Monday, December 7 (2:00 PM - 4:00 PM)
Location: Downtown

An Encompass Downtown Outreach worker will be available on a drop-in basis, 2:00 -4:00 PM, at the corner of Center and Church Streets outside of the Downtown Library for anyone with questions regarding connecting to social services, county mental health, addiction recovery options, housing applications, the Homeward Bound bus ticket program, obtaining an HSC PO Box, clearing camping tickets, obtaining a fee-free DMV CA Identification application and more. For more info contact SCPL staff person Jesse at silvaj@santacruzpl.org or Encompass staff Kris at kris.younggren@encompasscs.org or Meredith at meredith.flores@encompasscs.org.

Monday, December 7 (5:30 PM - 6:30 PM)
Location: Virtual Library
Room: Online

Acompáñanos para una hora de cuentos, actividades y canciones en español. Este programa es para niños de 0-8 y sus familias. La hora será lunes - 5:30PM. Será una reunión virtual en vivo de Zoom.

Es necesario registrarse para este evento. Los registrantes recibirán un correo electrónico 24 horas y 1 hora antes del programa con un enlace Zoom e instrucciones para iniciar sesión.

Join us for Spanish Storytime, Mondays @ 5:30. It's going to be a live Zoom meeting.

Registration is required for this event. Registrants will receive an email 24 hours and 1 hour prior to the program with a Zoom link and instructions for logging in.

Tuesday, December 8 (10:00 AM - 11:30 AM)
Location: Virtual Library
Room: Online

The popular virtual series, Shelter in Faith, is back with a special Holidays Edition. Learn from local faith leaders representing diverse spiritual traditions about different holiday customs, celebrations, and their deeper meanings. Hear their thoughtful perspectives, relevant experience, and practical solutions for navigating the stresses of the holiday season. There will also be time for Q&A to get your unique questions answered. Panelists for this presentation are:

* Aisha Charves, Member & Sunday School teacher Islamic Center Santa Cruz (ICSC), Fulbright Fellow
* Rabbi Eli Cohen, Chadeish Yameinu Jewish Renewal of Santa Cruz
* Rev Jay Shinseki, Watsonville Buddhist Temple
* Mother Tracy Wells Miller, Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist, Aptos

This moderator for this event is Ziggy Rendler-Bregman, painter, printmaker, poet, member of Santa Cruz Zen Center, and a founder of Tent of Abraham, an interfaith community going on 15 years.

The prior four Shelter in Faith programs can be found on our YouTube channel

Tuesday, December 8 (3:30 PM - 6:30 PM)
Location: Virtual Library
Room: Online

Attention 12-16yr olds --  Adventure awaits!

A friendly introduction to Dungeons & Dragons for players of all experience levels, led by an experienced player. Held every Tuesday from 3:30-6:30pm.

Form a party, hunt for ancient treasures, and use your wits, magic, or brute force to battle kobolds, dragons, and more. Dungeons & Dragons is a game of adventure, imagination and near-limitless possibilities. If you've been curious but unsure how to start, it's time to roll the dice and join this campaign. An experienced D&Der will guide you, and all the necessary materials & manuals will be provided.

Parents: Please be prepared to briefly meet our volunteer who leads the program. Zoom Link will be emailed the day of the event  - NOVEMBER 3rd  please register in advance so that we know who and how many to expect, Thank you!

Wednesday, December 9 (3:00 PM - 4:00 PM)
Location: Virtual Library
Room: Online

This program will follow the curriculum from Khan Academy called “Intro to JS: Drawing & Animation”. It covers fundamental ideas of computer science, and helps students learn one of the most popular programming languages right now, JavaScript. The curriculum has 18 modules, each with a few videos, short readings, and hands-on activities. Notable modules include Drawing Basics, Variables, Functions, Looping, and Objects. Students are free to work at their own pace; for students who finish quickly, an advanced Khan Academy course is available. No prior programming experience is required.

About the instructor: Saashin is a local high school student. He's always been passionate about computer programming and technology. His first experience with coding was in 4th Grade, when he completed the introductory Khan Academy course on JavaScript. Since then, he's completed online courses in Python, HTML/CSS and JavaScript from University of Michigan, UC Davis and Hong Kong Institute of Technology. He's volunteered with CodeCombat and is currently at doing a internship with a local company.

