Services At the Library

Google is conducting a nationwide search for a test community for an ultra-high speed broadband network. This network would provide Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what Americans have access to today.

Highlands Ranch Residents, agencies, schools, organizations and businesses are needed to nominate our community! Let's work together to make the Google Fiber Initiative possible for Highlands Ranch, and become the nation's technology hot spot.

Join us to see how you can participate! Visit www.hrcaonline.org/googlicious to learn more.

Join us for video games, fun and prizes with your friends! No registration necessary.

Tuesday, March 23     1-3pm    Mario Kart
Wednesday, March 24     1-3pm    Super Smash Bros
Thursday, March 25     1-3pm    Rock Band

St. Patrick’s Day is fast approaching, and with it a great opportunity to celebrate with books! All book lovers are invited to participate. Librarians will talk about the newest great reads and ask attendees for their favorites.

Complete with door prizes, the event will be a great one for book clubs and all readers.

At the beginning of the new year, you were determined to start working on your family history. Now it’s almost spring and you’ve yet to open that box in the basement. You know the one: it’s where you’ve stashed the photos, census records and notes your mom left you about your great-grandfather and his journey to America.

The expiration date on all your excuses is finally here. Highlands Ranch Library will help you get your records and story straight in four Saturdays beginning March 20.

Financial Advisor Rey Cinnoco of Edward Jones Investments may help you find the answer. Join Rey for an educational seminar and learn the differences between traditional and Roth IRAs. He'll also explain features of recently changed tax laws and help you understand the benefits of converting your IRA.

Ted Spring, owner of Ted Spring Photography in Castle Rock, will present two sessions on digital photography. Participants will learn about digital cameras, including digital cards vs. film and the parts and functions of digital cameras. In this popular two-part class, Ted will also address how to improve your photos. He'll touch on composition and lighting, and discuss wildlife and landscape photography.

This class is bound to fill up, and space is limited! Sign up today!

Join current Denver Deputy Mayor Guillermo Vincente "Bill" Vidal as he speaks of overcoming his humble beginnings in a Colorado orphanage to become a proud and successful Cuban-American businessman. He'll discuss his first novel-memoir, Boxing for Cuba, "in which young boys become men in the shadow of revolution and turmoil."

Hundreds of years before Douglas County had a name and a county seat, it was home to untold peoples and their land and communities. The public is invited to join archaeologist Erik Gantt and the Douglas County History Research Center for a Douglas County Libraries presentation of “What Lies Underground: Our Hidden Past.”

Recommended for people over the age of 12, the program will explore the rich archaeological history of Douglas County via a virtual tour of County locations including the recently excavated Reuter-Hess site near Parker. Gantt, project supervisor for Centennial Archaeology, will link finds there with other evidence of early people throughout the county.

Through March 25, visit the Roxborough Library to enjoy the fine art talent of Maryann Leake Baisley, local illustrator and watercolorist. Her current work explores four areas of interest: flowers, koi, rock formations and nests.

If you are turning 5, 6, or 7, and this is the month of your birthday, sign up for this Book Club! We'll meet the third Tuesday of each month from 4:30-5pm. Bring your favorite book to the party!

Each child registered will get a coupon for a free cupcake from Nomalie Cupcakes in Parker. Join us for a birthday and book celebration!

Douglas County Libraries brings you its 2010 Youth Spring Reading Program, Hop to It! Kids ages 12 and under may register at any Douglas County Library location from February 1 to March 15. Participants with reading logs showing 12 hours of reading completed before March 29 will be eligible to receive a free book. As always, pre-readers may participate by listening to books read aloud. Prizes are not guaranteed and are available while supplies last.

To complement its spring reading program, DCL has partnered with the Denver Zoo to bring live amphibians to Douglas County Libraries locations. Children ages five and older are invited to get up close and personal with frogs, toads and salamanders. Registration is required. Call 303-791-7323, or visit any Douglas County Library branch.

There may still be snow on the ground, but it’s already time to start thinking about spring and the things in your yard that may need a little love to look their best this year.

