If you’re casting around for things to do this summer that won’t make a dent in your wallet, the best place to look might be the place you least expect: your local library.
Dancing? Check. Sewing or 3D printing? Check and check. Live music? Yup. Art exhibits? Certainly. Tech support? Affirmative. Open mic nights, knitting groups and stitchery circles? Yes, yes and yes.
The icing on the cake is that it’s all free. But if you prefer pizza to cake, you can even learn how to build a solar pizza oven on Aug. 28 at the Ridgefield Community Library.
“There’s so much more available than just books,” said Rachel Ries, branch manager at Cascade Park Community Library, which recently hosted a line dancing class in its community room.
Of course, book groups at the library are a good place to start, Ries said. But one glance at the FVRLibraries’ chock-a-block calendar of events shows just how broad the library’s offerings are. Click on the “Events” tab at fvrl.org, then click on “Summer at Your Library.”
You’ll find a list of events and classes at every library branch through Aug. 15, such as a hammer dulcimer concert today at 11 a.m. at the Vancouver Community Library downtown; Asian folk tales with storyteller Alton Takiyama-Chung at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Three Creeks Community Library; hula dancing for all ages at 10 a.m. July 31 at the La Center Community Library; or mushroom foraging for beginners from 4 to 6 p.m. Aug. 7, also in La Center.
During summer’s hottest days when getting outside isn’t an option, try an online chair yoga and meditation class for adults and seniors or a gentle yoga class for teens, adults and seniors. Both classes meet Tuesday afternoons. If you just want to scoot your boots, learn line dancing from 2 to 4 p.m. every Monday at the Cascade Park Library.
If you’re having trouble setting up your new phone, laptop or tablet, visit the Cascade Park Community Library any Thursday from 10 to 11 a.m. A tech expert will answer questions and guide people through the maze of operating instructions. If you can’t make it to Cascade Park on Thursdays, Ries said, schedule an hour of one-on-one help with a librarian at any library branch.
You might be surprised to learn that the Cascade Park library has a sewing machine. You can get certified to use the machine, then reserve time to work on personal projects and stitch to your heart’s content.
You can also get certified to use the Cascade Park library’s 3D printer to print three-dimensional objects, such as game pieces for the many teens’ Dungeons & Dragons groups, both in person and online, at several local libraries.
If you seek a different form of enchantment, try the all-ages “Magic: The Gathering” card-swapping meetup from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays at Cascade Park Community Library.
If words are your preferred medium, join the local branch of the prestigious Willamette Writers group, which meets at the Three Creeks Community Library to write and discuss works in progress.
If poetry pleases you, get pointers from Clark County Poet Laureate Susan Dingle from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. today at the Cascade Park Community library. Share your masterpieces at the Writers’ Open Mic, 4:30 to 6 p.m. Aug. 1 at the Ridgefield Community Library.
Some libraries also double as mini art galleries. Library branches in downtown Vancouver, Battle Ground and Stevenson host a changing array of art exhibits.
The Cascade Park Community Library is currently showcasing art by members of the Southwest Washington Watercolor Society, Ries said. In the Cascade Park library’s teen area, guests can see award-winning photographs from the Columbia Gorge Refuge Stewards photo contest.
Not all the displays showcase fine art; for example, the Cascade Park Community Library’s January exhibit showcased a local woman’s collection of 344 toy ponies. (To exhibit your own interesting collection, visit fvrl.org/exhibit-form or simply talk to the branch manager.)
Your local library is also a gateway to the cultural and historical richness of Northwest history and art. Go to fvrl.org/experience-pass to find a link where, using your library account number and PIN, you can reserve free Experience Passes to museums and attractions like the Clark County Historical Museum, Lan Su Chinese Garden, Pittock Mansion, Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center and Maryhill Museum of Art.
If you’re amazed by the library’s vast array of free classes and activities, show your support by volunteering with a “Friends of the Library” fundraising group. Visit fvrlfoundation.org/friends-of-the-library-groups/ to learn more. Last but not least, you can help by giving blood during Red Cross blood drives in August at the Cascade Park and Stevenson libraries.
Ries said that people come to the library for all kinds of reasons, and only some of them are related to books. Community groups use library meeting rooms, students come to study, parents bring their children, and some folks simply sit by the window and read the newspaper.
Everything is free, everyone is welcome and it’s a cool, air-conditioned refuge from summer heat.
“It’s still true that libraries are an anchor in a community,” Ries said. “They’re the heart of the community.”
