Week Calendar

meeting

Want to learn more about Florida-Friendly gardens, composting, or citrus trees?  Need a plant or an insect identified?  On the first and the third Monday mornings of the month, from 10am to 12 pm, Gulf Gate Library hosts the Master Garde

Come join us for a fun time of playing and learning with varying toys and activities. Recommended for ages 0-5 and their caregivers.

For mobile babies to 5 years old. Drop in to enjoy a special uninterrupted playtime with your child in our FREE Partners in Play® (PIP) groups. Meet our friendly Parenting Educators and discover how play and learning go hand-in-hand.

Musical Motion is a fun parent-child learn and play class that encourages bonding while developing early learning and literacy skills in children.  

What time is it? It's library time! Join us in the youth area for stories, songs and rhymes, fun activities, and a craft. Best for ages 0-5, but the whole family is welcome!

All ages are invited to have close encounters with animals, reptiles and birds with animal expert Aaron Sorbino. This interactive educational program teaches the importance of conversation while allowing attendees to touch some of the animals.

Join us for a morning of Mahjong, a game of chance and strategy beloved around the world! Players of any experience level are welcome.

Drop in to receive research-based lawn, landscape, pest management, and gardening help from the University of Florida.

These sessions are made possible through a partnership with UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County.

For mobile babies to 5 years old. Drop in to enjoy special play time with your child, meet our friendly Parenting Educators and discover how Forty Carrots Family Center can help you enjoy parenting even more.

Join us at the Fruitville Library with your knit/crochet projects. All ages and skills are welcome. Supplies and knowledgeable members are on hand to help anyone interested in learning to knit or crochet. 

Preschoolers, kindergarteners, and their families can enjoy loosely structured play with a variety of rotating toys and activities in our Story Time Room.

Children ages 2-8 and their caregivers are invited for Wednesday morning free-play time, with an assortment of toys and props to inspire the young imagination! Drop-in anytime between 10:30am and 11:30am.

Get your bling on! 

 Looking to try a new craft/art form? Join us for our monthly Creation Station drop-in DIY jewelry making sessions!

For mobile babies to 5 years old. Drop in to enjoy a special uninterrupted playtime with your child in our FREE Partners in Play® (PIP) groups. Meet our friendly Parenting Educators and discover how play and learning go hand-in-hand.

For ages 2-5. Join us for story time filled with a variety of early literacy activities that include music, stories, movement, crafts and school readiness. 

For infants to five years, attending with caregiver. The storytime includes simple stories, nursery rhymes, songs, fingerplays, and crafts. Space is limited. Free tickets are available at the youth desk beginning at 10 a.m.

Ready to rock? Join us for a fun and family-friendly 6-week guitar class designated for complete beginners! Learn to play some of your favorite songs while making music and memories. 

Join Teresa as she teaches even more difficult origami than she does in her beginner class.

She likes to create items to decorate a home or to give away as a gift. She brings in her own extra work as examples and sometimes to give away.

Assistance from experienced and knowledgeable volunteers

Bring your questions

Come watch a show in our mobile planetarium, the Discovery Dome! Enjoy an undersea journey crammed with coral and the fish that live in it with Expedition Reef!

Other showings:

Play with toys and enjoy being social with friends!

This program is best suited for children 1-3, however all ages are welcome as needed. 

Are you ready to embark on an exciting journey into the world of paper circuits? Join our 1-hour workshop to discover the magic of creating circuits using simple materials like copper tape, LEDS, and paper.

Join storyteller Debra Weller on a fun and Interactive storytelling presentation with guitar accompaniment. Debra brings fables and folktales to life in an engaging way and will put a smile on your face.

Already know a few chords? Let's take your guitar skills to the next level! In this fun, family-friendly 6-week class, you'll learn to play your favorite songs, learn more chords and move forward with guitar techniques.

Bringing a baby into the world can fill our hearts with joy and love, and our minds with questions and wonder.

For mobile babies to 5 years old. Drop in to enjoy special play time with your child, meet our friendly Parenting Educators and discover how Forty Carrots Family Center can help you enjoy parenting even more.

For mobile babies to 5 years old. Drop in to enjoy a special uninterrupted playtime with your child in our FREE Partners in Play® (PIP) groups. Meet our friendly Parenting Educators and discover how play and learning go hand-in-hand.

Come watch a show in our mobile planetarium, the Discovery Dome! Enjoy an undersea journey crammed with coral and the fish that live in it with Expedition Reef!

Other showings:

Jam and learn with your teen teacher, Anni Szantosi, and her numerous instruments! This club is for music lovers who want to learn to play an instrument or find people who enjoy music. 