This class is open to students 8-18 years old. 

For more information please contact Julie Soto at sotoj@santacruzpl.org

Wednesday, December 9 (7:00 PM - 7:45 PM)

Join us on Facebook for Bedtime Stories presented by SCPL Librarians Jackie and Jeanne. On alternating weeks, Jackie will read a story and Jeanne will tell a story and also help families to tell their own stories. New programs will be available every Wednesday at 7:30 pm and on the library's YouTube Channel after that.

For more fun, please visit our Storytimes for Children playlist.

Thursday, December 10 (10:00 AM - 10:30 PM)
Location: Virtual Library

Stories will be released every Thursday at 10 am on Facebook and Youtube. Librarian Jeanne will read stories and sing songs in this weekly recorded storytime event.

Watch the Premire

Thursday, December 10 (10:30 AM - 12:00 PM)
Location: La Selva Beach
Room: Online

The LSB Adult Book Discussion group meets on the second Thursday of the month from 10:30a to 12:00p.  The group will meet virtually via Zoom during the remodel.  All adults are welcome.  Registration required.

Thursday, December 10 (10:30 AM - 12:00 PM)
Location: Downtown
Room: Life Literacies Center

Wings Homeless Advocates will be holding office hours at the corner of Center and Locusts streets, outside of the Downtown Library on Thursdays, 10:30am - 12:00pm. Wings will be providing free birth certificates and notary services for people experiencing homelessness.

Walk up appointments are accepted as time allows

Thursday, December 10 (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM)
Location: Virtual Library
Room: Online

Know the basic features and settings to get the most from your device.

Ready for a review of the basic features and settings of your iPhone?  We will share our favorite features and tips.  We hope you will join us and share with us too.

Tech Talks are not your typical computer class.  These are hands-on workshops that help us better understand our mobile devices.

This event will be taking place online using Zoom. Registrants will receive an email with the Zoom meeting link immediately upon registering for the event.

For more information on accessing Zoom, visit our website here:

Using Zoom

We look forward to seeing you online!

Thursday, December 10 (2:00 PM - 4:00 PM)
Location: Downtown

An Encompass Downtown Outreach worker will be available on a drop-in basis, 2:00 -4:00 PM, at the corner of Center and Church Streets outside of the Downtown Library for anyone with questions regarding connecting to social services, county mental health, addiction recovery options, housing applications, the Homeward Bound bus ticket program, obtaining an HSC PO Box, clearing camping tickets, obtaining a fee-free DMV CA Identification application and more. For more info contact SCPL staff person Jesse at silvaj@santacruzpl.org or Encompass staff Kris at kris.younggren@encompasscs.org or Meredith at meredith.flores@encompasscs.org.

Friday, December 11 (10:00 AM - 10:30 AM)
Location: Virtual Library
Room: Online

Storytime is temporarily moving online due the cancellation of library events caused by COVID-19. 

Join us online for a Preschool Storytime. We'll read books and sing songs. For 3-6 year olds.

This storytime will be taking place on the online Zoom meeting platform.  Registrants will receive Zoom meeting instructions via email prior to the event.  Registration is required in order to receive the Zoom link. 

Friday, December 11 (10:30 AM - 11:00 AM)
Location: Virtual Library

Tales to Tails brings a fun, neutral, and accessible way for children of all ages to build literacy and confidence. Bring some books, a stuffed animal or your own pet, and come read with us! Children can read to a dog 1:1 in a Zoom breakout room with a certified therapy dog and their handler or they can read to the whole group of kids. Some kids show us a toy, some sing a song, some read a book. They have so much fun.

This event will piggyback on Preschool Storytime which starts at 10am so if you come for Storytime, stay for Tales to Tails!

Friday, December 11 (2:00 PM - 3:00 PM)
Room: Online

The Live Oak book group meets on the second Friday of the month from 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm and all adults are welcome.

