Week Calendar

Join other tweens this summer for Xbox and WiiU gaming. Play starts at 10 a.m. and runs until 1 p.m. Refreshments will be served and the program is restricted to youth ages 9-12 years old.

Free service to apply to the Affordable Care Act.  Application takes between one and one-half hour.  Only one person can be seen at a time.

Free unbiased counseling for Medicare from 10:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m.  Then from 1:00-4:00 p.m.

This program will be held at the Venice Community Center located at 326 Nokomis Ave S, Venice, FL 34285.

Join Forty Carrots for a time of sharing and meaningful play. designed specifically for children up to age 5 and their parent/caregiver, this class is a chance to be a partner in your child's play.

For ages 0-5 with caregiver. Join us for a
fun interactive program of stories, songs, movement and
crafts.

Want to learn more about Florida-Friendly gardens, composting, or citrus trees? Need a plant or insect identified?

Drop in to get assistance with and ask questions about downloading library books to your computer and other devices, such as the Kindle, Nook, iPad, iPod, iPhone and Android phones and tablets.

A Reference Librarian will be available for help with e-books, computer basics, or questions about your electronic devices. Reserve a 30-minute session today by calling 941-861-1207 or by signing up at the Reference Desk.

Want to learn more about Florida-Friendly gardens, composting, or citrus trees? Need a plant or insect identified? Homeowners can receive research-based lawn, landscape and pest management help from the University of Florida.

Join other tweens this summer for Xbox and WiiU gaming. Play starts at 10 a.m. and runs until 1 p.m. Refreshments will be served and the program is restricted to youth ages 9-12 years old.

Free service to apply to the Affordable Care Act.  Application takes between one and one-half hour.  Only one person can be seen at a time.

Sign Language program for children 0 - 2 1/2 years old. Learn with Beebo the Signing Bear using songs, books, and toys. Older siblings welcome.

This program is geared toward babies from newborn to age 2 ½ years. The 45 minute program includes songs, baby sign language, a book and playtime. Older siblings are welcome.

For mobile babies to 5 years old.

Drop in to enjoy special play time with your child, meet our friendly Parenting Educators.

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.

Books, puppets, songs, dance, yoga, and more surprises for families with children ages birth-5.

Special guests include:

Adrianne Pezzella for Fun to Be Fit on June 5 and July 10,

Did you just finish a rockin' book? We want to hear about it!

Share what you have just read. Find some recommendations. Be on your way to your next great read!

Stay for 5 minutes, stay for an hour, it's up to you. 

Practice reading with a buddy or have someone read a book to you. Have fun while becoming a better reader. The volunteers are not trained experts, but someone to listen and help when needed.

For people who want to improve their French speaking skills and enjoy reading French-language articles and discussing them. Come practice speaking the romantic language of French.

Enjoy interacting with your child by participating in early literacy activities that include music and movement, books, crafts, and educational activities.

Join Forty Carrots for a time of sharing and meaningful play. Your child can practice social and motor skills while you chat with trained parenting educators.

Learn to knit or crochet! All ages and skill levels welcome! It is recommended to bring your own yarn and needles. Instructor-supplied yarns remain with the instructor weekly until piece is completed.

Positive RePercussions' interactive event teaches the power of non-verbal communication in encouraging cooperation, conflict resolution, and wellness using one of the earliest forms of communication—DRUMMING!

This class has been cancelled.

To register for the next "Internet Basics" class on August 15, 2018, please click here.

Come use our Adobe/ Mac software and sewing machines on your own personal projects. Time slots are filled on a first-come-first-serve basis.

This program will be held at the Venice Community Center located at 326 Nokomis Ave S, Venice, FL 34285.

 Ask Bob, our local Windows expert, any questions about your PC or Laptop.

Join other tweens this summer for Xbox and WiiU gaming. Play starts at 10 a.m. and runs until 1 p.m. Refreshments will be served and the program is restricted to youth ages 9-12 years old.

