Poudre River Public Library District Blog
LIBRARY HOURS
Old Town Library
Harmony Library
Council Tree Library
Curbside Pickup
LIBRARY HOURS Old Town Library
Harmony Library
Council Tree Library
Curbside Pickup
(970) 221-6740
  • Catalog
  • Articles
  • Events
  • Site
Advanced Search

(970) 221-6740

Prospector
Front Range Community College
Business | Genealogy

(970) 221-6740

Prospector
Front Range Community College
All Events | Classes | Programs | Storytimes

(970) 221-6740

Prospector
Front Range Community College
Site Map

(970) 221-6740

Prospector
Front Range Community College
My Account Library Locations What's New ResearchDownload How do I? Events KidsTeens
  • Home
  • Using the Library
  • My Account
  • Hours & Locations
  • eResources
  • Calendar
  • Ask a Librarian
  • en español
Skip Navigation
My Account
Locations
What's New
Research
Download
How do I?

NaNoWriMo Begins!

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Library Staff in Library Blog, Library Services, Local Happenings, News

Some of you may have heard the term “NaNoWriMo” bandied about, or seen posters at the library about “write-ins”, and thought maybe this was probably some sort of covert library gang that politely schedules meeting times in community room.

Fortunately, as accurate and awesome as that description may sort of be, NaNoWriMo is an international movement which is short for National Novel Writing Month. It takes place every November, and tens of thousands of writers try to complete a novel, or 50,000 words (which supposedly equates to a novel, but it’s really more of a novella).

It’s a crazy notion. Write 50,000 words in one month, and have a novel! It’s utterly mad, right?

Well, it may be mad… as in mad fun.

The Poudre River Public Libraries even make it more fun for writers who decide to torture themselves with this seemingly impossible task. With write-in, word-count competitions, and games to inspire further writing, it’s no wonder that NaNoWriMo participants in Fort Collins do so well!

Somewhere around 13-14% of NaNoWriMo novels suceed. The Fort Collins regional average? It hovers around 30% success rate, which is one of the highest in the world. That’s how great the support staff is for NanoWriMo.

At the Meet and Greet (don’t worry if you missed this! You can still join in all the Reindeer Games!) we did fun things like drawing our inner-editor, or basically that voice in our heads that stops us from completing a story because it needs to fix everything.

Here’s mine:

p51215.tf_25101318505912b.nanowrimo

What we do with this drawing is simple: get rid of it. NaNoWriMo is not a time to let our inner editors get the best of us! Either we give our inner editor to someone for safe keeping until December, or we destroy. It depends on what’s best for you. Some confessed to burying theirs, and others to burning them. I haven’t quite decided yet what I’m going to do with mine yet, but I may be climbing to the top of Horsetooth and letting loose in the wind because being dramatic is fun like that. Plus, it’s a good exercise.

As I said, the Fort Collins Municipal Liasons (NaNoWriMo support staff) are incredibly helpful. They have scheduled write-ins every day of the week, and have organized all sort of tricks to help us get the word flowing. What those tricks are, we don’t know yet, but the NanoWriMo alums have promised that it will be fun and beneficial to getting the book done on time.

One of their tricks that isn’t a secret, though, is this Yahtzee sheet which is meant to encourage our participation in all the events that will guarantee our novel getting finished.

p51215.tf_251013185011e28.nanowrimo_1

Now, I’ve been a NaNoWriMo-Er before, and I’m sad to say that I never get past 20,000 words. This year, however, I’m convinced I will be successful with the library’s help! I’m excited to be a first time NaNoWriMo-er at Fort Collins. Cheer for me, and I’ll let you know how it goes.

If you would also like to go, sign up at http://www.nanaowrimo.org and choose Fort Collins as your home region.

The weekly write-ins are:

Monday – Happy Lucky’s Tea House 232 Walnut Street 5-8PM
Tuesday – Panera Bread Company 2721 Council Tree Ave 5-9PM
Wednesday – Everyday Joe’s 144 S Mason St 5-9PM
Thursday – Wild Boar 1510 S College Ave 6-10PM
Friday – CSU Computer Lab 6-10PM
Saturday – College America, 4601 S Mason St 6-10PM
Sunday – Old Town Library, 201 Peterson St 1-5PM

Library Services, literacy, NaNoWriMo, News Release, Novel Writers Read More

Time to get scared!

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Charlotte Lakamp in History, Library Blog, Local Happenings

It is no surprise that the fall season brings out the spooks in many of us.  With All Hallows Eve on the horizon Northern Coloradoan’s blood begins to chill at the thought of our local haunted history.  There are several well known haunted areas around Fort Collins which Nancy Hansford explores in her book “Northern Colorado Ghost Stories.”  The first can be found in down town Fort Collins in the building that houses The Children’s Mercantile.  One of the owners was once locked inside the store bathroom after a very suspicious event where a bucket of paint had mysteriously flown across the room.

