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Our Library is for everyone. We are a free resource that helps our community connect, create, and learn.
Address
585 Franklin St.
Mountain View, CA 94041
Phone
650-903-6887
Questions?
Contact Us
Website
Library.MountainView.gov
Hours
Monday-Thursday: 10:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
Friday-Saturday: 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Sunday: 1:00-5:00 p.m.
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Happy New Year! Celebrate with us by attending one of our new and exciting programs in January.
For Adults:
- Do you need a sewing machine for a project or just to hem some clothes? Drop into our Sew Sew Saturday session on Saturday, Jan. 3 to use one of our sewing machines.
- Learn how to stay safe online in today’s digital world at our interactive workshop on Sunday, Jan. 4, that will cover the essentials of avoiding misinformation, spotting scams, and navigating the internet with confidence. This event is part of Amplify: Teen Voices, a program for teens who want to share their interests and passions with an audience.
- Join us for a free online workshop about winter fruit tree pruning on Saturday, Jan. 10, presented by UC Master Gardener Allen Buchinski.
- New year, new you? Gift yourself a self-portrait out of felt at our crafting workshop on Sunday, Jan. 11. This event is generously sponsored by the Friends of the Mountain View Library.
- Journey into the world of Classical Greece at a talk with Stanford professor and author, Josiah Ober, on Thursday, Jan. 15. Discover how a poor, fragmented land rose to remarkable prosperity and cultural brilliance before its decline and transformation. This event is generously sponsored by the Friends of the Mountain View Library.
For Youth:
- Little ones will design and decorate their very own “car” using provided cardboard boxes and craft materials at our Toddler Drive In program on Saturday, Jan. 3. This event is generously sponsored by the Friends of the Mountain View Library.
- Join us for a new monthly storytime series that celebrates a different culture for each session! Our first Storytime Around the World will be on Monday, Jan. 12.
- Does your child want to start their own business? Kids and tweens are invited to learn the basics of finance and entrepreneurship at a bootcamp presented by the students in Scientific Minds of America on Saturday, Jan. 17. This event is part of Amplify: Teen Voices.
- On Saturday, Jan. 31, musicians from the Firebird Youth Chinese Orchestra will perform heritage Chinese music on traditional instruments as we get ready to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
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Each year, Silicon Valley Reads brings Mountain View together with neighboring Santa Clara County libraries and community organizations to explore a theme designed to inspire conversations on meaningful topics.
This year’s theme is “Bridges to Belonging.” We invite you to read the featured books and participate in special events to explore the importance of connection, empathy, and community as we find ways to build and strengthen our relationships with one another.
To celebrate the start of Silicon Valley Reads, join us for a kickoff event on Thursday, Jan. 15 and engage in a conversation with authors of the featured books.
Featured Books for 2026:
Companion Books for Children and Teens:
Keep an eye on our Events Calendar for upcoming Silicon Valley Reads programs.
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Start the Year with LinkedIn Learning |
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Start the New Year by learning something new! With your library card, you have free access to LinkedIn Learning, featuring thousands of expert-led online courses in technology, business, creative skills, and personal development. Short, practical courses make it easy to learn at your own pace and build relevant skills.
Explore LinkedIn Learning today at MountainView.gov/LinkedInLearning.
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A full house of attendees enjoyed the Bel Canto Flutes concert, where the all-flute ensemble played a variety of tunes including medieval pieces, Hanukkah and Christmas carols, and a lively Sleigh Ride Samba.
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Mrs. Claus and the Library Elf visited the Community Tree Lighting Celebration and shared holiday-themed books, songs, and rhymes during two storytimes.
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Artist Daniel Barash of Firelight Shadow Theater introduced attendees to the art of shadow puppetry and performed five fast-paced versions of best-loved folktales from around the world, including the tale of Hannukah and an old Ukrainian folktale that is retold in Jan Brett's The Mitten.
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Participants made adorable snowmen out of recycled books at the Holiday Book Crafts program.
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Attendees got into the holiday spirit by practicing seasonal songs on the ukulele at the Winter Holiday Yule-kulele Jam.
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- Saturday, Jan. 3: Toddler Drive In.
- Saturday, Jan. 3: Sew Sew Saturday.
- Sunday, Jan. 4: Amplify: Cyber Security.
- Tuesdays, Jan. 6, 13, 20 & 27: Winter Outdoor Storytime.
