Passport hub at library

West Valley residents will be able to apply for or renew their passports at the Saratoga Library by this fall.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted to expand access to passport services by making the Saratoga Library an official passport facility, according to a release from County Supervisor Joe Simitian’s office. The move is part of a broader effort by local leaders to offer passport services at local libraries, an effort that was piloted at the Milpitas and and Cupertino libraries and eventually implemented at the Los Altos library.

The county’s library district has processed more than 16,000 passports since reopening in January 2022 due to the pandemic, the release states. Gilroy’s library will join the Saratoga Library in becoming a passport facility this fall.

“Our libraries are so much more than a place to check out books,” Simitian said in the release. “They’re community hubs that provide access to a range of programs and services. And right now, with passport appointments in high demand, it just makes sense to add additional passport service locations.”

Fringe fundraiser

Students in Saratoga High School’s drama program performed the show “ZAP!” on campus Feb. 9-11 to raise funds for their debut this summer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Saratoga is one of 30 high schools across the country to perform the show as part of the American High School Theater Festival. “ZAP!” is an interactive performance, where audience members click their remotes to indicate when they’d like to see the scene change, and when enough people have done so, the lights go out and come back up on the students performing another of seven possible plays.

Source: www.mercurynews.com