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.

Ages 3-5. Circus Arts Conservatory clown Karen Bell will present “Olivia Saves the Circus” along with a craft. Limit 20 children.

Interact and participate with your child in a variety of early literacy activities that include music, movement, crafts and school readiness activities.

Fun To Be Fit Kids is a music and movement program for children and their caregivers to attend together. Spend quality time singing, dancing, exercising, and having fun! For ages 0-5.

Enjoy traditional African storytelling with drumming, dancing, and song with Orisirisi. For children and families.

ESOL Conversation Group for intermediate to higher level ESL learners.

Students MUST first be registered with the Literacy Council

Contact:  Sue Bergstrom 941-955-0421

Prescription Medication & Health Care Assistance for those that are uninsured and qualify financially.

Join other tweens during the summer for Friday Tween Movie Days. Movie titles are listed on the monthly tween flyer available at the library. This event is for ages 9-12 years old and refreshments will be provided. 

Fun To Be Fit Kids is a music and movement program for children and their caregivers to attend together. Classes are designed for children and their caregivers to spend quality time together singing, dancing, getting some exercise and having fun!

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.

Preschoolers, ages 2 ½ - 5 and their parent, guardian or caregiver are invited to join us for a variety of activities throughout the summer. Drop by the youth department to get a detailed list of activities that will be offered.

Students ages 6-12. Learn all about puppets and make your own in this fabulous workshop presented by a professional artist from Poko Puppets. Simply bring your creativity to join in the fun!

Learn basic coding skills to create your own online instrument. Then connect to one of our giant instruments and rock out. No prior coding experience necessary. For ages 8+.

Come use our Adobe/ Mac software and sewing machines on your own personal projects. Time slots are filled on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Rock someone's world with a painted rock. Use your creative abilities to create painted rocks to keep for yourself or share with others. All supplies will be provided. Sponsored by the Friends of Elsie Quirk Library.

Drop in program. Starting at 10:00am, children will get to design and make their own tambourine!

(While supplies last.)

Practice speaking English in a group setting. Sponsored by the Literacy Council of Sarasota. Please call 941-955-0421 to register as an ESOL learner with the Literacy Council of Sarasota.

Join us for a morning of games, activities, stories, and learning designed to build skills to help children succeed in school.  Educators will guide families through learning and share ideas with parents to help ready your children for school

Join Forty Carrots for a time of sharing and meaningful play. designed specifically for children up to age 5 and their parent/caregiver, this class is a chance to be a partner in your child's play.

Drop in for assistance using library technology including e-Books and audiobooks from Overdrive and the Cloud Library.

Infant Feeding Support Group Community group open to WIC moms and the public to receive support and information about infant feeding including breast feeding. No registration required.

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.

Bring your imagination to the land of fairies! Listen to a story, use materials from nature to construct a fairy house of your very own, and participate in a creative writing activity!

A six-part class to help children stay more focused and to concentrate better, important skills that can lead to enhanced student performance.

Join Forty Carrots for a time of sharing and meaningful play. Your child can practice social and motor skills while you chat with trained parenting educators.

Join our resident technology expert to learn digital art, coding, and web design.  Be sure to sign up for the series as these programs build on one another.

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.

In this DVD course, Professor Bill Messenger of the Peabody Institute of the John Hopkins University explores the origins and history of American musical theater, spanning two vibrant centuries.

A six-part class to help children stay more focused and to concentrate better, important skills that can lead to enhanced student performance.

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.

Kids and Teens ages 6 and up. Come fly with us! Combine Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, and Math to create your own exSTREAMly cool flyers.

This music themed escape room will challenge you with different genres from around the world. Register below for your spot in I'm with the Band!

Calling all Hamiltonians!

Join us for a special celebration of the hit Broadway musical with challenges of dueling trivia, colonial karaoke and parlor games, Revolutionary War refreshments, prizes, and more! Costumes are welcome.

