Homework Help for Grades K-5
2025-10-09 16:30 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Are you a student in grades K-5 and need help with homework? We have tutors for you to receive homework help, Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 4:30p.m. – 6:00p.m. No registration is required. Basic school supplies will be provided.
For accessibility accommodations (ex. ASL), please fill out the online form at sccld.org/accessibility 7+ days prior to the event. If you need assistance with the form, speak with a staff member at your local library, call (408) 540-3945, or email us at ask@sccl.org.

Teen Dungeons and Dragons Social Club
2025-10-09 16:30 - 18:30
A long running game of Dungeons and Dragons, 5th edition and sometimes shorter oneshots. Teen drop ins to watch the game are welcome. Right now the game is full, but we will occasionally have openings for new players. Please check in at the adult reference desk upon arrival.
For accessibility accommodations (ex. ASL), please fill out the online form at sccld.org/accessibility 7+days prior to the event. If you need assistance with the form, speak with a staff member at your local library, call (408) 540-3945, or email us at ask@lib.sccgov.org.

ESL Classes with Evergreen Valley College (EVC). ESL 501: Reading & Writing 1
2025-10-09 16:45 - 18:45
Develop your English language skills by practicing speaking, listening, reading, writing, vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.
Do you want to build your English language skills and your confidence? The Educational Park Branch Library Family Learning Center, in collaboration with Evergreen Valley College (EVC), offers you the opportunity to register today! This beginning non-credit ESL course is FREE!
ESL 501 Reading & Writing 1
What will you learn in this class? This is a non-credit, high-beginning-level integrated ESL skills course emphasizing basic reading, writing, grammar, and vocabulary. Students will learn to comprehend frequently used words in context, use learned phrases and sentences to express ideas in basic writing, understand basic grammar structures, and read simplified material.
Course Information
Starts: August 26, 2025Ends: December 11, 2025Meeting Days: Tuesday, Wednesday, and ThursdayTime: 4:45 PM – 6:50 PM Instructor: TBD
No classes on:

Thursday, Nov 11: Veterans Day
Thursday, Nov 27:Thanksgiving

Before the classes start, you must complete a Guided Self-Placement (GSP). This is not a test—it’s simply an assessment to help us place you in the most appropriate ESL class based on your current English level. To ensure accurate results, the GSP should be completed independently and in a quiet setting, without assistance from classmates.
We will assist you with the application and registration processes in person at the Educational Park Branch Library.
ADA Accommodation Requests

Desarrolla tus habilidades en el idioma Inglés practicando el habla, escucha, lectura, escritura, vocabulario, pronunciación y gramática.
¿Quieres desarrollar tus habilidades en el idioma inglés y obtener más confianza? El Centro de Aprendizaje Familiar de la Biblioteca Educational Park, en asociación con Evergreen Valley College (EVC), te ofrecen la oportunidad de registrarte hoy! Este curso de ESL sin créditos académicos para principiantes es ¡GRATIS!
ESL 501 Reading & Writing 1¿Qué aprenderás en esta clase? este es un curso de habilidades de ESL de nivel alto inicial sin créditos con un fuerte énfasis en la lectura, la escritura, la gramática y el vocabulario básicos. Los estudiantes serán capaces de comprender palabras de uso frecuente en contexto, usarán frases y oraciones aprendidas para expresar sus ideas en la escritura básica, comprenderán estructuras gramaticales básicas y leerán material simplificado.
Información del Curso
Inicia: 26 de Agosto, 2025Finaliza: 11 de Diciembre, 2025Días de Clase: Martes, Miércoles y Jueves Horario: 4:45 PM – 6:50 PMInstructor: TBD
No habrá clases:

Jueves 11 de Noviembre: Día del Veterano
Jueves 27 de Noviembre: Día de Acción de Gracias

