What's New!

Take and Makes for this homeschool experiment for ages 6-12, will be available at area PPLD libraries starting this Friday, April 2, 2021.

Introduction:

How do seeds transform into plants? What happens when a bean seed begins to grow? Watching a sprout emerge from a dry seed is nothing short of miraculous. You will plant beans inside a plastic bag to watch roots form and leaves emerge right before your very eyes. You will also compare how beans grow in light and dark environments.

Supplies Included in Take and Make Kits:

• 2 plastic zipper storage bags
• 10 uncooked pinto beans (remove from bag)
• 2 paper towels
• Data Sheet for Light Experiment
• Data Sheet for Dark Experiment
• Bean House Template

Supplies from home:

• Water (in bowl or sprayer)
• Scissors
• Scrap paper to label beans with date
• Scotch tape or glue stick
• Pen or Pencil
• Crayons or marker
• Ruler

Safety Tip: Dried beans are chocking hazards for small children. Adults will need to supervise this activity.

For This Experiment:

1. Experiment Light: choose a sunny window where the seeds will get plenty of light, but won’t be blasted by intense sun all day.
2. Experiment Dark: Find a closed drawer or closet that is dark and not opened very often.

Directions:

1. Fold paper towels so they will fit inside the bags.
2. Dampen paper towels with spray bottle (not too wet!) and place inside bags. You will need to add water to paper towels when they dry out over time.
3. Put 5 beans into each bag on top of paper towels (leave room between them to grow!) and zip closed.
4. Write the date on scrap paper, label either Light or Dark, and tape to each bag.
5. Color/decorate the frame of the Bean House Template with markers or crayons. Fold it in half lengthwise and use scissors to cut along the dotted lines (you are cutting out a large square). Tape the Light Bean Bag into the Bean House.
6. Tape the Bean House (Light Bean Bag) to a window. Put Dark Bean Bag into a dark place.

Now you are ready to prepare your data sheets. Use the Scientific Method questionnaire on the back of each sheet to make predictions about how each bag of seeds will grow. Use the front sides of the sheets to collect data. You will make drawings and take measurements. Do this every 3- 5 days and see if your hypothesis for each bean bag comes true! Do the seeds grow the same in both bags? Can you think of other variables to try besides light and dark?

Take and Makes for this project for ages 5-12, will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning Friday, March 26, 2021.

Watch this project at: https://youtu.be/nNIaTK7sFgA?list=PLMEg2Dd0dSFctLfDQxsL5SmuE8zkwQFmu

Supplies and Directions:

Step 1

• Gather your supplies
• Provided in your bag: a bendy pencil, feathers, and a Mad Lib
• From home: you will need glue (preferably a liquid glue like Elmer's) and a pencil sharpener

Step 2

• Glue your feathers to the erasure side of the pencil

Step 3

• Add a little pressure to the feathers around the pencil. This will help keep them in place.

Step 4

• Wait for the glue to dry

Step 5

• Use your Truffula Tree pencil to create a silly story using the Mad Lib! Try not to read the story until you've filled out all the blank spaces. You might need help from a grownup with this.

Celebrate Freedom of Information Day Tue., March 16!

Now as always in our history, reading is among our greatest freedoms. The freedom to read and write is almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression that can initially command only a small audience. The written word is the natural medium for the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. It is essential to the extended discussion that serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of knowledge and ideas into organized collections. (Read the full ALA's Freedom to Read Statement.)

The Library Bill of Rights
The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
3. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
5. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
6. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.
7. All people, regardless of origin, age, background, or views, possess a right to privacy and confidentiality in their library use. Libraries should advocate for, educate about, and protect people’s privacy, safeguarding all library use data, including personally identifiable information.

Learn more about Intellectual Freedom with the American Library Association.

PPLD Policies:

• Access to Materials
• Challenged Materials
• Collection Development
• Requesting Information Policy

International Resources

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Articles 18 and 19
• IFLA Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression Advisory Committee
• United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 16 (IFLA was instrumental in the formation of the goal)

Seed libraries and gardens throughout the district can help your green thumb Did you know Pikes Peak Library District is home to several gardens and seed libraries? Learn more about them below, and use the seed libraries to start gardens of your own!

