CSL News | Resource Sharing

Friday Grab Bag, June 4, 2021

By Marisa Wood: Published on
CSL News, Resource Sharing

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.

Let’s open the Friday Grab Bag!

Service Debuts

Westminster Public Library staff will hold two ribbon cutting events on June 5 to showcase new Rec & Read kiosks. These RFID kiosks are the first of their kind in the United States and are installed in nearby recreation centers. Each kiosk holds a collection of 125 books for all ages. Join the library at 10:00 am for a demonstration at City Park Fitness Center, 10475 Sheridan Blvd., Westminster, CO 80031, or at 1:00 pm at West View Recreation Center, 10747 W. 108th Ave. , Westminster, 80021.

TLC-SmartTECH RFID Kiosk.

Celebrate the Grand Opening of TheStudio@Bemis with Bemis Library with a guided tour! TheStudio@Bemis provides makers and creators the space and resources to dive into ingenious projects. The goal is to inspire a culture of creating in Littleton. Learn to sew, start a podcast, create with Cricut and more! TheStudio is furnished with technology and equipment to inspire imagination and innovation. Reserve TheStudio for personal projects or watch for upcoming programs and workshops for all ages.

Animaniacs

You’ve heard of March Madness basketball brackets, but starting June 18th, Pine River Library is hosting a seven week “Mammal Madness” competition! Each week, two animals will battle it out, and the winner will continue on to the next round. But there’s a twist! Each week the library will set the scene of the battle and YOU get to submit your pick for who wins the battle! Winners will be selected weekly on Fridays based on who provided the best explanation for their pick- based on a mix of fun and facts! Weekly winners get a gift certificate and the final championship winner will get a stuffed animal of the winning creature!

Join Vail Public Library this summer for Pets with a Purpose in the library’s backyard. On June 29 at 2:00 meet some hardworking Alpacas and their handles, and on July 29 at 2:00 pm visit Vail Mountain dogs.

Join Anythink Brighton on June 9 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm for mySummer: Goats at Anythink Brighton, when a baby goat will visit the library – no kidding! Meet some of our four-legged friends from the SonFlower Ranch. Learn more about these fun creatures and goat-keeping in Brighton. This program will be held outside. All ages welcome. No online registration required.

Learning for All

Designing Libraries to Meet Evolving Community Needs | June 8 @ 12:00 pm MT
Even before COVID, libraries sought to better serve their patrons through design considerations and improvements. And now, with spaces opening up and a new normal in front of us, each community faces its own set of evolving needs and challenges. Join this webcast to learn from leading library architects as they discuss, Flexible design, Pandemic lessons, Workforce development and retraining, Food resources, Outdoor spaces, and more.

Giving Storytime a Tune-Up: Embedding Music Activities to Support Texts and Engage Participants | June 8 @ 11:00 am MT
Songs, rhythms, and rhymes are a natural, developmentally-appropriate way to build processing skills, memory, and focus. Learn specific songs, rhythms, and rhymes that pair with a diverse array of titles to bring a greater amount of equity and social justice into your storytimes. You’ll also learn ways to communicate the importance of music activities in building early literacy skills.

Pride Month

Celebrate Pride Month with Boulder Public Library and Out Boulder County’s Pride Ponies event on June 7 from 4:30-6:30 pm ! Paint a custom pony that represents YOU and your PRIDE. All materials provided. For teens and tweens, allies welcome.  This event will take place in the Japanese Garden at the Main Library, weather permitting.

High Plains Library District is partnering with Envision : You, a statewide nonprofit focused on supporting and empowering LGBTQ+ Coloradans who are living with mental health and substance use disorders for an LGBTQ+ Panel discussion on June 18 from 6:00-7:30 pm. The event will bring together 3-4 panelists to answer questions about terminology, offer advice, share their experiences, and encourage a safe and mature dialogue for learning and growth. Registration required.

Join Denver Public Library on June 17 from 7:00-8:00 pm for Doc & Talk: Before Stonewall. Experience the fascinating and unforgettable, decade-by-decade history of homosexuality in America through eye-opening historical footage and amazing interviews with those who lived through an often brutal closeted history and then join the online discussion.

Museums & Libraries in the News

Colorado’s 1st LGBTQ curator is uncovering the state’s hidden queer history | NBC News
As History Colorado’s first curator of LGBTQ History, Aaron Marcus is uncovering Colorado’s hidden queer history.

Pueblo city libraries offer challenge allow kids to earn $100 for reading this summer | KKTV
Pueblo County kids between the ages of 0 and 17 who have a valid Pueblo City-County Library District (PCCLD) library card or ConnectEd account are invited to participate in a summer reading challenge. To win the $100, kids must check out 10 items in person from any PCCLD location or download the items from the library’s catalog. Then they need to write, draw, or film a video in response to what they read, listened to, or watched.

Library program in Colorado Springs aims to improve kindergarten readiness | KRDO
The Pikes Peak Library District has teamed up with LENA Start to help improve school readiness by encouraging parents to talk more with their children. Parents of infants and toddlers are given a “talk pedometer” to measure how much they’re talking with their children and how much their children are responding.

Jefferson County Library: JCPL Launches Texting For More Convenient Curbside Pickup  | Patch.com
Picking up Library resources just got easier with a new texting service called “Curbside Communicator.”

Money Museum to auction off numismatic collection duplicates | The Gazette
The public has an opportunity to join numismatic experts in adding to or starting coin collections during special monthly eBay auctions of duplicate Money Museum items.

Local community pushes forward one year after George Floyd’s death | KOAA News5
Pikes Peak Library District director of diversity, equity and inclusion Shirley Martinez is helping to bring cultural materials to local libraries and helping to start conversations about inclusiveness and diversity.

Grants & Funding

IMLS American Rescue Plan Grants
The IMLS American Rescue Plan grants program supports museum and library services in addressing community needs created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and in assisting with recovery. Projects may continue, enhance, or expand existing programs and services, or they may launch new ones to address emergent needs and unexpected hardships. The deadline for submitting applications is June 28, 2021.

What’s New at the Colorado State Library

Learning Opportunities

A Values-Aligned Budget: Framing Your Library’s Funding Request for the post-COVID Era

  • June 16 @ 1:00 pm MT
  • FREE!
  • Click HERE to register

CSL in Session – There’s A Dragon In The Library: D&D For Librarians

State Publications Blog

Colorado Virtual Library

FREE Online Training Opportunities for Library Staff – June 2021
Thanks as always to the Wyoming State Library for curating this fabulous list of free online training opportunities for library staff!

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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