Monthly Newsletter

January 2025

www.mancoslibrary.org

From the Desk of

the Director,

Jared Boudreaux

Happy New Year, Mancos! With the arrival of 2025, I’ve been reflecting on how much the library means to our community as a place where people can gather, learn, and grow together. This winter has been mild so far, and it’s been wonderful to see so many of you making the most of this season by visiting the library. I also want to extend heartfelt thanks to all of our donors and supporters. Your generosity during this time of year makes it possible for us to continue offering programs, expanding resources, and maintaining our role as a hub for the community. Whether you’re here to meet personal goals, discover new stories, or just enjoy a welcoming space, the Mancos Public Library is here for you. Let’s make this a year to remember together!

JANUARY LIBRARY HAPPENINGS

Friday, Jan. 3rd from 6 to 9 pm

Teen Game Night

Saturday, Jan. 11th from 6 to 8 pm

TEEN CAFÉ

Friday, Jan. 17th from 6 to 9 pm

TEEN GAME NIGHT

Thursdays, Jan. 2nd and 16th,

D&D character building for new campaign

Thursday, Jan. 30th new campaign begins

Death Café

January 16th – 5:30 pm

Adult Programs – From the Desk of Midge Kirk

Happy New Year from YOUR Library!

A thought about libraries from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s new book, The Serviceberry Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World.

“Public libraries seem to me a powerful example of the way that gift economies can coexist with market economies, at a larger scale…I love bookstores for many reasons but revere both the idea and the practice of public libraries…Libraries are models of gift economies, providing free access not only to books but also music, tools, seeds, and more. We don’t each have to own everything. The books at the library belong to everyone, serving the public with free books…Take books, enjoy them, bring them back so someone else can enjoy them, with literary abundance for all. And all you need is a library card, which is a kind of agreement to respect and take care of the common good.”

Death Café is on the third Thursday of each month, January 16th.

FOLK ARTS GRANT

The Mancos Creative District and Mancos Public Library are excited and honored to be one of 25 recipients of the Colorado Creative Industries Folk and Traditional Arts grant. These Grants seek to enhance community well-being, cultural identity, economic vitality, and sense of place, especially in areas that are often underrepresented in the contemporary art space.

Funds will support the creation, presentation, or teaching of folk and traditional arts, and/or the documentation of folk or traditional arts and cultural heritage through community archiving, oral histories, photojournalism, video or other creative works.

We have the opportunity to work with four creatives who would like to teach a craft or art form from different cultural traditions. Teaching artists will be paid a stipend and supported to make a presentation, or create a class to be hosted at the Mancos Public Library between January and June of 2025.

If you are interested in participating please reach out to Jody Chapel, project coordinator, at jodybchapel@gmail.com.

Community Read

For the month of January, we are focusing on the Community Read – What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Dr. Bruce Perry, renowned brain and trauma expert, and Oprah Winfrey. The Library has four copies in of this book in circulation and when they are in, they are on the Adult Table at the front of the library.

The Mancos Community has committed to read this book and later discuss it, to better understand trauma and the community conditions that lead to healing. Our community is a close- knit one, and we are always open to ways that facilitate growth. This read will assist us, not only with our own healing, but also give us a better understanding of our neighbors who may be struggling, and dynamics that occur around the world.

Most everyone has been affected by trauma during their lifetime, to one degree or another. How we recognize it, deal with it and heal from it, is not always clear. Our earliest experiences shape our lives, and trauma we may not even remember can have a lasting impact. Finding ways/tools to heal is critical and may not be what we imagine (teaser: therapy is not always the answer). This book provides powerful scientific as well as emotional insights into social and behavioral patterns that many of us struggle to understand; it addresses a difficult topic but offers hope, understanding, and positive concrete ways to change and grow. There are multiple copies at the library for you to check out and read over the next few months.

Available copies are on the Adult Table, at the front of the library. We will gather on

February 15 from 1-3 for a community discussion.

SAVE THE DATES

Saturday, February 15th 1-3:30 – $35.00

Winter Aspens in Watercolor

At the Mancos Public Library

A fun watercolor workshop for all ages and all abilities.

Come away with a winter scene to be proud of.

Wednesday, March 12, 5:30-6:30

Estate Planning 101 Learn the essentials of estate planning, including the differences between a will and a trust, how to pass assets to loved ones tax-free, and ways to create a lasting legacy for your family.

Presented by Karina Guerrero of Foundational Wealth Partners.

Young Adult Programs – From the Desk of Jenni kitchen

Last year, Teen Programming was a blast, full of fun programs and tons of socializing. We celebrated the Chinese (Lunar) New Year in February and the summer was chock full of Asian Adventures, ending with a special Japanese Market in August. November was full of gaming and the end of the month brought an awesome Mario Kart Tournament. December finished the year with a flourish, with a Special Community Holiday Movie and a Winter Celebration for the Teens. Teens were at the regularly scheduled Teen Cafes and Teen Game Nights in good numbers and I look forward to seeing this group some more this year.

I started another Dungeons and Dragons campaign this past autumn and plan on kicking off 2 more this winter and spring, in hopes to bring them all together for summer. This gives me more reason to cook from the Dungeons and Dragons Cookbooks we have at the library. If you do not know about D&D, it is a game of planning and playing out scenarios that uses reading, writing, and good old basic arithmetic.

