Author: Allison Cavis

Book Sale is the Perfect Family Night Out
by Sarah Walsh, Development Director, Estes Valley Library

Library book sales. They have a “storied” history in the Estes Valley.

Well-loved by readers and bargain hunters, the tradition traces back decades to the annual Book and Bake Sale once hosted by the Estes Park Woman’s Club. This month, we’re embarking on a new chapter in this ever-popular ritual, with two firsts.

It’s the very first-ever Spring Book Sale next Friday and Saturday, May 19 and 20, hosted by the Estes Valley Library Friends & Foundation. This event joins the annual summer sale in August and the holiday sale in December.

Another big first: Friday Family Night. It’s a delightful opportunity for parents to turn their quest for summer reading into an evening out.

Here’s how it works: parents who spend $20 or more at the sale will earn three hours of free childcare from 5 pm to 8 pm on Friday, May 19. It’s all made possible by the graduates of the Library Teen Zone’s Babysitting 101 course. These graduates, along with Library staff, will be on hand from 5 pm to 8 pm that evening to provide activities and dinner for the kids while parents enjoy an evening out. With the Library’s main area closing at 5 pm, kids will enjoy the safety and comfort of the children’s room all to themselves.

It’s a creative way to turn book-shopping into a fun night for the entire family. We offer our thanks and congratulations to all the recent Teen Zone babysitter graduates, all of whom participated in a three-part course sponsored by the Library. Teens learned about how keep kids safe, how to plan age-appropriate activities, as well as CPR. These young people will be available for hire as babysitters this summer—a win for them, and a win for local parents.

Whether or not you’re a parent with kids at home, the Library’s Spring Sale is a must visit to explore thousands of gently-used and affordably-priced books and DVDs on sale in the Hondius Community Room. The event begins at 12 noon on May 19 and continues until 9:00 that evening. On May 20, the sale is open from 10 am to 4 pm.

Emphasis for the Spring Sale will be on some of our most popular categories: novels, mysteries, cookbooks, as well as children’s and teen books.

And if you need to make room on your home bookshelves for all the bargains you’ll find, the Library welcomes book donations. Before loading the car, we encourage you to visit the donation guidelines found at estesvalleylibrary.org under the “About the Library” link.

Best of all, every dollar raised at the Spring Book Sale will support the fundraising efforts of the Library’s Friends & Foundation, which in turn provides funds to enhance the Library’s vital services and programs.

Readers, parents, kids, babysitters, and bargain-seekers all have something to celebrate. We’ll see you May 19 and 20 for this great new chapter in book sale bliss.

One Book One Valley: May the Best Book Win
by Laurie Dale Marshall, Adult & Teen Services Librarian, Estes Valley Library

So many books, so little time.
This famous lament is truer than ever. Especially when you consider the Estes Valley. The Library collection now numbers in the hundreds of thousands, thanks to digital forms.

One Book One Valley is making its welcome return in 2017. This annual literary celebration invites our entire valley to share in the reading and discussion of one single book, as we embark together on a journey of shared discovery this fall through weeks of special programs, conversations, and thematic events.

And how to narrow all those books down to those precious gems that form the finalists for this year’s One Book One Valley. For that special effort, we enlisted the expertise of some very important readers in our community. And now we seek your expertise, as voting is underway this month.

This all-community reading initiative encourages civic dialogue and supports several of the Library’s key strategic goals based upon community requests. One Book One Valley was on hiatus in 2016 as we commemorated the Library’s Centennial Year with monthly author events.

Now, we’re ready to welcome the tradition back this fall.

For 2017, we consulted the very people in our community with expertise in what titles make for the best book discussions. We invited over a dozen local book clubs to offer us their top picks. And last March, we convened a Book Club Social. It was an opportunity to network with our book club enthusiasts and learn how we can serve them. And it was an opportunity for each club to nominate one title for One Book One Valley consideration. From all the titles nominated at the Social, attendees then voted to narrow it down to five finalists.

And those finalists are now showcased all this month of May, as we invite you to cast your vote for the book you would most like to see featured this fall.

Here are the five books that have been nominated:

• “The Distance Between Us” by Reyna Grande
• “The Emerald Mile” by Kevin Fedarko
• “A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains” by Isabella Bird
• “The Last Bus to Wisdom” by Ivan Doig
• “The Warmth of Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson

 

Of course, few of us are familiar with all of these titles, so you’ll find a helpful brief description of each book on the online voting ballot. And with just a bit of Internet surfing, you can find many reviews and synopses of these titles.

To cast your vote, it’s as easy as clicking here and ranking your choice. Voting is one-time, and once per person. Be sure to get your vote submitted before the May 31.

The Library will reveal the winning title at special ceremony this July. Then there will be hundreds of copies made available before the discussion events this October.

We thank all our participating book clubs who carefully considered and offered their

ideas.

Vote NOW. And “May” the best book win.

