What's New: General

Western Mining Museum Photo

Visit the Western Museum of Mining & Industry

As you arrive at the Western Museum of Mining & Industry (WMMI), you can see right away that they have a strong commitment to preserving and interpreting the rich mining history of Colorado and the American West. Nestled on the far northern edge of Colorado Springs, WMMI features working machinery, a mining tunnel replica, and panning for gold on its 27-acre campus. The Library’s Pikes Peak Culture Pass Program helps you step back in time and experience how things were done more than a century ago with no-cost access passes to the museum that you can check out with your library card. 

History comes to life at the museum. Seeing fluorescent minerals or a working 19th century steam engine in person does a lot to really connect people with the history of our area. Learn how mining contributed to the local economy, explore the historic Reynolds Farmstead, and delve into the historic role this farm played in northern El Paso County. 

Every third Saturday of the month, WMMI hosts Family Fun Days that support science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). Come out and say hello to Pikes Peak Library District during Family Fun Day on Sat., April 20 as we join them to celebrate the arts and sciences. Our Mobile Library Service will be there to explore STEAM with a fun craft you can make and take home.

Our Mobile Library Service has enjoyed partnering with the museum with regular stops at the Reynolds Ranch House. During these stops, we bring Storytime and Library services to the surrounding community. Families look forward to our mobile library visits to participate in Storytime or make a craft to commemorate their visit to the museum.

In February 2024, we are partnering with the museum to host one of our public input sessions as well. Our community is invited to join us at the Western Museum of Mining & Industry on Wed., Feb. 14 from 2 – 3 p.m. to share their Library experiences and discuss how our facilities can continue to meet the growing needs of our community. Join us and help shape the future of our libraries together.

Pikes Peak Library District is proud to partner with the Western Museum of Mining & Industry to continue to offer no-cost passes for patrons to experience the history of the American West through our Culture Pass program. The Western Museum of Mining & Industry is one of 12 Culture Pass partners that you can explore. Use your library card to check out a pass today!

A selection of several top books from 2023 sit on a book display, including The Sun and the Star; Scythe; The Boys from Biloxi, Front Desk, and others.

Top Book Checkouts 2023

The numbers are in, and our community made excellent use of the Library in 2023! From eLibrary use and program attendance, to the most checked out book titles of the year, we feel that this data reflects the vibrant communities we serve. We also had 27,489 people sign up for library cards last year.

As one exciting 2023 achievement, we reached 3 million digital checkouts on Libby and OverDrive. In September 2023, we announced on social media that we reached 2 million Libby/OverDrive checkouts about a month earlier than we had reached the same milestone in 2022. We thought this was the height of excitement until we joined 22 other libraries in surpassing 3 million. Our community made this possible by borrowing eMagazines, eBooks, and eAudiobooks through the Libby app and its parent website OverDrive.

People throughout El Paso County visited our libraries more than 1,878,247 times to check out 2,298,021 physical materials (and 3,096,369 digital materials, but you don’t have to visit for that), use computers 219,885 times, ask 96,218 reference questions, and fill meeting rooms 27,623 times. We saw more than 156,790 people attend our 6,533 program offerings, and 3,180 Pikes Peak Culture Pass checkouts allowed people to visit cultural attractions around the Pikes Peak region and Denver. We are excited to see how you use your Library in 2024!

Here are the top checkouts of 2023:

Top 10 Juvenile Checkouts

  1. The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor (checked out 915 times)
  2. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling (checked out 801 times)
  3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (checked out 764 times)
  4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (checked out 735 times)
  5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (checked out 715 times)
  6. Front Desk by Kelly Yang (checked out 711 times)
  7. City Spies by James Ponti (checked out 698 times)
  8. Rhinos at Recess by Mary Pope Osborne (checked out 607 times)
  9. A Long Walk to Water: A Novel by Linda Sue Park (checked out 584 times)
  10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (checked out 569 times)

Top 10 Teen Checkouts

  1. Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (checked out 425 times)
  2. Scythe by Neal Shusterman (checked out 398)
  3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (checked out 329 times)
  4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (checked out 275 times)
  5. Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan (checked out 199 times)
  6. Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman (checked out 189 times)
  7. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (checked out 186 times)
  8. Eragon by Christopher Paolini (checked out 184 times)
  9. The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure by Rick Riordan (checked out 176 times)
  10. Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer (checked out 167 times)

Top 10 Adult Checkouts

  1. The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line by Mari K. Eder (our 2022 All Pikes Peak Reads title, checked out 1,088 times)
  2. Simply Lies by David Baldacci (checked out 954 times)
  3. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (checked out 953 times)
  4. Storm Watch by C.J. Box (checked out 901 times)
  5. Desert Star by Michael Connelly (checked out 829 times)
  6. The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham (checked out 821 times)
  7. Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (checked out 796 times)
  8. Fairy Tale: A Novel by Stephen King (checked out 729 times)
  9. Mad Honey: A Novel by Jodi Picoult (checked out 684 times)
  10. Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes (checked out 669 times)

Black History Month 2024

Join Pikes Peak Library District in celebrating Black History Month! Black History Month is a time to celebrate the contributions and achievements of African Americans throughout history. This month-long observance is an opportunity to recognize the impact that Black Americans have made on our society. Browse this page to explore Library resources and links to other websites where you can explore this history in-depth. 

 

Virtual Author Visit

Join us for a Virtual Author Visit with award-winning author Jason Mott about his recent novel Hell of a Book on Tue., Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. This magnificent work of fiction is deeply honest, at times electrically funny, and is a book that goes to the heart of racism, police violence, and the hidden costs exacted upon Black Americans and America as a whole. Register to get the link.

Virtual Genealogy Class: Researching African American Ancestors

Researching your African American ancestors can be a challenging, yet rewarding, process. In addition to research strategies, this class will cover how to use both traditional and unique resources to explore your family tree. Register for the access link.

Resources

Education Resources

Regional History & Genealogy Resources

Websites