By Khalida Sarwari
The Saratoga Library celebrated its 10 years on Saratoga Avenue in style as more than 1,000 folks showed up May 18 to mingle with local authors, compete in carnival games and play around with e-readers and tablets.
“I think it went really, really well,” said Roslyn Donald, supervising librarian for adult and teen services. “We had a ton of people here, some who hadn’t been here before and quite a few old friends.”
Several dignitaries, including Saratoga Mayor Jill Hunter and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, were on hand for the cake-cutting ceremony. Monte Sereno Vice Mayor Burton Craig, Saratoga Vice Mayor Emily Lo, county librarian Nancy Howe and deputy county librarian Derek Wolfgram were also present for the opening ceremony at the county library that serves residents of Saratoga and Monte Sereno.
The author panel was one of the more popular features of the event, said Donald. Not a chair was empty in the community room where eight writers, including children’s author Meg Clayton, talked about their experience with getting published and their individual works. Afterward, they signed and sold copies of their books and chatted with people.
In another room inside the library, library staff taught people how to use tablets and e-readers and educated them about the library’s electronic resources.
There was a scavenger hunt for children and musical performances featuring local school groups.
Outside the library, kids played in bounce houses, and three food trucks kept attendees well-nourished. Some checked out the bookmobile and others crowded around a carnival booth to play games.
As part of the anniversary celebration, the library had invited children and adults to design bookmarks expressing the theme, “Saratoga Library: Heart of the Community.” The five contest winners were Anthony Shen, Stefano Corno, Lillian Zeng, Sheryl Lin and Lily Soetarman. Copies of their bookmarks were distributed to attendees, and their designs, as well as those of the nearly 30 others who entered the contest, are being displayed at the library through the end of the month.
Overall, Donald said, the event was a success. She said the library hopes to hold a celebration event on an annual basis, but on a smaller scale.
