Spotlight on Learning with Culturegrams

Posted on November 5, 2020 by Audrey Glasebrook in Library Blog, Library Services

Since travelling the world physically is not possible right now, why not travel the world virtually?! This week we are highlighting yet another cool (free) library resource…Culturegrams! Culturegrams provides concise, reliable, and up-to-date reports on more than 200 countries, each U.S. state, and all 13 Canadian provinces and territories.

Whether you’re doing a report for school, or if you’re just curious about life in other places, this resource gives insider perspectives on daily life, culture, history, customs, and lifestyles of the world’s people.

Read about potatoes in Peru! Did you know that Peru is known as the birthplace of the potato, and it produces more than three thousand different varieties of the vegetable??
Learn about Oceania. Did you know that New Zealand’s indigenous name is Aotearoa, which means “Land of the Long White Cloud”? (And it was the first country to give women the right to vote!)
Try a recipe from every U.S. state – from fried green tomatoes in Alabama to macaroni and cheese in Wisconsin. Can you cook your way through all 50 states??

Ready to dive deeper? The library has YouTube tutorials for using Culturegrams, so you can learn about all it has to offer. Culturegrams is free with your library card! If you still need a library card, you can apply for a temporary digital card from home, or come in to one of the libraries for a physical card.

1-2-3 Brain Break: Story Stones

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Jennifer Zachman in Book Recommendations, Library Blog, Library Programs

Brain Breaks are short activities, often only 1-3 minutes long, that help kids get ready to learn or refocus on the task at hand. They often involve physical activity and movement though relaxing activities can also boost mental brain power.

So, in addition to encouraging your kids to participate in these fun breaks, join the kiddos and have some refreshing, stress-free fun yourself, too!

Supplies Needed:

Small stones with various images painted on them. I.e. Heart, rainbow, animal, flower, sun, raindrop, snowflake, tree, ladybug, slice of pizza, etc.
Small box, bag, or other container
Alternative: Instead of painted stones, use pictures cut out from magazines or hand-drawn images on small pieces of paper. You could also use words instead of pictures.

Here’s what you do:

Place all stones in the box or bag.

Draw one stone out of the box or bag at a time.

Start making up and telling a story using the image on the stone as a prompt.

Continue drawing out stones one at a time, and continue the story using the image prompt on each stone.

Finish your story with the final stone.

Video: Virtual Storytime: Story Stones Activity

The “Why” behind the Activity:

Inspiring kids to be creative develops a wide array of skills while also building their confidence. Using their imagination broadens their thought processes and problem-solving skills, and creating a story one step at a time can help them learn organizational skills too. Telling their own stories also gives kids a voice as they share their opinions and thoughts. Powering up their brains in creative ways also boosts their focus in other subject areas like math, science, and other languages.

More creative storytelling ideas!

Show Me a Story: 40 Craft Projects and Activities to Spark Children’s Storytelling by Emily K. Neuberger

How to Build a Story by Frances O’Roark Dowell

Bookjoy, Wordjoy by Pat Mora

Poudre River Public Library District Goes “Fine Free”

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Katie Auman in Library Blog, News

In 2018, the Library District eliminated overdue and late fines on all children and teen materials. Last month, the Library Board of Trustees voted in favor of extending this practice to include all Library-owned items.

The new lending policy takes effect November 1, 2020. At the same time, staff will work to remove existing overdue fines from customer accounts. This process may take up to 2 weeks to complete.

“The new policy puts our community first,” says David Slivken, Poudre River Public Library District executive director. “We actively work to eliminate barriers to library access and encourage community-wide use of the Library’s vital materials, resources, and services. Library use is always important but even more critical now as people’s regular routines have been upended.”

What Does It Mean for Library Cardholders?

No more daily late fines charged on overdue items. Fees for lost or damaged materials will still apply.
We have waived existing extended-use fines from all library accounts, giving everyone a fresh start.
Nearly 15,000 people will have their accounts cleared.

Why We’re Doing It

We believe in providing equal access to knowledge and information for all.

Putting our community first.
Our community thrives when people have access to the programs, services, and materials they need to pursue their goals or interests, whether it is seeking entertainment, applying for a job, or researching information.

Advancing equity.
Late fines, no matter how small, are a very real and significant burden for many individuals, children, and families. Library fines worsen existing inequities that disproportionately impact people of color and low-income communities. This barrier can discourage many people who rely on the Library the most from coming back.

Improving literacy.
Early literacy skills are crucial to school readiness, so it is important that parents and caregivers from all income-levels in our community have access to materials they can use daily in the home to practice reading, singing, talking, writing, and playing with their children. We are thrilled when we see families checking out a stack of books, and families should be encouraged to do so, rather than be fearful of the late fines that might accrue.