CARNEGIE GARDEN

The Carnegie Garden is located between two historic buildings of the Penrose Library Campus: the 1905 Carnegie Library and the 1928 Knights of Columbus Hall. Once a parking lot, the Garden is now home to a demonstration garden and a lawn that is perfect for public functions and outdoor gatherings. Designed by landscape architect Carla Anderson, the Garden opened in 2007. “The Carnegie had just been renovated, and somebody came to a master gardener meeting and said, ‘Here’s a beautiful building that needs a landscape,’” recalls Anderson. “So I said, ‘Here’s my opportunity to volunteer in the community.’” Anderson took a look at the space and was interested in the location’s unique microclimate. “It’s on that southern slope. And it’s surrounded by hard surfaces: walls on three sides and the pavement below, so it gets a lot of heat,” explains Anderson. “For me landscape architecture is all about problem solving, taking a challenge and finding a solution to that.” Terracing the Garden solved one problem: the slope between the Carnegie Library and the wall below. It also made it easier to view the plants selected for the low water demonstration garden. “I wanted to make sure we paid homage to our native short-grassed prairie, so there are a lot of grasses that honor that,” says Anderson. “It is a plant select garden, a program by Denver Botanic Gardens and Colorado State University. They select a variety of shrubs, perennials, and grasses and make those selected plants available. Then we report back about what did well, what had problems.” The Garden has changed quite a bit since it opened 13 years ago, and will continue to do so. “It’s amazing to me how much it’s grown. It’s very much a Darwinian garden in that we plant things, and what grew and thrived deserved to be there. What didn’t survive got yanked out,” says Anderson. “A garden is a process; it’s not an end product. It’s four-dimensional art. You’ve got the three basic spatial dimensions, and then you have time.”

GREEN TEAM GARDEN

PPLD’s Green Team plans, plants, and harvests vegetable gardens and a pollinator garden at Penrose Library along Pikes Peak Avenue. Fresh spinach, lettuce, radishes, garlic, Swiss chard, herbs, and zucchini from three raised beds are regularly donated to the nearby Catholic Charities’ Marian House. The food is harvested in the morning, and they serve it that same day. Composting is done onsite and comes from the Penrose Library’s employee kitchen. Garden markers were made from recycled ceramic tiles at a library makerspace. The City of Colorado Springs provides mulch for the Garden.

HIGH PRAIRIE LIBRARY GARDEN

In the past, the Garden was maintained by staff of High Prairie Library. Starting in 2020, the Fresh Start Center now plants and harvests the garden. Food from the Garden helps support their mission to “fight hunger, poverty, and joblessness through sustainable agriculture, food distribution, employment programs, nursing support, and case management.”

DR. LOOMIS MEMORIAL IRIS TRIAL GARDENS

The Elmohr Iris Society maintains this garden at East Library. It is the only public, high-altitude trial garden in the world and features new hybrids sent from around the globe.

HIGH PRAIRIE SEED LIBRARY

This seed library encourages a thriving community of gardeners, from beginner to expert, through the process of growing, harvesting, and seed saving/sharing. Seeds can be checked out (three packets per family, per month) or donated to the library. High Prairie Library also provides classes and information to help both newcomers and experienced gardeners develop gardening skills and know-how.

MANITOU SPRINGS SEED LIBRARY

This seed library promotes the development and preservation of landrace heirloom seeds and varieties that are well adapted to high-altitude, arid growing conditions. They also promote a body of local knowledge on how to save and pass on those seeds to future growers. It lends seed and seed-saving skills to growers each year in exchange for new seed from regional gardens.

Every March, Women's History Month is celebrated. Here's is a children's booklist of great books at PPLD. Click on the pdf link below.

A look at Colorado Springs history as the city celebrates a sesquicentennial

Colorado Springs resides on land inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous peoples, including the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Tribes. Artifacts found at Garden of the Gods, one of Colorado Springs’ most beautiful natural attractions, date back an astonishing 3,500 years.

Military expedition leaders such as Major Stephen H. Long and Lieutenant Zebulon Pike later explored the area in the early 1800s.

A gold rush that began in 1858 and peaked in ’59 brought prospectors through the area, but they did not settle here. “The Pikes Peak or Bust Gold Rush is a deceiving name,” explains Matt Mayberry, director of the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum. “The gold wasn't here. It took 30 more years until the discovery of gold in Cripple Creek.”

“People coming across the country could see Pikes Peak early on and had heard about it for years,” elaborates Pikes Peak Community College Professor of History Katherine Sturdevant. “So they came here and then had to veer north. The ‘59ers were heading to the Central City-Blackhawk area, but the mountain was sort of a beacon for gold seekers.”

Colorado City (now called Old Colorado City) was founded in 1859 as a supply hub for miners heading to the gold field.

However, the city we call Colorado Springs officially began 150 years ago. At 8 a.m. on July 31, 1871, the first stake for a new town was driven at what became the southeast corner of Pikes Peak and Cascade Avenues.

GENERAL AND “QUEEN” PALMER

The founding of the town sprang from the vision of Civil War veteran General William Jackson Palmer. He was traveling between Pueblo and Denver in 1869 when he wrote in a letter, "At Colorado City, the Garden of the Gods, we stopped to breakfast. Near here are the finest soda springs and the most enticing scenery. I am sure there will be a famous summer resort here soon."

Palmer also saw an opportunity for a southward railroad route out of Denver, which was about to be connected to the Kansas Pacific Railway from the east.

“Railroads were his first love,” says Mayberry. “And you can't have railroads as a business venture in the West without having communities to serve. Colorado Springs is part of that formula.”

