Ruth Holley Library will be temporarily closed for approximately one week starting Mon., Dec. 2 to complete roof repairs.Categories
May is Mental Health Awareness Month – a time to learn more about and recognize the importance of taking care of our mental health and well-being. With so much focus on physical health, it’s easy to forget that our minds require love and attention, too. This month also serves as an important reminder for everyone to check in with friends and family who may need additional support.
Booklists
PPLD Resources
- Tough Topics guide for teens: Mental Health and Suicide
The resources in the Tough Topics guide are organized into a page for youth seeking support, as well as parents and caregivers. - Tough Topics Bookmark
A printed resource for teens available at Library locations. These bookmarks have book call numbers that can help anyone find books on the shelves dealing with mental health-related topics. Phone numbers for local resources are also listed. - Community Resources at PPLD
We have all found ourselves in a difficult situation and we aren’t always sure where to turn. Pikes Peak Library District offers community resources information across the District. Our Community Resources Specialists are here to help you navigate and connect with services by providing referrals and information to get the help you need for your specific situation. Please note that these are not mental health services. - Helping Hands El Paso County Community Resources
Discover mental and behavioral health resources available in El Paso County. - Psychology & Behavioral Sciences database
This database contains full text information from more than 560 journals. It covers topics on emotional and behavioral characteristics, psychiatry and psychology, mental processes, anthropology, and observational and experimental methods. (Must have a library card that starts with a 4 to access outside of a Library location.)
Websites
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
The 988 Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States. - Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention
The mission of Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention Partnership is to unite the community in addressing suicide in the Pikes Peak region through education, intervention, and postvention. - Colorado Crisis Services
Colorado Crisis Services provides free, confidential, and immediate support from trained professionals and peer specialists, available 24/7/364 by calling 844-493-8255 or texting TALK to 38255. - May is Mental Health Awareness Month (American Hospital Association)
As Mental Health Awareness Month, May is a time to raise awareness of and reduce the stigma surrounding behavioral health issues, as well as highlighting the ways that mental illness and addiction can affect all of us – patients, providers, families, and our society at large. - National Alliance on Mental Health
The National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. - Mental Health America
Mental Health America is the nation’s leading national nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of mental health, well-being, and illness prevention. Visit their Taking Good Care of Yourself page for tools to aid you in your mental health journey. - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. - National Institute of Mental Health
The National Institute of Mental Health is dedicated to transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses. Visit their Caring for your Mental Health page for helpful tips and tools for caring for your mental health.
In 1890 and 1891, prospectors in the Pikes Peak region discovered the rich gold ore that touched off the legendary Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Rush. With the modern comforts we enjoy today, it can be difficult to imagine what the gold rush was like for people living it. For an authentic gold rush experience of your own, visit our Pikes Peak Culture Pass partner Victor Thomas Lowell Museum in Victor, Colorado. Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) cardholders can check out a no-cost entry pass to this piece of regional history through the Culture Pass program.
Located in the heart of the town of Victor, the Victor Lowell Thomas Museum features displays exploring the historic gold mining days, as well as the miners and pioneers, some of them millionaires, who made the town famous. Victor’s history is one of exploration, ranching, gold mining, and railroading. The museum showcases two floors of artifacts, books, exhibits, and photographs depicting life in Victor from its beginnings to the heyday of gold mining. Among the exhibits you will find a diamond dust mirror, a large collection of mining artifacts, themed-rooms, and an old-fashioned doctor's office!
The 1899 building the museum calls home is a historic experience of its own, boasting its original wood floors, tin ceilings, and many fixtures dating back to the gold rush era.
While you are there, be sure to check out the newly renovated Lowell Thomas room. The exhibit is dedicated to sharing the life of famous journalist, author, and world traveler Lowell Thomas after whom the museum was named.
Victor Thomas Lowell Museum joined our Culture Pass program in June 2023 to increase awareness about the museum, the Town of Victor, and life in the gold rush era among PPLD patrons. What a great opportunity for library cardholders to experience a taste of the gold rush while enjoying a short drive out west!
Patrons can check out a Culture Pass to the Victor Museum in the summer months, and some weekends in the fall, weather permitting. Victor Thomas Lowell Museum will celebrate its 65th anniversary on June 26, 2024. Learn more about the celebration and the museum on their website.
Announcing an upcoming gallery exhibit at the Library! The exhibit will be at Penrose Library for the month of May, starting on Fri., May 3.
On the day that the gallery opens, join us for a workshop with Asay from 4 – 5 p.m. at Library 21c. During the workshop, Asay will explore his inspiration, his career as a cartoonist, and the pieces featured in the gallery. Asay, who worked at the Taos News, the Colorado Springs Sun, and briefly for The Denver Post, was the featured political cartoonist for The Gazette for more than 20 years, from 1986 to 2007. He retired from The Gazette in March of 2007.
After his retirement, Asay’s art and commentary lived on in syndication for six more years, reaching audiences worldwide through hundreds of newspapers. In 2013 Asay put aside his pens, pencil, and paper after drawing a final cartoon in his lauded style announcing his full retirement in June of that year.
Colorado Springs entrepreneur Jon Medved and the Medved Family Charitable Fund approached the Library about bringing Asay’s art to the Pikes Peak region. The exhibit highlights his work, applauds his talent, and fosters discussion about the artist’s commentary as a retrospective on the time nearly 40 years ago.
The exhibit will feature more than 30 of Asay’s cartoons through the end of March in the galleries at both Library 21c and East Library. It will be on display at Penrose Library later in 2024.
Stop by to browse the exhibit, and view much of Asay’s work online in our Digital Collections. Over the last few years, Pikes Peak Library District has worked with The Gazette to digitize more than 10,000 cartoons that Asay drew for the paper, archiving them in our digital photo archive housed by our Regional History & Genealogy department.