STEAM Saturday: Building with the Three Little Pigs

Posted by on 11 March 16

STEAM powered stories, rhymes, songs, crafts, experiments, and sensory experiences for preschool children ages 3-6 and their caregivers.

Please wear comfy clothes that are okay to get messy!

Please register at the Children’s Reference Desk, or call us at 415-485-3322.

Sponsored by the Friends of the San Rafael Public Library.

STEAM Saturday: Earth Day

Posted by on 11 March 16

STEAM powered stories, rhymes, songs, crafts, experiments, and sensory experiences for preschool children ages 3-6 and their caregivers.

Please wear comfy clothes that are okay to get messy!

Please register at the Children’s Reference Desk, or call us at 415-485-3322.

Sponsored by the Friends of the San Rafael Public Library.

Pickleweed Library Open House

Posted by sarah on 10 March 16

In honor of National Library Week (April 10-16), we invite our San Rafael neighbors to join us at the San Rafael Libraries for our open houses. Both locations (Downtown and Pickleweed) are readying both the well-known and super secret spots in the libraries for you, our neighbors! Come to one of our open houses before the library opens to see all of the behind-the-scenes work!

Downtown Library: Sunday, April 10 – noon-1pm

Pickleweed Library: Saturday, April 16 – 10am-11am

Join us for music, tasty treats, and super secret tours of the libraries!

Enter our drawing to win fabulous prizes including autographed books from One Book One Marin selections, San Rafael restaurant goodies, and more! You will need to register at the Library Open House to be entered into the drawing but you do not have to be present to win.

Learn about our vast collections of books, movies, eBooks, online resources, technology, and more! Meet your neighbors who work at both of the libraries and talk to them about what you’d like to see your library do for the community.  Learn all about San Rafael Public Library’s heritage along with our plans for the future.

Downtown Library Open House

Posted by sarah on 10 March 16

In honor of National Library Week (April 10-16), we invite our San Rafael neighbors to join us at the San Rafael Libraries for our open houses. Both locations (Downtown and Pickleweed) are readying both the well-known and super secret spots in the libraries for you, our neighbors! Come to one of our open houses before the library opens to see all of the behind-the-scenes work!

Downtown Library: Sunday, April 10 – noon-1pm

Pickleweed Library: Saturday, April 16 – 10am-11am

Join us for music, tasty treats, and super secret tours of the libraries!

Enter our drawing to win fabulous prizes including autographed books from One Book One Marin selections, San Rafael restaurant goodies, and more! You will need to register at the Library Open House to be entered into the drawing but you do not have to be present to win.

Learn about our vast collections of books, movies, eBooks, online resources, technology, and more! Meet your neighbors who work at both of the libraries and talk to them about what you’d like to see your library do for the community.  Learn all about San Rafael Public Library’s heritage along with our plans for the future.

How I Found the Most Beautiful Song Ever Written

Posted by bonnie on 08 March 16

Learning the music of the Great American Songbook and exploring a life of song with Ken Vermes

Ken is a musician who will speak about his discoveries in the world of music and the Broadway musical. He will also encourage listeners to dig into the incredible history of this music through media, reading, and listening.

Ken has studied and performed music since he was ten years-old. Currently he is a performer, writer, photographer and music researcher. He has presented his program about the great American popular music performers throughout Northern California. He’ll play saxophone and flute throughout the presentation. Please call (415) 485-3321 for more information.

Succulents – Marin Master Gardeners

Posted by bonnie on 08 March 16

Come and discover succulents and their culture. Learn about their growing habits, how to propagate them, prune them and see a demonstration on how to repot them.

The Speaker: Gary Bartl, a UC Marin Master Gardener since 2001, has over 25-years of experience in working with succulents, designing in-ground succulent gardens for commercial, public and residential sites. He is also known for combining rocks and small succulents in containers to create ‘rock gardens’ or ‘Sierrascapes’ that suggest miniature rocky wildernesses. Trained in counseling psychology, Gary has combined his passion for succulents with his professional work with severely emotionally disturbed youth. Gary was lead designer in the development of the succulent garden at the Falkirk Cultural Center in San Rafael that is now managed and maintained by UC Marin Master Gardeners.

Hydroponics – Marin Master Gardeners

Posted by diane on 08 March 16

Grow superior quality edibles and make the best use of scarce resources– with HYDROPONICS! Come satisfy your curiosity about hydroponics and learn how easy it can be to grow the best, most nutritious edibles. Some significant benefits:

• no digging
• no weeding
• no heavy lifting
• no pests like gophers or soil borne diseases
• no mulching
• no composting
• no fertilizer runoff
• no wasting of scarce water resources

The Speaker: Stan Barbarich, a Marin Master Gardener since 2012, is a consultant with years of experience growing in soil and hydroponically. He lives on a floating home which means he is a dedicated container gardener. As a former chef, he constantly studies and experiments with a variety of growing techniques, always aiming to grow sustainably while maximizing flavor, quality, nutrition and yield.

Cost:  None

CE:  1 CE unit, UC sponsored

Posted by bonnie on 08 March 16

Are You Ready for Tax Time!

Join Pamela Lyons, Queen of QuickBooks, for an introduction to QuickBooks.

> What is the best way to keep track of your money?
>
>    Should you use QuickBooks, and if so, which one?
>    Should you use Freshbooks (scaled down version for tracking your
> money)?
>    Should I do it myself? Or should I hire someone? And if so, who do I
> hire?
>
> Pamela and Alycia will walk you through the options for counting your
> money and keeping it:
>
>    Once the accounting is done, what to do with the results?
>    Hand it to your tax preparer? And who should that person be?
>    What is the difference between an Enrolled Agent and a CPA?
>    How to make sure your accountants are doing their job.
>    Is everyone talking to each other?
>
> There will be time at the end of the presentation to ask questions about
> QuickBooks and/or tax return directions.
>
> Pamela, aka the Queen of QuickBooks and MCSE, and Microsoft Certified
> Trainer, has been supporting small business clients in the Bay Area and
> world wide for 18 years.  The home office is Marin County California and
> we are global.  We provide an accounting team approach working with
> principals, CPA and achieving financial goals. Visit her webpage at

Code for Marin Meet-Up

Posted by sarah on 04 March 16

Code for Marin is a coalition of open data advocates working to integrate our community resources and enhance civic engagement all throughout Marin.

We are right now seeking to identify and develop open data opportunities in Marin County. These are events are open discussions and collaborations of community members and coders. In the spirit of open data, all events are free and open to the public.

Our event organizers will make a brief introduction and facilitate the discussion each night, then break into project-based teams and fact-gathering groups. The goal of the evening is to create a productive and playful atmosphere to brainstorm ideas, contribute to existing projects, and break ground on new solutions.

To learn more, go to http://codeformarin.org/

Club de Lectura en Español/Spanish Book Club

Posted by on 02 March 16

Unáse al Club de Lectura y disfrute una divertida platica sobre el libro del mes, La Chica del Tren por Paula Hawkins. Join our book club and enjoy a fun discussion of this month’s book, La Chica del Tren by Paula Hawkins.