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.

Free lunches for anyone up to age 18 will be served in the youth program room June 4-Aug. 3 excluding July 4. Hot lunches are served on Monday through Thursday, and bagged lunches are served on Fridays.  

The Chess Club meets every Tuesday from 12-4 in the computer lab. No registration required. 

Free lunches for anyone up to age 18 will be served in the youth program room June 4-Aug. 3 excluding July 4. Hot lunches are served on Monday through Thursday, and bagged lunches are served on Fridays.  

Bring your imagination to the land of fairies! Listen to a story, use materials from nature to construct a fairy house of your very own, and participate in a creative writing activity!

Free lunches for anyone up to age 18 will be served in the youth program room June 4-Aug. 3 excluding July 4. Hot lunches are served on Monday through Thursday, and bagged lunches are served on Fridays.  

Free lunches for anyone up to age 18 will be served in the youth program room June 4-Aug. 3 excluding July 4. Hot lunches are served on Monday through Thursday, and bagged lunches are served on Fridays.  

Free lunches for anyone up to age 18 will be served in the youth program room June 4-Aug. 3 excluding July 4. Hot lunches are served on Monday through Thursday, and bagged lunches are served on Fridays.  

Join us every Monday through the summer for family movies and refreshments! Stop by the youth department for a full list of movie titles.

Ask an E-Help volunteer for all your technology-related questions and predicaments. Held every Tuesday in the public meeting area.

Use your imagination and creative abilities to make things. Each session will be a different do-it-yourself activity.

Positive RePercussions' interactive event teaches the power of non-verbal communication in encouraging cooperation, conflict resolution, and wellness using one of the earliest forms of communication—DRUMMING!

Mr. Knight, professional puppeteer, shares his love of storytelling through music, skits, audience participation, ventriloquism and comedy magic.

Join us for a fun event - a different surprise each week!

Want to learn more about using a computer or your device?

Sign up for your 30 minute session with one of our librarians.

Sessions are set up for Wednesdays starting at 1:00 pm.

Call 941-861-1360 to sign up.

Loss of friends and family, work, physical ability or a sense of identity ... these realities signal critical life changes, but can also be catalysts for personal growth.

Help search for lost treasure and enjoy some awesome magic, amazing balloons, hilarious audience participation, and laugh out loud comedy along the way. Sponsored by the Friends of Elsie Quirk Library.

Socrates Café is a gathering where people from different backgrounds get together and exchange thoughtful ideas and experiences while embracing the central theme of Socratic teaching; the idea that we learn.

Kids ages 6-12. Each week we'll explore different musical forms via special performances, instrument show-and-tell, and creating musical instruments with everyday materials.

We'll cover the basics of searching the library catalog to find books and other items, a few tips and tricks to improve searches, and go over the new library mobile app.* Bring your phones and tablets to play on the library mobile app* in cla

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.

Learn about and participate in improvisational drama games and exercises. No experience necessary. Excerpts from articles and books will be used in the session.

Jack, The Computer Guy, will explain how your computer works and why it doesn't.

Drop in to play and create with different materials each week.
June 11: Brain Flakes
June 18: Gears! Gears! Gears!
June 25: Pipe Cleaner Creatures
July 9: Tissue Box Guitars
July 16: Crafty Percussion Instruments

Do you carry a song in your heart and a tap in your toes? Then join us on Monday afternoons all summer long for Musical Monday Matinée! Each Monday we'll be screening a different musical in our Juliano Room at 2:30 p.m.

JES is a Latin Jazz trio, made up of piano, bass and percussion. Join Jose, Edsel, and Sergei as they fuse jazz standards with AfroLatin and AfroCuban percussion rhythms.

Recommended for ages 5 and up. See and learn about live reptiles from Florida and around the world. Adult must accompany children.  Limit 80 per show.

Ages 9 and up. Program robots provided by Suncoast Science Center to win a competition. Space is available on a first come, first served basis. Pick up a ticket at the youth desk starting 30 minutes before the program.

