What's New!

Take and Makes for this project will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning Friday, June 18, 2021.

Watch this project at: https://youtu.be/dQVo4jP7a_c?list=PLMEg2Dd0dSFctLfDQxsL5SmuE8zkwQFmu

Supplies and Directions:

Materials provided in Take and Make kit: container for boat, plastic straw, rubber band, balloon
Materials you provide: sharp pencil to poke hole, container of water.

1. Poke a hole in one of the short sides of the boat using a sharp pencil. It should be nearer to the top.
2. Slide the balloon onto one end of the straw. (Pro tip: Blow the balloon up a couple times to ease expansion when on the straw.)
3. Rubber band the balloon into place. Blow the balloon up through the straw to test if it’s secured.
4. Stick the straw through the hole in the boat with the balloon on the inside. Having the balloon inside the boat allows it to move forward through the water.
5. Test your boat by blowing the balloon up through the straw. Pinch the straw to keep the balloon inflated until it can be released in water such as the bathtub or pool.
6. Watch your boat zoom off. How does air power move your boat across the water?
7. Bend the straw in the back of the boat to make it turn.

Take & Makes for Harry Potter Bookmarks, for ages 9-12, will be available at area PPLD libraries starting Fri., Jun. 11, 2021.

Supplies and Directions:

Supplies Provided: 2 pieces of Origami paper & 2 Harry Potter themed stickers

Optional Supplies Needed (from home): Markers or other items to decorate the bookmarks if desired

See pdf instructions below for more pictures to go along with each step, or watch this project at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTBlwPG3Q6s

1. Place the paper on the desk with the side that has the pattern or color you want to show facing down. Fold it in half from bottom to top and crease. You should now have a triangle.
2. Take the bottom right corner, fold it up to the tip of the triangle, and crease. Repeat this with the bottom left corner and crease. Now unfold both corners. You should see lines from creasing it where the dotted lines are in the picture to the right.
3. Now grab the tip of the triangle. There are 2 layers of paper there from where we folded it in half. Grab just the top layer and fold it down so that the tip of the triangle is touching the bottom point where the two creases meet. This will expose the other side of the paper. It should now look like this, with a little pocket in the middle of the triangle:
4. Now take the bottom left corner and fold it up to cover the left half of the triangle. Crease, then tuck the top part of it into the pocket you formed in step 3.
5. Repeat this with the bottom right corner, covering the right side of the triangle and tucking it into the flap.
6. You have a bookmark! Just stick the page into the pocket you’ve formed to mark where you are in a book. You can decorate your bookmark using markers, pens, or colored pencils or by using the provided stickers.

The Pikes Peak Library District Foundation’s sole mission is to raise and manage funds to assure excellence in the Pikes Peak Library District by funding the expansion of programs, services, and facilities beyond what is directly supported by the residents of the District. PPLD received a grant from NextFifty to increase capacity of the Mobile Library Services to better serve our aging population. The Pikes Peak Library District’s Lobby Stop service provides library access to older adults living in Independent, Assisted Living, Skilled Nursing and Memory care throughout El Paso county. NextFifty Initiative’s grant for a new lift gate on the Lobby Stop will allow the Lobby Stop staff to continue to provide patrons with access to book carts filled with materials to browse. Many patrons describe how browsing materials allows them freedom of choice which can lessen in care facilities, provides a shopping experience, and offers resources they would not otherwise have access to as most no longer drive.

Granted funds will be used for:

• A new lift gate for the Lobby Stop vehicle
• Storage cupboards and desk, installation, electrical for desk lighting: The storage provided by proposed cupboards affords the Lobby Stop staff space for more materials that patrons can access during each stop.
• Williams Sound FM ADA Compliance Kit seed money: FM systems amplify sound in smaller meeting and study room spaces. Up to four patrons who are hard of hearing can use the receiver and headphones included in this kit, or can have sound transmitted directly to their hearing aids via a receiver and neck loop. A lapel microphone is included as well as a table mic. Currently, PPLD is equipped with only one kit to use throughout the entire district. With an additional kit for the district, the Lobby Stop staff will be enabled to bring a kit to the assisted living facilities it serves to use during programs. Furthermore, the library district will have more kits available to offer patrons to use in the Pikes Peak Library District’s meeting room spaces.
• Large print book club collection seed money: Medical research shows that social interaction allows people to enjoy healthier lives. Social isolation increases dementia and cognitive decline after retirement. The Pikes Peak Library District’s Mobile Library Department, which includes the Lobby Stop Van Service, gathers books for thirteen book clubs every month. Most of the patrons participating in these book clubs require large print to participate. Currently, staff comb the catalog to find large print titles with enough copies, place holds on all the copies and monitor the holds which become available at different times. With a book club collection that is strategically developed with large print books already collated into a set that can be checked out all at once (along with book club discussion questions, DVDs, Playaways and/or CD book), wait times are decreased and the library district’s capacity to meet the demand (currently a long wait list) for large print book club collections increases, ultimately increasing number of patrons who benefit from the service.