In honor of National Library Week, the San Benito County Free Library is hosting its first annual 30 Day Doodle Art Challenge.
Children and teens of San Benito County have the chance to showcase their creativity and talent with an exciting new art contest. There are three categories: 1st-5th grade, 6th-8th grade and 9th-12th grade. Using any medium of their choosing, 30 doodles will be drawn according to the topic of the day on the same sheet of paper from April 22 through May 22. In the end, there will be one complete piece of artwork.
Submission will be due by May 23 where all participants will photograph their art and email to library@cosb.us. Three winners from each grade category will be chosen for a first, second, third place prize, including a Barnes & Noble gift card and certificate of recognition. See the attached PDF for daily doodle themes.
The library is also unveiling two new services in honor of National Library Week: Quick Answers, a chat service where community members can quickly get information from a San Benito County Free Library staff member via the library website at http://sbcfl.org/quick-answers/, and JobNow—an online resource which provides live, anytime, anywhere job assistance, including up-to-date nation-wide and local job search engines, professional resume critique and proven interview techniques. JobSearch is available here: https://landing.brainfuse.com/index.asp?u=main.sanbenitojn.ca.brainfuse.com.
In response to shelter-in-place orders, the library has acquired two new online resources with grant funding from the California State Library—Hoopla—a digital media service which allows library patrons to borrow movies, music, audiobooks, ebooks, comics and TV shows to enjoy on their computer, tablet, phone, or television—and Flipster—a digital magazine service which allows patrons to read their favorite magazines from the convenience of their computer or mobile device. The library has also compiled a list of educational resources to help students, parents and educators during school closures here: http://sbcfl.org/covid-19/educational-resources/. Most of these resources require a San Benito County Free Library card. Community members who do not already have a Library card can sign up for one here.
The San Benito County Free Library staff would also like to take this opportunity to remind community members to complete their 2020 Census! It’s important: the population count of Hollister and all of San Benito County will determine the federal funding our communities will receive for programs such as free school lunch, roadwork and repair, medical services and food voucher and general benefits. The Census count will also determine the political boundaries of our region and Congressional representation we will have, the foundation of our democracy! It’s safe: all data collected through the census is confidential and protected by law. It cannot be shared with law enforcement, landlords, immigration officials, or to determine government benefits. It’s easy: the Census can be completed online at http://2020census.gov and takes an average of 15 minutes to complete. If you have any questions, the San Benito County Free Library staff is available to assist you.
Although the library building may be closed, our online resources, including CloudLibrary and Overdrive, are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Library staff are still processing Zip Book orders and continue answering phones and emails—for library account information, help with accessing online resources, research questions, help filling out the Census, or help with any other library services, please call us at (831) 636-4107 or email us at library@cosb.us Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
We are also keeping library cardholders up to date on library services and resources with weekly emails. If you would like to ensure you receive these emails, please log in to your library account here https://catalog.sbcfl.org/cgi-bin/koha/opac-user.pl and make sure your email address is up to date.
