What's New: General

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Share Classes 2020 blog

Don't miss the opportunity to come together as a community for "share-worthy" recipes, tips and more in these fun, interactive virtual classes from the kitchen presented by Elayne Prechtel, award winning author, photographer, and creator of the soul-filled mission, Sharing Life, Love and Food.


Holiday Classes

Download the recipes below!


Click here for more Share Classes


Follow Elayne on Social Media

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Olympic book blog

Celebrate the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 with a special booklist. Books penned by Olympians, Paralympians, and about the journey to success!


Young Adult


Adult


Children


About the Olympics/Paralympics/Athletes

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Experimental Music Summit at KCH 2021

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.


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.

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

The top 5 eAudiobook titles borrowed through the Library’s digital collection in 2021:

  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.

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.

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
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Peggy Shivers El Pomar Award

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.

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People Of the Pikes Peak Region Blog

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 The Hall at PPLD (formerly known as 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.

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Announce Poet Laureate

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.

Ashley Cornelius

“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 The Hall at PPLD (formerly known as 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 four-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 The Hall at PPLD (formerly known as 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.

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DINOvember 2021

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

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

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

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:

We hope to see you soon!

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.

Come dance under the sea with us! Twirl, jump, and jam out with family and friends as we celebrate our underwater friends - you might even see an octopus!

Costumes and dressing up are encouraged.

East Library*

Mobile Library Services

Library 21c*

Penrose Library*

Mobile Library Services

High Prairie Library

Rockrimmon Library*

Cheyenne Mountain Library

*Registration required.

Starting on Thu., July 1, 3D printers will be available for use during Open Hours through walk-ins and reservations at East Library, Library 21c, Sand Creek Library, and Manitou Springs Library! Learn about all equipment available here.

PPLD Makerspace Equipment is also available now at Manitou Springs Library. Learn more about what's available here.

Visit our 3D Printing LibGuide for more information.

PPLD is proud to announce the return of the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate Program! We will be accepting applications for the position from Thu., July 15 to Sun., Aug. 15. The Poet Laureate builds a literary arts community through poetry by developing an appreciation of written and performance poetry and inspiring and celebrating poetry and poets in the Pikes Peak Region with dynamic programs of engagement, advocacy, and education.


Click here to apply!

Printed applications can be submitted at any PPLD Location.


We need your help to create art for Panorama Park! The tile art project will include over 7,000 individual tiles made by the community that will come together to create a beautiful statement piece that celebrates the diversity and unity of Southeast Colorado Springs. Please attend a FREE tile art workshop to put your personal touch on the park through the tile art project.

 

This project is being paid for by the Trust for Public Land and facilitated by Sand Creek Library and local artist Jere Rose (aka Rizzo). Tile-making workshops will be happening throughout 2021 and tiles will be fired at Sand Creek Library. The mural will be installed in Panorama Park once the renovation is finished (goal of late Spring 2022).

The Knob Hill neighborhood is home to an extraordinary amount of street art. Tour the neighborhood and see the murals at the street level with the street artists who created the art. Learn about the community focused organization, Knob Hill Urban Art District, that creates the murals. Talk with the artists. Experience the art up close. Snake your way through the alleys of the district to find hidden gems. Don't forget your walking shoes!


The Pikes Peak Library District Foundation’s sole mission is to raise and manage funds to assure excellence in the Pikes Peak Library District by funding the expansion of programs, services, and facilities beyond what is directly supported by the residents of the District. PPLD received a grant from NextFifty to increase capacity of the Mobile Library Services to better serve our aging population. The Pikes Peak Library District’s Lobby Stop service provides library access to older adults living in Independent, Assisted Living, Skilled Nursing and Memory care throughout El Paso county. NextFifty Initiative’s grant for a new lift gate on the Lobby Stop will allow the Lobby Stop staff to continue to provide patrons with access to book carts filled with materials to browse. Many patrons describe how browsing materials allows them freedom of choice which can lessen in care facilities, provides a shopping experience, and offers resources they would not otherwise have access to as most no longer drive.

Granted funds will be used for:

  • A new lift gate for the Lobby Stop vehicle
  • Storage cupboards and desk, installation, electrical for desk lighting: The storage provided by proposed cupboards affords the Lobby Stop staff space for more materials that patrons can access during each stop.
  • Williams Sound FM ADA Compliance Kit seed money: FM systems amplify sound in smaller meeting and study room spaces. Up to four patrons who are hard of hearing can use the receiver and headphones included in this kit, or can have sound transmitted directly to their hearing aids via a receiver and neck loop. A lapel microphone is included as well as a table mic. Currently, PPLD is equipped with only one kit to use throughout the entire district. With an additional kit for the district, the Lobby Stop staff will be enabled to bring a kit to the assisted living facilities it serves to use during programs. Furthermore, the library district will have more kits available to offer patrons to use in the Pikes Peak Library District’s meeting room spaces.
  • Large print book club collection seed money: Medical research shows that social interaction allows people to enjoy healthier lives. Social isolation increases dementia and cognitive decline after retirement. The Pikes Peak Library District’s Mobile Library Department, which includes the Lobby Stop Van Service, gathers books for thirteen book clubs every month. Most of the patrons participating in these book clubs require large print to participate. Currently, staff comb the catalog to find large print titles with enough copies, place holds on all the copies and monitor the holds which become available at different times. With a book club collection that is strategically developed with large print books already collated into a set that can be checked out all at once (along with book club discussion questions, DVDs, Playaways and/or CD book), wait times are decreased and the library district’s capacity to meet the demand (currently a long wait list) for large print book club collections increases, ultimately increasing number of patrons who benefit from the service.

