Kids! Do you need an encyclopedia article for your homework? A biography of Beyoncé? A photograph of a phalarope? A recipe from Romania? A map of Minnesota?

We have online versions of the California missions Fact Cards, the World Book encyclopedia, Wildlife Encyclopedia, and CultureGrams, so you can look up the same facts on your computer at home as you can look up in the reference books at the library.

Our Biography database includes articles from standard Gale biography references. And with Searchasaurus and Student Research Center, you can find magazine and news articles on all subjects.

Check out all our great homework databases, free from anywhere with your library card. Need help getting started, or help with the reference books in the library?  Ask your librarian next time you're in the library. Good luck on your homework!

Lots to do at the Library this August! An art show is at Guerneville Library August 4 – 18 and at Rohnert Park-Cotati Library, a photo exhibit runs August 14 – 25.

Enjoy music of William Florian, the Susan Comstock Swingtet, and Catfish Jack, performing at libraries around the county.

At Petaluma Library and Sonoma Library there are book sales August 15 – 18, and at Guerneville Library, a book and bake sale August 22 – 25.

And on August 25, Xtreme Science Magic comes to Sebastopol Library and Northwest (Coddingtown) Library. Kids 5 and older, get ready for a fast-moving and interactive show full of experiments, demonstrations, and oodles of audience participation!

This month at the Library

P.S. Thank you, Friends! Friends of the Library coordinate exhibits and book sales, support special programs for kids and adults, and help make August a great time to visit your Library!

Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of Santa Rosa Libraries, we have two new resources available for your genealogical and historical research!

GenealogyBank

• Find local news from small-town newspapers dating as far back as 1690. Research in local histories, military records, and other hard-to-find documentation of family history.

San Francisco Chronicle 1865-1922

• Search through the full text of early issues, and see exact copies of the articles as printed on the original pages of the Chronicle.

These are available only at the Local History & Genealogy Library, located behind the Central Library in downtown Santa Rosa.

Welcome back, Sebastopol library patrons!  The Sebastopol Regional Library will reopen to the public on Tuesday, June 19, at 10 a.m. 

The newly repaired and remodeled library includes seismic upgrades, improved ergonomics, more public computers, and improvements for energy efficiency and access for disabled patrons.

Read the press release

The children's Summer Reading program and the annual summer Teen Read are starting soon!  Once again we are also having our summer early literacy program for babies, the Rubber Ducky Club.

Sign up at most regional libraries beginning June 5.  (Signups start later for Sebastopol Library – tentatively June 26.)

Rubber Ducky Club: summer reading for babies

Dream Big: READ!  summer reading for children

Teen Read details in our Teenspace blog

 Now, you can subscribe to our calendar of events.  Get a monthly email message that lists events for the following month.

Choose to get upcoming events at your local library branch, or a countywide list of events for an age group like preschoolers or teens.  See all the subscription choices here:

Subscribe to Upcoming Events at Your Library

The "Express Library" provides limited library service at the Youth Annex of the Sebastopol Community Center through today, May 11.

From Saturday, May 12 to Tuesday, May 15, the Express Library will be moving and no library service will be available.

The Express Library will  re-open in the rear of the Sebastopol Regional Library.  It will be accessible from the driveway at the back of the building. A book return will be available to use at all times.

The opening is slated for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 16, if the needed permits are issued on schedule.  Any changes or delays will be posted on the Sebastopol Regional Library page.

We love to collect and share the stories of Sonoma County through our thousands and thousands of old photographs, maps, postcards, and other treasures of Sonoma County's past. Now, highlights of these collections are just a mouse click away with our newest digital projects:  

Sonoma Heritage Collections – flip through albums of photographs and maps from our Local History collections, historical materials from our Wine Library, and photos from the Sonoma County Archives and the Sonoma County Fair.  

Sonoma County Local History - our newest blog features highlights from our photo collections, with historical notes.   

Browse through history from the early days of the wine industry, to early film shoots in the county, to architectural gems that still stand.  Share your story, too!  Let us know if you have the inside scoop on these mystery photos.

Come and make your voice heard!

The Library Commission will discuss possible increases in library fines and fees at its May 7 meeting. The topic is on the agenda for 7 p.m. at the Rohnert Park-Cotati Regional Library.

Read about current library fines and fees 

Buy a book and support your local Friends of the Library.

Santa Rosa Book Faire at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds through 7 p.m. Monday, April 23 – final day is the bag sale, with great deals on bags of books

Guerneville Library May 9 – 12

Petaluma Library May 16 – 19 plus special children's book sale on May 12

Sonoma Valley Library May 17 – 19 plus members-only preview on May 16