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

Best Job @ the Library

As the Adult Programming Specialist at the Laramie County Library, I often tell folks I have the best job at the library!

I get to attend all kinds of fascinating and amazing programs.  I get to listen to classical music.  I get to look at the stars through a powerful telescope.  I get to make art with local artists. I get to learn how to play chess and make Mozzarella and try homemade beer. Maybe best of all, I learn all kinds of new information.  So I thought today I’d share some of what I’ve learned at library programs with you. Read More

Discover Space – Final Statistics

As part of the process for the big exhibits we get here at the library, such as Discover Space: A Cosmic Journey we have to compile a huge 37 page long final report, as well as a summary! We thought you might be interested in reading some of the final statistics, and hope that it will give you a better idea of what goes into getting one of these exhibits here at your library. The report and this summary were written by Jennifer Rife, project director and design & humanities coordinator for Laramie County Library.Read More