National Library Week: Books are just the beginning
National Library Week is April 3-9. To celebrate, try something new—and free!—with your County of SLO Libraries card. Here's what we love to recommend:
Our catalog's operating system will be undergoing an update this month. Online browsing and accounts will be unavailable Thursday, April 21, through Monday, April 25. All Black Gold libraries will be offline during this time.
EBooks, audiobooks, and other downloadable items will still be available.
The catalog update will change your library account password to the last four digits of your phone number. You may reset your password at any time.
There have been a lot of changes in the last two years, but one thing that hasn't changed is how thankful we are for your patience and your continued support!
For more information about how the update may affect your account, visit our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page at slolibrary.org. Or feel free to call us, submit a question to our Ask page, or simply reply to this email.
Spotlight
Explore CA State Parks with a Free Pass
You can check out a vehicle day-use hangtag pass, thanks to a partnership with California State Parks and the California State Library. Borrow a pass for three weeks, for access to over 200 State Parks.
Staff Picks
Do you have a hard time deciding what to enjoy next? Us too. That's why we love to share our staff picks! We hope you find your next favorite story here.
Free Help Filing Your Taxes Online
SUNDAYS THROUGH APRIL 10 | 11am–2pm | Drop-in
Arroyo Grande Library
Los Osos Library
San Luis Obispo Library
File your taxes from a library computer using MyFreeTaxes.org with help from United Way volunteers.
All County of SLO Public Libraries will be closed Friday and Saturday, April 22-23, for catalog
system updates.
Books & Reading
New Books Roundup
Indulgent beach reads, lessons from a Zen buddhist monk, and four compelling memoirs: What will you read this month?
Tommy Orange: Book of the Year author talk and book signing
Amanda Gorman, Peter Coyote, Ocean Vuong: Immerse yourself in our newest poetry books.
Top Picks
Gold Rush: Columbia State Park
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27 | 1 pm
San Luis Obispo Library
Live via Zoom
Learn about the diverse populations that contributed to one of California’s most bustling gold rush towns in this live virtual tour from California State Parks.
Come Together: An Earth Day Celebration
THURSDAY, APRIL 21 | 11 am – 1 pm
San Luis Obispo Library
Gardening, upcycling, owl spotting, a used book sale, and a special storytime with Ms. Susana at 11:30 am. Hosted by the SLO Library Green Team.
New DVDs
Spiderman, Ben Franklin, and Poirot make appearances in this month's TV and movies list.
Want more programs and events? Get our monthly Library Events newsletter delivered to your Inbox.
Puzzler
Let's puzzle together! This month's brainteaser is from the Puzzlemaster Deck eBook series by NPR's puzzlemaster, Will Shortz (available on Hoopla). Answers are found at the end of the newsletter.
Change one letter in each of the following words to the same new letter to get a pair of opposites:
SHIRT LUNG
Ask Us!
Will my eBooks holds and checkouts be affected by the April catalog update?
Our online services won't change—We'll still offer Libby, Hoopla, Kanopy, and cloudLibrary to SLO Libraries cardholders. We anticipate a smooth update, but let us know if something doesn't look right in your account. We recommended downloading everything you have checked out by April 20, just in case.
What happens if I accidentally return an item to SLO Libraries that belongs to a Black Gold library?
We will always send an item back to its owning library, even after we leave the Black Gold Cooperative Library System in July. Please note that it will stay on your account until it's checked in at the owning library.
Will there be a new library mobile app?
Yes! We'll be announcing our new app later this month. Black Gold is retiring its current app in May. Stay tuned!
Do you still have music CDs?
Yes! We’ve moved many of our music CDs to storage to make room for more of our popular collections, but music CDs are still available in our catalog. Place a hold to pick them up at your favorite library.
Want more music? Stream or download with Hoopla, our free online music service with thousands of titles.
Visit our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page at slolibrary.org for more answers to your questions about library services.