Origami Week!

Posted by davagy on 21 October 25

STEM Day! | ¡Día STEM!

Posted by davagy on 21 October 25

November 8 is International STEM Day! Our STEM Day Passive Program is designed to inspire creativity and curiosity with a simple, exciting project. Stop by the Children’s desk to pick up your Comb Kazoo Kit, and start experimenting with sound and music in this fun, educational STEM activity.

Kids can pick up a kit with everything they need to create their very own comb kazoo, a fun and easy musical instrument made using a comb and wax paper. Learn about sound waves, vibrations, and how sound is made, all while crafting something you can actually play!

The activity is perfect for kids of all ages and can be done right at the library or taken home to explore further. Each kit includes step-by-step instructions, plus the materials to make a kazoo that really works.

 We can’t wait to see the amazing creations you come up with!

¡El 8 de noviembre es el Día Internacional de las STEM! Nuestro Programa Pasivo del Día de STEM está diseñado para inspirar la creatividad y la curiosidad con un proyecto sencillo y divertido. Ven al escritorio en el área de niños para recoger tu kit para hacer un Peine Kazoo y empieza a experimentar con el sonido y la música en esta entretenida actividad educativa de STEM.

Los niños pueden recoger un kit con todo lo necesario para crear su propio peine kazoo, un instrumento musical divertido y fácil de hacer con un peine y papel encerado. ¡Aprende sobre las ondas sonoras, las vibraciones y cómo se produce el sonido, mientras creas algo con lo que realmente puedes hacer música!

La actividad es perfecta para niños de todas las edades y se puede realizar en la biblioteca o llevarse a casa para seguir explorando. Cada kit incluye instrucciones paso a paso, además de los materiales para fabricar un kazoo que realmente funciona.

¡Estamos ansiosos por ver las increíbles creaciones que se te ocurran!

Traducción realizada con la versión gratuita del traductor DeepL.com

Teen Advisory Board (TAB)

Posted by davagy on 15 October 25

College Essay Workshop

Posted by davagy on 15 October 25

Struggling with your college application essays?

Not sure how to get started or stand out?

Join Carol Morales, founder of College Success Partners, for a FREE workshop designed to help you write standout college essays.

We’ll go over how to tackle different types of essays (like the Personal Statement, UC PIQs, and Supplementals), what works, what doesn’t, and how to bring your voice into your writing.

United Against Hate Week: A Workshop on Racial Bias

Posted by bonnie on 14 October 25

Join us to celebrate United Against Hate Week with Jahmeer Reynolds, Executive Director of the Marin County Cooperation Team (MCCT). MCCT is a local non-profit working to empower youth, families, and seniors needing support in the areas of college and career readiness, mental health and wellness, disability and crisis care, and community and civic engagement.

Marin Master Gardeners – Winter Gardens: Growing Asian Greens

Posted by bonnie on 16 September 25

Thinking of a Winter Garden? – Grow Asian Greens!

Bonnie Marks will discuss why you may want to grow Asian greens in your garden. She will teach you how to grow them – from planting to harvest, including ideas about growing them in containers. They’ll cover seed sources and potential pests so that you can be ready to plant this month and gather tasty greens in 40-60 days. They will also share some ways to prepare them.

Bio: Bonnie Marks has been a Marin Master Gardener since 2017. She lives in San Rafael, where she grows edibles on hillside terraces and in raised containers. She has planted native plants in the areas surrounding the vegetable garden to attract pollinators and support biodiversity.

Local Author Talk: Scott Fletcher

Posted by davagy on 13 September 25

Local author and history buff, Scott Fletcher, will discuss his new book More Moments in Marin History: Familiar Tales and Untold Stories, on Thursday, October 30 from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm at the San Rafael Public Library. Scott has lived in Marin County for forty years working both as a history teacher and Library Director for the Marin County schools. He volunteers for the Marin History Museum and has written over 160 “History Watch” columns for the Marin Independent Journal newspaper. This new book is a follow-up to Scott’s previous book– Moments in Marin History: Familiar Tales and Untold stories, and features beautifully colorized photographs from the Marin History Museum collection.  

