The Laramie County Library is Retiring our Sort Machine and Welcoming a New One

Beginning on November 26th, the Laramie County Library will be installing a new sort machine. This process will bring the following interruptions and changes to services:
• The two Library Mate™ item returns outside the building at the southwest entrance will be out of service.
• The two Library Mate™ item returns on the first floor of the library will be out service.
• There will be labeled bins by Cards & Accounts where library items can be manually returned.
• The Drive-Up Book Drop will be fully-functioning.
• Book discharges will be done by hand and will be delayed.
• The library will not have the space to accept large donations of books and other materials.
The installation is expected to be complete by December 14th. We appreciate our patron’s patience while we install our new sort machine.
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A Life in Libraries

I have decided to enter the competition for “Best Job in the Library.” I started working at the library in 1990, which means I have worked at the Laramie County Library for more than half of my life.

When I first began working for LCLS, I had to take a pay cut. But I decided the loss of income was worth it, because for me, working in a library was a dream job. I have been obsessed with books my whole life.Read More

National Hermit Day

What do National Hermit Day, Solitude, and Your Laramie County Library System have to do with One Another? A lot, It Turns Out.

October 29th is National Hermit Day. That’s right, a day entirely devoted to hermits. When you hear the word “hermit,” what do you think of? Does it conjure up images of bearded recluses living alone in the middle of the woods? Or, perhaps, you imagine a quiet individual who hardly ever leaves the basement. You might even think of a secluded monastery where monks pray in silent solitude.Read More

Boogers, Books & Boys!

Think of all the people you know who are avid readers. What percentage are men and what percentage are women?  Surveys consistently find that women read more books as a pastime than men.

As a mother of two little boys, this is concerning for me.  Strong readers experience success at school in a myriad of ways. In a study of 17,000 subjects published by The Guardian, Dr. Alice Sullivan found that reading for pleasure was linked to greater intellectual progress in vocabulary, spelling and mathematics. Read More

Library for All

As the Adult Programming Specialist, something that had bothered me for a while was that neither our children’s programming nor our adult programming was well suited for adults with disabilities. I had been a caregiver at an organization that cared for these individuals at one time and I remembered how hard it could be to fill up a day. You can only bowl and swim so many times a week, and the cold Wyoming winters do not help.Read More

The Way We Worked

Who Made America? The Way We Worked exhibit comes to Laramie County Library to explore the answer to that very question.

“Who made America/ Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain/ Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain/ Must bring back our mighty dream again.” These words from Langston Hughes’ 1938 poem, “Let America Be America Again,” are the introductory statement for the new The Way We Worked exhibit on display at the Laramie County Library from September 22 to November 13. Although the poem was written eighty years ago, the words continue to beseech us to reflect on what has made America the country it is today, and The Way We Worked exhibit echoes the sentiment, asking us to reflect upon the jobs, the technology, and the people who have worked to make America.Read More

To a New Mom

First of all, you will get advice from every direction: the internet, your mom, your closest 30 friends, your coworkers, maybe even your dog.  You cannot make everyone happy.  Some things will work, others won’t, and some are just plain silly.  Do you wear your baby or use a stroller?  Co-sleep or crib?Read More

Best Job @ the Library

Look, I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t they just post about someone else having the best job in the library? Yes. That person is Robin Papaleka, and while she does have a pretty cool job, it’s far from “the coolest.”

My name is Bobby Phillipps, and as the Audiovisual Coordinator, I have the coolest job in the library!

I am a movie and music nerd. I play guitar, bass, drums, piano, I sing, and I have worked on a few independent films in various capacities. I’ve contributed music, I’ve helped with editing, and I’ve even acted here and there. I just love movies and music so much! Heck, my wife and I got married at the Stanley Hotel, because we love “The Shining” (the Kubrick version) so much! So when the Audiovisual Coordinator position became available, I felt like I was made for that job.Read More

Secrets of the Stacks

Each year there are thousands of books published, dozens of movies released, and hundreds of music CD’s and audiobooks produced. You may have wondered how the LCLS staff makes decisions on which ones to acquire.

For bestselling books, the process is automated. Our main vendor has a list of popular authors and the staff member who select materials chooses authors from these lists. Then, every time the author has a new book out, our vendor automatically sends us one or more copies of the title.Read More