Laramie County Library System’s Board of Directors has announced that after over 42 years of remarkable service to the organization, County Librarian and Executive Director Carey Hartmann will retire from Laramie County Library System, effective July 1, 2023. Having served as the library’s Executive Director for nearly eight years, Carey’s leadership, vision, and experience helped shape the organization into the outstanding community resource that it is today.
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Insights from the Library’s Book Discussion Group: The Good Lord Bird
During the month of February, Laramie County Library’s Cheyenne Book Discussion Group read The Good Lord Bird by James McBride. A work of historical fiction featuring a Black main character and written by a Black author, the novel was chosen to coincide with Black History Month. The book follows the adventures of young Henry Shackleford, a Kansas slave boy who finds himself tangled up with abolitionist John Brown’s ragtag army during the turbulent period in American history known as Bleeding Kansas. Today, the events of Bleeding Kansas along with John Brown’s failed Harpers Ferry armory raid, and his subsequent execution, are recognized as precursors to the American Civil War.
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Laramie County Library System Utilizes McMurry Grant to Install Multi-Use Phone Booths
Laramie County Library recently installed two new privacy phone booths in the Computer Center, expanding the organization’s ability to provide private space for online job interviews, webinars, virtual meetings, or tele-health calls. The additional private space also helps minimize disruptions for visitors using library computers. With ventilation, data and power connections, sound proofing, and a work space, the phone booths are a great resource for students, job seekers, tele-workers, and others. The installation of the new phone booths was made possible thanks to a McMurry Grant to Libraries through the Wyoming Community Foundation.
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Insights from the Library’s Book Discussion Group: Gone Girl
For the month of January, Laramie County Library’s Book Discussion Group read Gillian Flynn’s 2012 novel Gone Girl, a keen psychological thriller tightly woven through a series of twists ending in a subtle cliffhanger. The plot revolves around the novel’s two main characters, Nick and Amy Dunne, a youngish married couple who have recently relocated to Nick’s hometown of Carthage, Missouri. The story is set during the Great Recession in which both Nick and Amy have lost their jobs as writers in New York City. The novel opens on the day of their fifth wedding anniversary and the mysterious disappearance of Amy Elliot Dunne, who also happens to be the living archetype for her psychologist parents’ popular Amazing Amy children’s books.
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Beth Cook Named Deputy Director of Public Service
Laramie County Library System is pleased to announce it has welcomed Beth Cook as its new Deputy Director of Public Service. In her role, Beth will oversee the Circulation & Branch Services, Cataloging Services, Youth & Outreach Services, and Adult Services divisions while ensuring that the library’s standards for customer service and innovation are being consistently met. She will help lead the library in its collection development, strategic planning, public programs and events, community outreach, and technological innovation. Her role is part of the library’s Administrative team and is responsible for helping Laramie County Library System operate on a daily basis while also envisioning and planning for its future growth.
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New Year, New Catalog at Laramie County Library System
On Tuesday, January 3, 2023, Laramie County Library System launched a brand new library catalog. The library updated to Aspen Discovery for WYLDcat to enhance and enrich the patron experience.
Aspen makes searching for books and resources easier, pulling all library resources together in one search. Users can create and share lists of materials and online content, find a title in every format available, read book reviews, and even rate items and see how others rated them. If a book or other item is unavailable, a “While you wait” feature offers suggestions for similar titles. Aspen offers these and many other features to improve catalog usage and functionality.
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Hogwarts House Cup Beanstack Challenge Winners 2022
And the House Cup goes to . . . Slytherin!
The winner of the 2022 Hogwarts House Cup Challenge was the house where dwell the ambitious, cunning, and resourceful; as a group, they read the most minutes per participant to secure this year’s House Cup trophy. Slytherin came in first with 1481 points, Hufflepuff second with 1353 points, Ravenclaw third with 1168 points, and Gryffindor fourth with 979 points. Across all four house, participants read over 400,000 minutes!
Slytherin’s banner will be displayed alongside the Hogwarts House Cup on the 2nd floor of the library until next year’s challenge.
Laramie County Library System is Now Fine Free
Laramie County Library System is now fine free! The library’s Board of Directors voted to eliminate overdue fines, forgive existing fines, and remove most fees for services and materials, which means our services are more accessible than ever before. The policy change also helps Laramie County Library System continue to pursue its mission “to be a hub for engagement, literacy and learning, and lifelong curiosity and discovery,” by making it even easier to use the library to discover new books, new resources, and new information.
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Welcoming New Board Member Steven Leafgreen to the Library
Laramie County Library System recently welcomed Steven Leafgreen to its Board of Directors. Steven’s first term on the Board will last from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024. Board members for Laramie County Library System are appointed by the County Commissioners who are required by Wyoming state statutes to provide library services to their constituents. Individuals who are interested in serving on the Laramie County Library Board must fill out the Laramie County Commissioners’ board application and follow the guidelines provided on their website. Every time we welcome a new member to our Board of Directors, we like to offer the community an opportunity to get to know a little bit about them and their goals for Laramie County Library System. Steven shared a little bit about himself and his goals for future contributions to Laramie County Library System.
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2022 Summer Reading Challenge Drawing Prize Winners
Our 2022 Summer Reading Challenge ended on August 15. Thank you to everyone who participated in the Summer Reading Challenge! Over 167,000 days of reading were logged between all of the challenge’s participants. We hope to see everyone back for next year’s Summer Reading Challenge! Keep an eye out for other fun reading challenges throughout the year, including our “Read Your House” Harry Potter challenge in October.
To review a list of our youth, teen, adult, and treasure chest drawing prize winners, please click here. Anyone whose name was drawn will be contacted directly via the contact information provided during sign up.