Soon thereafter, Palmer formed the Rio Grande Railway Company and the Colorado Springs Company. Construction on the railway began in January 1871, the first stake was driven in July, and in October the railway reached the new town.

“Colorado Springs was a product of the utopianism of the Eastern, upper-middle and upper classes,” says Sturdevant, “but it was also a business man's plan.”

“He didn't want this to be a boomtown. He wanted it to be a resort,” adds Mayberry. “Colorado Springs was to be the finest place in the west to build a home.”

Such a place would need parks, and Palmer included a city park (now known as Acacia Park) in the original town plot. He later gifted additional land that became Monument Valley Park and Palmer Park.

His wife, Mary Lincoln “Queen” Mellen Palmer, also played an important role in the town’s early days. “She is deserving of a lot of credit,” says Mayberry. “Especially establishing the school system and creating a sense of place in Colorado Springs.”

Queen Palmer taught at the first free school in town, which she opened on Nov. 13, 1871.

SPENCER AND JULIE PENROSE

“As Palmer is beginning to step off the stage,” says Mayberry, “Spencer Penrose steps on and takes our history into a different phase. He's more of a capitalist than Palmer was. Even though Palmer was an industrialist, he didn't have the same kind of drive for wealth that Penrose did.”

After making a fortune from gold and copper mines in Cripple Creek and Utah, Spencer married Julie Villiers Lewis McMillan in 1906.

Penrose had already built The Broadmoor, Pikes Peak Highway, and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo when the El Pomar Foundation was formed in 1936. The Foundation has since distributed over $500 million in grants. “That boils down to the efforts of Julie Penrose making sure that some of that wealth was available for the good of the community,” explains Mayberry.

WINFIELD SCOTT STRATTON

Winfield Scott Stratton also made a fortune in mining, hitting gold in Cripple Creek on the Fourth of July 1891 after spending 20 years as a carpenter. “He's chasing a dream all his life, and then he finally gets it. It's a story of having a wolf by the tail. You can't let go, but you can't keep holding on either,” says Mayberry. “He's plagued by wealth toward the end of his life,” with people constantly demanding money from him.

He donated land for Colorado Springs City Hall and the Mining Exchange building and paid to construct the El Paso County Courthouse (now home to the Pioneer Museum).

He also bought the town’s trolley system and spent $2 million to help Colorado Springs develop one of the top street railway systems in the country. (The streetcar system was replaced in 1931 by the Colorado Springs Bus Company.)

Stratton left a majority of his fortune to build the Myron Stratton Home, a free home for people who are "without means of support, and who are physically unable by reason of old age, youth, sickness, or infirmity to earn a livelihood." The home continues to help people to this day.

THE ARTS

“Art is foundational to Colorado Springs,” says Mayberry. “The scenic beauty of the region attracted photographers and artists like William Henry Jackson and Thomas Moran. And there was economic potential to being an artist in Colorado Springs. You could capture the scenery, and then had audiences to commission that work.”

In 1919, Broadmoor Art Academy opened in the former home of Spencer and Julie Penrose, and soon helped Colorado Springs became nationally known as a center for the arts. In 1936, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (FAC) opened at the same location. Alice Bemis Taylor donated art to the FAC collection, which also included works by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Picasso.

“We had an influx of people, which you could call an artist colony or literary colony,” says Sturtevant. “They were also friends with Julie Penrose, and she supported this artistic activity.”

POLITICAL ACTIVISM

“Colorado Springs was a place with many forward-thinking women who would make it a center for the women's suffrage movement,” says Sturdevant.

Suffragist Caroline Spencer founded the Women's Club of Colorado Springs and the Civic League. Alongside Alice Paul, she picketed the White House in 1917 and was incarcerated for seven months as a result.

Gretchen McRae is another notable Colorado Springs resident who worked for equality. A Black woman and civil rights activist, McRae wrote and edited publications such as her pamphlet Dedicated to the Lowliest Man and A Free Republic, a national magazine in the late 1930s.

In her own way, Fannie Mae Duncan was also an activist.

“Gretchen is trying in a bold-faced way to be an activist about equality, using the printed word primarily,” says Sturdevant. “Whereas Fannie Mae is trying to run a business.”

That business was the Cotton Club, where a sign famously read, “Everybody Welcome.” At a time when some places still refused to serve Blacks or required they use a separate entrance, customers of all skin colors came to Duncan’s club to enjoy music by such luminaries as Etta James, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Duke Ellington.

MILITARY

Camp Carson opened just south of Colorado Springs in 1942, soon after the start of World War II. In addition to housing and training soldiers, it also held prisoners of war. At one point, Camp Carson held about 9,000 POWs, mostly Italian and German, many of whom were put to work in the nearby agricultural and logging industries. It was renamed Fort Carson in 1954, and has been home to several divisions over the years. Many soldiers have also trained at the nearby Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site.

Also in 1942, an Army Air Base opened near Fort Carson to train soldiers for photographic reconnaissance missions. Its airfield was named Peterson Field.

