An Extreme Adventure at Your Library
By Docena Maria Holm

Explore worlds beyond or within your own. Expand your  knowledge  of armadillos, broncos, and cowboy boots. Experience an extreme adventure. All possible, for free, at your local library!

National Library Card Sign-Up month is in September. Many local libraries will participate. Boise Public Library is introducing a new library card design and opening two new neighborhood libraries, at the Hillcrest and Collister shopping centers. Both Boise Public Library and Ada Community Library will visit nearby schools to help children sign up for a card.

Get It
Intrigued about those armadillos? Get your very own library card to check out a book or educational video. Here are the steps:

1.       Visit your home library.

2.       Fill out an application. Some libraries have applications online.

3.       Provide current photo I.D.

4.       Provide current proof of address, such as a recent utility bill or tax assessment notice.

Your home library is the library district to which you pay property taxes. The information is on your property tax bill, on the county website, or you can visit or call the nearest library and ask.

Use It
A library card is free and can be used to access books, magazines, movies, music and toys, educational software, and online databases that include magazine and newspaper articles, among other information.

Library Programs
Libraries provide free programs for all ages, such as preschool storytime, homework help, knitting classes, homeschooling resources, teen and adult book discussions, concerts, and computer and internet classes. Check out their websites or monthly calendars for more information, or see page 62.

Summer Reading
Prizes and events encourage parents and children to read together and on their own during the summer. Sign up at your home library and collect cool prizes.

Hold It
That book on armadillos isn't available? Relax. Seven Treasure Valley libraries are part of the Lynx Consortium. This allows patrons access to materials at any of the seven libraries. You can go online from home or at the library to put a hold on the item you want. You can have the material delivered to a convenient library and return it to a convenient library as well.

Sign up for a library card for you and your child and experience your own extreme adventures at the library and within the pages of a book. And if you really want to explore more about armadillos, check out Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett. Watch out for the broncos and cowboy boots, too!

Borrow the Best
Here are some recommendations from two Treasure Valley librarians, Amanda Pittman, Youth Services Department Manager at Ada Community Library, and Joanne Hinkel, Community Relations at Boise Public Library:

For Children:  Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship by Isabella Hatkoff et al; Today I Will Fly! by Mo Willems (easy reader); Baby Bear's Books by Jane Yolen  (picture book).

For Young Adults/Middle Grade Books:  The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick; Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce  (grades 4-6); Dragon's Keep by Janet Lee Carey  (teens)

For Adults (fiction):  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini; Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen. 

Adult Nonfiction: The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids, by Madeline Levine, Ph.D. 

10 Ways to Use Your Library Card

1.        Find reliable, online health information in the Health & Wellness Resource Center.

2.        Take your preschooler to family story times.

3.        Reserve the latest best-seller, mystery, or romance.

4.        Write a paper or your resume.

5.        Do research for a science report or a history project.

6.        Pick up a movie or a music CD.

7.        Check out a book on parenting, home improvement, gardening, or your hobbies.

8.        Reserve a meeting room for your fly-fishing club.

9.        Check your email, search the Internet, or take a computer class.

10.     Learn how to repair your car in the Auto Repair Reference Center.

County Websites

Ada County
www.adacountyassessor.org

Canyon County
www.canyoncounty.org/assessor

The Lynx Consortium

Ada Community Library
www.adalib.org

Boise Public Library
www.boisepubliclibrary.org

Caldwell Public Library
http://caldwell.lili.org

Eagle Public Library
www.eaglepubliclibrary.org

Garden City Library 
www.gardencitylibrary.org

Meridian Library District
www.mld.org

Nampa Public Library
www.nampalibrary.org

Other

Kuna Library
www.kunalibrary.org

Docena Maria Holm is a local author who loves to read by herself and with her five children. This summer they are exploring the world of Little House on the Prairie.