Summer is the perfect time to slow down, pick up a good book, and let your imagination grow — and Santa Cruz Public Libraries is making it easy to do exactly that. The 2026 Summer Reading Program is officially underway, and whether you’re 6 or 60, there’s a place for you in it.
This year’s theme is Plant a Seed, Read, inspired by the farm-to-table movement. Just as a farm grows food that nourishes our bodies, a library grows ideas that nourish our minds. Both food and stories connect us to our families, cultures, economy, and the natural world — and this summer, we’re celebrating that connection through reading, events, and community.
The program runs from June 1 through July 31 for logging reading minutes, with the last day to sign out and redeem prizes on August 9. Sign up at any of the ten branch locations or on the Santa Cruz Public Libraries website. As you hit reading milestones along the way, you’ll earn prizes — including Renee’s Garden seed packets, a custom Summer Reading 2026 vinyl sticker, and chances to win Santa Cruz Shakespeare tickets, a Museum of Art and History Fan membership, or a Monterey Bay Aquarium family membership.
For kids and families, the summer lineup includes performances by magicians, puppeteers, and musicians, along with arts and crafts programming tied to the Plant a Seed theme. Children also receive books as incentive prizes to help build their home libraries.
Adults have just as much to look forward to. Drop into a gardening workshop or catch an author talk. Get creative with nature journaling, mosaics, sketching, painting, or botanical bundle dyeing. Satisfy your curiosity with science talks on astronomy, bees, mountain lions, bobcats, bats, and everyday chemistry. Learn about the farmworker experience through programming with the Center for Farmworker Families, or imagine a more sustainable future at a special series of Solarpunk workshops hosted with the Liminal Space Collective Interdependence Project. There’s even a music performance celebrating rhythms from around the world.
All events are free, and all are happening at branches across the library system throughout the summer.
To sign up and browse the full event calendar, visit the website or stop by your nearest branch.