Ent Air Force Base opened at the site currently occupied by the Olympic Training Center in 1952. When Ent closed in 1975, nearby Peterson Field was designated Peterson Air Force Base.

In 1954, famous aviator Charles Lindbergh was named to an advisory commission to determine the future site of the Air Force Academy. Colorado Springs was on the short list, so Lindbergh went to Peterson Field and “asked to rent an airplane,” recounts Rick Sturdevant, Kathy’s husband and Air Force deputy command historian. “Lindbergh was asked, ‘Well, do you have a pilot's license?’ And he had a pilot's license signed by one of the Wright Brothers. After the guy recovered, he rented the plane to Lindbergh, who flew up and down the Front Range to see what the air currents would be like and if it would be feasible and safe for people to learn how to fly and do a lot of practicing right here along the Front Range.” Colorado Springs went on to become home to Air Force Academy cadets in 1958.

North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, was initially headquartered at Ent Air Force Base in 1957, then was housed in the Chidlaw Building, before moving into a bunker excavated into Cheyenne Mountain. This Space Defense Center and the Combat Operations Center became fully operational in 1967.

In 1985, Falcon Air Force Station (now Schriever Air Force Base) opened and housed the 2nd Space Wing and continues to support space operations, including Department of Defense satellites.

The military presence in and around Colorado Springs has contributed more than the obvious economic impact. “An underappreciated aspect is what it does to changing the diversity of the community and bringing in more diverse residents,” says Mayberry.

THE FUTURE

“Colorado Springs, because of our rather vague founding vision of being a great place to live, we've been required to constantly reinvent ourselves,” says Mayberry. “It’s fascinating to see how we've tried to make ourselves relevant to respond to changes in the economy to look for the next best thing.

“One hundred and fifty years. You don't celebrate that every day. What we need to do, as (Mayor John Suthers) says, is be good ancestors for whoever's coming after us. So, for the 200th anniversary, when somebody is looking back at what we did, they see we've created value and we set the community up to be successful. I don't want (the Sesquicentennial) to just to be about the past. I think it's about evaluating and assessing where we want to go in the future. And then challenging us to make those decisions and go.”

COS@150

In honor of Colorado Springs’ upcoming sesquicentennial anniversary, the Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum is exploring our community’s history and through 150 objects.

PPLD Regional History Series

The story of Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region is far too interesting and complex to fit into a lone magazine article. Luckily, Pikes Peak Library District has published a series of books examining our rich history. Titles include:

• The Book of Colorado Springs
• Extraordinary Women of the Rocky Mountain West
• Legends, Labors, & Loves of William Jackson Palmer
• Rush to the Rockies! The 1859 Pikes Peak or Bust Gold Rush

Take and Makes for this project will be available starting this Friday, March 12, 2021.

Watch this project at: https://youtu.be/8avBll-4qnc?list=PLMEg2Dd0dSFctLfDQxsL5SmuE8zkwQFmu

Supplies:

Materials included in kit: circle template, cardboard, piece of string about 36”

Materials needed from home: crayons, colored pencils or markers, scissors, glue stick, sharp pen or pencil (to poke holes)

Directions:

1. Take template of color wheel or print out a copy below.
2. Color in the sections red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. For an accurate color wheel, red should be opposite green, yellow opposite purple, and blue opposite orange.
3. Cut out your circle template.
4. Glue your circle to the piece of cardboard and cut it out again.
5. Carefully poke two holes in the center of the color wheel, side by side.
6. Thread your string through both holes, then tie the ends in a knot.
7. Hold each end of the string. The cardboard circle should be about midway between the ends. Wind the string by spinning the wheel in a motion similar to a twirling a jump rope.
8. Gently pull the string tight to get the wheel spinning. If you continue moving your hands in an in and out motion, the circle should continue to spin.

Explanation:

As the wheel spins, what do you notice about the colors? The colors disappear!


As the wheel is spinning fast, your eyes blend the colors together and the color wheel looks white.

White light, like sunlight, is made of all the colors in the rainbow. When light hits a colored object, most of it is absorbed and only one color is reflected. A red object, for example, absorbs almost the full spectrum of light, reflecting red only. When the color wheel was spinning fast enough, the colors changed faster than your eyes could see the individual colors and send the signals to your brain, so the reflections of all of the colors blended together and you saw white light!

Recently, Dr. Seuss Enterprises worked with a group of children’s literature experts to review its catalog of titles and announced that it will end the publication and licensing of six books due to their racist imagery: And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer.

Pikes Peak Library District does not plan to withdraw copies of these titles from our physical and digital collections. While we continue to stand against racism, the freedom to read is one of the basic foundations of our Library District. We believe it’s in the public’s interest to provide a wide diversity of views and expressions, including those found in historical titles that provide insights into our growth and evolution as a society.

Parents and caregivers can use titles such as these as an opportunity for enlightening and productive conversations with children about the historical context in which these Dr. Seuss books were written, in addition to the problems with the racial stereotypes and prejudice found within them.

