The City of Ventura and the E.P. Foster Library are pleased to announce the winners of the fourth annual Art Tales creative writing contest. You are invited to hear the winners read from their entries on the library's 2nd floor located at 651 East Main Street in Ventura on Wednesday, June 6, 5:30-6:30pm. Refreshments will be served.

Area youth, high school and adult writers submitted 72 short stories and poems inspired by one of the six Municipal Art Collection works of art currently on exhibit in the E.P. Foster Library. Deputy Mayor Cheryl Heitmann will present the cash prizes for 1st and 2nd place, certificates to 3rd place, bound editions of the winning entries to all winners and journals to all youth winners.
 
In addition there will be a special ceremony in appreciation of Jack Halbert, the prize winning local artist who created the wonderful indoor mural in the H.P. Wright Children's Department. The 120' long mural entitled "Tropical Frieze" provides a whimsical, colorful feeling in the children's reading area.

Anne Frank: Hiding and Writing comes to Simi Valley Library.  This program features Martha Abbey Miller on Saturday June 9th at 2pm.

Our generation and the next cannot lose the significance of Anne’s story.  Now, you can experience Anne’s story in a fresh and impactful way. 

Come inside Anne’s life and inside her heart.  Savor the hope and maturity of this talented writer hiding in Amsterdam amidst WWII.

This program is designed for middle school and above.

Actress Judith Helton brings Abigail Adam, wife of John Adams to life. She will be speaking at Simi Valley Library on Saturday, May 19 at 2pm.

She weaves the tale of Abigail’s life into America’s struggle for freedom and salutes the female side of the American Revolution. Abigail will also bring tools from everyday life including a spinning wheel.

This program is for the whole family and is sponsored by the Simi Valley Friends of the Library.

Author Niki Bahara will present her award winning book Unpaved Road at the Fillmore Library on Saturday, April 21 at 10am.

After acquiring her BS in Finance from the University of Tehran, she worked for two years in Iran until she was forced to flee the Islamic Regime when she was only twenty-three.

Married, with one daughter, her story recounts her journey of escaping Iran through the underground network across many borders.

Earth Day is an annual observance, held on April 22, to increase public awareness of environmental issues. Each year on Earth Day, millions of people throughout the world gather to clean up litter, to protest threats to the environment, and to celebrate progress in reducing pollution.¹

There are many events in and around Ventura County! To name a few:
Day of Learning at Simi Valley
Beautify McGrath State Beach
United Way Beach Cleanup

Reduce waste? * Earth friendly crafts? * More earth friendly crafts? How will you celebrate Earth Day?

¹Hayes, Denis. "Earth Day." World Book Online Reference Center. World Book, 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.

From a Human Library to a Spring Children's Festival to El Dia de los Niños / El Dia de los Libros you have many events to choose from on Saturday, April 28!

Having a local stay-cation, rather than a vacation this Spring break? Check out the activities at the Oak View Library during the week of April 2nd:

To enjoy a planting activity, stop by between 2 and 4pm on Tuesday, April 3 or Thursday, April 5 to plant a seed and create a plant life-cycle wheel.

Come and play board games and solve puzzles! Available daily during open hours the week of April 2nd.