We've joined forces once again with Castle Rock Gift & Garden to bring you Our Garden Series, a collection of informational gardening classes customized to Douglas County’s water, weather and soil.

March programs will focus on ornamental grasses and trees. Join us and let's get growing!

Douglas County Libraries, in partnership with AARP, is offering a two-day driver’s safety class aimed at adults aged 50 and over. Registration is required for both sessions, April 8 and 9, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. each day. The class will be held at Highlands Ranch Library, 9292 Ridgeline Blvd., in Highlands Ranch.

According to AARP, participation in the class will help seniors review and update their driving skills, and may result in savings on auto insurance, depending on individual policies. A nominal fee of $14 ($12 for AARP members) will be due to the instructor at the first class.

Castle Rock teens ages 12-18 are invited to submit an original piece of writing inspired by the town of Castle Rock. The My Castle Rock Teen Writing Contest sponsored by Philip S. Miller Library gives teens an opportunity to express themselves and tell the community what Castle Rock means to them.

Douglas County Libraries has formed a “partnership for life” with Bonfils Blood Center and will be holding blood drives throughout 2010. Bonfils needs 4,200 blood donations weekly to meet the needs of the community and to be prepared for unexpected events.

Blood Donation is one of the easiest ways to help your community, with each whole blood donation taking less than an hour and having the potential to help several people.

Reservations are handled through Bonfils. Call 303-363-2300 to book your spot, or visit www.bonfils.org.

A piggy bank is just the first step toward raising a money-smart child. 

Learn tips for engaging kids to become financially responsible. This program focuses on helping parents teach their children the value of money, and how to become financially responsible adults. Hosted by New York Life and based on the program created by noted financial expert, television personality, and New York Times Best Selling Author Neale S. Godfrey.

The program will address age-appropriate ways to teach kids to:

• Earn and appreciate an allowance
• Develop good savings and investing habits
• Separate wants and needs
• Become disciplined shoppers
• View advertising critically

Registration required.

Douglas County Libraries hosts a wide variety of clubs for patrons of all ages and interests. Registration is not required.

Highlands Ranch Library

Chess Knights Chess Club
Meets 2nd & 4th Wed of each month from 7-9 pm
All ages welcome

GO Game Club
Meets every Sunday from 12- 2 pm
All ages welcome

Highlands Ranch Garden Club
Meets the third Tuesday of each month
For information on meeting location contact Susan McClean, President, at 303-649-1265
Adults welcome

Highlands Ranch Genealogical Society
Meets the first Tuesday of each month from 7-9 pm, September through May
Adults welcome

Highlands Ranch Photography Club

6th Annual Romancing the Arts Exhibit and Reception

Philip S. Miller Library in Castle Rock presents the Sixth Annual Romancing the Arts Exhibit through March 11. The exhibit, sponsored by the Greater Castle Rock Art Guild and Philip S. Miller Library, brings the juried work of more than 60 local artists to the public.

Douglas County Libraries offers a wide range of free tools and technologies for people living with physical challenges:

Philip S. Miller Library (100 S. Wilcox St., Castle Rock) provides reading glasses, page magnifiers, and a large print collection for visually impaired patrons. A TTY phone and an electric scooter is also available.

Highlands Ranch Library (9292 Ridgeline Boulevard) features the Open Book computer program which makes reading easier for people living with a visual impairment. Open Book scans and converts text (including books, magazines, and newspapers) to spoken word through a set of headphones. In addition, the library offers a large print collection and an electric scooter.

Parker Library (10851 South Crossroads Drive) features several assistive tools, including a Telesensory Aladdin Desktop Magnifier which features a 14-inch screen to help patrons read books, newspapers and magazines. Hand-held magnifying glasses, large-print books, and an electric scooter are also available.

For more information about using these assistive devices, please contact your local library at 303-791-READ.

If you’re learning English as a second language, Douglas County Libraries has the book club for you!

The ESL Book Club is for adults who are intermediate to advanced English learners and it meets on the first Wednesday of every month from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Philip S. Miller Library.

Join other English learners to read books together, improve reading skills, and work on understanding English. The group will read a new title every 1-2 months.

No registration is required, just stop by.