Participate in a “Poetry Slam” @ Your Library.

Enter drawings based on fun “book” games for great prizes @ Your Library.

Get a “Fresh Start” @ Your Library.

Design and build a shoebox float (see photos) and enjoy a Root Beer Float Party @ Your Library.

Enjoy a 10-year birthday party with all the fixings and entertainment for the whole family.

Do all this and more while celebrating National Library Week April 13 to 20. The week is a time set aside across the nation to allow citizens to celebrate the contributions of libraries to their communities.

The Grand County Library District (GCLD) is celebrating National Library Week with special programs, contests, and a gift to library cardholders – the opportunity to get a “Fresh Start” on fines due for overdue materials. (See related story on this page.)

Got an extra shoebox? Then you can enjoy the Shoe Box Float Contest open to elementary school-aged children at every library in the county.

In this event, contestants pick a favorite book or character in a book and design floats reflecting that theme for the contest. Floats should be delivered to the Grand County Library of your choice by closing Saturday, April 12.

All participants are invited to a Root Beer Float Party at the library where they entered their float. Winners will be announced and prizes awarded at the party. Contact your library for the rules and registration forms.

The Library District also announces the First Annual Teen Writing Contest. The contest is for students in grades six through 12. Entrants can pick up an entry form at any Grand County Library or look for one at school. There are four categories: Individual short story, individual poetry, team short story and team poetry. Entries must be typed, attached to an entry form and turn in to your Grand County Library by closing on April 12. Winners will be announced during National Library Week.

Want to Win A Box of Twinkies?

The Kremmling Library is hosting an event that’s sure to prompt some interesting entries. It’s called a “Poetry Slam.”

This “first-ever” event represents the competitive art of performance poetry, pitting a dual emphasis on writing and performance, encouraging poets to focus on what they’re saying and how they’re saying it.

This event is open to poets eighth grade and older and takes place at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 19. Sign-up is required at the Kremmling Library. Poets will have three minutes to recite. Each poem must be written by the poet who is performing. No props, costumes or musical instruments are allowed. The winner receives a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate. Second place is a box of Twinkies and third place is a can of SPAM.

Other Kremmling Library National Library Week events include a guessing contest with a shredded book, the brown bag book club and a volunteer appreciation dessert-before-dinner-event.

For more information on this Poetry Slam, contact Cathy Jones at (970) 724-9228 or e-mail her at cjones@GCLD.ORG.

Happy Birthday Fraser Valley Library

A large and festive 10-year birthday party is on tap at the Fraser Valley Library, celebrating the library’s 10 years in its current facility. Set for Saturday, April 19, Magic Rob will be entertaining children at the Birthday Party and there will be cake and ice cream celebrating 10 years in the current Fraser Valley facility that opened in 1998.

At the Hot Sulphur Springs Library a competition called “What’s My Title?” will be offered. A different book will be featured each day. Written hints will be offered and prizes will be awarded. There will be categories for all age groups.

Also, Hot Sulphur Springs Library patrons may guess the amount of candy in the jar.

There will also be a Red Letter Party for story time. A volunteer and staff appreciation breakfast is also planned.

At the Granby Library, adults with a knack for writing should participate in an essay-writing contest. Contestants should recall a time when reading made a difference in their lives. Write about a book that helped change your views and why. Winners will be published in the Sky-Hi Daily News and will receive exciting prizes.

Also at the Granby Library patrons will be asked to fill out a short survey during National Library Week. There’s a reward for simply filling out the survey – a piece of chocolate.

At the Juniper Library in Grand Lake patrons may examine a shredded book on display during National Library Week. Patrons will attempt to identify the book by searching for a name or place they know from the well-known adventure tale. Look through the container from all sides. The point is to guess the name of this famous book. One entry per patron. Correct entries will be in a drawing for fun prizes.

Also, Juniper patrons may test their observational skills by looking at six close-up photos taken in the library. Then go on a scavenger hut to locate the source of each photo. Coupons are filled out for each photo identified. Drawings from all correct entries take place Saturday afternoon, April 19.

“Every day, libraries in small towns help transform their communities,” said Mary Anne Hanson-Wilcox, GCLD Director. “At our libraries, people of all backgrounds can come together for community meetings, lectures and programs, to do research with the assistance of trained professionals, to get a job or to find homework help. We have culture and technology that is rare in an isolated county like ours. Our libraries offer social and cultural enrichment opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable.”

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April.

For more information, visit one of the five library branches in the county: Fraser Valley, Granby, Juniper at Grand Lake, Hot Sulphur Springs and Kremmling. Or check the libraries’ Web site at http://www.gcld.org.