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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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- The Library will be closed on Sunday, April 5 in observance of Easter Sunday.
- The Library will be closed on Thursday, April 30 for Staff Development Day.
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To celebrate spring, we have a number of exciting programs this month that will help your garden grow.
- Our Spring Outdoor Storytime series starts on Tuesday, April 7. All outdoor storytimes will take place in Pioneer Park from 10:30-11:00 a.m. Bring a blanket and enjoy sunshine, stories, and songs!
- Learn the secrets and simple steps to growing the Beautiful, Easy-Care Bearded Iris at our Master Gardener program on Tuesday, April 14, to add splashes of color to your garden.
- Take a step toward sustainable living by coming to the Electrify Your Home: A Community Workshop event on Thursday, April 16.
- Bring a plant and take a plant at our community Plant Exchange on Saturday, April 25.
You can also catch us at the Earth Day Festival on Saturday, April 18, with the bookmobile. Stop by to browse our collection, borrow materials, or sign up for a library card. While you're in the area, come into the Library to pick up seed packets from the Seed Library on the second floor near the reference desk so you can start your garden.
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Watch Julius Caesar at SecondStage |
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Mountain View Public Library proudly presents San Francisco Shakespeare Festival's "Shakespeare on Tour" program for a special production of Julius Caesar on Wednesday, April 29.
Julius Caesar is a powerful mix of drama, emotion, and political commentary, all framed within Shakespeare’s eloquent and evocative language. This exploration of political intrigue, betrayal, and the impact of leadership is timeless. Fascinating and complex characters create a chain reaction that quickly spirals out of control. Shakespeare’s deft examination of how power can affect people, and the lengths they are willing to go to obtain it, provides rich material for examination and discussion.
The performance will take place at the MVCPA SecondStage inside the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, located at 500 Castro Street at the corner of Castro and Mercy streets. Free tickets may be claimed on a first-come, first-served basis at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts Box Office starting at 6:00 p.m. (one hour before showtime).
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Access Legal Resources Online |
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Need a legal form for a will, lease, or business contract? With EBSCO Legal Information Source, you get instant access to thousands of official forms and trusted Nolo legal handbooks. This online resource is available for free with your library card. |
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Attendees at the Pressed Flowers craft program created custom photo frames using provided supplies, including markers, ribbons, colored paper, and an assortment of pressed flowers.
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Master Gardener Martha Carpenter showcased low-water ornamental plants from around the world and brought cuttings that attendees could see, touch, and smell.
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Participants at last month's Sewing with FabMo program enjoyed making pin cushions.
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Children participated in a nature-themed scavenger hunt in Pioneer Park inspired by the Silicon Valley Reads featured companion book Together, a Forest by Roz MacLean.
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Attendees received tips on avoiding modern scams and preventing falls, including exercises to strengthen the lower body and creating safer living spaces, at a special program for seniors.
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- Wednesdays, April 1 & 8: Baby Storytime
- Wednesdays, April 1, 8, 22 & 29: ESL Conversation Club
- Thursday, April 2: Magical Bridge Storytime
- Thursday, April 2: On a Mission: The History of US Women Astronauts with Smithsonian Curator Emerita Valerie Neal
- Thursday, April 2: Mountain View Patents
- Fridays, April 3 & 10: Baby Storytime: Rerun
- Friday, April 3: Pages and Paws Reading Buddy
- Saturdays, April 4 & 11: Free Tax Preparation Assistance: Drop-in Service
- Saturday, April 4: Sew Sew Saturday
- Monday, April 6: Storytime Around the World
- Tuesdays, April 7, 14, 21 & 28: Spring Outdoor Storytime
- Tuesday, April 7: Free Tax Preparation Assistance: Drop-in Service
- Wednesday, April 8: Teen Dungeons & Dragons
- Wednesday, April 8: Ukulele Jam: Sing and Play Along
- Thursdays, April 9 & 23: Let's Create
- Friday, April 10: Teen Dungeons & Dragons
- Tuesday, April 14: On Writing Action-Packed and Suspenseful Spycraft with Brad Taylor
- Tuesday, April 14: Beautiful, Easy-Care, Bearded Iris
- Thursday, April 16: How Exploration, Uncertainty, and Risk Help Us Find Meaning with Author Alex Hutchinson
- Thursday, April 16: Electrify Your Home: A Community Workshop.
- Saturday, April 18: Drop-in Bike Clinic
- Sunday, April 19: Dogbotic Sound Petting Zoo
- Tuesday, April 21: Sewing with FabMo: Fabric Flowers
- Wednesday, April 22: Bilingual Storytime: Mandarin/English
- Wednesday, April 22: Persia: Crossroads of Art and Culture
- Thursday, April 23: Bittersweet: Exploring the Five Tastes of Dessert with Thalia Ho
- Saturday, April 25: Día de los Niños/Day of the Children
- Saturday, April 25: Plant Exchange
- Saturday, April 25: Amplify: Research Symposium
- Wednesday, April 29: LEGO® Time
- Wednesday, April 29: William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
- Thursday, April 30: On Writing Beloved Characters and Powerful Portrayals of Resilience with Jason Reynolds
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History Spotlight: Rabbit Culture |
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In April 1926, as students at the Mountain View Grammar School worked on rabbit decorations in class, the Mountain View Register-Leader reported that a very different rabbit activity was shaping up on Charleston Road. In “what appears to have all the earmarks of a successful enterprise,” W.L. Brazleton, previously a lumber dealer in Burlingame, had started a colony of Chinchilla rabbits to raise and sell for fur. “The industry has developed into a very major enterprise in Los Angeles County and there is every reason to believe that the same thing shall take place right here,” opined the Register in an April 16, 1926 article. By 1927, ads began to appear in the paper for the Mission Rabbitry, a separate business located on El Camino Real.
This was not the first time rabbits were promoted to the Mountain View community as a golden opportunity. On March 14, 1913, a syndicated feature in the Register, “Poultry Notes,” touted Belgian Hares, which were not hares at all, but a popular domestic rabbit breed. According to this feature, “thirty million bunnies mean 150,000,000 pounds of good, cheap meat,” and importers eagerly purchased rabbit skins to “make over into ‘ermine,’ ‘arctic fox,’ and ‘black lynx’ furs to fool any lady.” Why not get a few rabbits and get in on the lucrative deception yourself?
Shortly after the Brazleton rabbit venture began, a University of California Agricultural Extension Service circular entitled Rabbit Raising cautioned Californians about “rabbit booms” that “have occasionally swept the country.” While Mountain View’s own rabbit boom seems to have been rather contained, the idea rabbits represented—an easy route to agricultural prosperity—was just as appealing here as elsewhere in California.
If you'd like to learn more, visit 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 April:
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Thursday, April 2: Join us for an exhilarating journey through the history of US women astronauts with Valerie Neal, emerita curator from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and expert on human spaceflight, as she discusses her book, On a Mission: The Smithsonian History of US Women Astronauts.
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Tuesday, April 14: Have a chat with acclaimed author Brad Taylor on his latest work, Shadow Strike, book 20 of the bestselling Pike Logan series.
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Thursday, April 16: In The Explorer’s Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map, Alex Hutchinson dives headfirst into a fascinating and provocative new field of research, examining how exploration is a fundamental part of what makes us human.
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Thursday, April 23: Thalia Ho, creator of the award-winning blog Butter and Brioche and author of Wild Sweetness, explores the five tastes of dessert and beyond in her new book, Bittersweet.
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Thursday, April 30: Come to a conversation with bestselling author Jason Reynolds as we discuss his latest work, Coach, the fifth–and last–entry in the highly popular Track series.
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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