Downtown Library Grand Reopening Celebration

Posted by duncana on 12 August 25

San Rafael’s Library & Recreation Department is proud to announce the Downtown Library Grand Reopening Celebration! On August 4, 2025, the Downtown Library on E Street officially reopened to the public, showcasing facility improvements, stunning aesthetic upgrades, and new furniture. Join us on Saturday, September 20, 2025, at 12 PM for the official ribbon cutting as we celebrate the return of this beloved community landmark. The festivities will feature an afternoon of activities highlighting the library’s renewed role as a hub for learning, connection, and community.

Schedule

• 12:00 PM: Ribbon Cutting
• 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM: Face Painting
• 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Mini Piñata Making Craft
• 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM: History Talk: More moments in Marin History by Scott Fletcher
• 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM: Read to a Dog Meet and Greet
• 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM: Henna Art
• 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM: Rhythm Builders
• 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM: Trivia Café hosted by Howard Rachelson, Marin’s Master of Trivia

Throughout the Day

• Music and Sounds by DJ Destro
• Art exhibit by local artists Terra Linda Ceramic Artists and Evri Kwong
• Burritos and Aguas Frescas from Manny’s Tacos (limited quantities available)
• Shaved Ice from Silver Shave Ice (limited quantities available)
• Swag and Giveaways (while supplies last)

First Wednesday Art Talk – Kara Walker’s Big Imagination

Posted by bonnie on 05 August 25

Kara Walker has long been recognized for her incisive examinations of the dynamics of power and the exploitation of race and sexuality. Her work leverages expressions of fantasy and humor to confront troubling histories and dominant narratives, repossessing control in the process. Inspired by a wide range of sources, from antique dolls to Octavia Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower, Walker’s new commission, Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine), considers the memorialization of trauma, the objectives of technology, and the possibilities of transforming the negative energies that plague contemporary society. Here, automatons trapped in a never-ending cycle of ritual and struggle are repositories of the human soul. They recall mechanized medieval icons that evidenced divinity, vitality, and the promise of faith. Situated within an energetically charged field of black obsidian from Mt. Konocti in Lake County — a volcanic glass with deep spiritual properties — Walker’s Gardeners evoke wonder, reflection, respite, and hope. Just past this prophetic vignette, the installation’s namesake, Fortuna, responds to each visitor with a choreographed gesture and a printed fortune fresh from her mouth — an offering of absolution and contemplation.

SFMOMA exhibit running through Spring 2026

Docent Speaker: Avril Angevine

First Wednesday Art Talks are provided by the Friends of the San Rafael Libraries.

Handwriting the Constitution

Posted by bonnie on 04 August 25

Help us celebrate
National Constitution Day by joining
the Handwriting the Constitution project facilitated by local artist and graphic designer, Barbara Summer and Leslie Ihrig.

Handwriting the Constitution is a social art project begun in 2017 by artist Morgan O’Hara. It invites people from all walks of life to meet in public spaces to handwrite the US Constitution or other documents written to protect human rights and freedoms. This art practice was created so that people will know their rights, deepen their understanding of laws created to protect these rights, and to help resist negative thinking. To date approximately 2000 people have participated, both nationally and internationally.

Join us upstairs in the Carnegie Reading Room, find your favorite passage or discover one that speaks to you. We’ll provide copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. We’ll supply paper, pens, and markers…or bring your own supplies. All ages are welcome.

Why, you ask? This, from the founder of the project, Morgan O’Hara:

“Hand copying a document can produce an intimate connection to the text and its meaning. The hand writer may discover things about this document that they never knew, a passage that challenges or moves them. They may even leave with a deeper connection to the founders and the country, or even a sense of encouragement.

I began this project motivated by psychological necessity. I now see it as a social art practice. My hope is that it will become a movement of sorts, with sessions throughout the country.”

For more information on Handwriting the Constitution project please visit Handwriting the Constitution