What's New!

Take and Makes for this project will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning Friday, Nov. 5, 2021.

Supplies and Directions:

Materials we provide: Dry Erase Marker
Materials you provide: Glass or ceramic surface (Pyrex pans, plates, bathtubs, etc.), Water

1. Draw a picture on your smooth glass/ceramic surface with a dry erase marker.
2. Cover the drawing with some water (the warmer the better).
3. Watch while your drawing lifts off the surface and floats around on the water!
4. You can push the drawing around to your heart’s content.
5. After you have watched your drawings come to life in the water, stick your hand into the swirling color and it will stick to your skin like a tattoo!

TIPS:

• You will be more successful if you draw a solid picture (e.g. a solid shape).
• When the drawing lifts off the surface, it will not maintain its shape.
• The skin tattoo will wash off very easily.

This works because dry erase markers are mostly made up of alcohol and a release agent made of silicon oils. When you write on the plate or Pyrex dish, the alcohol evaporates and just leaves behind the ink and release agent. We all know that oil and water don’t mix, so the ink with the oils in the release agent just float to the top!

Join us for an evening of experimental musical performances by local artists. These artists will perform original works with a conceptual approach to tonality, structure, and performance.

• Where: Knights of Columbus Hall (KCH)
• When: Fri., Nov. 19 at 6 p.m.

Artists

• Ricky Sweum and Sean Schafer Hennessy

  These composers share their representation of Knights of Columbus Hall through time; an original performance of sound, music and imagery.

• Michael Doherty

  Steeped in the traditional repertoire and techniques of a shakuhachi lineage that reaches into the Edo Period of Japan (1603-1867), Michael’s lineage also includes radical innovators like the controversial Zen Priest, Watazumi Doso Roshi. In this performance of traditional and new solo ritual pieces called honkyoku, micro-tonality (traditional tuning) and Japanese aesthetics like ma and wabi-sabi will be explored- at times taken to extremes. Space and silence will be investigated in a similar sense ad that germane to the Wandelweiser group of composers and performers where rather than durations of notes being mapped, music becomes a space to occupy.

• Zandrew

  Zandrew, an anomaly in space and time, delivers an intricate array of realtime unheard sounds and binaural interferences. Presenting in an auditory and visual bath of new existence with the assistance of Megacorp.

Take and Makes for this project for ages 9-12 will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning Friday, Oct 29, 2021.

Supplies and Directions:

Supplies Included: Mini glass bottle, jump ring, metal eye hook, keyring, mini recipe card
Supplies Needed (from home): scissors, pliers, clear glue.

1. Cut out the DIY mini recipe card (there’s an extra just in case). Remove the tape from the cork and discard. Take the cork out of the bottle and remove the metal eye hook and the jump ring. Place the recipe card in the bottle.
2. Screw the metal eye hook into the center of the top of the cork by hand.
3. Take the jump ring and loop it through the metal eye hook and the end of the key ring to connect the cork to the keyring.
4. Use pliers to close the jump ring.
5. Apply glue to the edges of the cork, and place in the bottle. Put the cork back in the bottle, pressing down to help seal the glue. Be careful since the bottle is made of glass!

Materials Needed:

• Biodegradable Packing Peanuts
• Black Permanent Marker
• Small Bowl
• Water

Directions:

1. Use a black permanent marker to draw a ghost face on each packing peanut. Remember, they MUST be biodegradable packing peanuts. (That means they are made of starch, not polystyrene.)
2. Fill a small bowl with room temperature water.
3. Place one ghost on top of the water and watch what happens.

You will start to see small bubbles appearing on the sides of the packing peanut ghost. And then the ghost will disappear right before your eyes! Your results may depend on the type of Biodegradable Packing Peanuts you use. (about 5 – 10 min.)
If the melting packing peanuts are taking too long to disappear, try using hot water to help speed up the process.

Why Do Biodegradable Packing Peanuts Melt?
These new packing peanuts are made out of biodegradable corn starch, which means they break down easily instead of just sitting in the garbage dump for years and years like the older style ones. The water helps break them down even faster whether water temperature will affect the speed they dissolve.

• How fast do the ghosts dissolve in different temperatures of water? Get a stopwatch and time it.
• Make a chart to record your results.

Where can you find kids' books that display positive character traits? Click on the pdf link below to see our new staff recommendations for books with character.