Avery_House_Fort_Collins_CO

Most locals recognize the Avery House, but few know its haunted history.  The home was built in 1897 by Frank Avery.  In 1890 Frank’s brother died in the home, it was later found to be murder by arsenic poisoning by his young wife.  Modern tenants of the building have reported seeing a male figure wondering the home.  As demonstrated by the Avery House, untimely death is often a cause of a spirit lingering in our world.  Centennial High School also contains just such a ghost.  Students have reported hearing the voice of a young girl who fell to her death from the large staircase in the middle of the building.

Whether you believe these tales or not is up to you, but would you want to be alone in any of these ghostly Fort Collins sites?

Join other spooky story lovers under the moon on Oct. 25 at 6:30 pm, for a night filled with stories from near and far designed to give you chills. Bring chairs and blankets to sit on and dress warmly, we will be using the historic cabins in Library Park to set the mood. In the case of inclement weather the program will be moved inside Old Town Library.

Let me know about your favorite haunted place, and for more stories on local hauntings check out these sites!

http://www.theshadowlands.net/places/colorado.htm

http://tri1025.com/ghost-stories-in-fort-collins-pauls-top-five-photos-audio/

http://manchester23.hubpages.com/hub/Northern-Colorados-Real-Haunted-Houses

 

 

All Hallows Eve, Library Services, Local history, material collection, News Release Read More

Celebrate Friends of the Library Week, October 20-26

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Library Staff in Library Blog, News

Did you and your children enjoy the Summer Reading Program at one of the Poudre River Public Libraries?  Are you a member of a Library Book Club?  Did you attend one of the evening programs at a library held on a variety of subjects?  These and many other programs for young and old, held at the Poudre River Libraries are financially supported by the Poudre River Friends of the Library.

October 20-26 is National Friends of the Library Week, celebrating and recognizing the Friends for their invaluable and long-standing support, both financially and through advocacy, of public libraries in their communities.

Poudre River Friends Logo

Who are the Poudre River Friends of the Library?  It is a nonprofit voluntary organization of library supporters whose mission is to enrich the educational and financial resources of the Library, and advocate for and raise awareness of its value to the community. The Friends are best known for their three big used book sales, held in the spring, summer and fall, which raise significant funds for the Library.  As Bill Campbell, president of the Poudre River Friends of the Library, noted, “Most patrons would be surprised to learn how many of the services and programs they enjoy are supported by the Friends.”

And the biggest of the Friends of the Library book sales is just around the corner, to be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 1, 2 and 3.  This year, the book sale will be at a new venue, at the Lincoln Center, 417 West Magnolia in Fort Collins.  Bill Campbell reports “We are very excited to be at the newly remodeled Lincoln Center.  With new volunteers helping us, we have been able to attract an excellent selection of fiction and nonfiction books and other materials.  Plus, we’re also having discount coupons for kids!  We hope to draw in old and new book lovers to the sale, which will go toward support of popular programs at the Poudre River Public Libraries.”

Participate in the celebration of Friends of the Library Week by becoming a member, which is open to all in the community, and by going to the Friends of the Library Book Sale in November.

Friends of the Library website: www.PRFOL.org

behind the scenes, Friends, News Release, Used Book Sale, Volunteers Read More

Life is Sweet in Northern Colorado

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Charlotte Lakamp in History, Library Blog

Each fall as we drive north and east of Fort Collins we all experience the same thing, trying not to hit tuberous vegetables with our cars. While some may see them as a danger others are aware of the vast influence sugar beets have had on the growth and culture of Fort Collins.

Sugar beets were introduced near Littleton Colorado in the 1860’s and slowly spread throughout the state. In 1901 the Great Western Sugar Company built a sugar beet processing factory in Loveland, which ramped up local production. Fort Collins received its own factory in 1903. With increased employment because of the new factory the population of Fort Collins boomed in the first decade of the 20th century. This population boom even lead to the establishment of the Carnegie Library in 1904. Specific classes were offered at CU on how to process beet sugar. WWI increased the cost of sugar and farmer’s profits grew from $5.25 per ton to $5.75 per ton.

The sugar industry also brought in the Germans from Russia who comprise one of the largest ethnic groups in Colorado. The first laborers arrived to work in the sugar beet fields near Brighton in 1886. The history of their immigration and preservation of their Germanic heritage in our community is fascinating.

 

Rocky Ford Sugar Factory, c. 1910

Rocky Ford Sugar Factory, c. 1910

During the 1930’s due to the depression the price of sugar beets dropped drastically and many small farmers were left with nothing.

In 1974 the Great Western Sugar Company was sold and due to added competition with cane sugar from overseas the price of sugar dropped, causing the sugar beet industry in Colorado to slow down.

So this fall, as you avoid those tuberous vegetables on the roadway, remember the influence they have had on our community. You may want to stop and pick one up for your kids show and tell!

 

Resources

http://history.poudrelibraries.org/archive/contexts/sugar.php

http://history.poudrelibraries.org/archive/contexts/post.php

Akron Weekly Pioneer Press. January 15,1904. Pg.4

Akron Weekly Pioneer Press. October 2, 1914. Pg. 1

Monte Whaley.2009.Northern Colorado sugar beet farmers taste sweet Times. Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_13964836 (accessed September 24, 2012).