We are reading The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata, 352 pages. This book is available in hoopla as an EBook and as an audio book. In addition, there are currently two hard copies available in the Santa Cruz Libraries system.

See you there!

Saturday, December 12 (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM)
Location: Virtual Library
Room: Online
A magic show inspired by the most magical season of the year, a time of shorter days, colder nights, and annual celebrations of light. Come warm yourself this season with a little fun and a whole lot of wonder! All ages are welcome to come laugh, smile, and participate in this very special seasonal magic show.  

Magician Mike Della Penna creates WONDER and LAUGHTER with family magic performances that are equal parts PLAYFUL and ASTONISHING! He is a favorite at preschools, libraries and family venues and is known for captivating the 3-to-7-year-old crowd with his fun-filled, participatory magic shows.

Saturday, December 12 (1:00 PM - 3:00 PM)
Location: Felton

Are you a serious writer looking for a local writers' group?  The Felton branch is hosting the BC Writer's Group while the Boulder Creek branch is undergoing renovation.

The group follows a Milford workshop critique format and is open to all genres of fiction.

You must be 18 or older to join the group.

This will be an on-going writing group. Meetings will take place every second Saturday of the month.

Please email Librarian Jeanne O'Grady ogradyj@santacruzpl.org for more information on joining the BC Writers Group.

Monday, December 14 (2:00 PM - 4:00 PM)
Location: Downtown

An Encompass Downtown Outreach worker will be available on a drop-in basis, 2:00 -4:00 PM, at the corner of Center and Church Streets outside of the Downtown Library for anyone with questions regarding connecting to social services, county mental health, addiction recovery options, housing applications, the Homeward Bound bus ticket program, obtaining an HSC PO Box, clearing camping tickets, obtaining a fee-free DMV CA Identification application and more. For more info contact SCPL staff person Jesse at silvaj@santacruzpl.org or Encompass staff Kris at kris.younggren@encompasscs.org or Meredith at meredith.flores@encompasscs.org.

Monday, December 14 (5:30 PM - 6:30 PM)
Location: Virtual Library
Room: Online

Acompáñanos para una hora de cuentos, actividades y canciones en español. Este programa es para niños de 0-8 y sus familias. La hora será lunes - 5:30PM. Será una reunión virtual en vivo de Zoom.

Es necesario registrarse para este evento. Los registrantes recibirán un correo electrónico 24 horas y 1 hora antes del programa con un enlace Zoom e instrucciones para iniciar sesión.

Join us for Spanish Storytime, Mondays @ 5:30. It's going to be a live Zoom meeting.

Registration is required for this event. Registrants will receive an email 24 hours and 1 hour prior to the program with a Zoom link and instructions for logging in.

Tuesday, December 15 (3:30 PM - 6:30 PM)
Location: Virtual Library
Room: Online

Attention 12-16yr olds --  Adventure awaits!

A friendly introduction to Dungeons & Dragons for players of all experience levels, led by an experienced player. Held every Tuesday from 3:30-6:30pm.

Form a party, hunt for ancient treasures, and use your wits, magic, or brute force to battle kobolds, dragons, and more. Dungeons & Dragons is a game of adventure, imagination and near-limitless possibilities. If you've been curious but unsure how to start, it's time to roll the dice and join this campaign. An experienced D&Der will guide you, and all the necessary materials & manuals will be provided.

Parents: Please be prepared to briefly meet our volunteer who leads the program. Zoom Link will be emailed the day of the event  - NOVEMBER 3rd  please register in advance so that we know who and how many to expect, Thank you!

Tuesday, December 15 (6:00 PM - 7:00 PM)
Location: Virtual Library
Room: Online

Santa Cruz Public Libraries and the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History have partnered to bring you Naturalist Night! Join fellow nature enthusiasts for monthly explorations of the biodiversity of Santa Cruz County. Each month, Marisa Gomez from the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History will share the stories of a specific Santa Cruz habitat as we develop our skills as naturalists. This series will feature a presentation as well as an interactive session. This month: sandhills! Explore the natural diversity that exists within Santa Cruz's own sandhills.

Registration is required for Zoom access link. Your registration confirmation email will have the Zoom link in it.