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The next Montana Library Network Virtual Programming series is on January 26th, from 6:30 - 8 pm with Montana Fibershed, and we are looking for library co-hosts! As a reminder, as an official co-host, you can choose to participate in at least one of the following ways:
- Share and publicize the event information and registration for your patrons to join individually from home
- Host a watch party at your library for patrons to come and watch together
- Host a watch party somewhere in your community outside the library for patrons to come and watch together
All co-hosting libraries will receive publicity and outreach templates to help with outreach, as well as follow-up generalized statistics of attendees from their service area to report in the Public Library standards report.
Montana Fibershed Event Details
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Date: January 26th, 2023, from 6:30 - 8 pm
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Program Description: The concept of a “fibershed,” a term coined by Rebecca Burgess, and popularized in her 2019 book* of the same name, has spread all over the U.S. and the world. Like a watershed, which defines a catchment and drainage area for a given landscape, a fibershed is a geographically-defined area in which natural fiber resources are produced and then used by the people living within its boundaries. Montana Fibershed seeks to educate Montanans on the benefits of a place-based, local fiber system. A parallel concept to the local foods movement, this local cloth movement highlights the origins of our fiber and clothing. Just like our food, our natural-fiber clothing also comes from the land. We are working to connect our fiber producers, the farmers and ranchers, to our local designers, makers, businesses, and other end-users of Montana-raised natural fiber, and in so doing, to bolster the Montana textile economy and its supply chains, and to promote regenerative agricultural practices for healthy soils and a more balanced ecosystem across our great state.
*Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy, by Rebecca Burgess, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2019.
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Barbara French Biography: Barb French is a maker with a life-long devotion to natural fibers who learned to sew and knit from her mother at a young age. MT Fibershed encompasses all of Barb’s interests, from the love of fiber and fashion, to the sustainable growth of Montana’s textile industry and the fascinating subject of regenerative agriculture within the fiber economy.
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Helen Harris Biography: Helen Harris is a professional artist whose medium includes weaving, stitching, dyeing & mineral pigment painting. She holds BFA & MA degrees in Textile Design/Weaving/Mixed Media Art, from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL.
- Registration Link
Future 2023 Virtual Programs
April 2023: Dr. Cathy Cripps - Foraging for Wild Mushrooms in Montana
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Date: April 20th, 6:30 - 8 pm
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Program Description: Foraging for wild mushrooms has become a popular activity in Montana and across the country. The idea of free food from forests and meadows is appealing, but a wrong choice for the frying pan can be potentially deadly. There are dangerous mushrooms out there--and also lots of delicious ones! This presentation covers how to get started collecting wild mushrooms, including how to find them, how to pick them, and how to identify them. Choice Montana edibles such as King Boletes, chanterelles, morels, hawk wings, lion’s mane, oysters, and more, are shown in full color and their edible properties described. The general rules for eating wild mushrooms are also important to know. Lastly, a few of the toxic species to be avoided, especially those that have caused poisonings in Montana, will be discussed. Further resources for wild mushroom hunting in Montana are provided. Learn about the diversity of mushrooms in our state and how they promote ecosystem health!
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Dr. Cathy Cripps Biography: Cathy is mycologist and professor at Montana State University where she teaches and does research on fungi. She earned her BS from the University of Michigan and PhD from Virginia Tech. Her research on mushrooms that survive in Arctic and alpine habitats has taken her to Iceland, Svalbard, Norway, Greenland, the Austrian Alps, Finland, and our own Rocky Mountains. The use of mycorrhizal fungi to promote whitebark pine restoration at high elevations is another research focus. She is lead author of “The Essential Guide to Rocky Mountain Mushrooms by Habitat”, editor of “Fungi in Forest Ecosystems” and “Arctic and Alpine Mycology 8” and has authored numerous scientific papers. With over 40 years of experience collecting mushrooms, first as an amateur when she lived in a cabin in Colorado and later as a professional leading forays and teaching field classes in Montana, her love and enthusiasm for the Rocky Mountains and its fungal creatures runs deep
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Registration Link: Coming Soon!
Note: We had previously scheduled a talk with Kyle Langley in March 2023, but due to scheduling conflicts, we are looking to reschedule it for after the summer.
Summer Reading Brainstorm Sessions
Summer reading for 2023 will be approaching soon, so feel free to join us for our monthly summer reading brainstorms! We will be discussing any topics, questions, ideas that librarians have about summer reading. Any and all are welcome to come and contribute - check the ASPeN events calendar to register for these in advance! All sessions will be recorded and posted to YouTube afterwards.
- January 31st, 10 am: Brainstorm Session 1
- February 24th, 9 am: Brainstorm Session 2
- March 15th, 12 pm: Brainstorm Session 3
- May 23rd, 12 pm: Brainstorm Session 4
CSLP Manual Code and CSLP Materials
The 2023 CSLP manual is now available! The code has been sent out to all library directors. If your library has not received the code, please contact Amelea Kim at akim@mt.gov for more information. As a reminder, all CSLP materials are available to all public libraries in Montana - even if you have never used them before, you are welcome to start using them now. Contact Amelea to learn how to get started!
 In May 2023, the Montana State Library will be partnering with the Space Science Institute to bring STEM Workshops to both eastern and western Montana. These workshops will focus on STEM programming in libraries in general, but also how to prepare for solar eclipse activities for the 2023 and 2024 eclipse coming up.
The workshops are scheduled for May 15th in western Montana, and May 17th in eastern Montana. The May 15th location has been changed, from Bozeman to Helena. May 17th will still be located in Glendive. For those of you who have filled out the STEM Programming Interest Form back when the location was Bozeman, no need to change or withdraw you form submission. We won't be asking for a final commitment for attendance until early 2023.
For those of you who are interested in attending, please do fill out the form linked above, so that we have some general estimates! We will reach back out in 2023 with more detailed logistics/schedule and see where your interest level is at that point.
As another reminder, if your library is interested in receiving FREE solar eclipse glasses, please make sure to fill out the Solar Eclipse Glasses Registration Form from the Space Science Institute! Glasses are first come, first served, so please fill this out early to make sure you make it on the list.
Lastly, you can read all about the SEAL (Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries) project that all of this is made possible under at the Space Science Institute's SEAL Project Webpage.
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