Through a generous grant from a private foundation, the library will be installing a 35kW solar photovoltaic panel system on the library’s original, reinforced roof and adding battery storage to maintain power in the building during grid interruptions.
Our array is designed to produce more power than we need during daylight hours which we will store for after dark or sell back to the grid.
This $100,000 project includes money for all-age public education about renewable energy and complements the Colorado Energy Office grant we received to install EV charging stations.
This is great news, as our local revenue tax decreased slightly for the second year in a row. With a bigger building, more lights and more computers, adding solar power in our sunny climate is intended to offset the majority of our currently purchased power, providing needed budgetary relief and freeing funds for more programs, collections and services.
Best of all, we will be able to keep the doors open when the power grid fails for several hours while power is being restored.
We are grateful to the Library Foundation and Jonathan Dobson for helping us plan and prepare this grant application. Look for roof activity in the spring as we go solar.
Public comment period open on 2027 budget
If you’re interested in seeing where our income comes from and how we spend the funds, now is the time for public comments on our 2027 budget proposal.
You can view a copy of the proposed budget on our website at www.pagosalibrary.org. From now until Nov. 18, you can submit your comments to director@pagosalibrary.org.
A budget hearing will take place on Nov. 18 at the library, at which time the library board will hold an open forum for your feedback before finalizing the budget.
Help us plan the future
During the month of November, we are collecting feedback from everyone in the community about what you would like the library to prioritize for the next three years.
We’ll begin the week of Nov. 9 with in-person drop-in sessions to talk about the challenges of living in Pagosa Springs, how the library affects your life and how we can improve. We’re hoping to hear from parents and caregivers, seniors, Library Foundation and Friends members, and everyone in the community who has an interest in the library’s future.
Please join us at any of these one hour drop-in sessions. Sign up on the library’s website (www.pagosalibrary.org) or give us a call at (970) 264-2209.
• Monday, Nov. 9: 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2 p.m.
• Wednesday, Nov. 11, 11:30 a.m. (parent and caregiver focus), 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
If none of these sessions work with your schedule, or if you’re not comfortable talking in front of others, we will offer several additional opportunities to provide feedback, including online surveys and a “talkback” board at the library.
Thanks for helping us dream the future.
Volunteer opportunities in our adult education programs
GED Program
Are you interested in becoming a volunteer tutor to help members of our community get their GED? Are you a retired teacher? Are you an expert in math, science, language arts or history who wants to make a difference and has some extra time to give?
The library is looking for tutors to work with students one-on-one for a few hours a week to help us keep our Adult Education GED program thriving.
If you are interested in becoming a tutor for the GED program, or are a student seeking tutoring, please email our adult basic education coordinator, Nicole, at esl@pagosalibrary.org. No experience is required; training and supervision will be provided.
Intercambio/English as a
Second Language (ESL)
If you are someone who enjoys cultural exchanges, or are looking to brush up on your Spanish, think about joining our new Intercambio program at the Library.
Intercambio connects volunteers with adult English language learners through relationship-based one-on-one classes. Our ESL curriculum requires no prior teaching or second language experience, just a positive attitude and a little extra time in your week. Our curriculum, training and ongoing support make teaching easy, enjoyable and impactful.
If you are interested in learning more about our adult basic education classes, either as a volunteer tutor, or a student, please email our adult basic education coordinator, Nicole, at esl@pagosalibrary.org.
New meeting rooms ready to reserve
Your new library offers one large community room that can be divided into two smaller rooms. We also have two new study rooms.
If you would like to reserve a room, give us a call. Our website will soon offer you the option to reserve meeting rooms on your own. Stay tuned.
New Craft and Hobby database marks
makerspace opening
To celebrate the opening of our new makerspace, we are launching a new database called Craft and Hobby.
Packed with videos for all ages teaching skills like sewing, woodworking, gardening and outdoor photography, Craft and Hobby is available free with your library card online from home or on the go.
We are planning lots of hands-on activities in the new makerspace and will be using Craft and Hobby to provide instruction for participants.
Take a look at the extensive catalog of instructional video at www.pagosalibrary.org/how-to.
Tech Time
Free in-person slots are available from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursdays. Taylor helps with basic questions relating to computers, smartphones and tablets, and also provides assistance in accessing the library’s online resources. No appointment is needed, but please bring your device’s charger and passwords with you.
New fall titles ready for checkout
Fall is a hot season in the publishing industry, as the upcoming holidays promise lots of sales. There are many new novels from big-name authors and some holiday books to get you in the spirit.
New in large print
• “Hollow Bones” by Jodi Picoult is described as “a riveting novel about the risks we take to protect the ones we love in a world where crisis is always just around the corner.”
• Stephen King and Peter Straub team up to deliver “Other Worlds Than These,” the third book in the Talisman fantasy series, finished by King after the death of his writing partner.
• Ann Cleves scores again with “The Dying Light,” book four in the Two Rivers series. Matthew Venn investigates a murder and a disappearance connected to a prominent British politician.
• Freida McFadden pens a new psychological thriller, “The Witch.” When Julia Barlow loses her job, she returns to her family’s estate, where supernatural occurrences abound.
New nonfiction
• Sports Illustrated writer Peter Gammons brings us tales from 60 years covering America’s favorite pastime in “It’s All About the Players: What I’ve Learned from Baseball’s Best.”
• Journalist Michael Lewis, author of “Moneyball” and “The Big Short,” returns with a fascinating study of the clashes between Elon Musk’s DOGE tech initiatives and career civil servants in the U.S. government in “Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State.”
• Daily reading for pleasure has dropped by 40 percent over the past two decades, and fewer than half of American adults read a book of any kind in 2022. In “The New Dark Ages: The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society,” London Times columnist James Marriott proposes the potential impact of the shift away from reading and offers a passionate defense of the written word.
New fiction
• Bonnie Gamus, author of the popular “Lessons in Chemistry,” brings us a new office politics comedy novel, “Peck and Peck,” set in 1982 New York City. Recent college graduate Batter Gray’s deep love for poetry lands her a basement job at the rarefied, dysfunctional and secretive poetry quarterly called Peck & Peck.
• “Off the Reservation” follows up on the previous novel, “The Only Good Indians,” by Stephen Graham Jones. Survivor Nathan Yellow Tail joins a group of Blackfeet activists on a cross-country road trip in a rundown RV to repatriate the remains of a Blackfeet boy from the notorious Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.
• Mindy Misener’s debut novel “Good Guys” follows estranged sisters Georgie and Jo, who uncover the crimes of a town’s war hero, Gary Clemmons, leading to devastating consequences that expose the dark side of small town patriotism.
For a full list of new titles and to reserve your copy, go to www.pagosalibrary.org and choose “Search the Catalog” at the top of the screen.
Don’t forget, if there is a waiting list for the book, it may be available now in e-book or e-audiobook on Hoopla or Libby.
Need help? Just ask. We love talking about books.
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