Surrounded by about 20 women and girls, all knitting and crocheting, the 6-year-old is the only boy in the room. Nilay joined his mother and 13-year-old sister for Yarn Days, one of many programs offered at Sunnyvale Public Library.

The library offers programs and events ranging from yarn projects to magic and juggling workshops. Its offerings include a preseason taste of opera, to studying aspects of Einstein's theory of relativity. The programs educate, entertain and appeal to all ages and ethnicities. It's not only a service to the community, but also a marketing concept to attract more patrons.

Ben Franklin may not have had knitting in mind when he and his cronies started the concept of a public library back in 1731. Franklin and his group adopted a purchasing policy that they said would be "responsive to the needs of its intellectually alert, economically ambitious, but non-elite membership." That Library Company of Philadelphia still operates today.

And Sunnyvale's public library follows the same policy. But its is also a kind of "build it and they will come" policy. Last year, through its expansive multicultural offerings of books and programs, the library served some 700,000 people and checked out almost two million items.

"It's the hub of all activity, I think," Bob Harms, former president of Friends of the Library, says.

In addition to books, magazines, CDs, DVDs and all the other materials the library provides, it has become a gathering and meeting place for the community. But it never strays from its core purpose.

"We want to expand the experience of our library, and we tie it back to something that [the patrons] may have read about or some research they may have done or some interest they have," Deborah Barrow, the city's director of libraries, says.

"It's about expanding and enriching," she says.

One way the library does this is by complementing the diversity of Sunnyvale's community with the diversity of its programs.

This is one of the greatest draws for those such as Rhina Sanford, who says she brings her children to the library between three and five times a week.

They come for the basics--books, Internet access, CDs and DVDs--and for the special events, but she says she's especially fond of the cultural programs, where library staff always remember to display books related to the event.

"The library offers great programs, diverse cultural programs," Sanford says.

To expose her children to other cultures, Sanford has brought them to programs that celebrate ethnic holidays such as Diwali, Hanukkah, and NoRooz.

"I want them to learn what the traditions are, and know the traditional foods," she says.

The library offered a program that showed her children about her own native country, El Salvador. She says they saw things she's told them she did when she was a child.

The library also offers programs and classes targeted to age-specific groups and business or hobbies.

Hair Care for Teens, a summer program, taught teenagers proper hair care, covering topics such as the affects of using chemicals or appliances on their hair.

Steve Sloan, supervising librarian, says some of the program ideas come from the librarians, books and other materials already found in the library, and other ideas come from patron suggestions.

For example, the Hair Care for Teens idea came from a recent shipment of books. Still other programs, such as Einstein's Big Idea Program Series--a series of programs that began Sept. 28, developed because of special funding.

The Sunnyvale Public Library was one of 20 libraries across the country, and the only California library, selected by Boston's WGBH NOVA Science Unit and the American Library Association for a special grant. The grant is for library programs celebrating the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's E=mc2 relativity theory.

Betsy Wachter, supervising librarian for children's services, says she and the staff are excited about the opportunities for children and adult programming the grant provides.

One of the first programs, open to all ages--and scheduled for Oct. 15--is Gravity Probe B: Testing Einstein's Universe. NASA's Shannon Range will give an interactive presentation of an experiment that is taking place at NASA right now.

Another event, the Science Scavenger Hunt on Oct. 23, is designed for children in grades 5 and up and their parents. While eating pizza (provided by the library), this group will learn the rules for the hunt that will send teams scouring the library for answers to questions about Einstein and his work. Winning teams will receive prizes.

Another program, Think Science-Do Science!, scheduled for Nov. 2, has enlisted the help of Homestead High School physics students who will guide participants in "performing amazing acts of science."

Wachter, who has worked at the library for 31 years, says without grants such as the one funding the Einstein programs and money from Friends of the Library, many of the programs wouldn't be possible, especially in these times of budget cutbacks.

Some speakers and performers involved in the programs volunteer their time, but others are paid for their services. That's where the money from the Friends of the Library becomes so important.

A book sale on Oct. 8 at the Raynor Center, sponsored by the Friends, is one of the library's main sources of money. Harms says the last book sale brought in more than $7,300. Three other regularly scheduled book sales, an ongoing book sale located near the entrance of the library and Friends' membership dues brings in $50,000 to $70,000 annually, Wachter estimates.

That money benefits the community by helping to purchase materials such as foreign language books, magazines, and newspapers that the library otherwise wouldn't be able to afford.

In a recent community meeting, Barrow says it became clear that the special events were not the most important service provided by library.

"Programming was of interest, but the highest priority was the books and information provided. Programs are the icing on the cake," she says.

Harms, who is now the Friends' publicity chairman, says he is amazed by the wide selection the library offers. While working at the library one day, a patron approached him and said she wanted The Da Vinci Code.

"I said, 'I'm sure they have several copies,' [she said] 'I want it in Russian,' " he says.

He walked with her to the shelves where the book was and not only was it there in Russian, there were two copies.

Books are available in 10 languages: Korean, Japanese, Hebrew, Russian, Vietnamese, Tagalong, Spanish, Chinese, French and German. The adult Chinese book section has the highest circulation in the library, Wachter says.

Indicative of the community's diversity, the newspaper section carries many well-known American newspapers as well as foreign language newspapers such as Sing Tao, Nichi Bei Times, La Opinion, Pakistan Link, India Post and more.

Abundant computers with Internet access are available and recent additions include the ability to download digital books, or eBooks, to computers, PDAs or SmartPhones.

Databases for newspapers, magazines, genealogy and almost any kind of research vehicle are available to library users both at the facility and through remote access.

The parking lot is usually filled with cars and a steady stream of people flow in and out.

Wachter says the staff is continually looking for ways to keep those numbers high, and though the programming may not be community's primary use of services, it remains one that helps bring in new patrons. It also helps introduce people to their neighbors' ethnic traditions.

"The library is the multi-cultural center for the city, I think," Harms says.

The Oct. 8 Friends of the Library book sale will be held at the Raynor Center, 1500 Partridge Avenue in Sunnyvale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.