New movies every Tuesday in the meeting room. Movie schedules are published bimonthly and available at the front circulation desk. 

In this three-week class, you will create your own tote bag from scratch! Ages 12 and up, participants must attend each session. Registration is required, limit six participants. 

Drop in to get assistance with and ask questions about downloading library books to your computer and other devices, such as the Kindle, Nook, iPad, iPod, iPhone and Android phones and tablets.

Train to be a teen volunteer at Selby Public Library to get hours for school and scholarships. Please fill out the online application and select "LSEL-Teen Team Volunteer" as your opportunity preference.

Ages 11-18.

For people who want to improve their Spanish speaking skills. Come practice your pronunciation and oral understanding through conversation and instruction of this romantic language. Everyone is welcome.

Are you a movie buff? Interested in watching critically acclaimed films and learning a little bit about the movie industry as well?

Enjoy songs, storytelling, dance and more while learning about African folklore. Space is available on a first come, first served basis. Pick up a ticket at the youth desk starting 30 minutes before the program.

Join us for a fun and informal craft class.

Meets every first and third Friday of the month.

Topics vary each session but always a lively science subject.

Rock painting. Registration required and limited to 12 participants.

Coloring pages, markers, color pencils, and crayons will be provided.

Drop in and learn to make these silly sculptures with bouncy heads. Let your creativity run wild with a variety of materials provided. Recommended for ages 6 and up. Space is available on a first come, first served basis.

All skill levels welcome at this friendly, drop in chess club.

Children are invited to read with certified pet therapy dogs.

This program encourages conversation and develops reading and communication skills.

The dogs love the attention and the kids love the interaction.

Recommended for ages 5 and up. See and learn about live reptiles from Florida and around the world. Adult must accompany children.  Limit 80 per show.

Children, tweens, and teens can drop in and learn how to play chess!

Step back in time to America's early days and hear tales from the legendary lives of Paul Bunyan, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett, and Pecos Bill.

Join us for an afternoon of strategy and fun! Families and children ages 7+ are welcome!

Drop in to get assistance with and ask questions about downloading library books to your computer and other devices, such as the Kindle, Nook, iPad, iPod, iPhone and Android phones and tablets.

Using tiles, alcohol inks and small charms, participants will create one of a kind pendants. 

Looking for something a little more advanced than basic Spanish lessons? Every Monday from 3:30-5:00 join an open group of intermediate Spanish speakers for a small discussion-oriented lecture.

Come ready for fun!  We have games galore for your family to enjoy!  Check in at the Youth desk for a fun game to play with your family in the Storytime Room.  Space is limited, so come early!

Learn to knit or crochet! All ages and skill levels welcome! It is recommended to bring your own yarn and needles. Instructor-supplied yarns remain with the instructor weekly until piece is completed.

Do you want to share your anime/manga obsession with other Otaku? Come to the club! We will enjoy talking about Japanese culture, eating Japanese snacks, and of course, watching anime!

Come use our software and sewing machines on your own personal projects.

A different project every week!

Call or visit to find out what it is this week!

Ages 6+.

Hola! Join us for an evening of learning intermediate Spanish grammar and vocabulary and practicing conversational skills.

Children are invited to read with certified pet therapy dogs.  This program encourages conversation and develops reading and communication skills. The dogs love the attention and the kids love the interactions.

Join us for a discussion about making the library a better place for teens! We will discuss programming, volunteering opportunities, and more.

Teens have the chance to speak out about what they feel is important for them at the library. They will advise on programming and choose prizes for incentive programs. 

Work on your own creations or build as a team. We provide the LEGOs, you provide the imagination.

Come and enjoy free movies on our big screen. Contact the library for movie titles.

Make new friends while playing trading card games, video games, board games or just hanging out. FREE refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Gulf Gate Library.

Enjoy some award winning international films with English subtitles.