- Wednesdays, Jan. 7, 14, 21 & 28: ESL Conversation Club.
- Thursday, Jan. 8: Magical Bridge Storytime.
- Thursdays, Jan. 8 & 22: Let's Create.
- Friday, Jan. 9: Pages and Paws Reading Buddy.
- Saturday, Jan. 10: Winter Fruit Tree Pruning.
- Sunday, Jan. 11: Make Your Own Felt Portrait.
- Monday, Jan. 12: Storytime Around the World.
- Tuesday, Jan. 13: The Creative and Compassionate Art of Seeing Others Deeply with David Brooks.
- Wednesdays, Jan. 14, 21 & 28: Baby Storytime.
- Wednesday, Jan. 14: Bilingual Storytime: Mandarin/English.
- Wednesday, Jan. 14: Ukulele Jam: Sing and Play Along.
- Thursday, Jan. 15: The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece.
- Thursday, Jan. 15: Silicon Valley Reads 2026 Kickoff: Bridges to Belonging.
- Fridays, Jan. 16, 23 & 30: Baby Storytime: Rerun.
- Fridays, Jan. 16 & 30: Stories in Motion.
- Saturday, Jan. 17: Drop-in Bike Clinic.
- Saturday, Jan. 17: Amplify: Young Entrepreneurs.
- Tuesday, Jan. 20: Nature, Art, and Service as Medicine with Journalist Julia Hotz.
- Tuesday, Jan. 20: Sewing with FabMo: Pin Cushions.
- Thursday, Jan. 22: Jade: Stone of Heaven.
- Monday, Jan. 26: Field Trip: Star Session Foothill College Observatory.
- Wednesday, Jan. 28: Secrets and Second Chances with Liz Moore.
- Saturday, Jan. 31: Firebird Youth Chinese Orchestra Lunar New Year Performance.
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History Spotlight: Orchard Heaters |
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California’s unique climate enables the cultivation of tree crops that originated around the world, including citrus, pomegranates, olives, almonds, avocados, and, of course, prunes and apricots. Nevertheless, California farmers found that the climate was not agreeable enough to make protective measures unnecessary. “Winter and spring temperatures sufficiently low to injure orchard trees have caused losses to California fruit growers amounting to millions of dollars,” wrote two scholars at the University of California’s Berkeley Agricultural Experiment Station in 1925.
The solution to orchardists’ frost problem was heat, which they provided with oil-burning orchard heaters or “smudge pots.” According to a 1936 article in the Mountain View Register Leader, “When frost threatens somebody must stay up all night long watching the thermometer, ready to sound the alarm the instant the mercury falls anywhere near the freezing point.” Even a short delay in lighting smudge pots could expose a tree to crop-ruining frost damage.
Smudge pots may have saved some harvests, but they did so at the expense of nearby residents who had to endure what the Register Leader described as the “acrid, sickening taste and smell” of their smoke. After 1940, a cleaner “return stack” orchard heater became available, and declining orchard acreage made the heaters less common. To Mountain View residents, who could now leave their windows cracked and their clothes drying outside without fear, winter would never be the same.
If you are interested in learning more about Mountain View’s agricultural history, we invite you to visit to the Mountain View History Center on the second floor of the Library during our open hours on Tuesdays from 1:00-5:00 p.m. and Thursdays from 4:00-8:00 p.m.
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Every month, the Library hosts virtual events with best-selling authors and renowned thought leaders covering a wide range of topics. Watch the live-streamed events or view past recordings at MountainView.gov/OnlineAuthors.
Online Authors in January:
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Tuesday, Jan. 13: Join us for an online discussion with prominent cultural writer and bestselling author David Brooks on his book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply, in which he helps us pose essential questions: If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them? What kind of conversations should you have?
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Tuesday, Jan. 20: Be sure to jump start your new year with us as we chat virtually with journalist and author Julia Hotz about her book, The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service, and Belonging.
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Wednesday, Jan. 28: We are thrilled to welcome Liz Moore to discuss her latest work, The God of the Woods, an instant New York Times bestseller and one of NPR’s 2024 “Books We Love” highlights.
For more information and to browse all upcoming Online Author Series events, visit MountainView.gov/OnlineAuthors. This program is made possible by the generous support of the Friends of the Mountain View Library.
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