In a hurry? Need lots of books for your kids? Looking for something new or unexpected to read? Try a PPLD Bundle! PPLD Bundles consist of a mix of titles chosen by staff from the shelves of your local branch based on your selections in the form below. After you submit the form, you will be notified via your current hold notification method (email, text, or phone call) when your PPLD Bundle is ready for pickup.

Learn more and request a bundle today!

Come and enjoy a Math Stroll at your local library! Families will enjoy doing interactive math activities outdoors during this engaging program.

For ages 3 - 10. Available in English and Spanish!

Window Strolls:

Outdoor Strolls:

Celebrate creativity with us for National Week of Making! From Mon., May 17 - Sun., May 23, we’ll be shining a light on ways to get involved with making in El Paso County. Share your creations with us with the hashtag #WeekofMaking2021. To read more about National Week of Making, visit Nation of Makers.

To kick off the week, we’ll be offering Watercolor Take and Makes at all Makerspace locations (Sand Creek Library, East Library, Library 21C, and Manitou Springs Library). Kits will include simple watercolor supplies and a written and video tutorial to get you started (available while supplies last).

While you’re there, check out our Makerspaces! We offer a wide range of tools and technology, from laser cutters to sewing machines to 3D printers to conversion machines. East Library and Sand Creek Library also offer a recording studio. You can take a tour, book time to use the space, and stop by our Creation Station to take a selfie!


Check out some of the resources below to learn more about what the library has to offer for makers!

May is National Foster Care Month. Learn more with PPLD!

All-Ages Booklist

About Foster Care

An average of 10 children and youth entered foster care each day in Colorado in 2020. In 2019, the Colorado Department of Human Services child abuse and neglect hotline received 219,478 calls. Foster care is always a last resort for kids and families. In El Paso County alone, the Department of Human Services receives approximately 16,000 Child Abuse Hotline calls per year. Of those calls, only about 400 results in the removal of the child.

This means, the children placed in foster care are the most severely abused and neglected and their removal was either an emergency or a last measure after their parents failed to remedy the problems in their home. – Hope & Home

ReMoved Video:


Hope & Home
Hope & Home is a local foster care agency. At Hope & Home, we believe that foster parenting is a calling. We believe that every single child who walks through our doors is precious and deserving of safety and love. We believe that reunification with a child’s biological parents when possible is best. We believe that adoption when necessary is beautiful.

Hope & Home is a licensed child placement agency, serving children and families across Colorado. We recruit, train, license, and support families to care for children in foster care.

Hope & Home is a community-based foster care agency on a mission to reinvent foster care across Colorado.

Abused and neglected children who have been removed from their birth homes get a stable and nurturing family to live with until it’s safe to go home again, or — when that safety isn’t possible — a family to give them a forever home through adoption.

Watch one family’s incredible foster care story.


Learn More About Foster Parenting:


References:


Kids Crossing

  • About Kids Crossing:
    Kids Crossing is an agency founded BY foster parents, FOR foster parents. Our mission is to strengthen families so they may provide the best care to those children entrusted to them.
  • Monthly Informational Meetings:
    Learn more about how you can become involved with Kids Crossing! Attend one of our informational meetings to meet staff and learn how Kids Crossing is different from other child placement agencies.
  • Support:
    As a Kids Crossing Foster Parent, YOU ARE NOT ALONE…Becoming a foster parent is a life changing decision, and being a foster parent is a tough job! Foster care is not for everyone, but if you are ready to commit to foster youth in need, Kids Crossing is here to support you every step of the way.

Special Kids Special Families

  • About Special Kids Special Families:
    SKSF’s Foster Care & Adoption program places children with special needs, including mental, emotional and physical disabilities into loving and caring homes. We serve children of all ethnicities, ages and situations. It is uniquely positioned as the “go-to” agency supporting foster children with disabilities due to its integration and access to the full range of SKSF programs and services.
  • Become a foster parent:
    Our foster care program encourages the achievement of every child’s full potential by providing a stable and nurturing alternative family environment. At the same time, we implement specific treatment plans for foster children and their families while working towards the best permanent outcome for everyone involved. To Become a Foster Parent with SKSF can be one of the most rewarding experiences.
  • Zoom Info Meetings:
    Special Kids Special Families is offering a FREE informational meeting about becoming a foster parent/family. This is the perfect opportunity to learn about the need for more foster families, what it takes to become a foster parent, and have all your questions answered. This meeting also serves as our orientation to those who have decided to begin the process of becoming foster parents. This meeting is offered remotely via Zoom.
  • Foster Family Stories

