This Sunday, May 20, 2012, an annular eclipse of the Sun will be visible from many parts of California. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun, creating the appearance of a "Ring of Fire."

The pinhole projector is a great way to view the eclipse. Remember: never view the sun with the naked eye or with any optical device!

Sites for futher study: NASA Eclipse Web Site
Wikipedia: Solar eclipse of May 20, 2012
Space.com's Annular Solar Eclipse coverage

The Ventura County Libraries have two exciting Summer Reading Programs held from June 10 through August 12, 2012: Dream Big for grades K-6 and Own the Night for grades 6-12.  Teens also may volunteer at their local library branch to help run the programs.

Mr. Nifty, balloon artist extraordinaire, is the featured performer at the kickoff program in each library branch. See our kickoff program schedule for a library near you and our Kids' & Teen Events Calendar for all events!

All aspects of the Summer Reading Program are open to youth of all ages and are free of charge! In addition, each branch library has planned storytimes, events, games, and demonstrations.

We are having technical difficulties - some catalog searches are not functioning correctly.

We expect to have the catalog fixed sometime Monday, June 25.

We apolgize for the service interruption and thank you for your patience!

Maintenance on our website host servers will take place this Saturday, April 7, from 9 to 11pm PDT.

During this period, our web site at vencolibrary.org will be unavailable.

Our eLibrary page will still be available if you bookmark a direct link.

Our library catalog will still be available if you bookmark a direct link.

Thank you for your patience!

Public libraries across the country, including Ventura County Libraries, have seen usage numbers go up in the past few years as funding has remained stagnant or decreased. Communities rely on libraries more than ever for a diverse list of programs and services - making the library a true community center.

geek /verb/ 
    1. To love, to enjoy, to celebrate, to have an intense passion for
    2. To express interest in
    3. To possess a large amount of knowledge in
    4. To promote

The people who work at your local library are amazing. Why don’t you ask them what they geek? You might be surprised by what you learn.
What do YOU geek?

"Libraries ... are being asked to perform a number of functions that most people probably don't associate with libraries. They really are supporting and complementing the work of other public agencies,”
 -- Larry Eichel, The Pew Charitable Trusts, in a recent article.

Libraries can do amazing things with small budgets, but they need your support! Start the conversation in your community!

Did you know Ventura County Library has over 5000 eaudiobooks just waiting for you to download? And, there's no waiting: all titles are ipod compatible and available at all times! Tuesday, May 1 from 12 to 12:45pm, Recorded Books is offering a free webinar on OneClickdigital's features. You can register here.

This 45-minute program also includes a complete tour of the service and will show you how to create an account, install the OneClickdigital Media Manager, search for content, manage checkouts, and download and transfer audiobooks to listening devices.

Recorded Books will continue to provide training webinars throughout the year. As new webinars are scheduled, the dates and times will be available here (scroll to the bottom).