 The Basalt Regional Library District is one of the critical response areas in all of Colorado for the 2020 Census. Our community brings together rural populations, non-native speakers, seasonal residents, and digital challenges—all the impediments to getting a complete census count. Fortunately, the Library has partnered with the Together We Count committee to ensure everyone is counted in 2020!
The census is the only federally mandated program for all residents of the U.S. This is not a citizenship survey. It is a COUNT of every resident, from ages 0 to110. And for each resident, the state of Colorado receives approximately $2300 in annual funding to support our schools, public health services, employment programs, and food banks. As we know from this spring, every one of us may depend on services such as these without a moment’s notice. The BRL District is unique in that we include parts of unincorporated Pitkin and Eagle counties. As of June 15, both counties are lagging behind in responding to the 2020 Census. We can change that together. Click here to fill out the 2020 Census. It’s available in 25+ languages! Let’s all take a few minutes to complete the survey and support our community.
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Transform a toilet paper tube into a fire breathing dragon!  This project is adapted from onelittleproject.com/paper-roll-dragon-craft. MATERIALS:
 The devoted team of staff at your Basalt Regional Library have been working hard to bring library services back to the community in a safe and responsible phased approach. We thank you for your support and patience as we implement new “chapters” of service in accordance with the best practices of social distancing and safety.
With the needs and safety of our community in mind, we are moving forward with utmost care. Public Libraries are extremely high-touch environments where there is minute by minute public handling of materials, computers, printers, furniture and bathroom fixtures. Every effort is being made to have protocols and safety equipment in place prior to reopening so that the public and our staff are safe. On a typical summer day, at least 400 people walk through our doors. Social distancing and maintaining proper sanitizing protocols in a public library is a challenging and complex task. While our physical building remains closed, we want you to know that we are still here for you. Librarians are available by phone and email Monday through Saturday from 10am-5pm and can assist with placing requests for curbside pickup, recommend a good book, answer reference questions, provide technical help and walk you through accessing our digital collections and resources. We will continue to offer virtual programs, including our Summer Reading Program for all ages. The Basalt Regional Library stands with its community in the pursuit of knowledge and practice of democracy. It is our collective responsibility to learn (and unlearn), respect, and engage with each other. In this way will we create a legacy of inclusivity and equity, and justice for all. The below adult nonfiction titles are available in the Basalt Regional Library collection in various formats. Click on the book cover to view the title in our online catalog and place holds. There are many more titles to consider in this genre. Ask a librarian by calling 970-927-3411, and we can research further to your specifications and interests.
Welcome to virtual Wacky Wednesdays! With Summer Reading this year centered on the theme of fairy tales, what better way to start than with creating fairies?  Miss Evelyn created this cute rose fairy—she loves to fly around in the library's gardens! Inspiration for this craft came from The Craft Patch blog. We have adapted the instructions to better suit the materials in the craft kits provided by the library. The original craft can be viewed here: www.thecraftpatchblog.com/clothespin-flower-fairy-craft. MATERIALS:
“Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine.” -Ludwig van Beethoven  Photo by Amir Doreh on Unsplash Hello Music Lovers of the Valley,
In our previous Music at the Library post, pianist Amanda Gessler, who had been scheduled to give a performance of Beethoven's late piano sonatas at the library this spring, shared her experience studying the works of Beethoven with noted authority and widely recognized pianist Richard Goode, who encouraged Amanda "to really live the piece while one is playing it." I think we all would agree that Richard Goode was realizing Beethoven’s advice, "force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine." As Amanda’s comments suggest, there are infinite layers of expression and understanding in this music. As you listen to the recommended YouTube performances of Op. 109 and Op. 11, here are some elements of music that define compositions of Beethoven’s late style (1800-1828). In the piano sonatas Beethoven extensively explored the coloristic qualities of the piano, including highest and lowest ranges and applying a wide range of dynamics in both. He worked out themes and motives to their utmost potential with variation technique epitomizing his late style. The extensive use of fugal texture reflects his lifelong reverence for the music of J.S. Bach. His command of new sonorities seems unlimited; some deemed unsuccessful and performability questioned. But whether we approve or condemn, we have no reason to think Beethoven with perfect hearing would have altered a single note. The unprecedented rhythmic visions, the formal innovations, and the technical demands of these sonatas bid farewell to the sonata form as defined by the early classical period. Beethoven definitely represents the high romantic period with one leg in the past. Hello Music Lovers of the Valley, Among the many cancellations in our Basalt Library music series was a concert of Beethoven’s late piano sonatas performed by our talented Valley pianist, Amanda Gessler. Amanda is a meticulous scholar and consummate performer of Beethoven’s works. She has done extensive study of the master with the noted authorities and widely recognized pianists, John O’Cornor and Richard Goode. Our music coordinator Charlotte McLain asked Amanda to share some reflections on her passionate study of the works of this genius. Her response, below, provides an intimate portrait of becoming a Beethoven devotee. Enjoy!  Local pianist Amanda Gessler, whose scheduled performance at the library had to be cancelled, shares reflections about the music of Beethoven. My "discovery" of Beethoven happened in a piano lesson and in a grocery store. I was nine years old and had started piano lessons a few months prior. I had grown bored of the standard method books and, having had no exposure to classical music, I wasn't sure what the point of practicing was. I decided to quit. As I went into my lesson to tell my teacher that I was quitting, she sat down at the piano and played the first movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight" sonata. "This is Beethoven", she said, and I was instantly drawn in. I just had to learn it, to feel it in my own fingers and to shape it with my own expression.
