By Karen Randinitis, Program & Outreach Services Interim Supervisor

No doubt about it. The Estes Valley is a beautiful place to be home for the holidays. We hope you find time for a stroll or a drive through all the festive lights around town.

The Library is offering opportunities to keep us inspired, creative, and connected this season. Along with all the great holiday books, movies and music, here are a few of the many plans in place, all ready for unwrapping:

Knowing that many families and friends are foregoing in-person celebrations, we’re offering our Zoom platform for anyone seeking social time across the miles with loved ones. Click here for details. Then share a smile, raise a toast—and read a story aloud together.

The Polar Express program has been a favorite tradition for 5 years—and the magic train to the North Pole will ride again. All ages can watch from the comfort of home, with our own local storytellers reading in both English and Spanish on YouTube. Watch for the premiere on December 4.

Families with young readers can take home the joy of a Polar Express Grab & Go Kit, including a copy of the book (English or Spanish). Click here to reserve your family’s kit. Curbside pick-up available and encouraged!

Thanks to our partnership with those Newcomers Club elves, we’re a drop-off location for all the precious letters to Santa. Look for the North Pole mailbox next to our outside bookdrops.

Everyone is invited to our Holiday Caravan Light Tour on Monday, December 14 at 5:30 PM. We’ll meet in the Library parking lot, and from the warmth and comfort of our cars, we’ll tour all the beautiful lights around town. More details soon. No sign-up required.

December crafts are holiday-inspired. Adults are invited to gather pine cones from the yard, then use our Pine-Cone Kit to make them sparkle for a table setting or window ledge. Kids can pick up a Make Your Own Holiday Ornament Kit, then watch the online video as our own Chase shows the design process. All kits can be reserved for curbside pick-up.

And what a great time to revel in holiday reading! Reading is a nice way to find peace and fulfillment, savoring those moments with a warm mug and a great book by the fireside. Reading is also a way to build lifetime memories with loved ones, by reading a story aloud together.

As Children’s Librarian Melanie reminds us, “Reading is calming, soothing, and leaves no mess to clean up. At the same time, it exercises the brain, stimulates imagination, and builds vocabulary and background knowledge.”

The Library is considered a Critical Service (view this helpful COVID–19 chart for details), so as you monitor ongoing changes in Larimer County, curbside pick-up will remain available to access books, movies, music, magazines and kits to have on hand for the holidays. Appointments are easy, give it a try.

And there may be no better time than the present to learn how to access the hundreds of thousands of items in the Digital Collections: books, movies, audiobooks – even comic books and TV shows — while you’re at home. If you need a little instruction for yourself, a neighbor or friend, give us a call.

The Library is here for you this holiday season, to keep your heart aglow through reading and learning with family and friends. There is *literally* something for all ages.