Friday Grab Bag is a weekly Spotlight on Sharing series that highlights fun, unique, and interesting happenings in Colorado libraries. News from the Colorado State Library is at the bottom. Let’s open the Grab Bag!
Librarians in the News
Sol Lopez, Cataloging Librarian at the Dayton Memorial Library at Regis University, recently won the Credo Story Contest. Part of her prize is a trip to the American Library Association annual conference in Chicago. Congratulations, Sol!
Civics and Citizens
Poudre River Public Library District is launching Civics @ Your Library, a three-part, nonpartisan overview of local, state, and federal government led by the League of Women Voters. The first workshop, American Government 101, will take place on Tuesday, May 16 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Old Town Library.
Practice your English skills and learn about American culture at English Conversation Circles, an ongoing program that is part of the New Americans and Language Learning series at Arapahoe Libraries. The program runs every Sunday from 1:30 to 3:00 pm—see their events calendar for the locations.
Gardening in Colorado
Colorado’s altitude and climate present unique challenges for the home gardener. Learn how to xeriscape, a type of landscaping suited to arid climates, at the Basalt Regional Library on Saturday, May 20 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.
Bud Werner Memorial Library is partnering with Routt County CSU Master Gardeners to offer an evening of summer gardening advice and instruction. Get your hands dirty at this event on Wednesday, May 17 from 5:30 to 8:00 while you learn about pests and weeds, seed selection, watering, and more.
Grow a garden anywhere using a container. Learn how from Herman Albrandt on May 16 at 6:00 pm at the East Morgan County Library.
We Dig Gardening! is a program for children ages 2-6 from the Clearview Library District. Kids will take part in garden-themed crafts, activities, and storytime on Tuesday, May 30 from 11:15 to 11:45 am at the Severance Town Hall.
All About the Tech
Registration is open for Denver Public Library’s DevCamp, a six-day camp where teens age 12-19 learn coding and web development basics. Visit their site for dates, locations, and registration info.
Eat a donut while you design a donut! Ignacio Community Library is offering a graphic design class (and donuts) on Saturday, May 13 at 9:30 am. Participants will learn to use Inkscape, a free graphic design tool, to create their own donut image. This entry-level class is perfect for beginners.
Longmont Public Library has three telescopes to lend, which were generously donated by the Longmont Astronomical Society. Each telescope kit contains a finder sight, map, headlamp, and astronomy guidebook. Stop by the circulation desk for all the details and checkout instructions.
What’s New at the Colorado State Library
Does your library have a teen or tween book club? Learn Tips for Funtastic YA Book Clubs in Arian’s latest book club post.
Growing Readers Together is a pilot program to promote early literacy services to parents and caregivers in SE Colorado. Join Joyce Johnson and Pamela Mejia de Rodriguez for a webinar on May 16 at 12:00 pm MST as they discuss the program and explore community partnership opportunities. This webinar is part of CSL in Session, a free online learning series from the State Library. CSL in Session is always free and no registration is required.
RIPL (Research Institute for Public Libraries) is offering a free, online learning opportunity on May 24 at 12:00 pm MST. Join Jane Martel from Arapahoe Libraries as she introduces Lean Six Sigma (LSS), a program designed to improve work processes. LSS is ideal for librarians seeking to manage change better and improve their project outcomes. The webinar is free and no registration is required.
CSL encourages school librarians to fill out the Colorado School Library Survey by June 1, 2017. This annual survey provides the data needed to tell the story of school libraries in Colorado. See past LRS statistics and studies to understand how this data will be used.
Check out the latest posts on the Colorado State Publications Library Blog, a great source of information of interest to all Coloradans.
- Colorado Libraries Collaborate for 25 Years. Learn about the history of CLC, Colorado’s reciprocal borrowing program celebrating 25 years of sharing.
- Time Machine Tuesday: Severe Storms. This week’s stormy weather is a reminder that the State Publications Library has several decades of reports and studies from CSU’s Climate Center.
- Colorado Farm to School Program. This program brings together schools and agriculture producers to provide healthy, locally sourced foods to Colorado’s school lunchrooms.
This post is part of the Spotlight on Sharing initiative, which aims to increase the visibility of resource sharing in Colorado libraries. How is your library sharing? We’d love to hear about it! Email Amy Hitcher, ahitchner@coloradovirtuallibrary.org. On Twitter follow @hitchlib and use the hashtag #spotlightonsharing.
- Friday Grab Bag, November 16, 2018 - November 15, 2018
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- Friday Grab Bag, November 2, 2018 - November 2, 2018