Antes de comenzar las clases deberás de completar una Evaluación de Ubicación Guiada (GSP). Esto no es un examen—es simplemente una evaluación para ayudarnos a colocarte en la clase de ESL más adecuada según tu nivel actual de inglés. Para obtener resultados precisos, debes completar la evaluación de forma individual y en un lugar tranquilo, sin la ayuda de compañeros.
Te ayudaremos con los procesos de solicitud y registro en persona en la Biblioteca Educational Park.
Solicitud de Accesibilidad ADA

Virtual Yoga
2025-10-09 17:00 - 18:00
Join the Alum Rock Branch Library for a free Yoga class that is suitable for beginners. Please dress comfortably.
Registration is limited and required to receive the Zoom link and password. Registration closes at 4:00 p.m. each Thursday.
A Zoom link with password will be emailed prior to the start of class. For privacy, attendees will be given the opportunity to change their displayed name for the program as well as the option to suppress displaying their video. Learn more about Zoom at zoom.us.
An Exercise Program Waiver will be sent with the Zoom meeting information. Please return the completed form before participating in the class.
ADA Accommodation Requests

Reading Buddies
2025-10-09 17:00 - 18:00
Reading Buddies provides students in grades TK-5 with an opportunity to improve their reading skills by working one-on-one with a teen reading coach. Reading Buddies creates a positive reading experience for beginning and developing readers and helps children build confidence as readers. Our reading coach will listen to children read and provide support in phonics, sight words, and comprehension. Students can bring their favorite book or choose from the available selection at the Educational Park Branch Library.
Free. Pre-registration not required. However, reading sessions are available on a first come, first served basis and the duration of reading sessions may be limited depending on the number of participating students.
Participants can also use their session to read away their fines! Just inform your Reading Buddy (open to youth only).
ADA Accommodation Requests

Espresso Yourself
2025-10-09 17:00 - 18:00
Join us in using different concentrations of coffee to explore painting monochromatically (using only one color).
Have fun using different shades of coffee to paint your masterpiece
All supplies will be provided.
All ages welcome.
Adult must accompany child

Sanskrit for Beginners
2025-10-09 17:00 - 18:00
This beginner course will introduce Sanskrit to children. Students will begin by learning the alphabet.
For Ages 7-17. Free!
ADA Accommodation Requests

Queer Readers' Cafe - Spooky Season Edition
2025-10-09 17:00 - 18:30
Queer joy shall abound at the Queer Readers’ Book Café!
Let’s kick off spooky season with a selection of queer horror, dark academia, and paranormal reads and recommendations!
The Queer Readers’ Cafe is sort of like a silent book club, but chatter is OK. Unlike a typical book club, participants can read whatever they want!
We’ll create an LGBTQ+ friendly space in our community room for folks to gather, read, and discuss what they’re reading. A selection of queer reading materials will be available to browse and checkout. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.
Sharing and meeting like-minded readers is encouraged, but participants will not be asked to disclose their identities or their reading preferences.
While the intention of this program is to highlight books about the LGBTQ+ experience and/or by LGBTQ+ authors, and to create a safe space for patrons identifying as LGBTQ+, we welcome all participants and reading materials.
Upcoming Queer Readers’ Cafes:

Cozy Holiday Edition | December 4, 2025 | 5:00 – 6:30pm
Love Season | February 12, 2026 | 5:00 – 6:30pm
ADA Accommodation Requests

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Café de Lectores Queer: Edición Temporada Escalofriante
¡La alegría queer abundará en el Café del libro de lectores queer!
¡Comenzamos la temporada escalofriante con una selección de lecturas y recomendaciones de terror queer, academia oscura y paranormal!
El Café de lectores queer es como un club de lectura silencioso, pero se permite charlar. A diferencia de un club de lectura típico, ¡los participantes pueden leer lo que quieran!
Crearemos un espacio amigable LGBTQ+ en nuestra sala comunitaria para que la gente pueda reunirse, leer y discutir lo que está leyendo. Habrá una selección de materiales de lectura queer disponibles para consultar y consultar. Se proporcionarán aperitivos ligeros y refrescos.
Se recomienda compartir y conocer lectores con ideas afines, pero no se pedirá a los participantes que revelen sus identidades ni sus preferencias de lectura.
Aunque este programa tiene como objetivo destacar libros sobre la experiencia LGBTQ+ y/o de autores LGBTQ+, y crear un espacio seguro para los usuarios que se identifican como LGBTQ+, damos la bienvenida a todos los participantes y materiales de lectura.

