Spokane County Library District spring events

Spokane County Library District has a busy spring planned for area library patrons and others in the community.

The most recent event is the announcement of the seventh annual Food for Fines event during National Library Week, April 7–13. Donations of food go to the Second Harvest Food Bank and other regional food banks serving Spokane County and reduce library customers’ overdue fees.

For every non-perishable food item, $2 will be forgiven from a cardholder’s account, up to $20 per library account. Food for Fines can only be applied to overdue and/or damaged items fees and cannot be applied to lost-item charges or accounts referred to collection.

Since 2013, the program has collected over 23,000 pounds of food and forgiven thousands in fines. In many cases, members contributed much more food to the collection barrels than what was needed to pay their fines, while others had no overdue fees at all.

The Friends of the Spokane County Library District has also announced it is raising funds through an inaugural Library Giving Day campaign. Library Giving Day occurs on Wednesday, April 10, with the online fundraising event encouraging library customers and library lovers to make a gift to the Spokane County Library District to support the Museum and Cultural Pass program.

The program began in the winter of 2018 with family passes to the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture and the Mobius Children’s Museum and Science Center. In the fall of 2018, Spokane Symphony passes were made available to library customers for select performances.

“The response to the program has been highly positive,” library district public services manager Gwendolyn Haley said in a March 19 news release. “Library customers are able to experience great cultural and educational centers in our community.”

The Friends began accepting donations Wednesday, March 20, at http://www.scldfriends.org and will continue to do so through April 16, 2019.

“The Friends are open to accepting donations from individuals, businesses and organizations who would like to fully fund a current or brand new museum or cultural pass program,” library district development manager Jill-Lynn Nunemaker said.

The district has also implemented participation in the state pilot program “Check Out Washington” which allows checking out items such as backpacks, binoculars, field guides and other interpretive materials along with a special Discover Pass for parking at state parks. Library customers are able to place a hold on the Check Out Washington backpack at http://www.scld.org. The district will have 11 backpacks available, with the checkout period for the backpacks being seven days.

According to a March 14 news release, the Discover Pass for the Check Out Washington program works differently than the regular individual passes. No license plate numbers are necessary for this pass, meaning library customers can use any vehicle, including rental vehicles, to access state parks and trailheads.

Washington State Parks in Spokane County include Mt. Spokane, Riverside State Park, Nine Mile Recreation Area, Spokane River Centennial Trail and the Columbia Plateau Trail, with a trailhead east of Cheney on Cheney-Spangle Road. Nearby state parks include Curlew Lake, Crawford and Gardner Cave, Steptoe Butte and Palouse Falls.

Finally, the district is offering financial literacy classes for kids and adults during Money Smart Week, March 30 – April 6. The week begins with a free document shred day at North Spokane and Spokane Valley Libraries on Saturday, March 30, from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Bring personal and financial documents for safe and secure shredding—whether you have one pile or 10.

Kids are decorating piggy banks and learning about spending, giving away and saving their hard-earned dollars during Swanky Swine Showdown at all 10 libraries, starting March 28. There will also be free financial and investment classes where participants learn about investment terminology and strategies that work for your life. Plus learn how to organize your finance and become debt free.

Take your financial savvy up a notch at the following programs:

* Investment Club Meeting, Argonne Library, Saturday, March 30, 1 – 3:30 p.m.

* Investment Terminology Demystified, Moran Prairie Library, Tuesday, April 2, 7 – 8:30 p.m.

* Online Investing, North Spokane Library, Thursday, April 4, 6 – 7 p.m.

* Organize Your Finances, North Spokane Library, Tuesday, April 2 6 – 7 p.m.

* Become Debt Free, Airway Heights Library, Thursday, April 4, 6 – 7 p.m.

Learn more about Money Smart Week programs at http://www.scld.org/money-smart-week-209. All year long, you can bulking up your financial muscles with the district's digital resources for financial learning at http://www.scld.org/finance. 

For more information on libraries and programs, please visit http://www.scld.org or call (509) 893-8200.