​Are you ready to take a trip through the galaxy to visit alien lands, light saber in hand, and explore the effects of gravity? Join us to explore a “Universe of Stories” at this year’s Summer Reading Program at the Lake County Libraries. Registration begins the week of June 24th. Library staff is excited to present every registrant with a new book for their summer reading pleasure as well as free child pass and a two-for-one adult admission to the 2018 Oregon State Fair.

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This summer children going into kindergarten through 6th grade will enjoy songs, games, crafts, stories, snacks, and activities each week of the “A Universe of Stories” program.  They will make Gross Galactic Slime, listen to Randy Dary will play and sing, and learn about solar energy with Bob Rogers from the Lake County Resource Initiative and “Our Place in Space” with the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
 
Teen program participants should be sure to attend the first meeting where crafts and activities for the summer will be chose. All youth in the program will have the chance to show off their alien and astronaut personas in the Lake County Libraries float at the Round-up parade!
 
The Paisley Program, at the Community Center, will start Tuesday, June 25th at 9:30 am for elementary-age (Preschool through 6th grade) kids and 11 am for teens. The North Lake Program, at the Christmas Valley Library will also start Tuesday, June 25th at 2:00pm for Preschool-6 and 4 pm for the teens.  The Lakeview Program, at the Main Library, will start Wednesday, June 26th at 2pm for the teens and Thursday, June 28th for K-6 at 10:00am and 2:00pm. Preschool story times will continue at the Main Library on Wednesdays at 10:00am.
 
Each program is eight weeks long, and gives youth an opportunity to have fun with their friends while preventing the summer slide in reading skills. The Summer Reading Program is supported in part by Oregon’s Ready to Read grant through the Oregon State Library.
 
For more information contact David Lev at 541-947-6019, click for K-6th program details or teen program details, or visit your local library.

Lake County Libraries are excited to host Ras & Kathy Vaughan, aka Team UltraPedestrian, for a multimedia presentation of their latest thru-hike. The UP North Loop is a 2,600 mile linkup of the Idaho Centennial Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Pacific Northwest Trail, and Oregon Desert Trail that runs through Lake County. Team UltraPedestrian will be at the Christmas Valley Community Hall Thursday, May 9, 2019 at 6:30 PM, at the Paisley Community Hall on Friday, May 10, 2019 at 1:30 PM, and at the Main Library – Lakeview Meeting Room on Friday, May 10, 2019 at 6:30 PM.

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On May 14th, 2018, the Vaughans set out hiking south on the Idaho Centennial Trail from the small town of Hammett, Idaho. At 4:22:00 pm on Monday, November 5th, after covering more than 2,600 miles on foot over the course of 174 days they returned to their starting point to complete the first ever UP North Loop. Their epic journey took them across the breadth and width of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
 
In this free public program, Ras & Kathy share the origins of and inspiration for the UP North Loop; the unique physical, mental, and logistical challenges it poses; the thrill of confronting nearly six straight months of doubts, question marks, and uncertainty; and the beautiful brutality of seeing your plans crumble before your very eyes. Join Ras & Kathy for an evening of laughter, information and inspiration.
 
For more information about this program, please contact Library Director Amy Hutchinson at 541-947-6019 or amyh@lakecountylibrary.org. For more information about Team UltraPedestrian contact Ras Vaughan at UltraPedestrian@gmail.com or check out ultrapedestrian.com. 

Spend an evening with best-selling Oregon author Molly Gloss hosted by your local library in Christmas Valley on Thursday, April 25, 2019 and in Lakeview on Friday, April 26, 2019, both at 6:30 PM. A fourth-generation Oregonian, Gloss’ work often concerns the landscape, literature, mythology and life of the American West. 

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Gloss’ five novels, including The Hearts of Horses and Falling From Horses, span the time from homesteading the northwest in the 1890s to a near future space colony. “[To] my way of thinking, there’s a continuous line between historical fiction and science fiction. We are every bit as distanced from the past as we are from the future,” says Gloss.
 
Molly Gloss has been awarded the Oregon Book Award, a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, the PEN West Fiction Prize, the James Tiptree Jr. Award; as well as a Whiting Writers Award. In her writing she seeks to retell the classic American western story as a narrative of communities and human individuals, shaping it around the realities of the historical West and finding a central place in it for women.
 
This free public program is most suitable for adults and teens and is made possible by the Lake County Cultural Coalition and the Friends of Lake County Libraries. For more information about this program, please contact Library Director Amy Hutchinson at 541-947-6019 or amyh@lakecountylibrary.org. Connect with the author at mollygloss.com. 

LAKEVIEW, Ore.—March 29, 2019— Learn about getting started with home solar power, solar grants for business, solar pivots for agriculture, and solar projects relieving poverty around the world with Bob Rogers at the Main Library – Lakeview on Friday, April 12, 2019, both at 6:30 PM.  