Solicitudes de adaptaciones ADA

Teen Authors Corner
2025-10-09 18:00 - 19:00
Teen Authors Corner is back and better than ever. Join us for our first write-in session of the year!

Bring your ideas and stories you’re working on or want to work on and spend 40 minutes just writing with us. (We’ll also provide a prompt if you need one.) There’s nothing more inspiring than writing in good company, and, after 40 minutes, you can share your work! You will get to read a selection of what you’ve been writing to us and get the praise you deserve.
If you like the Virtual Write-in and want even more, join us in November when we have our first in-person critique circle, where you will get to workshop your writing with your peers. More on that to come, but first, let’s just get pen to paper, or fingers to keys in our first write-in!

A day before the meeting, you will receive a link to the Zoom. Free program. Registration required.

High school and Middle school students are welcome.
ADA Accommodation Requests

Preschool Storytime: 3's & 4's Budding Bookworms
2025-10-09 18:30 - 19:00
This thirty-minute story time is geared for preschoolers ages 3, 4, and 5. The early literacy focus is on longer picture books and flannel board stories and other storytelling activities and fingerplays. Children’s librarians also share kindergarten readiness resources with caregivers.
For accessibility accommodations (ex. ASL), please fill out the online form at sccld.org/accessibility 7+days prior to the event. If you need assistance with the form, speak with a staff member at your local library, call (408) 540-3945, or email us at ask@sccl.org.

Your Brain Has Been Hacked: Rethinking Attention, Tech, and the Crisis of Digital Overload
2025-10-09 18:30 - 19:30
Date: Thursday, October 9, 2025 Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm Presenter: Dr. Stacey Patton Location: Online
Registration is required. Sign up below to receive the Zoom information on the morning of the event.
Digital addiction is quietly reshaping student behavior, attention, and motivation. This dynamic workshop explores the neuroscience of digital addiction, unpacks how algorithms exploit dopamine pathways, and examines how this rewiring is contributing to rising rates of anxiety, depression, executive dysfunction, and even physical symptoms like headaches, insomnia, and chronic fatigue. Participants will also explore what colleges can do to respond and gain tools to spot digital dysregulation, foster attention, and build tech-conscious classrooms that support deep learning.
About the Speaker: Dr. Stacey Patton is an award-winning journalist, historian, child advocate, and nationally recognized speaker whose work sits at the intersection of race, trauma, education, and media. Known for her powerful storytelling and evidence-based insight, Dr. Patton delivers dynamic talks that challenge audiences to rethink how childhood adversity, especially abuse, neglect, and systemic inequality, shapes learning, behavior, and public life.
A professor of journalism at Howard University and research associate at Morgan State University’s Institute for Urban Research, she blends cutting-edge research in neuroscience, mental health, and trauma with lived experience as a former foster youth and survivor of abuse. Her talks equip educators, leaders, and institutions with tools for building trauma-informed, emotionally intelligent learning environments.

This event is generously sponsored by the Friends of the Mountain View Library.

Pageturners: Sapiens: The Birth of Humankind by Yuval N. Harari
2025-10-09 18:30 - 19:45
Palo Alto Pageturners meets monthly on the second Thursday of the month in the Embarcadero Room. We vote on books to read and sometimes invite local authors to discuss their books. You don’t have to register, but you will receive a reminder email if you register.
Here’s our reading list for 2025:

Me for You by Lolly Winston – January
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout – February
Yellowface: A Novel by R. F. Kuang – March
James: A Novel by Percival Everett – April
The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nuñez – May
The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and the Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Fei Fei Li – June
The Anxious Generation: How the Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt – July
All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley – August
Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy – September
Sapiens: The Birth of Humankind by Yuval N. Harari – October
North Woods by Daniel Mason – November
When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro – December

Sign up for the library newsletter and never miss another program!