TAKE AND MAKES for this homeschool project (Ages 7 Up) will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning Friday, Oct. 22, 2021.
Watch the Cerealism: Out-of-the-Box-Art video tutorial on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kHjyAqjtMUst

Supplies Included in Take and Make and Needed from Home

In Take and Make:

• Cereal box or other consumer brand box (if your Take and Make does not include one, you can use one from home)
• Book jacket / scrapbooking paper
• Examples of Cerealism Collage sheet

From Home:

• Scissors
• Clear Elmer’s glue

Directions: You can find all the instructions with explanatory photos in the video and pdf link below.

Step 1: Prepare Your Box

1. Open your cereal (or other consumer brand) box at both ends.
2. Open the cereal box along the glued side seam so that it lays flat.
3. Cut the front cover away from the back, along the side panel connected to the back.
4. Cut off all top and bottom flaps. *Save the flaps
5. Cut away the side panel from the front cover.
6. Cut away the narrow strip from the outside of the back cover.

The front box cover will be your collage material. The back cover with side panel will serve as the foundation/background for gluing your collage to.

Step 2: Decide How You Will Cut Your Front Cover into Collage Pieces
Choose one of these four ways to cut your box cover (but wait until Step 4 to cut).

1. Cut down the long side of your box front, making strips about ¼ inch wide. Cut each strip into 3 to 5 pieces. Arrange them “boardwalk” style, placing the pieces out of order.
2. OR cut your box front horizontally, into 4 thick strips. Cut each strip into 3 squares. Cut each square into smaller squares and rectangles.
3. OR cut your box front in half horizontally. Cut each half into 4 squares. Cut each square into random angles (e.g., triangles and trapezoids).
4. OR you can combine all cutting techniques … strips, squares and rectangles, and random angles. (*WARNING: This choice is very challenging to collage!)

Step 3: Decide How You Will Sign Your Artwork (just like Michael Albert, Cerealism Artist)
Three ways to find/make your initials for “signing” your collage:

1. Using the flaps from your box, look for the first letter of both your first and last name. If you find letters that are the size and style you like, cut around them in a square or rectangle and save them to add to your collage later.
2. OR make your initials in block letters on the back of one of the box flaps and cut out around the shape of the letters. When you turn them over, they’ll look just like the cereal box and will be very tricky to find in your collage.
3. OR you can search for your initials on the book jacket in your Take and Make, cut out around them in a square or rectangle, and place them in your collage later on.

Step 4: Create Your Cerealism Masterpiece
*TIP: Work from bottom to top OR top to bottom.

1. It helps to cut about an inch wide strip off the top of your box front.
2. Next, cut your box into sections using one of the cutting techniques above (Step 2).
3. Each time you cut up a smaller section, practice arranging the pieces on your background. NO GLUE YET!
4. As you arrange, decide on how much space you’ll leave between pieces.
5. Cut larger pieces into smaller pieces when you need to. You’ll need all sizes to fit your spaces. You can also cut small pieces from your leftover box flaps and panels.
6. When you’re ready to glue a section down, do it one piece at a time. Place a small dot of glue on the back of your piece, smooth it over the back surface, place your piece, and press firmly.
7. When you have glued the first section down, continue to cut, arrange and glue one section at a time.
8. Remember to add your initials into your collage somewhere in a bottom section!
9. When your collage is complete, you can frame it by cutting the book jacket and/or the decorative paper into mosaic-like pieces, gluing them down to make an interesting border OR … you can just trim the background to fit the finished collage!
10. Challenge your masterpiece admirers to find your “signature”!

Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) announced today that it reached a record-breaking two million digital book checkouts in October 2021. This accomplishment illustrates the continued growth and importance of library digital lending of eBooks and audiobooks. PPLD is one of 54 public library systems worldwide that has surpassed one million checkouts at this point in the year.

PPLD provides readers 24/7 access to eBooks and audiobooks through OverDrive and its award-winning Libby reading app. Reader interest and usage has grown constantly over the years; 2020 ended with 2,430,575 digital checkouts.

The highest-circulating digital title borrowed by PPLD readers thus far in 2021 has been The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, checked out as an eBook or audiobook more than 2,600 times. The top-circulating genres include fiction with more than one million circulations, nonfiction at over 450,000 circulations, and literature nearing almost 450,000 circulations.

