STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Looking for a family-friendly activity for Tuesday evening?
Just Book Around the Block.
The Community Library, Wood River Museum and Gold Mine stores are throwing open their doors for an open house celebration from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15.
There’ll be a scavenger hunt with gift cards for prizes, a Dizzy Hips Hula-hoop Show, a Time Warp Photo Booth, music on the lawn, lawn games, free tacos and non-alcoholic margaritas, wine and beer, among other things.
“We love having our annual open house,” said Carter Hedberg, the library’s director of Philanthropy. “It’s our chance to give something really special to the whole community in one big celebration. This year we’re thrilled that the new Wood River Museum of History and Culture is a big part of the celebration. The Community Library Association is 68 years old and going strong. Book around the Block! is a way to explore all aspects of the organization ... and enjoy fun, free food, and festivities!”
This year’s theme is “We All Make History!” in keeping with the opening of the new Wood River Museum of History and Culture where people can become part of the history by taking part in such activities as writing short notes about how they got to Sun Valley.
Activities for All Ages include:
• Sun Valley Celebrity Scavenger Hunt: Scour the Library, Wood River Museum, and Gold Mine Stores for fun facts and special items. Everyone gets a prize...you might even win a $100 gift card to the Gold Mine or one of five $25 gift cards, as well as some special items from the Wood River Museum gift shop
• Children’s Fun: Musical Book Walk, craft table, bubble machine, straws & connectors, and the Bloom Truck bookmobile.
• Wood River Museum: Peruse the interactive exhibits; take a photo on an old ski lift chair; explore the Cabinet of Wonders to see if you can find all 25 hidden artifacts; and purchase special memorabilia in the Gift Shop
• Lawn Games: Test your skill at hula hooping and corn hole on the lawn by the Children’s entrance. Join the Dizzy Hips Hula-hoop Show at 5:00 p.m. on the Cimino Plaza
• Read Out: “How in the World Did You Get to Sun Valley?” Join local authors and notables for story sharing in the Library’s Tree House. Add your voice with a short piece of your own. Enter your name to share your story (up to 3 minutes) of how you (or your ancestors) first came to the Wood River Valley
Museum Reads: The Wood River Museum is illuminated in a special collection of books curated by our librarians. Check out a book/s and pick up a free bookmark and recommended reading list in the Library Foyer.
• Time Warp Photo Booth: Have your picture taken at a "green screen” of the historic Gold Mine thrift store (which was once The Community Library!) with Library cofounder Anita Gray (1955).
• Book Giveaway: Add to your own library with select titles from our overflow collection on the Library's veranda.
• Music on the Lawn: “Music that Made History” with D.J. Blind Willie
• Bites & Beverages: FREE delectables for kids and adults from Sun Valley Company
• Taco Truck: FREE tacos from Taqueria al Pastor
• Libations: Non-alcoholic margaritas, wine, and beer from Garden Bar.
The Community Library was founded in 1955 by 17 women who sold off bits of their wardrobes to raise funds to start a library in a cabin on the Baldy side of Main Street. Today it is a privately-funded public library where anyone in the world can get a free Library card.
The Library receives no tax dollars and relies on individual gifts and net income from the Gold Mine thrift store and Gold Mine Consign. It has more than 157,000 print and digital books and free research databases. It offers free use of computers and printers at its Learning Commons. And it offers more than 400 programs each year free to the public.