I have big plans (as usual) this year in Teen Programming. I will continue bringing the teens gaming twice a month (the first and third Friday of each month) and Teen Café (the second Saturday of the month).

Summer will be full of Coloring Our World, this means creative art projects will abound. Teens are asking to celebrate the Lunar New Year again (Year of the Snake) and many community members have asked me to run another street market in August. Oh, and we will definitely be watching more anime this year, as that is what the kids want!

Here’s to all the fantastical opportunities that will come our ways this year!

JANUARY TEEN EVENTS

Friday, Jan. 3rd from 6 to 9 pm

Teen Game Night

Saturday, Jan. 11th from 6 to 8 pm

TEEN CAFÉ

Friday, Jan. 17th from 6 to 9 pm

TEEN GAME NIGHT

Thursdays, Jan. 2nd and 16th,

D&D character building for new campaign

Thursday, Jan. 30th new campaign begins

Children’s Librarian – from the desk of Erin Bohm

New Year’s Resolution Idea for Caregivers

Here is a New Year’s Resolution idea for caregivers: Hand Your Phone to Your Kiddo With Intention! Folks who provide childcare know that sometimes, unless there’s a better option, you might hand them your phone to occupy them. Rather than feeling uncomfortable or guilty, consider having a few literacy apps handy. Here’s a list of well-regarded literacy apps:

Reading Rockets Apps for Literacy and Learning

• Bob Books Reading Magic #2: build beginning reading skills using spelling, repetition, and phonics.

• Simple Mind: teaches mind mapping, turning your device into a brainstorming, idea collection and thought structuring device.

• Preposition Builder: learn how prepositions can change the meaning of a sentence. Complete a level & unlock an animation that is part of a larger story; complete all levels to see the entire story.

• Mad Libs: just how you remember it but now the fill-in-the-blank sections are interactive, and hints are offered to educate and entertain.

• Question Builder: learn to use inference to answer abstract questions.

• Popplet: a mind-mapping tool that creates “Popplets” filled with text, drawings or video

• Word Wizards: turn any word a kid creates – even words that do not exist – into spoken words! Movable Alphabet helps kids hear the text they wrote, verifying spelling with the spell checker.

• Word SLapPs: teach vocabulary words specific to your child’s world; allows you to upload your own pictures and voice!

• Pictello: make virtual storybooks with their own titles, photos, videos, and captions; useful for kids with difficulty understanding social cues, reading facial expressions, and interpreting body language.

Circulation – from the desk of Bernadette Tuthill

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Are you ready for the new year?  What are you going to do with it?

January is a time to focus on fresh starts, reflecting on the past year, making new plans and New Year’s resolutions.

Here are some New Year’s tips to help you achieve your goals:

1.  Choose a goal that’s concrete and achievable.

2.  Choose measurable goals. Avoid vague goals like “lose weight” or “be more productive”.   

3.  Writing down your goals can help.

4. Find an accountability partner.

5. Create a strategy: What will you need to do to stick to your new habits. 

6. Don’t expect perfection: Progress is more important than perfection, especially when you’re first starting something new. 

7. Start small: Sweeping changes can be overwhelming.

Resolutions to consider:

1. Practice gratitude: Write down one thing you’re grateful for each night. 

2. Consider a new hobby: Learn a new skill or hobby, like cooking or a language

3. Exercise more: Exercise can help keep your body fit and functioning properly. 

4. Spend more time with family: Schedule time for dinners, walks, or game nights. 

Let the library help you. There are books and DVDs on all kinds of subjects to give you ideas and inspiration.

Technology – from the desk of Kira Taylor

A Note From Kira

Hi all,

I am sad to say that I will be leaving the library in mid-January. I have loved working

with all of the wonderful people that staff the Mancos Public Library. I’ve also really

loved working with patrons – from finding a new book to read to learning how to

use their new computer, it has been an enriching and rewarding experience.

I hope to still be involved in some capacity for a little while, and will do

everything to ensure that the transition is a smooth one. We are still trying to

sort out what tech appointments will look like going forward. I will continue to

do appointments up until my last day in mid-January, and am happy to be

available via email for any questions people may have for a few more weeks past

that point – my email at tech@mancoslibrary.org will still be active for a while.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your public library experience – I look forward to seeing everyone there in the coming months as a fellow patron.

A Word from Friends of the Library

Our holiday book sale was a great success again this year. Our Book Maven, Miriam, hopes to bring in $200 at these small sales and we bested that expectation by nearly a third, bringing in $294. We made $237 on book sales (at a dollar a pound, that’s a hefty take), and $57 on membership dues. Many thanks to the volunteers and all of you who stopped by to restock your bookshelves.

Next up for us is the Valentine’s Day Bake Sale. As the name implies, that’ll be on February 14, which is a Friday this year.

We typically meet the first Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m. in the library. Our next meeting is January 7. Join us if you can. We’d love to see new faces.

As always, Friends logo hats can be purchased at the library for $20. We also have a stash of four beautiful prints donated to the Friends by Stanton Englehart. Two are limited edition that Stanton signed before his death. Go to the Friends website at mancosfriends.org to view and for pricing.

Friends is a volunteer organization that supports and promotes the Mancos Public Library. To become a member, go to www.mancosfriends.org and download the membership form. The link can be found at the bottom of the page. It’s a mere $10/year and your membership dues go to our amazing Mancos Public Library.

Questions about Friends can be directed to Anne at southwestanne@yahoo.com.

See You At The Library!