This year marks the 40th anniversary of Park and Recreation Month. Each July we celebrate park and recreation professionals and how they improve lives and make a lasting impact in communities across the country. According to the National Recreation and Park Association, “park and recreation programs are essential to community health and well-being and help cultivate lifelong friendships, memories and family bonds that people hold dear decades later.”
This year’s theme is “Build Together, Play Together.” It is in celebration of the thousands of park and rec professionals, seasonal workers and volunteers who maintain our parks. To all of you, we say “THANK YOU!”
Get out and enjoy some open space! Santa Clara County Parks have events all summer long to get you excited about having an outdoor adventure. Visit the Santa Clara County Parks website or follow them on Facebook to discover all of their fun programs that will have you connecting with nature while reconnecting with your community. Check out a county park pass at the library for free vehicle entry.
The library also offers California State Park Passes providing free vehicle day-use to more than 200 participating state parks. Make sure to check out a pass, opens a new window from the library.
Your library card, opens a new window gives you access to those free county and state park passes. Gilroy and Morgan Hill Libraries also have Nature Daypacks available for checkout at the front desk on a first-come, first-served basis. These daypacks are backpacks filled with study guides, binoculars, a compass, a First Aid kit, and more.
If your summer travels take you to a national park, a travel guide is your most important tool! Place a hold on one of the hundreds of national park travel guides we have in our libraries.
We also have great books for young readers. This booklist is for kids of all ages, and includes informational titles on the history and use of parks, as well as adventures and other stories that are set in parks.
