On Sunday, July 2, from 2-5 pm, the Woodland Public Library will open 745.5 Square One, a nearly 2000 square foot makerspace and community learning lab located on the ground floor of the Library. This Open House is planned for the public to meet Square One staff and volunteers, tour the facility, and learn more about the equipment and classes offered through Square One.

A makerspace is an area dedicated to education through creation where users can imagine, explore, and collaborate in hands-on learning, design, and production. The Makerspace Movement has gained momentum in recent years worldwide as a creative, collaborative space outside home, school, and work to explore and learn. This movement aligns with the library’s mission to provide education and literacy to the community. “Libraries have always been on the forefront of providing public access to emerging technology that isn’t readily available to most consumers,” stated Greta Galindo, Woodland Public Library Director.

This summer at the Woodland Public Library all ages can participate in our Summer Reading Program and Build a Better World! The program runs from June 1^st through the end of July, and all ages can read five books and earn a prize. We will have paper logs again but are also using on online program called Beanstack, where participants can log more books and activities to earn more rewards like prizes and entries into a raffle. Summer Reading information is up on our website, and patrons can register for Beanstack there, or at wpl.beanstack.org using a smart phone, tablet, or computer.

The Woodland Public Library is excited to be hosting its second annual Peeps Diorama Contest this year. There are categories for every age as well as a group category. The viewing and judging will take place at the Peeps Diorama Show on Saturday, March 18^th from 12-3 pm in the library’s Leake Room. Entries will be judged by members of the library’s Teen Advisory Board (TAB) and winners will each receive a $15 gift certificate for Barnes and Nobel to purchase books. Those attending the show get to vote on a “Peeples Choice” award as well. Winning dioramas will be on display at the library after the show.

The Woodland Public Library just wrapped up its fourth series of Kids’ Coding Classes with a pizza party and Open House for families to showcase children’s work and allow their families to try coding themselves. During the fall party, families were also able to take turns playing with Dash, a Wonderworks robot that can be programmed on a tablet with an app similar to Scratch. The library is working on acquiring a group of these robots and some tablets to expand the coding classes through a recent grant with the Association for Library Services to Children. The children had had a great time learning how to create games and animations, and their families were happy their children had the opportunity to take these free classes at the library.