Friday Grab Bag, October 9, 2020

Creep & Create

Halloween is upon us and at Vail Public Library that means that is it time for the annual Scarecrow Building Contest! For this year’s event, participants are invited to build a pandemic-themed scarecrow at home, decked out in its “best work-from-home” attire. Supplies can be picked up from the library starting the week of October 11.  The first-place-winner of the best WFH scarecrow will receive an Amazon Black Fire HD8 with Alexa! Registration and submission is from October 11-28. The winner will be announced on the VPL Facebook page on October 30. Good luck!

Get creative at home with Denver Public Library and No Sew Costume Accessories,  then share your results on October 17 at 1:00 pm at an online gathering of makers! Watch their video to learn how to craft a mask and set of arm bracers – no sewing required! Join the meetup to show off your projects, ask questions about costume techniques, and meet other makers.

Pine River Library invites you to pick up a Frankenstein Cybernetic Hand kit. This kit explores human anatomy (structure and function of your hand) and how we use this to engineer cybernetics! Discover your mad engineer as you create an artificial extension of your own hand that can grab and pick up anything you please!

Día de Los Muertos

Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is a celebration from Mexico and Latin America when families gather to honor the memory of deceased loved ones on November 1 and 2. Spirits are guided home to enjoy offerings left for them on meticulously crafted altars. Learn more about this cultural tradition with virtual programs from the Poudre River Public Library District throughout October, including: Día de Muertos, ¿religión o tradición? / Day of the Dead, religion or tradition?, Orígenes y significados de los altares del Día de Muertos / Origins and meaning of the Day of the Dead altars, and much more.

Día de los Muertos makes its return to the Longmont Museum’s main gallery this fall for a special exhibition of community ofrendas (altars) and the artwork of renowned Colorado artist Tony Ortega. Ortega’s lifelong goal is to contribute to a better understanding of diversity by addressing the culture, history, and experiences of Latinx people through his vibrant art. The exhibition will include paintings, illustrations, prints, mixed media works, and a newly commissioned original downtown mural in honor of our 20th Día de los Muertos anniversary. Learn more at www.longmontmuseum.org

Learning for All

Library Engagement: What Your Community Needs and How to Respond | October 13 @ 12:00 pm MDT
What your community needs and what your library can do to address those needs can be analyzed many ways. Do you start by talking about your current services and programming, and what materials to add to your collection? Should you focus on interviewing the leaders who run agencies to help particular neighborhoods and underserved populations? What if the people who might need your library’s help are different from the staff members of the library? How will you know what they need if they aren’t coming to the library?

A Library for Everyone: Building a Model for Library Digital Accessibility | October 19 @ 12:30 pm MDT
Want to know more about the ways libraries can support digital accessibility? Learn from the expertise of Boise State University librarians Rebeca Peacock and Amy Vecchione using their digital accessibility research to show how you can apply the lessons learned in your library. In this presentation, you’ll learn what digital accessibility is and how meeting digital accessibility needs supports everyone!

Advocacy: Promoting the Value of Your Library | October 21 @ 12:00 pm MDT
Many advocacy campaigns for libraries fail because library lovers forget that not everyone has an unquestioned love of libraries. Saying someone should use and support libraries “just because” is not enough. Are community members  interested in economic development or educational achievement? Are they worried about making ends meet on a tight budget, remodeling a home, finding a job, surviving as a single parent?

Museums & Libraries in the News

Cortez Library to host virtual Craftapalooza | The Journal
Adriene Ratican of the Montelores Early Childhood Council will demonstrate a craft for the Cortez Public Library’s Virtual Craftapaloozaon October 13.

Open spots available for One Book One Broomfield virtual programs | Daily Camera
Spaces are filling up for residents to participate in One Book One Broomfield virtual programming featuring Colorado author Pam Houston’s book Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country.

COS CEO: John Spears | Colorado Spring Business Journal
John Spears, executive director of the Pikes Peak Library District, dreamed of being a professional bassoon player before making his way into library leadership.

Six new museums that are opening amid the pandemic | Washington Post
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs planned to open in advance of the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, but was derailed by the pandemic. But like the athletes honored in its expansive galleries, the executive team persevered, opening the museum at the end of July.

PPLD PROVIDES YOUNG PATIENTS WITH VIRTUAL ENTERTAINMENT | The Gazette
The Dial-a-Story and Take-and-Make programs by Pikes Peak Library District provide some distraction and joy to patients at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs.

Learning Opportunities

CSL in Session: Level It Up: Evaluating Beginning Readers

• October 27 @ 12:00 pm
• Free, no registration required!
• Join Online

Patron Privacy Webinar for Library Trustees – October 2020

• October 27 @ 4:00 pm
• Free!
• Registration required

State Publications Blog

• How to Search for Professional Licenses

Colorado Virtual Library

Colorado Public Libraries and COVID-19
In late May 2020, CSL’s LRS unit surveyed Colorado public libraries about their pandemic response and how services were adapted to safely meet community needs, and compiled the findings.

Library Research Service

Research Ethics: How to collect data without being be a creeper
Are you maintaining research ethics while conducting library evaluations? This week the Library Research Service talks about participant privacy and how to keep identification information confidential.