The top 5 eBook titles borrowed through PPLD’s digital collection in 2021:

1. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
2. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
3. A Time for Mercy by John Grisham
4. Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
5. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

1. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
2. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
3. The Duke and I by July Quinn
4. The Guest List by Lucy Foley
5. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Readers in El Paso County only need a valid library card to access digital books from PPLD’s OverDrive-powered digital collection. Readers can use any major device, including Apple(R), Android™, Chromebook™ and Kindle(R) (US only). Visit ppld.org/eLibrary or download the Libby app to get started and borrow eBooks and audiobooks anytime, anywhere.

Take and Makes for this Make project will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning Friday, Oct. 15, 2021.

Supplies and Directions:

Step 1.
Gather your supplies.
Provided in your bag: cardstock leaves to color and cut out, pipe cleaners
From home: colored pencils/crayons/markers, scissors, tape or glue
Step 2.
Color in your leaves (or find some real leaves outside!). Try mixing colors to get your perfect fall leaf. Using a marker or pen, draw faces on your leaves.
Step 3.
Cut out each leaf carefully (you might need a grownup’s help with this).
Step 4.
For each leaf: cut a pipe cleaner in half. Tape or glue both halves to the back for the arms and legs. Bend them however you like to make your leaf unique!
Step 5.
Have fun with your little leaf sprite friends!

Take and Makes for this project are available starting today, Oct. 8, 2021, at area PPLD libraries.

Supplies and Directions:

Materials Provided: White Tissue Paper, Balloon
Materials you Provide: Scissors, Head of Hair, Marker, Spooky Music (optional), tape (optional)

Directions:
Cut several ghosts out of your tissue paper. Each ghost should be about 1.5 inches long. Draw eyes on each ghost with your marker.
Place your ghosts on a flat surface.
Blow up your balloon and tie the end. Rub it through your hair really fast for about 10 seconds to add a static charge.
Move the balloon near your ghosts. They should begin to rise toward the balloon. See if you can get them to rise, move, and dance around. You should be able to get the ghost to move from several inches away.
If you want the ghost to rise without sticking to the balloon, try taping just the tip to your surface.

The Science behind it:
As you rub the balloon through your hair, you are building up negatively charged electrons on the surface of the balloon. They are then able to pull light positively charged items toward them.

Welcome the Pikes Peak Region's new Poet Laureate!

Please join us in welcoming the Pikes Peak Region's new Poet Laureate! This hour long event will feature poetry readings from a variety of local poets, including past Pikes Peak Poet Laureates.

• When:Sat., Oct. 23 from 6 - 7 p.m.
• Where: Knights of Columbus Hall: MacLaren Hall
• Click here for more.

The evenings activities will be emceed by former Pikes Peak Poet Laureate, Susan Peiffer.

The program will feature:

• Opening remarks by Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) Chief Librarian & CEO, John Spears
• Performances by local poets (TBD)
• Past Poet Laureate Performances by Price Strobridge, Aaron Anstett (invited), and Susan Peiffer
• Installation Ceremony, and performance by Poet Laureate, Ashley Cornelius

El Pomar Foundation honors Peggy Shivers with Inaugural Excellence in Arts and Culture Trustee Award

Award Presented as part of El Pomar’s Annual Awards for Excellence

On Friday October 1, 2021 Peggy Houston Shivers was recognized by El Pomar Foundation Trustees as the recipient of the inaugural Excellence in Arts and Culture Trustee Award, which honors an individual who has demonstrated a commitment to the advancement of arts and culture in Colorado. In a ceremony with other Awards for Excellence honorees at The Broadmoor Hotel, Shivers was introduced by El Pomar Trustee Colonel Gail Colvin, US Air Force (Retired), before delivering her own remarks. As a part of the award, a $10,000 grant was given to the Shivers Fund at Pikes Peak Library District.

From a young age, Peggy Houston Shivers studied voice. She was selected by Duke Ellington to be the featured soloist in his Sacred Concert II at Grace Cathedral and was the featured artist for the Bicentennial Celebration sponsored by the United States Embassy in Spain. Peggy also worked in the public school system in the United States, helped develop a program for dyslexic children of American families living in Spain and a crisis line program for Torrejon Air Force Base. She moved with her husband to Colorado Springs in 1979.

