enjoy.

A blind panel chose the following entries as standouts in these age categories: 

Ages 3 and under: Jack Rushing (Oak Valley Preschool); 

Age 4: Remy Arthur (Family School); 

Ages 5 and 6: Justin Martinez (Solvang School), Maddie Nichols (home school) and Gray Rushing (Oak Valley Preschool); 

Ages 7 and 8: Lucas Goodman, Felicity Hume, Couper Nichols (all home school) and Branwen Van Dam (SYV Charter); 

Age 9: Norah Hirth and Macie Ann Martinez (both of Solvang School); 

Ages 10-12: Alison Hume and Colton Paulson. (both homeschool).

The following notable entries earned special participation awards: Bronson Ballinger, age 5; Hollis Van Dam, age 5; Dalston Kay, age 6: Gus Ballinger, age 8; Danaka Cantrell, Tatum Kay, Stella Libera and Everly Nunez, all age 9.

The contest was sponsored this year by the Friends of the Library of Santa Ynez Valley and Blenders in the Grass. The Friends of the Library of SYV fund programs, materials and extra library staff hours: visit their donor page at www.friendssyvlibraries.org/give. 

For information on programs and events the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley libraries, see the calendar at GoletaValleyLibrary.org, or look up the Solvang and Buellton libraries on Facebook.

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The Solvang Library is announcing its third annual Ghost Story Challenge, inviting members of the public to submit an original mysterious or scary story of 500 words or less related to the supernatural, of 500 words. The Challenge is open to adults 18 and over, and to young writers from the sixth to 12th grades.

How to submit: Send your story in the body of an email (no attachments please) to Solvanglibrary@cityofgoleta.org. Include your full name, phone number, and age category: Adult (18+) or Teen (sixth to 12^th grades). Entries received without full names or as a Google link cannot be accepted.

A panel of professionals will judge the entries and winners will be announced on Oct. 31.

“The Ghost Story Challenge is a celebration of the craft and imagination involved in writing a story as well as the thrill experienced in reading or hearing it,” library staff said. “We hope the short format encourages novice writers to give it a try- and also tests the skills of the more experienced. We’ll be posting short readings of winning stories from 2018 and 2019 during the month for fun and encouragement.”

The Solvang Library is part of the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries. For more information see the library events calendar at GoletaValleyLibrary.org, call the library at (805) 688-4214, or check the Solvang Library Facebook page.

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