Dorris Van Doren November Calendar of Events

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 Please join us at the Dorris Van Doren Library as we begin to prepare for the Winter holidays. We have a number of wonderful programs this month in the lead-up to Winterfest on November 21st.

There's a Kid's Fall Craft and Cookies program on Wednesday, November 25 at 1 PM.

For adults, there will be a book cover painting class on Friday, November 13 at 2:30 PM.

As you plan your visits to the library this November, please keep in mind that the library will be closed three days this month: November 11th in observance of Veteran's Day and the 26th and 27th for Thanksgiving. The library WILL be open on Saturday, November 28 in case you would like to find a book or DVD to entertain you will you feast on your leftover turkey. 

Dorris Van Doren October Calendar of Events

 

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The Dorris Van Doren Library is fully locked in for fall! We have a number of programs, both cozy and spooky, to celebrate the change of season.

On Friday, October 9th, the library will be open after hours for our first Library by Candlelight event. The program will begin at 6 PM. Everyone will be able to browse the collection by the light of a battery-operated candle (while supplies last) and check out books until 8 PM. This program is for all ages. 

For adults (18+), we have a Conchas and Cucuys program also on Friday, October 9th. We will be providing a ghost craft along with a snack of pan dulce. 

The Movie and Craft Club (ages 16+) has two meetings this month; the first is on Saturday, October 10 at 1 PM. Participants will be making a Halloween stained glass hanger. On Saturday, October 17, the club will meet at 1 PM to create bag charms. 

October is TeenTober at libraries across the country! This is a month to promote library services to our patrons between the ages of 12-18. Every Thursday at 4:30 PM at our usual Teen Hangout program, we are encouraging our teens to participate in Spirit Days:

October 1: Silly Socks Day

October 8: Throwback Thursday: dress like a past decade.

October 15: Fun Hair Day

October 22: Dress as your favorite character.

October 29: Wear a Halloween costume

It's bound to be a lot of fun! Come join us at the library this October!

Dorris Van Doren August Calendar of Events

The kids are heading back to school and summer is nearing its end, but we're still celebrating a successful Summer Reading Club here at the Dorris Van Doren Library! 

Our branch signed up 490 readers to participate in this year's Unearth a Story reading challenge. We're also very pleased to announce that participants for our branch logged the most minutes out of all our 16 branches: 248,193 minutes or 4,137 hours! That's a lot of reading!

But just because summer is ending doesn't mean that the fun is ending. We will still continue to have excellent programs for people of all ages. Here is our calendar of events for August: 

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We hope to see you at the library! Thank you for all your support!

Dorris Van Doren June Calendar of Events

 

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Summer is FINALLY here and it's time to return to the library and Unearth A Story! As always, we have a lot of fun programs for patrons of all ages. We also have the return of our annual Summer Reading Club, which is an all-ages challenge to encourage reading over the summer. 

You can register in-person or online. Just click on the graphic below to get to the Beanstack registration page. On Beanstack you can keep track of the amount of time you read per day, you can complete fun challenges, and you can keep track of the programs you attend at our branch. As you mark off these things, you accumulate points that can be put toward raffle prizes. This year you also have the added option to earn Dino Dollars. 100 points = One Dino Dollar. You can then use your Dino Dollars to purchase prizes. But the real prize is all the time you spend reading this summer! 

Click image to register/login on Beanstack.

For more information, check out the library's webpage: https://www.elpasolibrary.org/attend/summer-reading-club-2026/

Dorris Van Doren May Calendar of Events

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May is in full swing with a number of amazing programs for our library visitors at the Dorris Van Doren Library. 

Our new Scenes and Scissors program begins Monday, May 11th at 4 PM for those who are 17 and older. Each program consists of watching movies in a variety of genres and working on a craft. 

The movie this month is a 80's throwback Science Fiction movie. Enjoy this blast from the past while painting a garden brick. 

We hope you will join us in the fun! 

Dorris Van Doren February Calendar of Events

 

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Welcome to another fun-filled month at the Dorris Van Doren Library! We have so many fun activities for our guests to enjoy this month. 

In honor of Valentine's Day, we'll have a reverse coloring program for adults on Friday, February 6 at 2 PM. Also for adults will be a craft program in which participants will be making mini planted pot magnets on Friday, February 13 at 2:30 PM. 

For the kids, we will be having a friendship bracelet workshop on Wednesday, February 11 at 4 PM. We also have a Saturday Crafternoon on February 14 at 2 PM where kids can make Valentine's cards.