Peggy Shivers helped create the Shivers African American Historical and Cultural Collection at the Pikes Peak Library District to address the lack of information about African American history in Colorado Springs. The Shivers Fund at Pikes Peak Library District has also been established to ensure that funds will be available to maintain the collection for years to come. The Shivers Fund sponsors a concert series which allows young artists the opportunity to perform in a professional setting, awards grants, scholarships and financial support to students and provides educational activities to encourage young people to participate in and enjoy the classical arts. A choral group, the Celebration Multicultural Ensemble, has also been organized as an extension of the Shivers Fund. In addition, she has served on many boards including NAACP, Urban League, United Way, Colorado Springs Symphony, Colorado Springs Dance Theatre, Colorado Opera Festival -- where she served as president -- and the Pikes Peak Library District Foundation.

About El Pomar Foundation’s Awards for Excellence Program

El Pomar Foundation’s Board of Trustees developed the Awards for Excellence program to honor the commitment of Spencer and Julie Penrose to excellence in the nonprofit sector. The program recognizes individuals and organizations from across Colorado who serve their communities with distinction. Honorees are selected by a committee of community leaders, council members from El Pomar’s Regional Partnerships program and El Pomar Fellowship Alumni. Since its inception in 1989, Awards for Excellence has provided more than $6.5 million in grant support to more than 500 nonprofit organizations throughout Colorado.

About El Pomar Foundation

El Pomar Foundation is one of the largest and oldest private foundations in Colorado. El Pomar contributes approximately $25 million annually through grants and Community Stewardship programs to support Colorado nonprofit organizations involved in health, human services, education, arts and humanities and civic and community initiatives. Spencer and Julie Penrose founded El Pomar in 1937 with the mission to enhance, encourage and promote the current and future well-being of the people of Colorado.

There are so many great stories about how Pikes Peak Library District has helped individuals in our community connect to resources and opportunities that enrich their lives. We want to collect and share these stories with our community through PPLD’s social media channels! If you have a great story that you’d like to share about the Library District, please complete the form below.

If your story is selected, you will be interviewed, and photos and video may be taken of you. Then you and the story will be featured on our website, PPLD’s social media platforms, and possibly in promotion of the program.

Featured Story

Pikes Peak Library District, like many other organizations and companies across the Pikes Peak Region and nation, has experienced staffing shortages over the past year. Presently we do not have enough employees to maintain our current service hours at all Library locations, which is why we’re having to adjust open hours at several libraries across El Paso County.

Here’s what Library patrons can expect: Beginning the week of Oct. 3, Ruth Holley Library and Knights of Columbus Hall will be closed on Mondays, Sand Creek Library will be closed on Fridays, and Monument Library, Rockrimmon Library, and Library 21c will be open one hour later, until 6 p.m., on Fridays and Saturdays. Then, starting the week of Oct. 10, Cheyenne Mountain Library will be closed on Wednesdays, Old Colorado City Library will be closed on Tuesdays, and Monument Library will be closed on Thursdays. Our locations continue to remain closed on Sundays.

Earlier during the COVID-19 pandemic, Library leadership had to made the difficult decision to close all locations on Sundays due to similar reasons. Due to continued staffing shortages, we’ll now have to close some locations another day of the week. Before selecting which days of the week, our team did review Library location visits and considered which days and hours had fewer visitors so the community impact would be minimized. We also factored in feedback from Library patrons about preferred days and hours, which was provided during a Library patron survey conducted in the Spring of 2021.

Pikes Peak Library District is here to connect families and individuals with the Library resources, services, and spaces that can help them thrive, and we want to be able to provide service hours that match community needs. We hope as the economy rebounds from the ongoing pandemic that our team will be able to hire more employees and we can resume pre-pandemic Library service hours in the near future.

Take and Makes for this project for ages 9-12 will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning Friday, Oct 1, 2021.

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by making papel picado, “punched” or “perforated” paper. This traditional folk art is often made by drawing an intricate design and using a chisel to cut several layers of tissue paper. Because this art form is created using materials that disintegrate in the elements, not many historical pieces remain. Often elaborate, these festive banners are used at many celebrations in Mexico and areas with Hispanic roots and heritage. Use scissors to cut out your own version of this traditional art form.

