This September, join Tony Award-winning performer, actress, singer-songwriter, and philanthropist Idina Menzel (Frozen, Wicked) and her sister, author and educator Cara Mentzel, in celebrating Library Card Sign-up Month. Idina and Cara, who will serve as honorary chairs of Library Card Sign-Up Month, are excited to remind everyone that one of the best places to find your voice is at the library where you can explore all the library has to offer, like new children’s books, access to technology, and educational programming.

As part of the effort to encourage library card sign-up, Salinas Public Library will host a library card design contest in September to showcase artistic talent from our community. The theme for this year's design is to show the value of the Salinas Public Library or what the Library means to you. Information on this contest will be available on library's website starting September 1.

The Library is also bringing back its popular Read Away Program in September, to help current library cardholders remove any fees or balance on their accounts. "Although we have now eliminated overdue fines as barrier to for the community to use the library, there are still people who have balance on their library account because they lost a book years ago and afraid to come back to the library", said Kristan Lundquist, Library and Community Services Director. "Read Away Program provides opportunity to remove those balance as a barrier in using library services, welcoming them back to the library, while also encouraging reading and literacy".

During this month, Salinas Public Library along with libraries nationwide join the American Library Association (ALA) to remind parents, caregivers, and students that signing up for a library card is the first step on the path to academic achievement and lifelong learning. At our library, patrons of all ages can find a variety of educational resources and activities, including storytime programs and playgroups for little ones, homework resources for school-age students, literacy learning resources, and more.

To sign up for a library card or to learn more about library's resources and services, please visit any Salinas Public Library locations. Join the #LibraryCardSignUpMonth celebration on the library's social media.