Libraries have come a long way from being just quiet places where you can check out books and do some research. In recent years, they’ve become community centers where the public gathers for author events, story times, film screenings, keynote speeches, and art classes.
Park City Library
The Park City Library offers a collection of more than 350,000 books, movies, magazines, maps, ebooks, and unique items. It also provides free public computers and high-speed WiFi, a summer concert series, quarterly art exhibits, and a sustainability resource center.
The sustainability resource center, made possible with the help of the Friends of the Park City Library, which raises funds to supplement the library’s budget, is located on the first floor and offers a seed exchange, a tool library, interactive displays, materials that speak specifically to climate change and sustainable living, and information about local nonprofits dedicated to environmental and sustainability resources.
Other sustainable resource center
features include:
Book Collection: Items for all ages that focus on sustainability, climate change, and activism.
Living Wall: The plants growing on the living wall were chosen to help purify the air in the library.
Eco Bike: Visitors can go for a ride that generates electricity which is returned back into the grid.
Community Information Center: Find out about local resources and nonprofits.
Tower Garden: Provided in partnership with Summit Community Gardens & EATS, the tower garden is growing fresh veggies for the guinea pig friends in the children’s area of the Library.
The Park City Library also sits next to the Library Field, a swath of open space preserved by the Summit Land Conservancy. The nearly two-acre lot is the ideal playground for families and pets.
In addition, one of the Park City Library’s attractions is the Jim Santy Auditorium, which has screened many Sundance Film Festival and Park City Film programs.
Park City Library, 1255 Park Ave., is open from 9 a.m.- 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and closed Sundays.
For information, visit parkcitylibrary.org or
call 435-615-5600.
Summit County Library
The Summit County Library’s mission is to “ignite curiosity, advance knowledge and support community,” and it does this through three branches located throughout the county. Those locations are:
Coalville Branch, 82 N. 50 East, 435-336-3070
Kamas Valley Branch, 110 N. Main St.,435-783-3190
Kimball Junction Branch, 1885 W. Ute Blvd., 435-615-3900
Each location offers an array of programming, sometimes specific to location. Visit thesummitcountylibrary.org for additional information.
Programming for children includes story times, rhyme times, crafternoons, bilingual Spanish activities, and Chinese characters, songs, and stories.
Teens can engage in programs such as the Teen Reads Club, the Teen Squad — which works with the library to add new teen-focused programming — homework and hangout, and painting workshops.
Adult programming at the Summit County Library includes Emerging Issues discussions, the Classic Film Club, book clubs in Coalville and Kamas, Book to Film Club, Sips ‘n’ Stories, History Book Club, and Library Chess Club.
Adding to the Summit County Library menu is the Virtual Author Series where book lovers can hear from and interact with some of their favorite best-selling authors through live streams facilitated by the Summit County Library. These discussions, scheduled and organized by the Library Speakers Consortium, are held throughout the month.
For information about the Virtual Author Series,
visit libraryc.org/thesummitcountylibrary/upcoming.