*Virtual* Parent & Child Caregiver Community of Practice
2025-10-09 18:30 - 19:45
ENGLISH
Are you a parent or caregiver of children ages 0-5? Join us for weekly virtual sessions (Thursdays | 6:30-7:45 PM) where we will explore helpful caregiving topics. Weekly guest speakers will deliver informational trainings on topics such as positive parenting, child development, inclusion, health, and safety. Connect with other caregivers, learn new skills, and gain support for the meaningful role you play in a child’s life.
Weekly topics (SEPT/OCT) *New topics will be listed each month*:
9/18/25- Series Introduction
9/25/25- Early Education Services Overview
10/2/25- Innovations Collaborative-Early Childhood Development
10/9/25- Innovations Collaborative-Delay and Disabilities
10/16/25- Program for Infant Toddler Care- Ages of Infancy (security, exploration, identity)
10/23/25- Talking About Race with Children – Dr. Shalek
10/30/25- Safe Sleeping Practices and Car Seat Safety- SCC Public Health Dept. FREE. Registration is limited and REQUIRED to receive the Zoom link. Zoom link will be sent to your email upon completion of registration. Registration closes one hour before start time each Thursday.SPANISH
¿Es usted padre, madre o cuidador/a de niños de 0 a 5 años? Le invitamos a participar en sesiones virtuales semanales (jueves | 6:30–7:45 PM) donde exploraremos temas útiles sobre el cuidado infantil. Cada semana, expertos invitados ofrecerán capacitaciones informativas en temas como la crianza positiva, el desarrollo infantil, la inclusión, la salud y la seguridad. Conéctese con otros cuidadores, aprenda nuevas habilidades y reciba apoyo en el importante rol que desempeña en la vida de un niño.
Temas semanales (SEPT/OCT)
Nuevos temas se anunciarán cada mes:

9/18/25 – Introducción a la serie

9/25/25 – Panorama de los Servicios de Educación Temprana

10/2/25 – Colaborativo de Innovaciones –Desarrollo Infantil Temprano

10/9/25 – Colaborativo de Innovaciones – Retrasos y Discapacidades

10/16/25 – Programa para el Cuidado de Lactantes y Niños Pequeños – Edades de la infancia (seguridad, exploración, identidad)

10/23/25 – Cómo hablar de la raza con los niños – Dra. Shalek

10/30/25 – Prácticas seguras de sueño y seguridad en asientos de auto – Departamento de Salud Pública del Condado de Santa Clara

GRATIS. La inscripción es limitada y REQUERIDA para recibir el enlace de Zoom. El enlace de Zoom se enviará a su correo electrónico al completar el registro. La inscripción cierra una hora antes del inicio de cada sesión los jueves.
ADA Accommodation Requests

Graphic Novel Book Club
2025-10-09 19:00 - 20:30
Monthly book discussion on a graphic novel selected by the group! This program is for readers age 16 and up.
2025-2026 titles:

September 11: Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud (1994), 224 pages
October 9: Artificial: A Love Story by Amy Kurzweil (2023), 368 pages
November 13: The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2024), 160 pages
December 11: The House by Paco Roca (2019), 134 pages
January 8: In: A Graphic Novel by Will McPhail (2021), 272 pages
February 12: Special presentations by book club members who are authors: Mimi & Soni Discover Dussehra Legends by Devika Joglekar (2019), Kye in the Valley of Gold by Kyle Hurlbut (2024), Smiling Through the Mask by Daniele Archambault (2022)
March 12: Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls (2024), 400 pages
April 9: Yellow Cab by Benoit Cohen (2022), 168 pages
May 14: 40 Men and 12 Rifles: Indochina 1954 by Marcelino Truong (2023), 296 pages
Titles can be borrowed from the Palo Alto City Library and through our Link+ system – click on the links above or search in our catalog for more information.

