Where’s Odi?
Finding the San Diego Public Library mascot at all 37 branches in July 2026
originally published at jmndavies.comThe Challenge
Where’s Odi? is a scavenger hunt that spans all 37 (well, 36 – or 35!) library branches in the San Diego Public Library system. Each branch – presumably responsible for their own methods of hiding, disguising, and honoring their very own Odi – hides a small 2D figurine of the SDPL mascot in a location of their choice, often in the children’s section. Arriving at a location, identifying where Odi is hiding, and speaking to a staff member will log you a stamp in your passport and your very own collectable button pin unique to the branch you’re visiting.
This is a yearly challenge. My family did not know about Odi, nor the challenge, until this year – so it was a fun new adventure for us! We are so glad to have embarked on this journey of planning for, traveling to, searching in, and celebrating reading at the San Diego Public Libraries.
Who’s Odi?
Odi, the official SDPL mascot, is a coyote (how fitting for San Diego!). Odi is a darling and curious coyote, often pictured reading while leaning against a big stack of books. Odi’s name is actually an acronym for:
Opportunity
Discovery
Inspiration
“Odi was born in 2021 and debuted in the pages of the bilingual children’s board book Odi’s Library Day (El Día de la Bibliotech de Odi),” reads the informational section in the Where’s Odi? Passport.
The Rewards
Unique buttons for every location (while supplies last!)
A special reward for drawing a library’s Golden Button
A lanyard for accumulating 10 stamps
A medallion for turning in a completed passport
37% off at the Library Shop SD upon turning in a completed passport
Entry into a raffle for a Library Shop gift card
…and of course, bragging rights that you found Odi – however many times you found where Odi was hidden!
Odi’s Locations and Pins, July 2026
See all the pins, locations, and details of our visits finding Odi this year!
Notes:
I’m not sure that Odi was in the same place all the time at every location, but we kept track of where we found Odi at each location.
Don’t take our library info for gospel! This is info we used to organize our trips. We learned that some branch hours will change in coming weeks. We also heard that some libraries will be closing for renovations. I found that the best site to visit is the SDPL’s locations website, where they conveniently note library closures, which branches are open on Mondays, and have an interactive map for more detailed planning purposes.
I did not do a good job of keeping track of Decoy Odis. I took pictures the best I could at places I know had decoys. I may have missed a few, but we also weren’t able to track all of them down even if a branch had decoys as we were often on a time crunch before closing time.
If there’s something wrong or incorrect in my table (or on any of my posts or pages), feel free to drop me a line and let me know so I can correct it.
When planning our routes, I primarily worked from a Google Maps bookmarks list. Google Maps does not allow embedding a bookmarks list – not even if you are a developer and have an API key – and the SDPL themselves uses a different tool to embed an interactive map.
However, an embedded map on a webpage doesn’t work very well on mobile. Using a bookmarks list on the Google Maps app made planning 10x easier so I could visualize routes, calculate drive times and distances, quickly check branch hours, and choose which routes to take on any given day.
Google Maps Bookmarks
We genuinely loved the Where’s Odi? Challenge! We plan on doing it again in 2027. Until next time, we’ll be seeing Odi in our board book, on our library cards, and in more conspicuous places when we visit the library!