Supplies and Directions:

Tissue paper, scissors, template (find online or draw), tape (washi or masking)

1. Find or draw a symmetrical design to use as a template. Check out one of the links below for ideas. Fold the template in half.
2. Stack two to three pieces of tissue paper in a pile and fold it in half.
3. Slip the tissue paper inside the folded template so the folded edges are on one side.
4. Cut out the outside of the template, cutting through the tissue paper inside.
5. Cut out the inside shapes in the template, folding the template around to gain better access to the different shapes to cut out.
6. Once the template is entirely cut out, remove the tissue paper pieces and unfold them.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 with more templates and tissue paper.
8. Using a long, flat surface, such as a table, unroll a long strip of washi or masking tape, leaving it attached to the roll.
9. Starting at the end, attach the top of each papel picado (tissue paper design) to the washi or masking tape. Unroll more tape as needed, tearing it off the roll once all papel picado have been attached to the banner.
10. Fold over any tape hanging over across the top of the banner.
11. Hang your banner up and enjoy!

Adapted from https://happythought.co.uk/how-to-make-papel-picado/

More information about papel picado can be found at https://www.internationalfolkart.org/learn/lesson-plans/papel-picado-(d…

The homeschool team takes us on a tour of several creative spaces at Pikes Peak Library District, including: Library 21c Studio, MAC - loom and jewelry rooms, and the Library 21c Makerspace. Plus, an interview with a expert quilter plus a sewing lesson for beginners. Check out the booklist link below and the directions for the sewing project.

Check out this video: https://youtu.be/HuqP8-VqK1U?list=PLMEg2Dd0dSFctLfDQxsL5SmuE8zkwQFmu

Commemorating the start of Arts Month in Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region, Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) is pleased to announce the region’s first Pikes Peak Poet Laureate since 2017. Ashley Cornelius is a nationally recognized and award-winning spoken word poet in Colorado. Her poetry has been featured at TEDx Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak Community College, the Colorado Springs Women's March, Denver Public Library, Colorado Nonprofit Association, as well as on many stages. Additionally, she was the 2018 Women of the World Poetry Slam Colorado Springs representative and competed nationally. A winner of multiple poetry Slams in Colorado Springs, Cornelius was also the Colorado Springs Independent Best of Artist in 2019 and was recognized by the Colorado Springs Business Journal as a Rising Star in 2021. She is sought after across the nation for speaking engagements and workshop facilitation utilizing poetry.

“It is an honor to select Ashley Cornelius to serve as the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate,” said Dustin Booth, project chair and PPLD Manager for Knights of Columbus Hall. “She will be an incredible ambassador for the arts in the Pikes Peak region and her poetry inspires those who witness her work to think deeper about the roles we all play in our community.” Cornelius was selected through a competitive Poet Laureate application and interview process. The Poet Laureate committee contributed to the selection process and included Molly Wingate, Juan J. Morales, Andy Vick, Michael Ferguson, and Susan Peiffer. Cornelius’s two-year term will begin late October. As Poet Laureate she will work closely with the Library District to build a literary arts community through poetry by developing an appreciation of written and performance poetry, as well as inspiring and celebrating poetry and poets in the Pikes Peak region with dynamic programs of engagement, advocacy, and education. “This is an incredible honor, and I am excited to serve as the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate,” said Cornelius. “My intentions are to reach as many people as we can through poetry and storytelling and to be a champion for equity, diversity, and inclusion in our local creative spaces.” PPLD will host an official inauguration ceremony appointing Cornelius as the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate at a celebration on Sat., Oct. 23 at Knights of Columbus Hall, part of the Penrose Library campus in downtown Colorado Springs. The event will start at 6 p.m. and will feature presentations by a few rising stars in the Colorado Springs poetry community, pieces by previous poet laureates, and a keynote presentation by Cornelius.

Celebrate dinosaurs this DINOvember with PPLD! Check out a Dinosaur Storytime and be on the lookout for dinosaurs in your Library! Find the dinosaur at your Library and go to the desk for a prize!

DINO Programs

Dinosaur Resource Center

• When: Sat., Nov. 20 from 11 a.m. - noon
• When: Sat., Nov. 20 from 1 - 2 p.m.
• Where: Library 21c Venue

Celebrate DINOvember with Pikes Peak Library District by attending the Dinosaur Resource Center program for kids ages 3 - 12! Come and learn about these amazing creatures that roamed the earth thousands of years ago.

