10th annual Southwest Florida Reading Festival is March 21
The 10th annual Southwest Florida Reading Festival is on Saturday, March 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m . This event has been celebrating the Power of Reading for 10 years. Held at Harborside Event Center and Centennial Park in the Fort Myers River District, rain or shine, and free admission. Bring the entire family to meet and greet the authors, Tess Gerritsen, Denis Lehand, Tim Dorsey, Jeff Kinney, Lois Lowry and many more. There will be author presentations, activities and entertainment, E-Library demonstrations and a festival marketplace. A fun family day.
New Bookmobile. Last month I had the opportunity to visit the new Lee County Library Bookmobile, “The Green Machine.” This is the library system’s fourth vehicle to offer Bookmobile service since the program started in 1965. It holds over 4,000 items for all ages: books, materials in Spanish, DVDs, magazines, and materials to help people learn English. It is air conditioned, has a wheelchair lift and a wireless computer connection. The Bookmobile is a customized vehicle built on a Freightliner chassis, cost is $280,795 and it will be on the road for at least 15 years. You can get a free library card on the Bookmobile; request materials that are not on the Bookmobile; check out library materials for two or four weeks, and return them to any branch library or the Bookmobile. There is no fine for late materials that are returned to the Bookmobile. For information on when the Bookmobile will be in your area, call 1-800-660-6420 ext. 5. TTY 239-498-6425
The Art Gallery is sponsored and funded by the Friends of the Cape Coral Library. This month Linda Riczo, Youth Services Director, has put together a selection of pop-ups and moveable children’s art books. Children and parents will be entranced by these books.
Photographer Carol Hartman is largely self taught but studied at Miami Dade Community College, University of South Florida and with the New York Institute of Technology. She prefers to work in the “purest”style with images portrayed exactly as she sees them through the lens with nothing other than usual photographic adjustments. Many are taken of places that we pass by every day and never stop to realize how beautiful they are. She has exhibited at Robert Rauschenberg Gallery and has a permanent exhibit of 20 prints owned by Bay Title in Cape Coral.
March programs
at library
n English Cafe, 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, March 3, 10, 17; and 10 a.m. on Fridays, March 6, 13, 20.
n Chess: 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Registration required.
n Craft corner: knitting, crocheting and cross-stitching, 3:30 Monday, March 9 and 23. Registration requested.
n What I’ve Learned From Witty Women with Rusty Brown, 2 p.m., March 19. Registration required.
Craft corner: swcrapbooking, 10 a.m., Saturday, March 28. Registration required.
n Bagels, books and banter, 9:30a.m., Tuesday, March 24. Registration required.
n Book discussion, Jennifer Haigh’s, The Condition, 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 18.
n Anime Club, 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 2. Registration required
n Welcome to storytime. A library program of picture sharing, finger plays, songs and other fun activities.
Sorytime options include: Baby/Parent Rhyme Time, birth to 24 months with an adult; Saturdays, 10 a.m.
Toddler Storytime, age 2 with an adult; 9:30 a.m Thursdays
Preschool storytime, ages 3, 4, and 5; Wednesdays and Thursdays at 11 a.m.
Family; storytime, Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m.
Registration is required.
Kids read down fines. Take care of library fines by reading. Children and teens can earn a $2 coupon for every 15 minutes of reading during the allotted time in the designated area of the library. For ages 18 and under 6:30 p.m. Mondays, March 2, 16, and 30; 3:30 p.m., Thursdays, March 12, 26. Registration requested.
Master gardeners butterfly gardening, 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 24. Registration requested.
Classical guitar music with Rick Nunez, 1 p.m. Saturday, March 14. Registration required.
Mermaids, princesses and unicorns; 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 3 and Friday, March 6. Ages 3-5. registration requested.
All Lee County Library System Programs are free and open to the public. Cape Coral-Lee County Library is located at 921 S.W. 39th Terrace. For iformation voice: 542-3953; TTY 542-4429; 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday; closed Sunday.