Work Renders Life Sweet: Germans From Russia in Fort Collins
http://www.fcgov.com/historicpreservation/pdf/german-russia-doc.pdf
‎

 

 

Local history Read More

Banned Books Week

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Library Staff in Library Blog, Library Services, News

September 22 started Banned Books Week, an annual event that celebrates the freedom to read. As a reader of all things in many different genres, I am happy to know I can still go to my local public library and get what ever I want.

I was surprised to see some of my favorite classics on the list year after year. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee still top the list.

But how about the most challenged books of last year? Some of them may surprise you:

  1. Tremendously popular with the kids, Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey was challenge for offensive language, and being unsuited for an age group. It won Disney’s Kids’ Choice Award in 2007, and we may be seeing a DreamWorks film of it at some point!
  2. An important book, written about an by often-disregarded minority, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie illustrates life on the Spokane Indian Reservation. It was challenged for offensive language, racism, being sexually explicit, and unsuited for an age group.
  3. Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher, a haunting book about the damaging repercussions of small actions makes the book number three on the list. It has long list of challenges, but really can be summed up as being unsuited for the age group. It will be made into a movie, presumably, in the near future as Universal Studios purchased the rights.
  4. It, however, probably should surprise no one that one of the most controversial books of the year Fifty Shades of Grey by E.O. Wilson, made the list.
  5. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson is a children’s book based off a true story at Central Park Zoo about a penguin couple who are both male raising an egg together. It is challenged on the grounds of being unsuited for an age group, and containing homosexuality.
  6. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, a two-year New York Times bestseller, tells the tale of Amir and his life against the tumultuous backdrop of the fall of Afghanistan. Petitions against it cite homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoints, and explicit sex.
  7. The popular young adult author, John Green, even makes the list with his book Looking for Alaska.
  8. Scary Stories by Alvin Schwartz have been terrifying children much to their delight since 1981, and are top on the list for being unsuited for the age group.
  9. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a memoir that describes a turbulent childhood made chaotic by the extremes of poverty. Despite wining the Christopher Award, and the American Library Associations’ Alex Award, it was one of last years most challenged books.
  10. Beloved by Toni Morrison  may have hit bookshelves in 1988, but it’s still hotly contested twenty-five years later despite earning high awards such as the Pulitzer Prize, and being adapted into a highly acclaimed film.

Fun facts about other banned books.

  • The very controversial American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, naturally controversial for its extreme depictions of violence and sex, is being made into a musical and it will make its debut December 2013 in London!
  • A vice-principal in Vineland, New Jersey physically tore pages from the copy of his school’s library’s Paint Me Like I Am after finding a poem objectionable. An uncensored copy has since replaced the defaced book.
  • In Fayetteville, Arkansas, 55 books were petitioned to be banned in 2005.

Want to celebrate Banned Book Week and the freedom to read with Poudre Libraries? Come down and get your mugshot taken with a banned book!

Want to know more? You can read about challenged books from this year and what you can do if someone petitions to ban your favorite book from this informational pdf put out by the American Libraries Association – BBW_2012-2013_Shortlist.

Banned Books Week, behind the scenes, Library Services, Local history, material collection, News Release Read More
«‹7778798081›»

Recent Posts

  • 1-2-3 Brain Break: Breathing in Calm

    April 12, 2021
  • Watch this: 2021 BAFTA Awards

    April 8, 2021
  • 1-2-3 Brain Break: Slow Food, Yummy Snack

    April 5, 2021
  • Building a Healthier Community

    April 1, 2021

Try our App! Try our Mobile App!

Facebook Twitter River's Mouth Blog Instagram Pininterest Google Plus LinkedIn FourSquare Flickr You Tube

Navigation

  • Download
  • Events
  • How Do I?
  • Locations
  • My Account
  • Research
  • Site Map
  • Site Search
  • What's New

  • English

  • en español

Community

  • Birth to 5
  • Book Clubs
  • FRCC
  • Kids
  • Outreach
  • Teens

My Library

  • Bookdrops
  • Checking Out Items
  • Computer Classes
  • Computers
  • - Assistive Technology
  • - Printing
  • - Printing (3D)
  • - Wireless
  • Library Cards
  • Meeting Rooms
  • Suggest a Purchase

Resources

  • Answer Center
  • Ask-a-Librarian
  • Business Center
  • Job & Career Center
  • Nonprofit Resources
  • Genealogy
  • History Connection
  • InterLibrary Loan
  • Prospector
  • Readers' Cafe
  • - Reading Level Search
  • Research

Get Involved

  • Donations
  • Friends of the Library
  • Library Trust
  • Volunteers

About us

  • Board of Trustees
  • Executive Director
  • Jobs
  • Leadership Team
  • Library Newsletter
  • Policies
  • River's Mouth Blog
  • Sign Up for E-News

  • Help

  • Contact us

Poudre River Public Library District, 301 Olive Street, Fort Collins, CO 80524, (970) 221-6740
Including the collection of Front Range Community College, Larimer Campus