“Blackout Poetry” is a writing technique where you take a pre-existing text and cover certain words to reveal a new poem or message with the remaining text.

Join Louis Masur, Author and Professor, for the second in a series of three lectures on our Founding Fathers. In this lecture, you’ll learn about the first President, George Washington, and the lasting impacts of his presidency.

Enjoy peaceful coloring with predesigned templates, or doodle your own patterns to color. Then use the button makers to turn your design into a functional piece of art!

Get assistance from experienced and knowledgeable volunteers

Bring your questions

Bring your projects, patterns, and questions to Elsie Quirk Library and join the Quirky Knitters for an afternoon of knitting and crochet.  All skill levels welcome.  Registration is not required, so come on in to knit and chat!

Come watch a show in our mobile planetarium, the Discovery Dome! Enjoy an undersea journey crammed with coral and the fish that live in it with Expedition Reef!

Other showings:

Turtle or tortoise? Join a UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County educator for an engaging presentation to find out what makes them different and take a peak into the world of Sarasota's tortoise and freshwater turtle species!

Sarasota County Extension Services Master Gardeners are here to help folks identify plants, flowers, etc. as well as care for them.

Get expert advice on your landscaping needs.

Hear from multiple speakers from Behavioral Teaching Solutions (BTS) and their collaborators promoting the Spectrum Speaks Florida Initiative and learn about empowering neurodivergent individuals, fostering inclusive opportunities, and streng

Teens in grades 6 through 12 are welcome to hang out, play games, and more.

Stumped by technology? Your technology questions can be answered through an in-person or distance appointment with one of our Tech Navigators. Tech Navigators are library staff members ready to assist you with technology skills.

Teens in grades 6 through 12 are welcome to hang out, play games, and more.

Do you struggle to find your name in any theme park gift shop? Do you have the idea that would make a perfect gag gift, but nobody else seems to sell your sense of humor? We can help; come to the library and make your own mug!

Join us as Chef Warren teaches how to Use More Veggies, Fruit and Beans to Create Incredible Meals. 

Why not learn to incorporate veggies in creative ways!?

Registration required. 

Teens in grades 6 through 12 are welcome to hang out, play games, and more.

Improve your Spanish by joining the group.

Do you struggle to find your name in any theme park gift shop? Do you have the idea that would make a perfect gag gift, but nobody else seems to sell your sense of humor? We can help; come to the library and make your own mug!

Teens in grades 6 through 12 are welcome to hang out, play games, and more.

This program is a unique and sustainable way to explore your creativity and imagination.

Teens in grades 6 through 12 are welcome to hang out, play games, and more.

Meet other coders and work on your coding project. Share with others and troubleshoot as a team. Led by Levi Szantosi whose top picks are Python, Scratch, and Unreal Engine.

Drop in during this one-hour session to meet certified pet therapy dogs from Suncoast Humane Society and their parents.

Calling all young scientists! Grow your scientific knowledge and dazzle with some cool hands-on science experiments with the help of Miss Jenny and the other librarians at Fruitville.

Unleash your creativity in a supportive space!

Need a place to get some homework done, write that paper, or work on that group project? Come over to Elsie Quirk Library to study and listen to some tunes while you get your homework done!

If you like writing your own pieces or would like to grow your creativity, come join us for our Teen Writers Club!  Enhance your writing skills, participate in free-writing exercises and get feedback on written work.

A different project every week!

Recommended for ages 6 and up.

You love building with Lego^©, and you like challenges? Then come join our Building Bridges with Lego^© challenge.

Tweens are invited to engage in theatre games and improv, exploring and expressing ideas through interactive non-competitive participation. They'll have fun learning about the actor's "instrument": voice, body, mind, and imagination.

Children are invited for a special opportunity to share a story with a furry friend! Take advantage of this no-pressure, judgment-free zone to practice reading with a certified therapy dog. Space is limited. First come, first seated. 

Tweens are invited to engage in theatre games and improv, exploring and expressing ideas through interactive non-competitive participation. They'll have fun learning about the actor's "instrument": voice, body, mind, and imagination.

Make a Japanese fish sock or kite to hang on your porch or fly on a breezy day.

Want to play chess? Can’t find someone or somewhere to play? 

Open to chess players of all ages and abilities. Chess sets will be provided but you're also welcome to bring your own. 

You've got the magic in you! Professional illusionist James Chartier returns to Shannon Staub Library by popular demand to lead a workshop in which kids and teens ages 10 and up will learn to perform amazing tricks.