Friday Grab Bag, January 10, 2020

Shelf Awareness

Join Denver Public Library at Wild Women Wine on January 28 from 6:30-8:00 pm for the Winter of Reading edition of the Get Lit Pop Up Book Club for a discussion of Antoine Laurain’s Vintage 1954. When Hubert Larnaudie invites fellow residents of his Parisian apartment building to share his bottle of 1954 Beaujolais, he has no idea of its special properties. The following morning, Hubert finds himself waking up in 1950s Paris, as do his new friends! Tours of Wild Women Wine will be available.

Longmont Public Library hosts The Library @ The Museum: An Evening with Author Pam Houston on February 6 at 7:15 pm. Award-winning author Pam Houston will discuss her new memoir Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country on stage at the Longmont Museum with fellow Colorado author Karen Auvinen. Registration is required. Click HERE to register.

Literature Out Loud, Pitkin County Library’s  Story Time for Grown-ups starts 2020 off on January 19 at 1:00 pm with stories by Margaret Atwood, whose works are full of surreal wrath and relentless humor.  “I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth,” a re-visitation of characters from Atwood’s novel, “The Robber Bride” will be read by Trary LaMee. Next, Meredith Daniel will bring you “Weight,” dealing with capitulation to and defiance of the male world.

Kids and Tweens are invited to Poudre River Public Library on January 16 from 3:30-5:00 pm for All About Writing! With children’s author Patrick Jennings (Guinea Dog). Attendees will build a story with Jennings, which he will then tell. This special event and writing workshop is for kids ages 7-12. No registration but bring a notebook and pencil.

Treat yourself to an evening of indulgence  on January 25 from 4:00-9:00 pm at Jefferson County Public Library’s Romance in the Rockies, featuring celebrated and bestselling author Robyn Carr! Start your evening with some shameless fun as you get to know a diverse panel of local romance authors – chat with Robyn about her popular Virgin River and Sullivan’s Crossing series, crafting the perfect hero and writing romance in the modern world. With intimate conversations, book signings, decadent treats and eats and maybe even a special appearance from a cover model or two!

Learning for All

Reverse Strategic Planning: Evaluating A Team’s Workplace Productivity | January 14 @ 11:00 am
A reverse strategic planning meeting is about creating a group snapshot of what members of a team, department, committee, or staff (25 people or less) are doing. This webinar explains how to run such a planning meeting in order to help teams understand how everyone’s work fits together.

Getting Started with 1000 Books Before Kindergarten | January 22 @ 10:00 am
Learn about the basics of how Siouxland Libraries launched a 1000 Books before Kindergarten program on a minimal budget and the grants and funding sources they found to expand the original program. Find out about the benefits of the program, how to implement aspects of the program in your own library, and how to encourage parents/caregivers to serve as their child’s first teacher.

Free Online Learning Opportunities for January
Explore the multitude of free online learning opportunities!

Pick ‘n’ Mix

Basalt Regional Library is celebrating the 10th anniversary of their “new” building with a free, family-friendly event, LEGENDS of the LIBRARY tonight (January 10)  from 6:00-8:00 pm. The doors will be thrown open to the community to help celebrate the library, (aka “living room” of the community, the “heart” of Basalt, and the “hub” of the midvalley). Local food trucks, an interactive scavenger hunt, music by the Colorado Mesa Jazz Quartet and memorabilia will round out the event. The party is open to the community and patrons are encouraged, though not required, to dress up as their favorite literary character. Sounds like a blast!

Planting season may be a ways off, Adams State University’s 2020 Community Seed Exchange is right around the corner! At 2:00 on January 25, bring your enthusiasm, knowledge, and seeds to Nielsen Library to share, swap, and/or donate and stick around for hot tea and a door prize. Seed to Seed: A Seed Library for the San Luis Valley is a joint initiative of Neilsen Library, SLV Local Foods Coalition, Valley Educational Gardens Initiative, and Alamosa Community Greenhouse.

Join Mesa County Libraries on January 13 at 6:30 pm for Stalking Wild Mushrooms, presented by Rolf Ganahl. Ganahl, originally from Switzerland, was introduced to mushroom hunting at five years old. At almost 75, he still enjoys it. His wife, Donna, occasionally joins him on excursions and executes gourmet transformations in the kitchen. Join Rolf, Donna, and their private mushroom library (!!) for this presentation and demonstration.

Museums & Libraries in the News

Women’s Vote Centennial tours area | Valley Courier
The Women’s Vote Centennial Colorado’s commemoration of the 19th Amendment hit the road this month with its Road to the Vote traveling artifacts tour across Colorado.

Library accommodations and availability | North Forty News
Red Feather Lakes Community Library makes accommodations available for convenience and safety.

Denver library says without fines, more people are returning books | 9 News
Denver Public Library ditched fines in 2019, and saw more people returning overdue books because of it.

Libraries, education advocates tackle kindergarten preparedness | Pine River Times
More than half of Colorado kids aren’t fully prepared when they enter kindergarten. The Early Childhood Council of La Plata County and local libraries want that to change through kindergarten preparation workshops for caregivers.

The Decade That Was…

Throughout the month of January, we are looking back at the trends, activities, and shifts that defined the 2010s in Colorado libraries.

• Colorado Libraries in the 2010s: Buildings & Spaces
• Colorado Libraries in the 2010s: Children and Family Literacy Focus & Expansion

Learning Opportunities

Serving the Underserved: tips for serving the homeless

• • January 23 @ 12:00 pm MT
  • Free – no registration required!
  • Join online

Colorado Virtual Library

State Library Receives an additional $450,000 over 3 Years for Early Literacy in Libraries
We look forward to an additional three years of focus on early literacy in Colorado.

Tips for Public Library Policy Development
We’ve got tips to make your policy development process run a little more smoothly.

State Publications Library

• Colorado’s Small Mammals, Part III: Mustelids
• Colfax: Metro Denver’s Most Famous (or Infamous!) Street