Meetings are held in person in the Midtown Room at Mitchell Park Library and facilitated by Danièle Archambault.

Danièle Archambault, Ph.D. (Linguistics), is a researcher, author, and educator who is interested in comics as a way to document a society’s cultural and linguistic landscape. Originally from Montreal, Quebec, she now lives in Palo Alto, where she is an artist in residence at the Cubberley Artist Studio Program, a program of the City of Palo Alto. In the past few years, she has published several full-color comic books, graphic novels, and electronic books. Ms. Archambault is a regular guest speaker on documenting culture and dialects through comics at various educational and cultural institutions. She teaches Visual Storytelling at the Palo Alto Art Center, and at other educational venues. http://danielebd.com/

Computer Assembly Workshop [by Appointment]
2025-10-10 00:00
Free. Recommended for ages 10+
With Lab PCs donated by our local community, you will learn:

Components needed to assemble a working computer
How to plan out and shop for a new/used computer components
How to assemble a PC without damaging components

Class Breakdown:

Presentation on minimum necessary components and their functions
Students/families (in small groups) will be given an assortment of components to reassemble into a working computer
Start them up and troubleshoot any problems

Thanks to our patrons and staff for their computer donations!!

My Qualifications:I’ve built my own computers for more than 30 years. My parents worked at IBM and would always bring home new components. I have a valid/active CompTIA A+ certification and a valid/active Cisco Certified Network Associate Certificate.

ADA Accommodation Requests

1:1 Tech Mentor / Giáo Viên Máy Tính
2025-10-10 00:00
Free. By appointment only.
Offered in-person or virtually via Zoom, in English, Español, or Tiếng Việt.
Would you like to find out more about computers? Learn at your own pace!
What We Do:

Intro to computer basics
Account or device setup
Intro to Microsoft Office
Job search & resume help
Navigating/organizing email
And more!

Contact Tiffany Lam by phone (408) 808-3056 or email at tiffany.lam@sjlibrary.org to make an appointment.
ADA Accommodation Requests

Día de los Muertos Scavenger Hunt
2025-10-10 00:00
Want a not-so-spooky activity this fall? The Fall Scavenger Hunt has returned to Biblioteca Latinoamericana, with a Día de los Muertos theme!
We have paper “sugar” skulls hiding throughout the stacks, can you find them all?
Drop in, grab a scavenger hunt clue card and begin exploring Biblioteca Latinoamericana. Visitors who find all the ghosts can stop by the Information Desk for a prize!
ADA Accommodation Requests
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¿Buscas una adventura tenebrosa este otoño? ¡La busqueda de tesoro a regresado a la Biblioteca Latinomericana, inspirada por el día de los muertos!
Tenemos calveras de “azucar” echas de papel escondidas por nuestros estantes. ¿Puedes encontrarlas todas?
¡Obtengan una tarjeta de participación en el escritorio de informacion y empiezen la búsqueda! Los visitantes que puedan encontrar todos los fantasmas se pueden dirigir al escritorio de informacion para obtener un premio!
Solicitudes de adaptaciones ADA

Freedom to Read Scavenger Hunt
2025-10-10 00:00
Celebrate Banned Books Week with two fun scavenger hunts! Kids can explore the Children’s Room to uncover clues about challenged favorites, while teens and adults can test their knowledge with a banned book quest of their own. Discover stories once silenced—and the joy of finding them again.

Freedom to Read Scavenger Hunt
2025-10-10 00:00
Celebrate Banned Books Week with two fun scavenger hunts! Kids can explore the children’s area to uncover clues about challenged favorites, while teens and adults can test their knowledge with a banned book quest of their own. Discover stories once silenced—and the joy of finding them again.
Scavenger hunt lists for all ages will be at the Information Desk. Small prizes are available for completion!
Free. No registration required.
ADA Accommodation Requests