Take and Make Dinorama

• When: Fri., Nov. 12 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
• Where: All Library Locations

Make a habitat for a tiny dinosaur and decorate it with all kinds of fun supplies! Name your little dino and make sure to read it your favorite stories! For ages 5 - 12, while supplies last.

Virtual Puppet Show: Dinosaurs!

• When: Mon., Nov. 1 - Thu., Dec. 30
• Where: Virtual

ROAR! Do you want to be a dinosaur? Go back in time and discover the pre-historic steps of the gentle giants, primeval predators and leaping lizards that once stalked the earth. Fascinating dino-facts are revealed as erupting volcanoes, catchy tunes, and life-like puppets make this colossal creation come to life! Presented by the Center for Puppetry Arts. Duration 45 min.

DINOsources

• DINOVember: The Month When Plastic Dinosaurs Come to Life!
• Carnegie DINO-booklist
• DINO-Books in our Catalog!

PPLD is excited to announce that patrons will be able to use a certain number of supplies for free when they visit a Library
makerspace. Whether you want to engrave a family photo on the laser cutter, 3D print a replacement part for your vacuum cleaner, or just learn how to use an embroidery machine, there will be materials available for you to use to test out your designs and explore the space.

In every session, you will have access to:

• $1 worth (20 grams) of 3D printing.*
• 1 piece of wood for the laser cutter (6”x12”).
• 5 buttons for the button maker.
• 1 piece of wood for the CNC.
• 2 sheets of embroidery backing for the embroidery machine.
• 1 sheet of vinyl for the Silhouette Cameo or Curio die cutters.

*This amount is calculated from the standard $0.05 per gram rate for printing. Anything over that amount will be charged at the usual $0.05 per gram rate.

PPLD’s makerspaces can be found at:

• Library 21c: Make and Make II
• East Library: Make at East
• Sand Creek Library: Make at Sand Creek
• Manitou Springs Library: Make at Manitou Springs (Note: This does not apply to the Manitou Art Center’s makerspace.)

We hope to see you soon!

When: Sat., Apr. 29 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Where: Library 21c

A maker is someone who creates – to be innovative, to solve problems, to bring something beautiful into the world, or simply to have fun. They have an idea, and they bring it to life. Making can encompass just about anything, from high tech to low tech to no tech, from art to fabrication to artistic fabrication, from needles to table saws to software.

Join us for the event as we spend the day celebrating ingenuity in the Pikes Peak region – by tinkering, thinking, and, of course, making! Past experiences include:

• Paper rockets
• Lego builds
• Local makerspaces
• Cosplay
• Whittling
• Cardboard creations
• 3D printing
• And so much more

Want to share your makes? Apply at the link below!

Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us. “I’m offended”….”How can I explain this to my kid?”….”This isn’t what I believe”….The idea that books that present these challenges should be taken off of the shelves, and the opposing assertion that all knowledge should be available to everyone, is the foundation of librarians’ favorite holiday week: Banned Books Week, Sat., Sept. 26 - Sat., Oct. 2.

Programs and PPLD Resources

Teens Eat: Book-tasting Get ready to sample books and snacks! You will be introduced to four different Banned Books that will each be paired with a related snack. Child and Young Adult Reading List

Banned Books

When you read a book or watch a movie, ever think to yourself “I’m offended” or ”How can I explain this to my kid?” or ”This isn’t what I believe”? Those thoughts are common and every library has something that offends someone. Banned Books Week is about keeping materials available for all – even if they offend someone. The American Library Association honors this tradition by taking the time to educate us all on intellectual freedom. Banned Books Week launched in the 1980s after a rise in challenging and banning controversial materials (including Hop on Pop, by Dr. Seuss).), In short, this is your right to read whatever you want, whether someone else agrees with it or not. So this Banned Books Week, go out and explore without limitations! Read the books that you want to read and find the information that you want to know whether it’s offensive, different, scary, magical, or anywhere in between!

