The Turlock Public Library is resuming several of its programs and events after activities were put on pause due to more than a year of renovations and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Construction began in March 2020 on renovations for the library and were completed in August 2021. The new, 16,530-square-foot library features teen and children's areas, a community room, a makerspace, and more.
One of the first events to return was Story Time, which is also one of the most popular events for children. Story Time returned on March 3 and is being held every Thursday at 11 a.m. Additionally, the popular Trivia Night returned during the month of March. Trivia Nights will be held every other month at various times, the next being on May 18 at 6:30 p.m.
Librarian Jim McCoy explained that Trivia Nights will have different themes each night, such as Disney, Harry Potter, television shows and more.
The month of April will reintroduce two other activities for community members to participate in, which is the crochet and knitting group and presentations from the Master Gardeners.
The crochet and knitting group gives opportunities for community members to share their work, discuss their experiences, talk about different patterns, and help individuals get started in the craft. The group meets every first Monday of the month at 10:30 a.m.
Meanwhile, the Master Gardeners workshops will kick off on April 27 and will be held every third Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m.
“The Master Gardeners will be doing presentations each month and will be focused on a different type of gardening technique or gardens. The first one, I believe, is dealing with herbs and urban spice gardens,” McCoy said.
The following month of May will see another popular library event return. Beginning that month, painting tutorials will be held at the library on every third Monday of each month at 1 p.m.
Librarians are also encouraging community members, particularly children, to stay involved even when they can’t physically come to the library. In January, the Turlock Public Library received a $20,000 state grant to distribute “Read-to-Me” literary kits.
“The kits are available for all parents of preschoolers, kindergartners to third graders. That's just been really nice. It’s basically story time in a bag you can take home and do story time with,” McCoy said.
McCoy added that there are also several bilingual reading kits for parents to pick up for their children.
McCoy encourages community members to go StanislausLibrary.org for a full list of library events, programs and times.
“The main website has our calendar of events there,” McCoy said. “Some of the events require registration through the calendar while others you can just show up and join.”
The Turlock Library is located at 550 Minaret Ave. and is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, noon to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and is closed on Fridays and Sundays.