As a Library, we are actively working to ensure that a multitude of diverse voices are represented within our collection. We invite you to discover the Library’s collection, which will always include a broad range of human experiences, personal stories, and perspectives.

Watch this project at: https://youtu.be/xJ0lqs_BoLg?list=PLMEg2Dd0dSFctLfDQxsL5SmuE8zkwQFmu

Supplies:

• Yarn
• Your fingers

Directions:

1. Take the end of the yarn and loop it around the pointer finger of your non-dominant hand (if you are right-handed, tie the knot around the pointer finger of your left hand; if you are left-handed, tie the knot around the pointer finger of your right hand). Optional: Tie a knot to keep the yarn loop in place.
2. On the same hand with the knot, weave the yarn around your fingers. Go behind your middle finger, in front of your ring finger, around your pinky, behind your ring finger, in front of your middle finger, and behind your pointer finger.
3. Repeat the weaving pattern so that you have two loops of yarn around each finger.
4. You want the loops of yarn around your fingers to be loose enough to slide off your fingers but tight enough that they don’t fall off accidentally. Use your thumb to hold the loose end of the yarn tight.
5. Take the bottom loop of yarn on your pinky finger and pull it over the top loop of yarn and off your finger. You should have only one loop of yarn on your pinky finger.
6. Repeat for each of your fingers. Pull the bottom loop of yarn over the top loop and off your fingers.
7. Push the remaining loop of yarn on each finger down toward the base of your fingers. They are now the bottom loops of yarn.
8. Repeat steps 3-8 until you’re ready to be done with your finger knitting.
9. To cast off (or end your project), cut the yarn so you have about three inches left. Thread the end of the yarn through the loop of yarn on each finger, starting with the pointer finger and ending with the pinky.
10. Pull each loop of yarn off your fingers and pull the loose end tight. Tie the end of the yarn in a knot around one of the loops of yarn to fasten. Cut off the extra “tail” of yarn.
11. If you would like to take a break while working on your knitting, use a long, rounded object (a pen, pencil, chop stick, or knitting needle). Slide the loops of yarn off your fingers and onto object and put in a safe place until you’re ready to start finger knitting again.

To restart your project, slide the loops of yarn back onto your fingers. Remember that the loose end of thread will be on your pointer finger and that the knitting will lay against the back of your hand. Repeat steps 3-8 to continue knitting.

Watch this homeschool project at: https://youtu.be/Hes9P7sXTD4?list=PLMEg2Dd0dSFcQoPQnZvsy70uOGw-GdBLE

Supplies:

• 2 half sheets of cardstock; 4 craft sticks
• 1 gable roof template- see below
• 1 hip roof template sheet of aluminum foil
• 1 “plate of fortune cookies” (photo on cardstock)
• Glue
• Scotch tape
• Packing tape
• Shallow jar lid
• Sheet for foundation (cardboard, foamboard, or cardstock)
• Flat bake sheet (optional)
• Leaf blower, electric fan, or hair dryer
• squirt bottle or watering can with sprinkle spout
• Baking rack (or similar object)
• Plastic dishpan tub (optional)

Directions:

See detailed directions and templates in the pdf links below!

Photo by Jo Kassis from Pexels

Have fun tearing or cutting strips of paper and creating a collage. A collage is a work of art made by gluing pieces of different materials or different size materials to a flat surface.

For this project, your child will glue strips of construction paper to the white paper to create a unique work of art. You'll need a piece of white paper and a few colors of construction paper plus glue.

Directions:

1. To begin, have your child use child-safe scissors to cut the construction paper into strips or different size pieces. Your child can tear the paper if you do not have child-safe scissors.
2. Let your child glue or tape the construction paper onto the white paper however they want to create their collage.

Early Literacy Tip:

This project helps young children develop the fine motor skills they need to hold pencils and crayons. Having strong motor skills will help children as they begin the process of learning how to write. How can cutting or tearing paper develop this skill? As children tear or cut the paper, they are building the small muscles in their palm and hand. They are also enhancing their eye-hand coordination. They must be able to see what they are tearing or cutting while moving their hand. Learning how to use scissors plays an important role in developing fine motor skills. Here are some tips for teaching your child how to use child-safe scissors:

• To help your child remember how to hold a pair of scissors, draw a smiley face on the thumbnail of your child’s cutting hand. The smiley face reminds them to keep their thumb up when cutting.
• Cutting paper can be tricky; practice cutting playdough first.
• Cardstock is easier to cut than paper. Let your child cut old greeting cards or old playing cards.
• Provide activities that use tools such as tongs, hole punches, tweezers, eyedroppers, and clothespins to strengthen fine motor skills necessary for cutting.
• It might sound easy, but teaching young children how to cut with scissors is a very complex task. Try using this rhyme to help your child remember how to hold and use scissors properly:

Two fingers on the bottom
and the thumb on top.
Open the mouth and go
chop, chop, chop.