Advance Care Team Asks, “What’s Your Plan, Estes Park?”
by Claudine Perrault, Director

In his recent and acclaimed book, “The Conversation: a Revolutionary Plan for End-of-Life Care”, Dr. Angelo Volandes observes that one of the most important tools in a doctor’s proverbial black bag is as old as our species: compassionate human conversation.

Advanced care directives, he says, are something we tend to associate with death. But really, they are a part of life. And life, being a beautiful and amazing thing, deserves to end well.

Sometimes referred to as a “living will”, advance care directives are the written documents that serve as assurances that a person’s wishes for their end-of-life care are followed. A recent study found that only 32% of Larimer County residents have created advance care directives.

A new partnership among Estes Park agencies is making it simpler than ever to complete one of life’s most important tasks. It’s something that most of us avoid, often because of some very pervasive myths.

One of the myths associated with advance-care planning is the notion that such conversations only matter to the elderly or the terminally ill. In fact, illnesses and accidents can occur suddenly, and anyone 18 or older should discuss their options, and at least designate their Medical Durable Power of Attorney.

Those unfamiliar with this document—where to find it, how to complete it—may find themselves feeling a sense of anxiety. After all, isn’t this whole process complicated? Am I going to need to meet with an attorney?

That’s where the new “What’s Your Plan? Estes Park” initiative comes to the rescue. The Estes Valley Library, drawing upon its strategic health-literacy goal, “Make Informed Decisions”, is one of the friendly agencies partnering to make it easier than ever to meet with a specialist. That specialist, available for appointments at the library, will start by having a one-on-one conversation to discuss the process, and to identify a person’s values and wishes. If a client decides they are ready to prepare documents, forms, and checklists, it can be done in the same visit, or a follow-up appointment can be made.

“What’s Your Plan?” invites anyone age 18 or older to contact the library to schedule that initial conversation. The advance care team will help in key areas:

• Sharing your values and wishes with your loved ones.
• Putting your plan in writing and sharing it with your family and physician.
• Understanding about life-sustaining treatments available.
• Choosing the treatment options you would want or not want if diagnosed with a life-limiting illness.

 

These sessions are free of charge, made possible through the partnership with the Larimer Advance Care Planning Team and REACH (Rural Estes Alliance for Community Health). Among those agencies are the Estes Park Medical Group, Timberline Clinic, Salud Family Health Center, and the Good Samaritan Village of Estes Park.

To find out more, visit here or call (970) 586-8116 and press 3.

From the Estes Valley Library

The Importance of Broadband For Your Library (and You)
by Mark Riffle, Technical Services Supervisor
April 14th, 2017

 

Sometimes visible, sometimes behind-the-scenes, online access technologies are integral to today’s Estes Valley Library and the needs of our patrons. Visit the Library and you’ll find patrons accessing wired computers for work, business and personal needs. Increasingly, you’ll find folks accessing Wi-Fi on mobile devices, sometimes after-hours right outside library walls.

The Library is a hot-spot hub for information and communication access. Yet our services depend upon, and are woven into, the much larger technology structure of our Estes Valley (and beyond). All our computer connections travel to and from us through the very same fiber-optic cable that serves our schools, our city government, and counterintuitively, even our cellular phones.

The Library exists far beyond our physical walls. While our print collection contains 40,000 items, another 300,000 items are now being enjoyed by patrons accessing our digital collection through their library card. Accessing that immense collection of digital books, magazines, audiobooks, downloadable music and movies all depends on quality Internet service. Essentially, the Library exists everywhere in our valley. High-quality broadband will ensure everyone can access the Library where and when they need it.

The Library is working to fulfill a series of exciting objectives, all based on what our community has asked us to do. The success of these objectives will be enhanced through developing greater technology infrastructure with broadband at its core. Three of our 12 major service goals are vitally linked to that infrastructure: Connecting to a Digital World (technical literacy); Visiting Your Comfortable Spaces (public and virtual spaces), and Expressing Creativity (creating and sharing digital content).

Connectivity has become increasingly important in our lives. Communications with family and friends through voice, pictures and video would not happen without our broadband connection. During a crisis, connections with the outside world become even more critical. The arrival of food, medical assistance, and rescue relies on our ability to inform the outside world about our needs. A reliable broadband connection gives us the ability to inform the authorities and our loved ones, whether we’re fine or needing assistance.

Reliability is key to our comfort and safety in considering what’s best when building our valley’s broadband access. One vital component of a reliable connection is redundancy. Our Estes Valley needs to develop at least one, or more, additional physical routes for communications. Cell phone calls and email now rely upon vulnerable cables hanging from poles or running underground. More than one cable should be working for us. Rest assured, a multi-agency Estes Park coalition has taken on this challenge.  “Broadband” isn’t just about access; it’s ultimately about safety and confidence.

The Estes Valley Library relies heavily on fast, reliable broadband because increasingly our patrons require it. The American Library Association says it well: “Libraries provide essential services to the public through equitable public access to information and telecommunications services. All types of libraries—public, school and academic—need affordable ‘big pipe’ broadband connectivity to meet the ever-increasing needs of library users.”