The Top 10 National List The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 156 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2020. Of the 273 books that were targeted, here are the most challenged, along with the reasons cited for censoring the books:

1. George by Alex Gino
   • Reasons: Challenged, banned, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting “the values of our community”
2. Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
   • Reasons: Banned and challenged because of author’s public statements, and because of claims that the book contains “selective storytelling incidents” and does not encompass racism against all people
3. All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
   • Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, drug use, and alcoholism, and because it was thought to promote anti-police views, contain divisive topics, and be “too much of a sensitive matter right now”
4. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
   • Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted because it was thought to contain a political viewpoint and it was claimed to be biased against male students, and for the novel’s inclusion of rape and profanity
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
   • Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and allegations of sexual misconduct by the author
6. Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin
   • Reasons: Challenged for “divisive language” and because it was thought to promote anti-police views
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
   • Reasons: Banned and challenged for racial slurs and their negative effect on students, featuring a “white savior” character, and its perception of the Black experience
8. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
   • Reasons: Banned and challenged for racial slurs and racist stereotypes, and their negative effect on students
9. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
   • Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and depicts child sexual abuse
10. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
    • Reasons: Challenged for profanity, and it was thought to promote an anti-police message

Check out challenged titles at PPLD.

Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) believes in freedom of information for all and does not practice censorship. The selection of Library materials is predicated on the patron's right to read and freedom from censorship by others. Library materials may be controversial and any given item may offend some person. Selections for the Library are made solely on the merits of the material, in relation to the development of a collection that serves the needs and interests of a diverse population. Community members are always welcome to submit a reconsideration request form for Library materials. Please see our Challenge Materials Policy for more information.

September highlights suicide prevention. The booklist link below has good resources for parents and children.
See also: https://nationaltoday.com/world-suicide-prevention-day/

Take and Makes for this project will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning Friday, Sept. 3, 2021.

Supplies and Directions:

Materials we provide: Plastic cup, plastic sandwich bag, rubber band

Materials you provide: scissors, water, interesting specimens to observe

Directions (see pdf link below for additional step-by-step photos):

1. Cut a hole in the side of the cup along the bottom. This doesn’t need to be neat. It’s designed as an access point for you to get specimens into the bottom of your cup.
2. Stretch one layer of the plastic bag over the top of the cup and secure it with a rubber band.
3. Find a specimen and put it in your cup through the hole. (A specimen is an insect, leaf, flower, etc.)
4. Pour a small amount of water onto the plastic wrap. You want it to be a small pool.
5. Look through the water at your specimen. The water has created a lens and magnifies your specimen.
6. Repeat with other specimens.

How it works: A microscope uses mirrors and lenses to bend light so that an image appears larger than it is. In our microscope, the water creates a convex lens. It bends the light that passes through it and makes the specimen appear to be bigger.

Supplies:

• TP tube
• Mylar sheet
• Straw
• Cardstock circle
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Tape
• Markers or other things to decorate

Directions:

1. If you'd like, decorate your tp tube.
2. Cut the mylar sheet into 3 equal pieces that fit to make a triangle inside the tube without falling out. Cut them a little bigger to start first. We cut ours 10 cm x 3.6 cm (3.94 inches x 1.42 inches).
3. Line up the mylar strips with a tiny strip between them. Tape them together. Then tape them together into a triangle. The shiny side is toward the center. Slide the triangle into the tube.
4. Cut the straw so the bendy end is about 6 inches long. Tape it to the tp tube so the bendy part hangs over the end.
5. Cut out your cardstock circle. Poke a hole in the center. Decorate the circle using markers, stickers or anything else you have at home.
6. Place the straw through the hole in the circle. Slide it until the circle is over the bendy part of the straw so it turns easily.

Look into your kaleidoscope and manually turn the circle. You should see lots of changing designs!

The Friends of the PPLD holds two big book sales per year, typically in March and October.

Scheduled dates for 2023 are

• March 10, 11 and 12
• October 13, 14 and 15

Watch this space for details!

Take and Makes for this project will be available at area PPLD libraries beginning Friday, August 20, 2021. Watch this project at: https://youtu.be/bShFYRZCMW4?list=PLMEg2Dd0dSFenhH3jVzKk-QmaHXdAFOBq

Supplies and directions:

Provided in your bag: rocket template, straw, and pipette
From home: markers, scissors, and tape

Step 1
Color your rocket and cut it out.

Step 2
Trim your pipette with scissors so that it fits on the back of your rocket; tape in place with the
opening pointing down.

Step 3
Trim your straw to whatever size you want, put it in your pipette, and you're ready to launch!
Give your straw a big puff of air and watch your rocket fly!