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!
Big Events & Celebrations
The Fort Collins Book Festival, The Big Think, is a free, two-day event held on October 19 & 20. This year’s festival features bestselling author Andy Weir (The Martian) alongside over 40 other authors, scientists, and visionaries. The event also includes writing workshops, book talks, readings, & panel discussions—learn more at focobookfest.org. The FoCo Book Fest is produced by Poudre River Public Library District in partnership with CSU Morgan Library.
The Colorado Springs Mini Maker Faire returns to Pikes Peak Library District Library 21C on October 20. This event brings together makers of all stripes to showcase their hobbies, experiments, and projects. The event is free but registration is preferred.
Montrose Library recently celebrated 20 years in their building with a cake party in the lobby!
Spooky Stories
Author and television personality Richard Estep will share stories taken from his experience as a paranormal investigator during Investigating Haunted Places, October 11 at Longmont Public Library. This program is for teens and adults, age 16 and up. Registration required.
Head over to Lake County Public Library for bone-chilling tales of Mines, Murders, and Mayhem. Janice Fox and Holly Henning will share spooky stories from Leadville’s history on October 29 at 6:30 pm. Pick up your free ticket at the library. This program is not suitable for children.
Spend a spooktacular evening at Nederland Community Library on October 29, when the Play-Ground Theatre players will perform their original Halloween Show, “Paranormal Pizza.” This one-hour interactive variety show is suitable for preschool and school-age children.
Music & Culture
Basalt Regional Library welcomes Matthew Gurney (aka the Kilted Man) for Celtic Hour, a performance of Irish and Scottish music played on concertina, psaltery, mountain dulcimer, bodhran, and pennie whistles. All are welcome at the concert on October 11 at 5:30 pm.
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a concert by the Colorado Youth Mariachi Group. They will perform at Anythink Commerce City on October 13 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm.
The Spirituals Project is coming to Denver Public Library’s Central Library Conference Center on October 13 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm. This award-winning choir, directed by M. Roger Holland II, performs sacred folk songs originally created and sung by African Americans in slavery.
Durango singer-songwriter Thom Chacon will perform a concert of original compositions at Pine River Library on October 12 at 7:00 pm. His style is rooted in the Americana and folk traditions of Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt.
Libraries Making News
Susan Rice, Montrose Library’s Naturita Branch Coordinator, is being honored this week as the Telluride Foundation’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year for 2018. The award is given to a citizen for extraordinary contributions to the region’s quality of life. Susan was selected not only for making a difference in the library, but also for her volunteerism with the Just For Kids Foundation, the Mountains to the Desert fundraising event, and tireless efforts in supporting youth programs.
Estes Park Trail Gazette: Local program honored as Colorado Library Project of the Year | Estes Valley Library
Colorado State University: Morgan Library opens Reflection Room
What’s New at the Colorado State Library
Learning Opportunities
CLEL (Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy) Conference
- Oct. 12, 2018, 8:00 to 4:30
- Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities
- Information & registration
CSL in Session: “Radical Cataloging: Using alternative subject headings locally to promote inclusiveness and diversity”
- Oct. 16, 2018, 12:00 to 1:00
- Free! No registration required
- Join online
CSL in Session: “Curating your Best Collection”
- Oct. 23, 2018, 12:00 to 1:00
- Free! No registration required
- Join online
View other upcoming learning opportunities for October 2018. For Colorado-specific events check the Library Learning & Creation Center.
CHNC Proudly Welcome the Denver Voice!
The Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection recently added nearly 100 issues (1996-2006) of the Denver Voice, Denver’s own newspaper dedicated to issues surrounding homelessness written by those experiencing it. Learn more about this unique resource.
Improving Library Website Usability
Guest blogger Tiffany Clendenin, Operations Manager at Broomfield Library, shared how she applied a UX (User Experience) strategy to improve the relevance, value, and accessibility of the library’s website. Read her post.
Colorado State Publications Library Blog
- Friday Grab Bag, November 16, 2018 - November 15, 2018
- Friday Grab Bag, November 9, 2018 - November 9, 2018
- Friday Grab Bag, November 2, 2018 - November 2, 2018