Basalt Regional Library - News & Reviews

Summer News!

5/26/2021

The Basalt Regional Library is looking ahead to the summer season in the hope that we will be able to gather and celebrate together. Keeping our community safe and adhering to public health protocols remains important in our planning programs and activities, and we are grateful to the community for your support during the past year.

It is with great pleasure and special thanks to the Friends of the Library that we announce our summer activities will take place outside under our new tent! Summer on the Lawn programs are set to begin soon. Storytimes, craft activities, author visits, our Concert Series and more will all take place (weather permitting) outside. We hope to add pop-up events as well, so stay tuned!

As always, all our programs are free and open to the public.

We look forward to seeing you this summer!

We are looking for a new Executive Director!

5/25/2021

The Director of the Basalt Regional Library District is a highly skilled professional who wears many hats, balancing the needs of the community while encouraging the talents of an enthusiastic staff. Basalt Regional Library is more than a library to the patrons of the valley, it is a hub for many of its users and, as Director, you will be an integral part of the community. The Director is ultimately responsible for creating a positive environment where employees want to work and patrons want to spend their time.

The Director we’re seeking:

Mentors, motivates and skillfully hires staff to reach their potential.
Represents and advocates for the Library in community meetings, programs and events.
Envisions both a short- and a long-range outlook for the Library’s future.
Expands community outreach into new areas and in innovative ways.
Possesses experience in budgetary preparation and management, and is a competent steward of taxpayer funds.
Maintains the Library’s appearance and equipment, and makes creative use of the Library’s spaces.
Leads the effort to improve equity and opportunity within our multi-lingual, diverse community.
Embraces technology of today and is eager to explore technology of tomorrow.
Must be willing to hang your hat here for a long time.

Is this the job for you?

To Learn more, click here.

Grab and Go Activity with ArtBase

5/5/2021

Note: When using the watercolor and paintbrush, be delicate with the brush. The flower is thin, and too much pressure will cause holes.

Nota: cuando use la acuarela y el pincel, sea delicado con el pincel. La flor es delgada y demasiada presión causará agujeros.

Grab & Go Activity: DIY Sloth Plushies

4/28/2021

For this week’s grab and go activity, we’ll be making our very own pocket sloth plushies!

Materials Included in your Grab & Go Kit

3 pieces of felt
1 embroidery needle
Embroidery thread
Cotton Stuffing
Sloth plushie pattern

Materials From Home

Scissors
Pencil

Grab & Go Activity: Earth Day Tote Bags

4/14/2021

Celebrate Earth Day by decorating your own reusable tote bag. Use it for groceries, school supplies, or to pick up books from the library!

Materials in your kit:

1 canvas tote bag
3 fabric markers
Cardstock

Materials from home:

Pencil

Grab & Go Activity with the ArtBase

4/7/2021

This week decorate a llama! Draw a face, decorations, or even fur, then weave a blanket on it's back so it doesn't get cold!

Grab & Go Activity

3/31/2021

For this week’s Grab & Go Activity, we will be making Potato Prints for our Potato Week! Turn it into wrapping paper, a birthday card or art for your wall.

Library Giving Day $20.21

3/22/2021

National Library Week is April 4-10!!

The library is where you can find whatever you are looking for. “Welcome to your Library” for free concerts, drive-in movies, conversations on social discourse, writer's workshops, author talks, game nights, Date Nights, grab-and-go crafts, storytimes, legal clinics.

Oh! And newspapers, magazines, historical archives, new books and Hot Picks, audio books, early literacy resources, Spanish language films and magazines, and a host of online services including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, movie screening through Kanopy, and all the latest crafting videos on CreativeBug.

There is more. During the past year, the BRL has waived fines for late items as we have quarantined all materials upon their return to the library. This policy will continue for the near future.

We are so excited to welcome you back into the Library as public health restrictions allow. We are committed to providing the very best resources and programs for the community while maintaining a safe and welcoming space for all.

And we are grateful to you for continuing to support the BRL. Your kind comments, patient expectations, and trust in our staff has made the past year more bearable. Library Giving Day is April 7. A gift of $20.21 will help secure the new programming and resources brought to you by the BRL.

Thank you, and “Welcome to your Library!”

Happy National Nutrition Month®!

3/15/2021

Since 1973, the first big effort in delivering nutrition education to the lay public was introduced as National Nutrition Week, and in 1980, this event grew into becoming what we know as National Nutrition Month®. This month everyone is invited to learn how to make more informed food choices to help develop healthy eating habits. Every year, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, along with other organizations, spread awareness of making “informed food choices and developing healthful eating and physical activity habits” (National Nutrition Month Overview).

This year’s National Nutrition Month® theme is Personalize Your Plate! This theme prompts the question, how can we make healthy food choices, adapted to our own unique bodies, that meet our personal and cultural preferences? The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has created many free and downloadable resources with the purpose of helping individuals learn how they can personalize their own plates to help them work towards their health-related goals.

For example, maybe you are on a budget but still want to know how you can eat healthy without breaking the bank. The WIC Works Resource System is a center that offers many resources that cover topics such as eating healthy on a budget. You can use this resource for helpful tips on meal planning (read our bullet journal blog post for some helpful tips!), shopping smart, and creating healthy meals.

For many people, their goal this month might be to include more vegetables in their diet. If this is the case, reading through the “Smart Tips to Build a Healthy Salad” handout from the eatright website might help them get started. As someone that is not the biggest fan of salads, I found that reading through it and underlining the vegetables that I like or am willing to try, was helpful in taking the first step in learning to create a satisfying salad.

Many might even think about celebrating National Nutrition Month® by growing their own garden of delicious vegetables. If you need help getting started, visit the Basalt Regional Library to pick up seeds for your garden. A collection of victory garden seeds will be available at the Basalt Regional Library starting March 15. You can also visit the Seed Savers Exchange for gardening planning help and tips. No matter what your goal might be, we wish you all the luck this month with building new and healthy habits! Happy National Nutrition Month®.

Sources:
“National Nutrition Month Overview.” EatRight, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2021, www.eatright.org/food/resources/national-nutrition-month/about-national-nutrition-month.

Grab & Go Activity: Blackout Poetry

3/10/2021

For this week’s Grab & Go Activity, We’ll be creating blackout poetry! Blackout poems are a non-formal style of “found poetry,” in which the poet selects words from a magazine or book page to create a poem. The poet then blacks out the words they don’t want to use in their poem with thick lines, drawings, or other forms of visual art.