The Dorris Van Doren Library is proud to be celebrating Black History Month. Come check out our book displays! We will have having a Night at the Library: Black History Month Trivia program on Friday, February 20 from 7-9 PM. If you've ever wanted to visit the library after hours, here's your chance!

We hope to see you at the library this month! 

Dorris Van Doren January 2026 Calendar of Events

Happy New Year from the Dorris Van Doren Regional Library! We have so many fun activities and programs for our library patrons in 2026. We're kicking off the year with an adult painting activity on Friday, January 9 at 2:30 PM.

Adult (17+) Horror aficionados can get their fix of the creepy at our monthly Horror Club meeting on Monday, January 12 at 4 PM. 

There are still plenty of activities for the kids as well! Besides our weekly storytimes , our Toddler Playtime, AND our Learning with Lego program, we have a special Kid's Slime Workshop on Wednesday, January 28 at 4 PM that you won't want to miss!! 

Come join us this January!! 

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Dorris Van Doren December Calendar of Events

 

The Holiday Season is upon us, and we can't wait for you to join us for fun winter activities. We have crafts for all ages, Christmas themed LEGO challenges, and our book clubs are back in the swing of things after taking a month off. 

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The El Paso Public Libraries are celebrating Winterfest with our Wonderland Reading Club. Signups begin November 22 and continue through December 28. To sign up and log your books, please visit your Beanstack app or account and join the challenge: https://elpasolibrary.beanstack.org/reader365

There's a new challenge to earn badges this year. For every El Paso Public Library branch you visit this winter, you get a badge. Think of it as a passport stamp. Ask a staff member for the secret word to enter on your Beanstack account to start earning your activity badges. If you visit all 14 branches AND write a book review on Beanstack, you get a special prize. 

Badges earned from logging your reading or participating in library activities get you raffle tickets toward fun prizes. This year our prizes are as follows:

Raffle Prizes:

The Rink Ice Skating Passes

A Play for All My Books board game

Fourth Wing Party Game and bookmark

Mo Willems Prize Pack

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Prize Pack

Book Lover Prize Packs

Various Other Prize Packs and Gift Certificates

Hope to see you this month! Don't forget to ask us for the secret word! 

Dorris Van Doren November Calendar of Events

 

Dorris Van Doren will have a short month in terms of programming. We have a bunch of fun events happening in the first two weeks of November. So please check the calendar for the dates and times. 

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Dorris Van Doren will close for the last two weeks of the month: November 17-29th. Each of the libraries has slowly been updating their collections to include Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. Dorris Van Doren is the final library in the El Paso Public Library system to undergo this conversion. Nothing much will change for our patrons, but this will allow us to be quicker, more efficient, and more accurate when checking out and checking in books. 

Please visit our nearest library Westside at 125 Belvidere to check out and return items. Items returned to Dorris Van Doren during the two week closure will not be checked in until the RFID conversion is complete. 

If you're in need of passport services, the nearest library that provides that service is Armijo Library at 620 E 7th Ave.  

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we go through this upgrade. 

Happy TeenTober!

The American Library Association has declared the month of October to be TeenTober. We'll be having fun activities for our library teens including raffling off two gift baskets courtesy of the Friends of the Westside Libraries. 

Horror-themed basket

Cozy basket

Teens (ages 12-18 only, please) can pick up a challenge card at the information desk. Completing 4 challenges in a row earns them a raffle ticket to win either a Scary Basket or a Cozy Basket. The challenge will run the entire month of October. The winners will be announced Thursday, November 6 at Teen Hangout. (Do not need to be present to win).

And don't forget to attend El Paso Public Library's annual Teentober Fest on Saturday, October 18 from 5-9PM at the Judge Marquez Library at 610 N Yarbrough. It's going to be a blast!

October Calendar of Events at Dorris Van Doren

Merry October! We are charging full steam ahead into the fall months. We have so many fun events planned for all our library patrons including an interactive Halloween movie that the whole family can enjoy on Saturday, October 11 at 2 PM.

Bluey is stopping by for a visit on October 18 at 2 PM. And that same day author Ashton Kaleigh will be visiting us at 3:30 PM to discuss her illustrated field guide Our Wild Borderland. 

There are many more activities and programs happening this month. Stop by and check us out. 

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Dorris Van Doren September Calendar of Events

Come join us this fall at the library! Summer may be just a happy memory now, but we have plenty of programs going on to create new memories. 

