Here is what the Sandy and Hoodland are reading in October!
Digital Book Club
7:00 PM
Online via Zoom
Here is what the Sandy and Hoodland are reading in October!
Digital Book Club
Happy September, Gardeners!
Thank you to everyone who was able to come to our final seed library event of the year. We had some of what you might expect: tomatoes and squash, but we also had community members bring in elderberries, cucumbers, duck eggs, bulb onions and garlic! It has been a year of firsts with the additional swaps, and I am looking forward to growing and improving in 2027.
Note: Elderberries should not be consumed unripe, raw, or with the stems or leaves. These berries provide a lot of health benefits, but those benefits are only available after they have been cooked for at least 20-30 minutes. Consuming them raw could make you sick.
As we enter into the fall and winter seasons, I will be seeking out seed donations from various nurseries. We are also very happy to accept donations from our local seed savers. If you have any questions on how to donate to the seed library, please feel free to send me an email. I have the seed donation slip that I like to receive with each seed donation to help me get them ready for the drawer, and I will attach that here. I also have been asked what kind of container, whether its a baggie or envelope, to donate seeds in, and I would say, it is whatever is convenient for you! Since I go through the effort of creating labels and putting them in my own bags to allow for uniformity in the drawers, it truly does not matter too much.
Here are what the Sandy and Hoodland book clubs have decided to read in September:

Happy August, Gardeners!
This year I challenged myself by incorporating more gardening swaps into the schedule, and I am hoping to close out the Sandy Seed Library Series of programs with a final swap: Share Your Bounty. With how popular our annual seed swap is, I thought about trying a seedling swap in the spring, and a harvest swap in the late summer. The seedling swap was on the smaller side but a hit with attendees, and feedback to make it an annual event. As I thought through what a harvest swap might look like, I decided it would be nice to keep the seedlings coming for folks that would like some late-season crops or even some plants that will overwinter.
There is room for this to grow as we get more experience under our belts and feedback from our seed library community.
Here are what the Sandy and Hoodland book clubs have decided to read in August:
Men's Book Club
Happy July, Gardeners!
Happy International Fruit Day (July 1)! Moth week is also this month, and wouldn't you know, moths take the night shift in pollinating the following fruits: apples, pears, strawberries, raspberries, and plums!
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