Let’s read together! The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee.
We are excited to support Santa Monica Reads in its 21st year. First launched in 2002 Santa Monica Reads is a community reading program that provides an opportunity for people to engage, read and discuss the same book through guided conversation in discussion groups and special programs held throughout the city.
The annual program will run from May 1 through June 2, 2023 and will feature a special keynote address by the author, Heather McGhee on May 18, 2023. For more details about this program and everything Santa Monica Reads check out this year’s resource guide.
Santa Monica Reads All Summer Long 2023
Welcome babies, kids, teens, adults, and everyone!
Santa Monica Reads All Summer will run from June 10 through August 12.
The Library’s annual Summer Reading Program helps prevent the “summer slide” by ensuring that youth retain reading and learning skills over the school break. For adults, it allows them to improve their focus, memory and communication skills while joining in on the fun.
We are proud to continue to provide funding for this valuable annual reading program. This year we are supporting by purchasing two giveaway books for adults, Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara & Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See, as well as giveaway prizes for all who complete the program.
Visit the Main Library, Pico Branch, or Montana Branch to sign up and receive a reading log, starting June 10. For more information visit smpl.org.
Fierce Friday is produced in collaboration with YALLWEST and Fierce Reads, Macmillan Books’ imprint for young adult readers. YALLWEST was born at the Santa Monica Public Library in 2015 and quickly grew to become the largest young adult book festival in the United States. The non-profit annual event is an author and teen run young adult and middle-grade book festival, with the goal of getting books into the hands of those in need and saying the words to get young people to open them.
The preview night at Santa Monica Public Library gives readers a chance to meet their favorite authors in person the night before the YALLWEST festival, which takes place on the Santa Monica High School campus. In addition to helping fund Fierce Friday, the Friends Bookstore remains open for shopping during the preview event. Friends are also invited to volunteer during this event.
Mentoring the next generation of Library supporters, the Friends fund Teen Advisory Councils at numerous branches. The Councils promote library use and community involvement by teens. Participants serve as the voice of teens, plan, publicize, and sponsor programs in the library of interest to teens. They give input and suggestions to the library concerning teen-related activities, selection of books and other materials for the Young Adult section, and input on design and content of the teen webpage. We are grateful for their contributions and leadership.
5 positions available This is an unpaid, volunteer opportunity Minimum two year commitment required The Board meets on the second Monday of the month (January
Help end summer brain drain and replace it with a skill-building joyful Summer of Reading. Become A Friend today and your donation will directly support
2019 marks the seventeenth year of this community reading event, one of the longest-running programs of its kind in the United States. SANTA MONICA READS
