Here are what the Sandy and Hoodland book clubs have decided to read in July:
Digital Book Club
7:00 PM
Online via Zoom
7:00 PM
Hoyt Community Room in the Sandy Library
Here are what the Sandy and Hoodland book clubs have decided to read in July:
Digital Book Club
Happy June, Gardeners!
This month includes Pollinator Week (June 22 - 28) and I find it very fitting to be able to share that the library was awarded another native plant grant to complete our landscaping project! If you are new to our newsletter, you may not be aware that we have been slowly transforming our garden beds around the library to be made up of predominately native plants to support our pollinators and our Bee City, USA initiative.
The southeast garden bed is already filled with plants obtained through a Xerces Society grant, and after November, our entre south side will be made up of native pollinator plants.
This has been such a special opportunity that has come together through the donations from the Xerces Society and Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District, and the labor of our generous volunteers.
With the May release of Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix, we are worked into a frenzy over which of our favorite books are being made into movies or tv shows in 2026. After all, most of us here working at the library read Remarkably Bright Creatures and watched the movie the minute it came out. We love being able to compare what was similar and different within the pages of the book versus the big screen.
Here are some other movies to be on the lookout for that you can read before watching:
Remarkably Bright Creatures has been one of our most talked about books since it was released in 2022. Not many books are told from the point of view of an octopus named Marcellus, but this one is one you won't easily forget.
A heartwarming (and heartbreaking) story about family, grief, and community, we recommend you watch Remarkably Bright Creatures with your loved ones. Sally Field and Lewis Pullman lead the cast and do a phenomenal job bringing the story to life.
Every Summer After (retitled Every Year After as a show), premiers in June on Amazon Prime. Fresh off the popularity of other book to tv show adaptations like We Were Liars, or The Summer I Turned Pretty, society can't seem to get enough of these first-love dramatic stories.
This one is likely to continue in those footsteps. After spending 16 weeks on the New York Times Best-Seller list and selling over 1 million copies, Every Summer After is poised to be a huge hit.
Often considered the queen of Summer beach reads, Elin Hilderbrand's The Five-Star Weekend is sure to be a summertime hit.
Starring Jennifer Garner and Regina Hall, The Five-Star Weekend is a perfect blend of a Nancy Meyer's movie, and Big Little Lies. A perfect excuse to get your friends together for a weekly tv night!
Here are what the Sandy and Hoodland book clubs have decided to read in June:
Men's Book Club
Digital Book Club
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Month. In May we take the time tor reflect on and celebrate the important role that the AAPI community has played in shaping America.
Tying in with our One Book, One Coast program, where we are reading They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, there are several AAPI themed events taking place all of the Clackamas County library system, including a live stream interview with George Takei at the Sandy Library on May 31 at 2:00 PM.
If you're interested in exploring AAPI month through reading, our staff has put together some titles to help you out!
Shanti misses the warm monsoon rains in India. Now in America, she watches fall leaves fly past her feet.
Still, her family’s apartment feels like a village: Mama cooking luchi, funny stories in Bangla, and Baba’s big laugh. But outside, everything is different – trick-or-treating, ballet class, and English books.
Back and forth, Shanti trudges between her two worlds. She remembers her village and learns her new town. She watches Bollywood movies at home and Hollywood movies with her friends. She is Indian. She is also American. How should she define home? -via Goodreads
Happy May, Gardeners!
This is an exciting month for us gardeners because it means we are finally able to get our plants outside and into the ground! We start to see the plant sales and swaps pop up all across the tri-county area and the desire to be among the flowers is mighty strong. I will confess that I have already been to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden and The Oregon Garden since I wrote my last newsletter.
I am ready to be among the flowers.
Photo taken by me at the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden.
And, just a friendly reminder that both gardens are available to visit with a Cultural Pass!
To learn more about how to reserve a Cultural Pass, head to our How To blogpost!
Did you know that you can use your library card to get into an assortment of venues throughout Oregon? From local parks to world class museums, our Cultural Pass Express program can open up a world of possibilities with the aid of your library card.
The best part? You can reserve your Cultural Pass online from the comfort of your own home.
Here's how:
Here are what the Sandy and Hoodland book clubs have decided to read in May:
Men's Book Club
Digital Book Club
Happy April, Gardeners!
Spring is here and to celebrate I have put together a list of gardens to visit! This was inspired by a few conversations I have had with several friends that enjoy gardens and gardening, and my desire to connect them to one another while we explore.
Maybe you can catch the cherry blossoms in bloom at the Portland Japanese Garden early this month, or in mid-April through early May you can visit a lilac garden. Don’t forget about wandering through an arboretum to celebrate Arbor Day! The wonderful thing about this list is that there are places to visit all-year-round and several of them feature free passes for library patrons.
One that is not on this list, but is a recent addition to our Cultural Pass Express program, is the World Forestry Center located in Washington Park, Portland. Washington Park is loaded with so many garden/nature opportunities (the International Rose Test Garden, the Portland Japanese Garden, and Hoyt Arboretum to name a few) that if you decide to head that way, you might want to visit the World Forestry Center as well!
If anyone has a garden they recommend that is not on this list, I would love to know about it!
Please enjoy my goofy selfie that was taken at the Hulda-Klager Lilac Garden in 2024! |
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Here are what the Sandy and Hoodland book clubs have decided to read in April:
Digital Book Club
Men's Book Club
Happy March, Gardeners!
I want to start off by thanking everyone who came to our annual seed swap, Seedy Saturday. We saw around 90 people come through to swap seeds and speak with our special guests. I estimate just over 500 seed packets were taken home that day! I have so many seeds left over that it might take me another month to get through them all and get them into the cabinet as we also received donations from the following nurseries:
I also want to extend heartfelt gratitude to my wonderful volunteers that made our event flow better than previous years: Tom, Jim & Lynn, and Patty, thank you for your continued support of our seed library!
And thank you to our special guests, Echo Valley Natives, Food Hero, Master Gardeners Cindy and Kris, and Amy with the Community Gardens, for offering your time to be available to our community members to answer questions and provide resources.
Finally, thank you to The Garden Massage Therapy in Sandy for donating a gift basket that was an extra special treat for one lucky patron.