Uniting Manitou Springs’ library and art center to enrich community

The community of Manitou Springs now can find art, literature, creative studios, meeting spaces, and the vast resources and services of the public library all one place! Thanks to a new co-location partnership, Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) has relocated Manitou Springs Library to the Manitou Art Center (MAC).

Building upon a decade of trust and cooperation, PPLD and the MAC transformed the historic building at 515 Manitou Avenue to become a shared space that extends more benefits to local artists, Library cardholders, and the greater community. PPLD can offer more than traditional library resources and services – and in a way that’s accessible – to all in Manitou Springs. The MAC will join us in welcoming more residents to learn, connect, create, and tinker with their already extensive offering of equipment and creative spaces.

Manitou Springs Library officially opened inside of the MAC on Fri., March 5, 2021. Patrons can now safely browse the collection, speak with a librarian, book a computer session, or use the fax, scan, and copier machine. Curbside services are also available at the new co-location.

Get your limited-edition library card while supplies last!

Congratulations to artist Susan Odiam of Manitou Springs! Her original creation will be featured on our limited-edition card to celebrate the relocation of Manitou Springs Library to the MAC.

“We’re thrilled to pair our physical collection and other library services with an organization so focused on serving residents of Manitou Springs,” said PPLD Chief Librarian and CEO John Spears. “Their facilities will immeasurably enhance what we can provide to the local community.”

As the shared spaces expand in the future, Manitou Springs Library and the MAC will offer broader access to on-site meeting rooms, computer labs, makerspaces, art studios, and workforce development opportunities. The new co-location partners look forward to a future with more synergy, right in the heart of Manitou Springs, to support people’s aspirations, foster creativity and innovation, and boost prosperity.

“We’re excited to see what other long-term benefits arise from this venture, like increasing access to the MAC and expanding PPLD opportunities in Manitou Springs,” said MAC Executive Director Natalie Johnson. “We will leverage each other’s strengths of service.”

PPLD’s departure from the historic Carnegie building provides the City of Manitou Springs with necessary time to plan for its future, while still allowing the Library to adequately serve the public right now. PPLD’s leadership welcomes the opportunity to work with the City and return to the historic Carnegie building – if an expansion or facility improvements allow the Library to serve residents of all abilities, and everyone also has the opportunity to take advantage of other common services across El Paso County like access to meeting and study rooms, makerspaces, and more.

In the meantime, PPLD and the MAC looks forward to a strong co-location partnership so both can best serve the community now and into the foreseeable future. It’s beneficial for PPLD cardholders, MAC members, local artists, community partners, taxpayers, and the local economy.

“This is what can happen when we unite to find ways to better serve our community regardless of the circumstances,” shared Andy Vick, Executive Director for the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region. “I applaud Pikes Peak Library District and the Manitou Art Center for their collaboration, and I hope other organizations are inspired to move beyond traditional community partnerships and consider embracing the shared-space model that capitalizes on existing resources and plays to each other’s strengths.”

“Such alliances can lead to more people and businesses flourishing, which is what we need to strengthen the fabric of our communities for years to come.”

Due to continued restrictions and concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Pikes Peak Library District's Mountain of Authors will be a hybrid event.

Our showcase authors and keynote speaker, Lt. Joe Kenda (Ret.), will be virtual; we are currently planning for an in-person panel held at the end of April with a limited audience (more details forthcoming).

We still wish to acknowledge and celebrate the work of the wonderful local authors of southern Colorado and the Pikes Peak Region!

The 2021 Mountain of Authors event will be held on Sat., May 1, and will feature a mix of virtual, live, and pre-recorded presentations. The Virtual Book Buzz Showcase will take the place of the traditional Author Showcase.

What is a Book Buzz? A Book Buzz for our purposes is a short (3 minutes or so) video clip featuring authors talking about their most recent book.

If selected to participate, you will send us a video clip that will air on PPLD's YouTube channel beginning on Sat., May 1. Also if selected, we will reach out with more information about the logistics and detailed information about the content of the Book Buzz.

PPLD will need to receive your finished Book Buzz recording by Thu., April 1.

We would like to recognize Peggy and Clarence Shivers for their work with Pikes Peak Library District and service to the community of Colorado Springs.

Clarence and Peggy Shivers created the Shivers Fund at Pikes Peak Library District, in concert with PPLD, in 1993. They introduced the Shivers African American Historical and Cultural Collection at PPLD, which continues to expand annually thanks to the Shivers Fund and its many supporters. In addition to the collection, the Shivers Fund at PPLD also provides opportunities for our community to celebrate history, culture, and the arts. The Fund hosts concerts and other events, as well as helps expands educational and cultural opportunities for young people to encourage tolerance and diversity. Our Library District and Foundation applaud the Shivers Fund for its continued investment to create more tolerance, diversity, and community in the Pikes Peak region. Learn more about the history and work of the Shivers Fund.

