Party at the Central Library!

Just over two months after opening, the public is invited to a Grand Opening party lasting two days at the Central Library in Bend. The celebration will begin at noon Saturday, Aug. 15, with remarks from members of Indigenous Neighbor Nations, U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze and Oregon Poet Laureate Ellen Waterston. Outside, performers from Lava City Cirque along with kite fliers will entertain the crowd. Inside, there will be face painting, balloon artistry, a poetry exhibit and hands-on activities in the MakerSpace. Artists whose work appear in the library will speak at 1:45. Then at 3pm, Sze will discuss poetry and read from his work. On Sunday, llamas will appear on the library’s east patio at 9:30am. At 11am, there’s a free showing of the documentary, “The Librarians.” Ellen Waterston will host a writing workshop at 2pm Sunday (registration is required.) Capping the weekend celebration, the Bella Acapella Choir will perform. A schedule of events can be found at bendsource.com. The Central Library will be closed the morning of Saturday, Aug. 15 to prepare for the festivities which begin at noon that day. Nearly 150,000 people have visited the new library since it opened on May 11.

Central Library Grand Opening Celebration 
Sat., Aug. 15 Noon-4pm
Central Library 
61956 SE Santorini St., Bend 
deschuteslibrary.org
Free 

Breathe new life into well-loved items

If you have something you love, but it needs a little TLC, the Repair Café returns Aug. 26. It’s an opportunity to gather your broken lamps, ripped clothing, wobbly chairs, dull knives, small appliances, electronics, broken jewelry and more and take it to volunteers who will use their expertise to fix them. The Environmental Center has offered the free event for more than a decade. It’s part of their Rethink Waste project which helps reduce waste and save money. The Repair Café concept began in Amsterdam in 2009. Today there are more than 2,500 worldwide.

Repair Café 
Wed., Aug 26 5-7pm 
Central Library 
61956 SE Santorini St., Bend 
envirocenter.org
Free 

This article appears in the Source August 6, 2026.

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Celebrating the New Library & Where to Get Broken Stuff Fixed

by Nic Moye, The Source - Bend, Oregon
August 4, 2026

<h1>Celebrating the New Library & Where to Get Broken Stuff Fixed</h1> <p class="byline">by Nic Moye, The Source - Bend, Oregon <br />August 4, 2026</p> <p class="has-drop-cap"><strong>Party at the Central Library!</strong></p> <p>Just over two months after opening, the public is invited to a Grand Opening party lasting two days at the Central Library in Bend. The celebration will begin at noon Saturday, Aug. 15, with remarks from members of Indigenous Neighbor Nations, U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze and Oregon Poet Laureate Ellen Waterston. Outside, performers from Lava City Cirque along with kite fliers will entertain the crowd. Inside, there will be face painting, balloon artistry, a poetry exhibit and hands-on activities in the MakerSpace. Artists whose work appear in the library will speak at 1:45. Then at 3pm, Sze will discuss poetry and read from his work. On Sunday, llamas will appear on the library’s east patio at 9:30am. At 11am, there’s a free showing of the documentary, “The Librarians.” Ellen Waterston will host a writing workshop at 2pm Sunday (registration is required.) Capping the weekend celebration, the Bella Acapella Choir will perform. A schedule of events can be found at <a href="https://www.bendsource.com/business/businessnews/central-library-to-host-community-grand-opening-celebration/">bendsource.com.</a> The Central Library will be closed the morning of Saturday, Aug. 15 to prepare for the festivities which begin at noon that day. Nearly 150,000 people have visited the new library since it opened on May 11.</p> <pre class="wp-block-preformatted has-light-gray-background-color has-background"><strong>Central Library Grand Opening Celebration </strong><br>Sat., Aug. 15 Noon-4pm<br>Central Library <br>61956 SE Santorini St., Bend <br><a href="https://deschuteslibrary.org/" data-type="link" data-id="deschuteslibrary.org/">deschuteslibrary.org</a><br>Free <br></pre> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Go-Here-repair-cafe_envirocenter.org_-1024x684.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-95636" style="aspect-ratio:1.4970873786407768;width:467px;height:auto" /></figure> <p><strong>Breathe new life into well-loved items</strong></p> <p>If you have something you love, but it needs a little TLC, the Repair Café returns Aug. 26. It’s an opportunity to gather your broken lamps, ripped clothing, wobbly chairs, dull knives, small appliances, electronics, broken jewelry and more and take it to volunteers who will use their expertise to fix them. The Environmental Center has offered the free event for more than a decade. It’s part of their Rethink Waste project which helps reduce waste and save money. The Repair Café concept began in Amsterdam in 2009. Today there are more than 2,500 worldwide.</p> <pre class="wp-block-preformatted has-light-gray-background-color has-background"><strong>Repair Café </strong><br>Wed., Aug 26 5-7pm <br>Central Library <br>61956 SE Santorini St., Bend <br><a href="https://envirocenter.org" data-type="link" data-id="envirocenter.org">envirocenter.org</a><br>Free <br></pre> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/news/localnews/celebrating-the-new-library-where-to-get-broken-stuff-fixed/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com&quot;&gt;The Source - Bend, Oregon&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Untitled-design-4.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=95632&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.bendsource.com/news/localnews/celebrating-the-new-library-where-to-get-broken-stuff-fixed/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bendsource.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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