Bethany Christian Services

  • About Bethany Christian Services:
    Family Changes Everything: We believe every child deserves to be safe, loved, and connected through family. Bethany is a global nonprofit that supports children and families with world-class social services, all designed to help families thrive.
  • Of all the ways you can show love, foster care is one of the greatest. When you welcome a child or teen into your home, you show them bold love while their family works toward reunification. If you're interested in playing this important role, Bethany can help you be the answer for a child in need. You provide a loving home, and we'll provide the support you need.
  • Unaccompanied minors at the border:
    What’s happening and how you can help. Thousands of unaccompanied children crossing the border need safe and loving foster homes now.
  • Dismantling the Myths of Foster Care
  • Bobbi, a mom reunited with her kids after foster care.


Adoption & Genealogy Resources from Regional History & Genealogy

Laws governing access to birth records vary depending on the state where you were born. If you are adopted, you may or may not be able to request an original birth certificate, or certain information on your certificate may not be available. Use the resources below to learn more about the research process and record availability.

Online Resources
Child Welfare Information Gateway (A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

FamilySearch (Nonprofit genealogy database)

Special Collections Reference Books:

Discovery Kits are a collection of interactive items that patrons can check out to explore new topics, hobbies, and interests at home. There are Discovery Kits for all ages, from toddlers to adults. Learn more about the different kits here.

 

Kits:

  • Round Looms
  • Electronic Playground
  • Lego Mindstorms EV3
  • Bee Bots
  • Survive the Quake Engineering Kit
  • Remote Control Gear Bot
  • Ultimate Fort Builder
  • Cubelets Discovery Set
  • Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set
  • MAGNA-TILES Building Set

Welcome to the 15th Annual Pikes Peak Library District Mountain of Authors!


Keynote: Lt. Joe Kenda (Ret.)

Check out the 2021 Mountain of Authors keynote address by author and retired homicide detective Lt. Joe Kenda. Joe spoke for approximately 45 minutes, and then opened it up to a question and answer session.

Get your signed book from PPLD Friends HERE!

Lt. Joe Kenda, a twenty-three-year veteran of the Colorado Springs Police Department, spent twenty-one years chasing killers as a homicide detective and commander of the major crimes unit. Kenda and his team solved 356 of his 387 homicide cases, getting a 92 percent solve rate—one of the highest in the country. After retiring from law enforcement, he starred in Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda, an American true-crime documentary series that ran for nine seasons on the Investigation Discovery network and was aired in sixty-nine countries and territories worldwide. At its peak, Homicide Hunter averaged 1.9 million viewers in the US. See Lt. Kenda on his new crime series, American Detective, available to stream now on discovery+.


Live Panel

Please join us for this year's live, in-person panel, "Case File Conversations: Crime and the People that Chronicle It." This hour long presentation will complement the virtual keynote address by Joe Kenda on Sat., May 1, 2021, and recorded local author Book Buzz presentations. The panelists will discuss their respective careers, how they became involved in the field of crime writing/solving/reporting, and their experiences with it in the Colorado Springs community.

Recording coming soon

This year's panelists include:

  • 2020 Colorado Book Award finalist (Thriller Category) for Black Pearl and author of police procedural and psychological suspense fiction Donnell Ann Bell
  • Retired Colorado Springs Police Officer and compiler of the Homicides of the Colorado Springs Area, 1872 to Present index in Pikes Peak Library District Special Collections, Dwight Haverkorn.
  • Hosts of the Colorado Springs Gazette podcast Colorado Cold Case, Olivia Prentzel and Lance Benzel.

Book Buzz

Pike Peak Library District's annual Mountain of Authors program, including the Local Author Showcase, has gone virtual! For our virtual event, local authors have created fun and exciting Book Buzzes (short videos) to share their new books with you. Join us to discover new authors and great books for the fall. View all the videos here and see what the buzz is all about!

Videos premiered Sat., May 1 on PPLDTV YouTube.


Self-Publishing Workshop
Want to publish your own book? Learn more about self-publishing opportunities with the Library, such as Biblioboard and the Indie Author Project. This class is an overview about the self-publishing process, including creating an eBook, distribution channels, and marketing.

Video premieres Sat., May 1 on PPLDTV YouTube.

Celebrate Freedom of Information Day Tue., March 16!

Now as always in our history, reading is among our greatest freedoms. The freedom to read and write is almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression that can initially command only a small audience. The written word is the natural medium for the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. It is essential to the extended discussion that serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of knowledge and ideas into organized collections. (Read the full ALA's Freedom to Read Statement.)


The Library Bill of Rights
The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

  1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
  2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
  3. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
  4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
  5. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
  6. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.
  7. All people, regardless of origin, age, background, or views, possess a right to privacy and confidentiality in their library use. Libraries should advocate for, educate about, and protect people’s privacy, safeguarding all library use data, including personally identifiable information.

Learn more about Intellectual Freedom with the American Library Association.


PPLD Policies:


International Resources