Friday Grab Bag, April 9, 2021

The Friday Grab Bag is a weekly series that highlights fun, unique, and interesting happenings in Colorado libraries, and includes news from the Colorado State Library.

Before we open the bag, I have exciting news! The Play, Learn, and Grow video from Colorado State Library’s Growing Readers Together team is ready to share with your community! Caregivers can view it independently or during a guided workshop. We have included activity sheets and ideas for Make and Take kits to extend the learning. Check it out today!

Let’s open the Friday Grab Bag!

Libraries without Walls

The theme for National Library Week, which concludes tomorrow, “Welcome to Your Library,” promotes the idea that libraries extend far beyond the four walls of a building –  and Colorado libraries are busy proving it.

Montrose Public Library’s Bookmobile isn’t making stops right now, but the Virtual Bookmobile is one the road! Currently the Virtual Bookmobile is visiting the Montrose Police Department! Join the bookmobile at the virtual stop and check out books about police officers, police cars, detectives, and more. You can pick them up in the library, at curbside pickup, or get them delivered.

Longmont Public Library knows that you visit them for books, movies, and programs, but now you can walk out with a whole experience with Experience & Destination Bags to transport you to exotic locales without ever having to pack a suitcase. Each bag has all you’ll need to dive deeper into a favorite subject or destination — DVD movies, music CDs, cookbooks, games, cocktail ideas, and other small books about the subject.

Enjoy a new StoryWalk® in the Mesa County Libraries Discovery Garden! Through April 30, enjoy the children’s book Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You, written by Sonia Sotomayor and illustrated by Rafael López, as you stroll through the library’s garden. A special garden-themed Take and Make kit is available at the end of the StoryWalk while supplies last.

 Learning for All

Social Media 101: Keys to Reaching Your Entire School Community | April 13 @ 12:00 pm
As schools transition back to in-person instruction, social media remains a vital channel for getting the word out – especially when it comes to your school library! In this webinar, Caroline Carr, a Library Media Specialist and bona fide Twitter expert will join Christina Samek, Outreach Specialist from OverDrive to lead a crash course on how to become your best social media self. Attendees will walk away ready to put what they’ve learned into practice in their own districts.

From Being to Doing: Anti-Racism as Action at Work | April 13 @ 12:00 pm
With recent events highlighting specific issues and challenges around racism in the U.S., libraries have started asking questions about how to transform themselves into anti-racist institutions. In this session, we will focus on anti-racism as action, rather than using the word anti-racist as an identity and take a critical look at how certain hallmarks of white supremacist culture inform our notions of professionalism and workplace norms and contribute to low morale, the prevalence of microaggressions, retention issues, etc. This session will present specific actions to resist these norms, which libraries can then implement to create more equitable workplaces.

Telehealth in Rural Public Libraries | April 14 @ 9:00 am
In rural communities, libraries often have the fastest internet connection in town together with digital literacy to assist users. Rural Americans face health inequities that result in worse health care outcomes than their peers in more populated areas. Learn how a rural library partnered with the University of North Texas Health Science Center to launch a pilot telehealth program. The presentation will include a discussion of logistics, and the role of health and digital literacy in telehealth.

Earth Day Forever

Wilderness in America has been an idea, an ideal, and finally it became a law in 1964 with Congressional passage of the Wilderness Act which preserves millions of acres of land in its primitive state. Join Durango Public Library for a special Earth Day presentation on April 22 at 6:00 pm with Dr. Gulliford to review our history of wilderness, and how Colonial settlers feared it, and how advocates like Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and Theodore Roosevelt, enthusiastically supported it.

Fun Fact: Borrowing library books is the most sustainable way to read. Celebrate Earth Day (April 22) all month long with Jefferson County Public Libraries’ new Mother Earth Stories to Go kit and earth-friendly reading suggestions. You could also get lucky and snag an energy-saving giveaway (while supplies last).

Insects are essential in our gardens and pollinator habitats! Over a million kinds of insects have been identified so far and less than 1% are serious plant pests. All stages of an insect’s life are crucial to our food chain and support our natural habitats in many ways. Join Boulder Public Library and BeeChicas on April 14 from 4:00-4:45 pm for Gardening for Birds and Bees! to learn how to support a healthy ecosystem in your garden, so you can attract beneficial predators and the smallest soil microorganisms!

Pine River Library is celebrating Earth Week with a special kit that will help you green up your life! Starting Monday, April 19, you can stop by the library for a Ditch the Single Use Plastics kit which includes helpful tips for ditching plastic along with a metal straw, wax paper sandwich bags, and a set of bamboo cutlery! Every day is Earth Day when you choose to decrease the amount of single use plastics in your life!

Museums & Libraries in the News

Jefferson County Public Library Seeks Community Input on New Destination Library
Jefferson County Public Library is actively seeking community input for a new destination Library that will be located in the southern region of the county to expand services to a growing population. To learn more about the new destination Library in South Jefferson County and to sign up to participate in virtual engagement meetings for the new Library, community members are encouraged to visit jeffcolibrary.org/south-county.

GOL! gear library will open this month | Leadville Herald Democrat
Get Outdoors Leadville! will open the doors to its new gear library at Colorado Mountain College on April 17.

Kaye’s Corner: Knowledge Treasure Trove | The Herald Times
Where can you go in Meeker for a 3D printer, a telescope, a piano keyboard, and a beautiful summer retreat? The Meeker Public Library, of course!

More Than 10,000 Origami Cranes Honoring Lives Lost to COVID-19 Land at The Museum of Boulder | 5280 Magazine
The intricately folded paper birds are part of Los Angeles–based artist Karla Funderburk’s Memorial Crane Project, which is  on view at the Museum of Boulder from April 15 through the end of September.

Louisville Public Library launches new library card for kids | Colorado Hometown Weekly
In celebration of National Library Week, kids can receive their very own My First Library Card, a library card just for kids from Louisville Public Library.

What’s New at the Colorado State Library

Learning Opportunities

Upcoming CSL in Session – Let’s Get Digital: How to Bring Your Programs Online

  • April 20 @ 12:00 pm MT
  • FREE! No Registration Required
  • Join Online

Free Online Learning Opportunities for April 2021
Spring forward with the latest Wyoming State Library curated list of free online training opportunities!

Virtual Learning for Library Trustees
We’ve rounded up training opportunities for Library Trustees coming up in the next couple of months.

State Publications Blog

Library Research Service

Bad Survey Questions, part 1
Don’t let these bad questions ruin your next survey. Check out LRS’s latest blog to avoid these common survey question mistakes.

Are you thinking of making a change this year in your job?  Check out Library Jobline for hot new library employment opportunities.

This post is part of the Spotlight on Sharing initiative, which aims to increase the visibility of resource sharing in Colorado libraries. Do you have a story from your library to share? Email Marisa Wood, mwood@coloradovirtuallibrary.org. Also, be sure to follow Colorado State Library on Twitter and Facebook.

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