“Library revenue collected from overdue fines has been steadily declining in recent years, in part because of the growing popularity of digital materials but also because of the past elimination of late fines on children’s and teen materials,” says Rachel Tand, Director of Finance and Business Operations for the District. “In 2019, overdue fines made up less than 1% of General Fund revenue and will be even lower this year.”

The Library anticipates seeing a similar response to the new fine-free policy as other public libraries, including an increased return of materials and check out of items like books and DVDs. Additionally, the Library hopes to welcome back customers who have stayed away from the libraries out of concern for fines.

Additional Details

Overdue fines will be removed from accounts beginning November 1. This process may take up to 2 weeks to complete.
We encourage you to return any overdue, lost, or damaged items to the Libraries. Fees for lost and damaged items will still apply but there will be an extended grace period through the end of 2020 before accounts might be turned over to a collections agency.
Once lost or damaged fees reach $50.00, your library card is blocked from use.
If you pay for a lost item and then find it and return it to a Library Service Desk within 60 days, the Library will refund you the full amount you paid for the item.

More information about the new lending policy, including Frequently Asked Questions, can be found online or by calling the Answer Center at 970-221-6740.

ART-ober Celebrations and Spider Webs!

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Drew Gaede in Book Recommendations, Library Blog, Library Programs

For Art-ober we are highlighting weekly art-focused activities! These can be as short as 10-15 minutes, or if you have the time/are enjoying yourselves extend it! The goal is to change things up a little and encourage creativity.

Art can help us relax and feel accomplished, and can be a good way to have some balance. The benefits apply to all ages, so feel free to join in on the fun and do the activity together!

We are headed into the last week of the Library’s ART-ober challenge! I hope you have gotten to try out some art along with us! If you have and have not yet shared it by tagging us in Instagram, please do so – we would love to see what you are making!

Spiders are fascinating creatures and their webs are engineered works of art. Since Halloween is coming up this weekend, here are some ideas inspired by the one time a year that spider webs are considered appropriate decorations.

One thing you can do is make a watercolor web painting! You can use just about anything to draw a web – white crayon is great, but you could also use glue and let it dry, or anything wax – like a candle.

Once the web is ready use your watercolors! It helps to get the page wet first if you want the colors to spread better – also why thicker paper is better for this task (paper plates, cardstock, or watercolor paper all work great).

If you don’t have any watercolors home, we have limited supplies at the Council Tree Library that you can come in and pick-up this week (10/26 – 10/31 while supplies last).

After you have applied watercolor and let it dry, you can draw on some spiders or silhouettes of other Halloween themes – haunted houses and black cats, witches and bats! Or you can add them at the start like this one:

Another idea – if you have ever made snowflakes in winter, you can use those same methods to make cut paper spider webs!

Take (or make by trimming a rectangle) a square piece of paper. The thinner the better for this – makes folding and cutting through layers easier! Fold the square in half to make a long rectangle. Then fold it in half again to make a square again, and fold it in half one last time to make a triangle. From the center point of the folded paper, draw a thick line up the middle to the other edge, and curved lines spreading out to the edges, cutting away in sections like you can see below. Unfold to reveal the paper spider web!

Other things to try this week:

Decorate some bookmarks! We have themed ones to grab at the Council Tree Branch, as well as blanks so you can design your own!
Carve some jack-o-lanterns.
Painting weaving – make two similar paintings, cut one into strips horizontally and one vertically, then weave them together for a fun effect.

Give some of these ideas a try or feel free to come up with your own! We would love to see what you make – please share your art on Instagram by tagging @poudrelibraries and using the hashtags #artober and #librarychallenge.

1-2-3 Brain Break: Voting Fun

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Library Staff in Book Recommendations, Library Blog, Library Programs

Brain Breaks are short activities, often only 1-3 minutes long, that help kids get ready to learn or refocus on the task at hand. They often involve physical activity and movement though relaxing activities can also boost mental brain power.

So, in addition to encouraging your kids to participate in these fun breaks, join the kiddos and have some refreshing, stress-free fun yourself, too!

 This week’s Brain Break continues to educate children about the voting process in advance of our upcoming election, through a book reading and activity links.

Supplies needed:  

Class Fruit Coloring pages
Additional Paper (optional)
Coloring materials like crayons, markers, paint

Here’s what you do: 

Enjoy the read-aloud of the book “Let’s Vote: A Fruitful Election Tale” by Anita Iaco.

2. Watch the video to learn how to do the voting activity .

3. Download the Coloring Pages

Children are encouraged to choose a new fruit and be the campaign spokesperson for that fruit. They can write why they think that fruit would make the best class fruit. Then color the page.

Challenge Extensions: 

For the little ones (Grades K-3) 

Create an additional Campaign Poster for their chosen fruit. Talk with an older sibling or adult about why they chose the fruit they did.

Talk about what lessons the students in the story learned about how to voting and being a spokesperson for their fruit. (Being honest, not making promises they couldn’t keep, etc)