Occurrence: Weekly

Date & Time:  Wednesdays @ 3:00pm-5:00pm

Description: Do you have an important test coming up? Are you working on an essay and want to take it from great to terrific? Come join us every Wednesday in the Teen Room and meet with one of our homework helpers. Staffed by an amazing group of high school volunteers, our homework helpers will assist you with homework and school projects in a fun and judgement-free environment. Homework-help programs also benefit the community; showing our young students that being successful in school is possible. Who knows? Maybe your tutor will become a lifelong mentor (Mediavilla, 2018). Happy learning!

If you are interested in becoming a Homework Hero Volunteer, you can complete an application here or fill one out at the library.

Staffing: 1 librarian to recruit and train volunteers; 4 volunteers each session.

Budget: $300 for a volunteer appreciation party at the end of the summer.

Occurrence: Weekly

Date & Time: Saturdays @ 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Description: Novice and experienced crafters are welcome at IPL's weekly crafting program.  Each month we will pick a craft and work on learning and improving our skills over the month. Some of our past crafts have been: knitting, origami, jewelry making, scrapbooking, and wood carving. The library will provide all the materials needed, so just bring yourself and your imagination. And if you are a local crafter who would be interested in sharing your skills with our craft group, please let us know via email or in-person!

Staffing: 1 library staff worker to run the event and assist with crafts.

Budget: $100 for the purchase of new materials each month, but many projects will utilize materials the library already has on hand.

Occurrence: Monthly

Date & Time: 1st Tuesday of the month @ 4:00pm-5:30pm

Description: Each month, our Bookworms come together to discuss books, play games, and have snacks. This is a great way to meet new friends in your neighborhood and to discover new books. To allow for enough time for discussion, our book club is limited to 15 participants and participants must pre-register on the library website at least 1 day before the event. If you're unable to attend, don't worry - we have a virtual option (outlined below) and you will be given preference for next month! The library will have several copies of the monthly book available for checkout, so you are welcome to read along, even if you don't want to attend a discussion. All book choices for each month can be found in the recommended reading section of each month's programming webpage.

Virtual Option: For those unable to come to the library in person or unable to reserve a spot, a virtual book club will be paired alongside the in-person event. The following week, a Zoom book club will take place – all discussion questions will remain the same, but there will not be games or snacks. 

Staffing: 1 youth services librarian and when possible, a library assistant to help with set-up.

Budget: $100 for snacks and craft materials.

Occurrence: Monthly

Date & Time: 3rd Thursday of the month @ 3pm-4pm

Description: Our STEAM programs have something for everyone - slime! robots! volcanoes! and so much more. Each month our STEAM club gets together to talk about all things science, tech, arts, you name it. Meetings will start with an overview of the monthly topic (ex; the science behind the slime) and the remainder of the program will be hands on building, creating...maybe exploding? Check our monthly program pages to find out our STEAM project for that month.

Staffing: 1 youth services librarian to run the program and 1 library assistant to help with set-up.

Budget: $100 for the purchase of new materials, but many projects will utilize materials the library already has on hand.

Occurrence: Bi-Weekly

Date & Time:  1st & 3rd Sunday of the month @ 10:00am-11:00am

Description: Who is a more captive audience than a dog? No one! Come spend an hour reading to the best library dog, Stacks. Stacks is a calm and gentle trained service dog, and he and his owner will be at the library every other Sunday and you can come practice reading stories to him. We promise he only interrupts for some licks and cuddles. If you don't feel ready to read to an audience, just come hang out and pet our good boy.

Inspired by: https://oaklandlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/63af88a0a079c14e18425c32

Staffing: 1 trained service dog and their owner; library staff will be available to answer any questions.

Budget: n/a