January at your Lincoln Library

Just because it's winter in Lincoln doesn't mean there's not a lot going on at the local library. For starters, they have kicked off the year with "31 Uses for Your Library Card," to highlight various uses and resources available to patrons who hold a library card.

Kate Radford, librarian for the Lincoln branch of the Lewis & Clark Library says, "There are way more than 31 uses and resources, but January has 31 days, and it seemed like a good place to start."

On Jan. 1, they highlighted that puppets are available for use. On the 2nd, they announced the Winter Reading Challenge. Jan. 3 highlighted Edventure Passes for the Governor's Mansion, Exploration Works, and the Montana Historical Society, which allows families to participate in free tours when you present your library card. The library received approximately 300 new items to the branch on Jan. 4, which is something they do each and every month. On Jan. 5, the library presented information on Hoopla, an app where patrons can check out digital movies, music, and ebooks. On the 6th, they highlighted the Daily Literacy Skills Calendar, a resource provided to the library from the Public Library Association containing activities to share with children to enhance daily literacy-building. On the 7th, they announced the "Dear Author Contest" for 4th and 5th graders, where they can write a letter to their favorite author, bring it to the library and have a chance to win SPRK for themselves and a Spheno Robot for their school library. And on Jan. 8, they reminded folks that automotive resources such as Chilton guides are available to access online.

To see what other uses and resources are available, make sure to check out their Facebook page and follow them. They will be posting new resources and uses each day.

While one of the uses mentioned above was the Winter Reading Challenge, Radford had even more information on it to offer, which may be of interest to community members. The Lewis & Clark Library has joined 1500 libraries around the world to encourage their communities to read this winter. The program has been provided to the library through Beanstack, partnered with Penguin, and offers participants the opportunity to win a Kindle package, which contains a Kindle, carrying case, and Amazon gift card. They challenge people to read 20 minutes a day during the month of January. Getting started is easy. Simply register and track your reading minutes. The more minutes someone reads, the more chances they have to win. Reading doesn't have to be just library books either, they can be your own hard copy books, magazines or audio books.

Radford also wants to remind people that the Community Room is available to use for community meetings free of charge, and that it can now be reserved online. To reserve the room online, visit the reservation website at: https://www.lclibrary.org/362/Lincoln-Community-Room.

In addition, the library is still looking for ways to collaborate with community artists to utilize the room for gallery showings using the new gallery hanging system.

Lastly, Radford wants to remind folks of the new hours for the library that began Jan. 2. Monday through Wednesday the library is open from 2-7 p.m. and from Thursday to Saturday it's open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and it's closed Sundays.

For more information on any of the library services or if you have questions, contact the library at 362-4300.