It's that time again. Taxes are due on Tue., April 18, 2023. Lucky for you PPLD has all the information you need to file on time. Visit our Tax Information page for more. 

Tax Assistance at PPLD 

Get help in preparing and filing your tax returns! AARP Foundation Tax-Aide & VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program) offer free tax preparation services (geared towards low- to moderate-income taxpayers) on-site at Library locations, thanks to a team of IRS-certified volunteers. 

• Appointments are available through AARP Foundation Tax-Aide at Library 21c Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. from Feb. 2 - April 13, 2023.  Please call 719-235-6757 to make an appointment. 

• Appointments are available at Penrose Library through VITA between Feb. 1 - April 15, 2023. Reserve your spot online,
  or call 719-208-7775 and leave a message. 

  • Wed. 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
  • Thu. 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
  • Fri. 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. (and some Saturdays available)

Watch this project at: https://youtu.be/C1oVgbWPcIQ?list=PLMEg2Dd0dSFctLfDQxsL5SmuE8zkwQFmu

Supplies:

• Paper star
• Large craft stick
• White paper to cut out a snowflake
• Silver sequins
• Glue
• Scissors
• Markers
• Tape
• Other decorative bling

Directions:

1. Glue your craft stick to the back of your star so it looks like a wand. Add a piece of tape to keep it extra secure.
2. Using the white paper, cut out your own snowflake to glue onto your star (you might need to cut your paper into a square first and you might need a grown up’s help with this).
3. Decorate the craft stick with markers and add sequins and any other decorations to your wand that you would like.
4. Make some wintery magic.

Enter your creations in our PPLD Challenges! Randomly selected entries will be featured on PPLD’s websites and social media accounts and one randomly drawn entry will receive a gift certificate and prize pack of curated craft books from the Friends of the Library.

Love Letters to the Library

February is Library Lover's Month! Show us your love by writing us a love letter or note. Post a photo of your note on Facebook or Instagram any time from Mon., Feb. 15 - 28 and make sure to include the hashtag #ppldchallenge and tag @ppld to be eligible to win. Alternatively, you can send your photo to ppldchallenge@ppld.org and we will post it to social media for you! Want to post anonymously? Use the webform here.

1. Please participate in good faith.
2. Keep competitions civil and fun!
3. PPLD reserves the right to remove inappropriate content, including but not limited to obscene or offensive statements or personal attacks. Learn more about our policies here.

Have you ever wondered how much you talk to your baby/toddler?  

Would you like to learn ways to increase talking practice and get your child ready for school?  

LENA Start is an 8-week program that helps parents with children 0 - 32 months increase back-and-forth talk. Weekly sessions combine videos and group discussion to build knowledge and skills that you can put into practice with your child.   
 

How does LENA Start work?

• Attend weekly, hour-long sessions (in-person or virtually on Zoom) * 
• Complete one LENA Day per week with the LENA device (Read more about the LENA device here: https://www.lena.org/technology/)  
• Upload LENA device using your home computer OR by exchanging at a library  
• Receive a detailed report of the amount you talk with your child and track your progress through the program 

At the end of the program, qualifying families ** receive: 

•    8 children’s books    
•    $20 gift card    
*Your child does not have to attend sessions with you to participate in the program.   
**Participants must attend 7 sessions, complete 6 recordings, and return their LENA device.

LENA Start is open to residents of El Paso and Teller counties only and registration is required.  
One child per family may participate. If you have previously completed the LENA Start program, you are not eligible to participate again.  
If you are registering for a virtual LENA Start series, it is mandatory to attend one of the in-person orientation sessions to participate in the program. 

PPLD is offering one virtual session in Winter 2024! Registration opens on Dec. 1, 2023, and closes on Jan. 2, 2024.
 

• Virtual Evenings   
  Tuesdays, January 16 - March 5, 2024, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. (Register for the 8-week series here.)
   

Starting Friday, Feb., 5, 2021, visit your favorite Library location to pick up a Take & Make (materials for the program), while supplies last. For ages 9-12.

Watch this project at: https://youtu.be/YVNFFC8UttI.

Supplies:

• Card printed on cardstock
• Button cell battery
• LED light
• Copper tape
• Colored pencils or markers
• Tape
• Thumbtack
• Pencil, or pen (to poke a hole in the cardstock)

Directions:

1. Color in the template first
2. Use a thumb tack, pencil, or pen to poke a hole through the middle of the robot’s heart (for the LED light to go through).
3. Fold the card in half.
4. Lay the copper tape along the two paths (polarities) of the circuit, following the diagram. Leave space at the corner where there’s a drawing of the LED light. Reserve some copper tape for step 6.
5. Add the LED light by inserting the wire legs through the hole on the front of the card and bending the wire legs to reach the circuit path. Match the shorter wire leg with the negative path (the copper tape leading to the circle) and the longer wire leg with the positive path (the copper tape going through the dotted “fold” line. Don’t worry if your LED light placement doesn’t exactly match the drawing on the diagram – as long as the leg wires of your LED light connect with the copper tape, it should work.
6. Secure the legs of the LED light using small pieces of copper tape.
7. Add the battery negative side down inside the circle on the template and secure it by taping only the half closest to the LED light down to the card. If your battery is smaller than the circle on the template, center it in the middle of the circle.
8. Fold the corner of the card over to create a switch to turn the card on and off.
9. If you want, write a greeting in your card, and give it to someone special.