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​Bob Rogers has worked in the field of Energy Engineering for over 40 years. He is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering with a master’s degree from Stanford University. He has taught Mechanical Engineering at Cal Poly University and Renewable Energy at the Oregon Institute of Technology. His work has led to product development in solar power, electric, hybrid and fuel cell automobiles as well as passive building construction, wind and tidal power.
 
Bob is a professional Mechanical Engineer and a consulting engineer for Renewable Energy and HVAC systems in commercial and industrial buildings. Bob has worked in the energy efficiency field for many of the largest organizations including Kaiser Hospitals, PG&E, So-Cal Edison, IBM and Livermore Labs to develop renewable energy and efficiency goals.
 
For the past 2 Years Bob and his wife Cathy have worked in Swaziland, Africa to rebuild rural schools and develop STEM technology programs for orphan and impoverished children. Bob will be taking five engineering students from the United States to Swaziland in May to install solar cooking and power systems they developed under a US Embassy grant.
 
This free public program is most suitable for adults and teens and is made possible by Lake County Resources Initiative. For more information about this program, please contact Library Director Amy Hutchinson at 541-947-6019 or amyh@lakecountylibrary.org. For more information about Lake County Resources Initiative, contact Nick Johnson at 541-947-5461 or nick.johnson@lcri.org. 

In honor of Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar turning 50 this year, Lake County Libraries will be hosting special birthday story times at our Lakeview, Paisley, and Christmas Valley library branches! Preschoolers and their families can attend these free events at the Paisley Library Tuesday, March 19th at 10:30 AM; at the Lakeview Library Wednesday, March 20th at 10:30 AM; and at the Christmas Valley Library Thursday, March 28th at 10:00 AM.

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​Eric Carle turned the traditional picture book into an interactive object by integrating holes and shortened pages, according to the Eric Carle Museum. “It’s a book you can play with, a toy you can read,” Carle explained about The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He designed it for toddlers and preschoolers, an audience under-recognized by the publishing industry at the time. A new era for picture books was born.
 
In honor of this wonderful book, please come to our a special reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, other books by Eric Carle, crafts and activities, and Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcakes!
 
If you would like more information, please contact Youth Library Assistant David Lev at 541-947-6974 or davidl@lakecountylibrary.org. We hope to see you there!

​LAKEVIEW, Ore.—February 1, 2019— Save the dates to spend an evening with best-selling Oregon author Molly Gloss hosted by your local library in Christmas Valley on Thursday, April 25, 2019 and in Lakeview on Friday, April 26, 2019. A fourth-generation Oregonian, Gloss’ work often concerns the landscape, literature, mythology and life of the American West.
 
Gloss’ five novels, including The Hearts of Horses and Falling From Horses, span the time from home-steading the northwest in the 1890s to a near future space colony. “[To] my way of thinking, there’s a continuous line between historical fiction and science fiction. We are every bit as distanced from the past as we are from the future,” says Gloss.
 
Molly Gloss has been awarded the Oregon Book Award, a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, the PEN West Fiction Prize, the James Tiptree Jr. Award; as well as a Whiting Writers Award. In her writing she seeks to retell the classic American western story as a narrative of communities and human individuals, shaping it around the realities of the historical West and finding a central place in it for women.
 
This free public program is suitable for adults. More details about the events will be released in March. For more information about this program, please contact Library Director Amy Hutchinson at 541-947-6019 or amyh@lakecountylibrary.org. Connect with the author at  mollygloss.com . 

​In 2018, Lake County preschoolers received 1,746 free books mailed directly to their home by the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, thanks to the Friends of Lake County Library, the 93.5 The Goose, and dozens of local businesses, organizations, and individuals. As of December 31, 2018, over 200 Lake County kids were registered for the program, which mails a free, age-appropriate book per month to children under 5. Parents can register their children at any time at their local library or online at imaginationlibrary.com.
 
The Imagination Library is free to every Lake County child under 5 no matter their income. The goal of the program is to inspire a love of reading, which is a key indicator of future school success. Parents are encouraged to register their preschooler today to bring home the benefits of reading together.

Studies have shown that when parents read to their children, kindergarten readiness improves. Parents reading to their children from birth can have lifelong positive benefits. The Imagination Library puts books directly into children’s homes, and research has shown significant positive benefits for children in the program.  
 
“We are very proud of the success of our first year in the program,” said Shelley Batty, Friends Imagination Library Committee member. “We have already registered over 60% of Lake County children for the program – a level most communities do not reach for several years. Our high registration and the amount of financial support we’ve received from local people and organizations really shows Lake County’s strong commitment to education in action.”
 
The program costs local sponsors $25 per child annually. If all eligible preschoolers registered, the program would cost over $8,000 per year. Fortunately, an Oregon family foundation will cover half of the local costs for the first three years. The Friends’ are over halfway to their goal of beginning each year with two years’ full operating costs in the fund. If you would like to support the program, stop by your local library and make a donation or mail a check to Friends of Lake County Library at 26 South G Street, Lakeview, OR 97630.
 