A few weeks later, I was in a grocery store with my Mom when I found one of those kiosks that samples music with the push of a button (I don't think those exist anymore!). I eyed one sample that said "Beethoven", and it suddenly occurred to me that "Beethoven" was a name of a person and not the title of the piece I was working on! Which meant there must be more! My Mom bought me the cassette tape which featured his most popular piano pieces (accompanied by nature sounds in the background) and from that day, his music became my life work, my obsession, my solace through a tumultuous childhood, and my guide throughout life and emotion.  Without exaggeration, I have read Franny and Zooey every year since I was in college, so about 40 times. I usually re-read it in the spring to set my compass for the rest of the year, spring being the time of renewal. Every time I read it, it affects me differently—depending where I am in my life. This current reading, I’m looking at the theme of intellectual entitlement.
At once both a mystical story and a love story, at its publication in 1961, it was described both as a modern Zen tale and as a metaphor for modern society. Some critics suggested it was an "appallingly bad story", stagey and self indulgent, but that it also showed Salinger's "evolving beliefs”. Both of these assessments are true. Franny and Zooey is really two stories published together in one book. It’s two stories in a narrative series of stories about the Glass family that takes place in 1955 New York City’s upper east side. Franny is the youngest Glass, and Zooey is the second youngest of seven uniquely gifted children born from 1920s Vaudevillian parents. Narrator Buddy Glass (the family writer-in-residence and Salinger’s alter ego) describes he and his siblings during their daily appearances on a radio program, “It’s a Wise Child”, from 1927 to 1943 as “insufferably ‘superior’ little bastards that should have been drowned or gassed at birth”. That observation is true enough, too—all member of the Glass family are over the top, theatrical, flamboyant, chock full of ego. It’s why I like them, I relate to them, and why I annually check in to see how they are still faring. Learn the language of computers with these fun activities!  Girls Who Code, a non-profit organization working to empower young women in computer science, is now offering free computer science learning materials online that anyone can do at home. In response to school closures, and in an effort to practice social distancing as a community, Girls Who Code wants to support families and educators by providing these activities at varying levels of difficulties.
Enjoy any of the activities provided on the Girls Who Code at Home website with your middle schooler, regardless of gender! Below, our patron services associate Evelyn Dominguez shares her experience with completing two of the activities with her siblings. Go ahead and give them a try! Teen Services Coordinator Kristen Doyle has been hard at work sewing face masks for coworkers, family, and friends. She shares tips and tricks for three different face mask patterns she tested out.  Earlier this month, Governor Jared Polis encouraged Coloradans to wear cloth face coverings in public to lower the risk of spreading COVID-19 by those infected but asymptomatic of the virus. With surgical masks and N-95 respirators reserved for health care workers, many have turned to DIY coverings when stores run out. While a face covering can be improvised from a bandana or scarf, a cloth face mask that fits snug to your face is more effective. For those with basic sewing skills, one option is to make your own.
Several DIY face mask patterns and tutorials are available online. While these patterns vary in style and fit, make sure you chose one which follows guidelines from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Masks need to cover the nose and mouth while fitting snug to your face. Tightly-woven, 100% cotton fabric such as quilting cotton is ideal, but a cotton t-shirt can work in a pinch. Masks should be patterned to avoid confusion with medical-grade masks, at least two layers of material thick, and fully launderable. |
Adult News & reviewsLibrary news, info about upcoming events, reviews of books and films, and a look at the topics that affect us as a library. Archives
August 2020
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