By Helen Harlan
It was a rainy winter moment when a group of teens, tweens and children escaped the pouring rain by heading to the Oroville Public Library. They were there to celebrate one of the most revered authors of 2024: Uber-icon Taylor Swift.
Billed as a “Tay-Tay Birthday Party,” the event was free and open to the public. It included a cart of books with Taylor-themed titles, silhouettes of black cats around the room, and everyone’s favorite library offering: cake.
“We listened to Taylor’s music for the entire 90 minutes of the party, and the kids seemed to especially enjoy the coloring pages, cake making and bracelets,” notes Kimberlee Wheeler, a junior librarian with Butte County Libraries . “Our youth programs have always combined music and the literary arts, as they work hand in hand to foster the development of skills and enjoyment of reading. »
The Chico Public Library hosted a similar birthday party for Taylor Swift the next day.
Yoga classes and Taylor Swift birthday parties are just two of the real in-person events offered free to the public by Butte County Libraries. For adults, the shortlist includes book clubs, chess and knitting groups. A bad artistic evening, which is called The Ugly Art Club in Butte, complements simple gatherings like Coffee and company. For children, the program includes movie evenings, opportunities to students at home for socializing and a seasonal Halloween scavenger hunt.
“Books are just the tip of the library iceberg,” says Hilary Herman, a lifelong library advocate and member of the Butte County Library Advisory Board. “I firmly believe that anything a library has to offer for free constitutes a healthy community. Most people don’t know that it is possible to get a high school diploma, use computers, and get free state park passes.”
If you feel like staying home, a Butte County library card can save you hundreds of dollars a year on streaming subscriptions and rental fees from Amazon and iTunes. It gives access to the cinema hub, Awninga public and university library service, including more than 30,000 films and documentaries. You can also sync Hoopla on your devices and enjoy music, both audio and electronic, as well as BingePasses for Hallmark+ and The Great Courses.
Additionally, Butte County Libraries offer dozens of free online magazine and newspaper subscriptions, including The New York Times.
Need tips for the physical world? The Oroville Public Library also has a Object Library where you can collect items like a camp stove or even a telescope.
Aside from Taylor Swift and pasta makers, Butte’s libraries are there for when life gets serious. It offers educational services for learning English, as well as resources for obtaining your GED or HiSET. And it never stops providing comprehensive literacy services to adults, seniors, families and children.
Albert Einstein once said: “The only thing you absolutely need to know is the location of the library.” » Staff at Butte County Community Learning and Interaction Centers make this quote more relevant with each passing season.