Please join us each Tuesday morning from 10-10:30 a.m. for Tiny Tots Storytimes (ages 0-3).  Twenty-five minutes of lively songs, fingerplays, action rhymes, flannel board stories and books, followed by a coloring activity, will delight the young ones.  They will be held in the Storytime Room. It will be first come first served: no registration is required, but space is limited. 

Please join us each Wednesday morning from 10-10:30 a.m. or 11:00-11:30 a.m. for Tiny Tots Storytimes (ages 0-3).  Twenty-five minutes of lively songs, fingerplays, action rhymes, flannel board stories, and books, followed by a coloring activity, will delight the young ones.  They will be held in the Storytime Room. It will be first come first served: no registration is required, but space is limited. 

Please join us each Wednesday morning from 10:00-10:30 a.m. or from 11-11:30 a.m. for Tiny Tots Storytimes (ages 0-3).  Twenty-five minutes of lively songs, fingerplays, action rhymes, flannel board stories, and books, followed by a coloring activity, will delight the young ones.  They will be held in the Storytime Room. It will be first come first served: no registration is required, but space is limited. 

Build with us! Each month has a theme. It's up to you whether your creation reflects that theme or your own individual expression. Work alone or in a group. You'll have 45 minutes to build, 5 minutes to clean up and 10 minutes to show off your work. Creations will be displayed until the following month. For kids age five and up.

Please join us each Thursday morning from 10-10:30 a.m. for Preschool Storytimes (ages 3-5). Thirty minutes of engaging stories, songs, and active rhymes captivate the imagination of children. Coloring sheets and simple crafts round out the themed storytime experience. They will be held in the Storytime Room.  It is first come first served:  no registration is required but space is limited.  

Ages 9-14, join us once a week for 9 weeks for Creative Writing Club! Participants will learn creative writing techniques and processes and become confident writers and feel inspired to continue writing! Each weekly session will include an icebreaker, discussion, and writing exercise. Participants will receive a colorful journal and pen to start and be part of creating a final book.  Please plan to attend all nine weeks and register at ranchomiragelibrary.org.

 

UPCOMING SHREDDING & E-WASTE COLLECTION EVENT: The next shredding event will be on Saturday, October 1, 2022 from 8 a.m. until noon at the Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory, West parking lot, 71100 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage. 

Click here for details.

Please join us at the Observatory to view the Moon in its first quarter phase. Explore volcanic features, impact craters, and lunar swirls! It's also prime time to view the terminator - where light meets dark.

Everyone is welcome and no registration is necessary for this self-guided, open house style event.

What to Expect

This is a drop-in, open-house-style event.

Due to the capacity limits of the Observatory, you will be able to enter as others are exiting.

There may be a short wait, but everyone will have a chance to get in.

What's Inside the Observatory?

Ask questions and learn fun facts from astronomers and volunteer docents.

In the Dome: See 150-350x magnified views of the moon, including volcanic features and impact craters.

On the Deck: See the entire near side of the moon at 100x magnification and touch the moon via our 3D prints.

Please join us each Tuesday morning from 10-10:30 a.m. for Tiny Tots Storytimes (ages 0-3).  Twenty-five minutes of lively songs, fingerplays, action rhymes, flannel board stories and books, followed by a coloring activity, will delight the young ones.  They will be held in the Storytime Room. It will be first come first served: no registration is required, but space is limited. 

After a spectacular launch on Christmas Day 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope unfolded and settled into its final orbit. During the following six months, operation of the observatory was thoroughly checked and Webb was declared ready for science by the end of June, culminating in the release of the first images on July 12. Dr. Ressler will describe those images, both as beautiful pictures in their own right and as harbingers for the spectacular science that will come in the future.

Dr. Ressler is an astronomer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who has been working on JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) since its original concept study in 1997. He was also a science team member and detector specialist for the all-sky survey Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission, and is now working on a new NASA mission to discover and characterize near-earth asteroids and comets (NEOSurveyor).

Please join us each Wednesday morning from 10-10:30 a.m. or 11:00-11:30 a.m. for Tiny Tots Storytimes (ages 0-3).  Twenty-five minutes of lively songs, fingerplays, action rhymes, flannel board stories, and books, followed by a coloring activity, will delight the young ones.  They will be held in the Storytime Room. It will be first come first served: no registration is required, but space is limited. 

Please join us each Wednesday morning from 10:00-10:30 a.m. or from 11-11:30 a.m. for Tiny Tots Storytimes (ages 0-3).  Twenty-five minutes of lively songs, fingerplays, action rhymes, flannel board stories, and books, followed by a coloring activity, will delight the young ones.  They will be held in the Storytime Room. It will be first come first served: no registration is required, but space is limited. 

Join us for an afternoon of fun as Animal Samaritans bring their Animal Companion Therapy Dogs to the Children's Room for you to practice your reading skills by reading to them.

Join us as the Rancho Mirage Fire Department comes to teach us about fire safety.

The Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory is excited to announce our Teen Book Discussion Group. Registration is required for each date. The first 10 registrants will receive a free copy of the book. Recommended ages 12+.

Please join us each Thursday morning from 10-10:30 a.m. for Preschool Storytimes (ages 3-5). Thirty minutes of engaging stories, songs, and active rhymes captivate the imagination of children. Coloring sheets and simple crafts round out the themed storytime experience. They will be held in the Storytime Room.  It is first come first served:  no registration is required but space is limited.  

Ages 9-14, join us once a week for 9 weeks for Creative Writing Club! Participants will learn creative writing techniques and processes and become confident writers and feel inspired to continue writing! Each weekly session will include an icebreaker, discussion, and writing exercise. Participants will receive a colorful journal and pen to start and be part of creating a final book.  Please plan to attend all nine weeks and register at ranchomiragelibrary.org.

 

Edward J. Larson is a historian, educator and author of seven books and numerous scholarly papers that span the subjects of law, science and religion. Larson won the Pulitzer Prize in 1997 for his book Summer for the Gods, which covers the Scopes trial and America’s continuous debate over science and religion. His articles have appeared in dozens of journals including The Atlantic Monthly, Nature, The Nation, and Scientific American. He is a professor of history and holds the Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University.

Larson’s most recent book, Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership, is a masterful, first-of-its-kind dual biography of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, showing that theirs was truly an intimate working friendship that amplified the talents of each for collective advancement of the American project.

The first 200 attendees will receive a free copy of Larson's new book, Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership.

This event will be live streaming. WATCH HERE.

This series is made possible by a generous gift from the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival Foundation. 

Based on the famous Scopes trial of 1925, two great lawyers argue the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution.

This Book Discussion Group occurs every second Monday of the month. Register online and pick up a copy of the book in the Children's Room. This month's book is 96 Miles by J.L. Esplin (5.2 Level)