Main Library (501 N Oregon) will be having their first ever Library Con on September 20 from 10 AM - 4 PM. You can find more information here on the El Paso Public Library website. 

In the lead-up to the big event, all of our branches will be having fun programs. We will have a Kids' Paper Airplane Workshop here at the Dorris Van Doren library on Wednesday, September 17 at 4 PM. 

Our teens will also get into the Library Con spirit by making upcycled comic picture frames at our usual Teen Hangout event on Thursday, September 18at 4:30 PM. This program is only for teens ages 12-18. 

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Hope to see you at the library this September. As always, if you have further questions, please call us at 915-212-0440. 

New Pet Pantry at Dorris Van Doren

We are pleased to announce the addition of a new Pet Pantry outside of the Dorris Van Doren library near our outside book drops. Pet Pantries are located at all 14 EPPL branches and provide free food and supplies for pet owners in need. Community members can come during library business hours and take what they need. 

If you'd like to donate items, please bring them directly to the pantries. We accept sealed and unopened pet food and kitty litter. We also accept new or gently used items such as beds, leashes, toys, etc. 

This program is a partnership between the City of El Paso and El Paso Community Foundation's Rescue Fund. If you'd like to learn more about this initiative and/or would like to donate financially, please visit https://epcf.org/borderlandrescuefund

Dorris Van Doren August Calendar of Events

School is just about back in session, but the summer fun continues at the Dorris Van Doren library. We still have all the regular year-round programs you love, such as Children's Storytime and playtime, Teen Hangout, LEGO and much, much more!

We have a special program on Saturday, August 2  at 3 PM to commemorate and honor the victims of the August 3rd shooting. Come together to show that we are always #ElPasoStrong! 

This month we will also have a special visit from Chico, the mascot from the Chihuahuas. Come take your picture with the coolest chihuahua in El Paso on Tuesday, August 12 at 3 PM.

We look forward to seeing you at the library!

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July at Dorris Van Doren

 We are having such a good time this summer, and we hope you are too! There is another month of Summer Reading Club activities to participate in including a visit from author Raul the Third, El Paso Animal Services coming for a special puppy playtime, and even a "Paint-a-Tote" program for adults. That's not even a fraction of what's coming. Check the calendar to see all that we have to offer!

Give us a call at 915-212-0440 for more details on these fun and free programs!

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June Program Calendar

The Summer is finally upon us! We have a multitude of programs for all ages at the Dorris Van Doren Library this summer. And when you stop by, make sure to join the annual Summer Reading Club challenge. There are so many amazing raffle prizes being given away to participants completing the challenge. Can't wait to see you at the library this summer! 

Join the (ALL AGES) Summer Reading Challenge!

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National Library Week 2025

National Library Week was April 6-12, 2025. El Paso Public Library celebrated with Spirit Week and our wonderful library staff at Dorris Van Doren participated in the fun!

For Library Lover's Day, we wore our library attire: literary shirts, cardigans, etc.

Literary Character Day had us dressing up like the crayons from The Day the Crayons Quit!

We went full on eighties for Decades Day: reminiscent of our favorite books set in the eighties: Stranger Things, My Best Friend's Exorcism, and so many others. 

For Genre Day, we represented our favorite book genres: beach reads, picture books, fantasy, true crime, and more!

Our final day was Team Spirit Day where we dressed up in our El Paso Public Library shirts or showed our teamwork by dressing alike. 

It was a really fun National Library Week! We can't wait to celebrate it again next year. Thank you to all the wonderful patrons who told us how much they love our library and wished us a happy Library Week. We appreciate you, and we're so happy to do all that we do for the community. 

April 2025 Programs at Dorris Van Doren

Hey there, Peeps! We have an entire month of fun activities and classes coming up this April. Celebrate National Library Week with your favorite library staff members! Put on your Easter Bonnet and come visit with the Easter Bunny! We also have three book clubs whether you love a real-life whodunnit, the newest and hottest reads, or engaging with the classics. Hope to see you here!

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March into Dorris Van Doren for these programs

 

March is here and so is a new month of opportunities for fun! We have activities for all ages during the week(s) of Spring Break. Come join us!

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New Book Club Alert!

The Dorris Van Doren Regional Library is adding another book club to our schedule of programs. The Catchin' Up on the Classics Book Club will be having their first meeting on Saturday, February 22 at 1 PM. 

 

The first book to be discussed will be The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald. Come ready to discuss this classic novel. Pearls and bow ties are optional. 

Click here to request your copy.