Give back this December
11/09/20
The holiday season is a special time of year—we spend time with family, reflect on the past year, and remember the reasons we have to be thankful.
It’s also a great time to make an impact on your community.
This December, Summit County Library offers a great opportunity for you to give charitably:
Colorado Gives Day
Libraries in Summit County and around the nation continue to serve a critical purpose in the communities they serve, especially during a global pandemic. In Summit County, our libraries were deemed an “essential business” as community members required critical access to technology to apply for unemployment benefits, food assistance, and other basic needs. Staff responded immediately and led the effort among businesses to institute safe practices to serve patrons. All three branches continue to provide access to critical services, respite for weary parents, and essential connections and communication to the broader community.
Summit County Library opened on March 24 for curbside pickup service, phone assistance, and issuing library cards over phone. The Library also
began offering Virtual Programming including Bilingual Storytime, Lego, Cookbook and Jigsaw Puzzle Clubs, Yoga, Meditation, Tech videos, and Virtual Trivia on Facebook, Zoom and YouTube. “Many of our patrons were excited about the programming that we were able to offer during our Stay at Home period as it give them a vital way of teaching children and entertaining adults,” comments Sarah Hulsey, Operations Manager.
Summit County Library also significantly increased digital services during COVID-19 by adding Newsbank (Summit Daily News and Denver Post Online), Prenda Code Club (learn to code for 8-18 year olds), TumbleMath picture books, advanced levels on Rosetta Stone, Consumer Reports, Creative Bug craft videos,
and Universal Class for continuing education. The usage of Kanopy video streaming also rose dramatically. The Library provided a virtual summer reading program with Beanstack software with free books throughout and prizes at the end for top readers.
The Library has also been able to provide critical resources like Computer Appointments for filing for unemployment, job applications, or printing needs. Library staff continued to field technical and reference questions during closures to ensure that residents had access to the resources they needed. Once open, all three locations have continued to provide safe in-person services, offer in person programs and story times, and 1-hour browsing visits with safety and contract tracing protocols. Most recently, to encourage safe distancing between staff and patrons, as well as 21st century ease of convenience, all three branches installed self-check out machines.
As numbers spike, library staff are prepared to continue curbside throughout the winter and hope to remain open to continue to offer the resources and programs you love.
You can help us reach even more children, teens, and adults in 2021 by making a tax-deductible donation on Tuesday, Dec. 8 —Colorado Gives Day!
To give, visit: coloradogives.org/SummitCountyLibraryFoundation/overview
The Summit County Library operates from the support of the Summit County Government and community donations through the Summit County Library Foundation. Colorado Gives Day is an annual statewide movement to celebrate and increase philanthropy in Colorado through online giving. Donations are accepted through ColoradoGives.org. Schedule your donations in advance starting Nov. 1.
“Summit County is a world-class county that is creating a world-class library system that serves every aspect and demographic of our community. We are asking our community to support the library and ensure that Summit County libraries will be a vibrant community resource and center for many years to come.” - Stephanie Ralph, Summit County Library Director.