Questions about the program may be directed to your local library or Amy Hutchinson, Library Director, at 541-947-6019.

​LAKEVIEW, Ore.—December 28, 2018— The Main Library’s new power source is up and running. The 78 solar panels on the building’s roof are expected to produce about 1/3 of the power needed for the library annually and save the library more than $25,000 in energy costs over the first 10 years. Click here to see how much power the panels are producing.
 
The 23.4 kilowatt rooftop solar system was made possible with funding support from Pacific Power’s Blue Sky program customers through a $65,000 grant award. The library was able to raise the additional $8,500 needed to complete the project through local community donations.  Adding solar panels to the highly efficient ground-source heating and cooling system brings the Main Library close to a net-zero building.
 
“We can’t thank Lake County Resources Initiative, Oregon Clean Power Cooperative, Sunlight Solar, and Pacific Power’s Blue Sky customers enough for making our solar power dreams come true,” said Amy Hutchinson, Library Director. “The team made the complicated process of designing the project, applying for the grant, and installing the project so easy on the library, returning valuable tax dollars to library services for many years to come,” Hutchinson said.
 
This solar development project is part of a statewide effort to install solar energy systems on nonprofit and government facilities. In 2017, Lake County, Hood River County, and Douglas County teamed up with Sustainable Northwest to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot: Solar in Your Community Challenge. Oregon Clean Power Cooperative is supporting the SunShot team’s efforts through its unique community financing model, which allows community members to invest in local solar projects.
 
Lake County Resources Initiative (LCRI) works to promote and share an understanding of the inter-relationships between people and their environment. LCRI believes that promoting healthy ecosystems and natural resources products can provide economic opportunities to local communities.
 
Founded in 1994, Sustainable Northwest works at the intersection of economy, environment, and community, pioneering natural resource solutions that work for people and nature. By bringing people together to find common ground, they are building a regional economy based on land stewardship and markets for sustainable wood and clean energy. For more information visit SustainableNorthwest.org
 
The Oregon Clean Power Cooperative is the only state-wide cooperative in the U.S. dedicated solely to community-owned renewable energy. Their member-financed projects keep capital circulating locally, create green jobs, and enable Oregon communities to become more self-reliant through locally-generated clean power.
 
Lake County Libraries provide inviting community spaces to nurture young readers, explore stories and information, and connect with others. Questions about the library or the project may be directed to Amy Hutchinson, Library Director, 541-947-6019

“You can put a loved one’s name right in the heart of the community,” said Fitzgerald.

The Library Building Committee is pursuing donations from donors as well as grant funding to complete the interior of the Main Library building in 2019. Proceeds from the brick sales and ongoing fundraising will be used to put these finishing touches in place: acoustic panels throughout the library, window and baseboard trim, window coverings, navigational signs, brand panel installation, courtyard furnishings, and more reading chairs and tables.
 
Library Director Amy Hutchinson estimates to complete the interior of the building will cost about $225,000 with the current hot construction market. With about $125,000 in the building fund right now, the library needs to raise about $100,000 to complete the work. Only about 400 bricks are available, so act quickly to get yours.
 
To order, you can download a copy of the brick form online or pick one up at the Main Library. (Online purchases are coming soon.) For questions about the bricks or more information about the library, contact Library Director Amy Hutchinson at 541-947-6019 or amyh@lakecountylibrary.org. ​

Lake County Libraries will be hosting a free Preschool Family Fun Night for families with preschool-aged children. The whole family is invited to join us for dinner and fun learning activities to help preschoolers get ready for kindergarten! 

Parents are a child’s first teacher and know their child best. Children learn best by doing, and they love doing things with their parents. Preschool Family Fun Night is primarily targeted at children aged 3 to 5 and their parents. Families will have fun with books, crafts, songs, and activities that help prepare preschoolers for kindergarten.  Older or younger siblings are also welcome to attend. 

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​“We are so excited to offer these great programs to help families have fun while getting ready for kindergarten. We learned a lot from Judy Springer at Lake County School District 7 and hope to help many Lake County families create young readers,” said Library Director Amy Hutchinson.
 
The first two Family Fun Nights will be at the Christmas Valley Community Center at 5:30 on Thursday, November 8th and the Lakeview Main Library Meeting Room at 5:30 on Thursday, November 15th. RSVPs are appreciated and can be made to Youth Library Assistant David Lev at 541-947-6974 or davidl@lakecountylibrary.org. Hope to see you there!
 
Programs are supported in part by the South Central Oregon Early Learning Hub. For more information about this program, contact David Lev at 541-947-6019, log on at www.lakecountylibrary.org or come to your local library! For more information about the South Central Oregon Early Learning Hub contact Gillian Wesenberg at 541-440-4774 or go online to https://douglasesd.k12.or.us/early-learning-hub/home.