Birding is a great way to engage with nature safely, relieve anxiety, and otherwise slow down. Download your Birding 101 guide here!

• Do not disturb the birds’ habitats - you are an observer.
• Use appropriate gear! Binoculars, a field guide, and a notebook should suffice for beginners.
• For those with mobile devices, try the Audubon Bird Guide App for iPhones and Androids!
• Find a quiet spot to sit and observe. Your backyard can offer quite a selection!
• Try different times of day.
• Find other birders in the community!

CHECKOUT THESE LIBRARY MATERIALS FOR YOUR BIRDING ADVENTURES:

• Books on Birding are available on Overdrive/Libby
• Check out Colorado State Parks Pass
• Try one of our databases or suggested websites
• Books in our nonfiction collection with the number 598.07234

Gardening in the high prairie can be difficult, so the staff at High Prairie Library have created this handy year-long guide to making the most out of your gardening efforts!

Click here to download yours today!

Take and Makes for this project will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning this Friday, Jan. 29, 2021.

Supplies and Directions

Provided in your bag: a bookmark, a stylus, and a ribbon
From home: you will need a book, so you can use your new bookmark!

1. Think about what you want to draw on your bookmark: your name, a space sky, a flowery garden, stripes, polka dots, anything you like!
2. Using the stylus, scratch your scene into the bookmark. Keep in mind the hole goes at the top for your ribbon, so make sure you scratch your scene the right way up.
3. After you're done with the rainbow scratching, tie your ribbon through the hole at the top of the bookmark to give it even more color!
4. Pick a book and use your colorful bookmark!

Need help choosing a book? Check out our booklists with recommendations for everything from mysteries to humor!

Check out our many KidsMAKE videos at: tinyurl.com/PPLDVirtualKidsMake

Check out these stats and our top title of 2020 below. 

• Physical material checkouts: 1,845,866
• Additions to physical collection:18,000 titles and 58,000 items, plus 15,570 magazines
• OverDrive:
  • Checkouts: 2,430,575
  • Patrons: 61,278 patrons; an increase of 22%
• Freegal:
  • Song Downloads: 76,007
  • Songs Streamed: 248,986
• Kanopy: 58,201 videos streamed
• Hoopla: 40,813 checkouts, movies and television mostly
• New cardholders during 2020: 26,215

Top 10 Adult Titles

• The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• The Guardians by John Grisham
• Educated: a Memoir by Tara Westover
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
• American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
• The Giver of Stars: a Novel by Jojo Moyes
• A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci
• The Dutch House: a Novel by Ann Patchett
• Long Range by C.J. Box

Top 10 Young Adult Titles

• All the Impossible Things by Lindsay Lackey
• Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
• Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
• Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh
• Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
• Eragon by Christopher Paolini
• The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

Top 10 Children's Titles

• The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA by Brenda Woods
• A Long Walk to Water: A Novel by Linda Sue Park
• The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K Rowling
• Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
• Tales from a Not-So-Best Friend Forever by Rachel Renée Russell
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• Narwhal on a Sunny Night by Mary Pope Osborne
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: the Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney

Create your own work of art using the stickers and frame.

Before your child can learn to write, they must develop the small/fine motor skills which are used to grip a crayon/pencil. Peeling the back off the stickers and placing them in the frame provides your child with the opportunity to develop these skills.
To prepare young children for writing, provide them with opportunities to use their hands and fingers. This will help them later when they hold crayons and pencils.

• Open and close containers with lids
• Cut with child-safe scissors
• Finger paint with paint, shaving cream, yogurt, or pudding
• Use a paintbrush
• Play with play dough and clay—roll, smoosh, pat, pound, and use tools like popsicle sticks or stamps
• Lace Cheerios onto pipe cleaners
• Lace pipe cleaners into the holds on a colander
• Draw, scribble, or write with crayons, pencils, and markers
• Put together puzzles
• Build with small blocks

Supplies:

• Ruler (12" or 18" or 36") or measuring tape
• Yarn or string
• Scissor
• A stuffed animal or your pet

Directions:

1. Measure, as best you can, your pet or stuffed animal and determine its length in inches.
2. After you know how many inches, cut a piece of string or yarn the same length.
3. Take this piece of string and measure items around your house. How many cats (or hamsters or dogs, etc.) long is your kitchen? Your table? Your bed?

Please leave a comment below, tell us what you used to measure items around your house.

You can watch this project at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCU1Ks8mBf0