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This an email newsletter about lifelong learning opportunities from the Montana State Library.
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Summer Reading Webinars
Summer Reading Brainstorming Session 2
Beanstack Reading Challenges - Let's get ready for Summer Reading!
CSLP Manuals
Funding for Resource Sharing Programs - Survey
MLN Virtual Programming 2025/2026
Lead Where You Live with Tracy McIntyre
Early Literacy Programming
Parent Powered Texting Program
Books Before Bedtime
Early Literacy Titles Added to MontanaLibrary2Go
Montana Talking Book Library
SDOH Corner
Funded Program Opportunity
ServMontana Awards Open for Nomination
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2/5 Summer Reading Brainstorming Session 2
This is our second brainstorming session. What ideas are bubbling up for you? Have you developed partnerships with other groups or organizations?
3/25 Beanstack Reading Challenges - Let's get ready for Summer Reading!
Register to come learn about new Summer Reading Beanstack Challenges and training on getting the best use out of your staff+ account
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CSLP Codes are available.
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 Are you ready to step into leadership—right where you live? From the sweeping plains to mountain-town main streets, rural Montana is a canvas of opportunities. While all of Montana qualifies as “rural” by federal standards, the lived experience varies greatly—from small towns with city councils, to unincorporated valleys, to remote communities anchored by volunteer networks. What unites them is the power of people who show up.
Join us for a virtual presentation led by leader Tracy McIntyre, Executive Director of the Montana Council of Cooperatives and Montana Cooperative Development Center. This session is designed for anyone who cares about their community and wants to lead—not by title or loud voice—but by presence, purpose and participation. In this session, you will:
- Celebrate why rural is an incredible place for leadership.
- Learn how to map out your civic landscape and where you can engage.
- Uncover how apathy creeps in—even in vibrant communities—and how you, as a leader, can counter it.
- Explore the concept of quiet rural leadership
- Get actionable ideas and items that you can implement and reflect on.
Why this matters: In rural communities, the decisions made at the county seat, the city council meeting, the library board session, the school board hearing—they matter. They shape your quality of life, your opportunities, your sense of place. And you have a role.
You’re more than a spectator—you’re a stakeholder. We invite you to claim that role. To lead where you live. To show up because you believe in your community’s future. We’ll give you the tools, the inspiration, and the encouragement. You bring the boots on the ground spirit of Montana.
Bio:
Tracy McIntyre has lived and worked in rural her entire life. Originally from Eureka, she now calls Great Falls home, where she serves as the Executive Director of both the Montana Council of Cooperatives and the Montana Cooperative Development Center. Despite her leadership roles, she keeps her rural roots firmly intact, continuing to co-own her family’s farm with her parents.
Click anywhere on the programming series line up below to visit the landing page and register for this program and any others you would like to attend!
 Interested in becoming a cohost? Let us know!
1,000 Books before Kindergarten!
Looking for ways to run a program around this reading challenge? Contact the lifelong learning librarian to discuss how to supplement your early literacy programs and story time with this tracker!
Reading helps build social and emotional skills, sparks creativity and imagination, promotes bonding, and helps kids do well overall in school. Take that motivation, open one book, and get started. And remember, 1000 is just a number. The goal is to work reading aloud into your regular routine, and let the magic of stories do the rest. Log each time you read a book to earn awesome badges. Happy reading!
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The texting program sends early literacy and learning tips along with fun activities to enrolled families with kids aged 0-4.
Visit The Early Learning section of the Lifelong Learning page to download a printable with space to add your own library logo to the bottom and make the texting program part of your collection of library services.
We are also working on getting the printed early literacy bookmarks out to all library locations and other places that serve families with kids under 5. These have reading tips on the back and instructions to help them sign up for the texting program.
We have gotten a lot of them out the door, but if you have not received your bookmarks yet (shown on the left) please reach out to the lifelong learning librarian to have them mailed to your library!
Want to sign up for the texting program to see what its all about? Text MSL to 70138
If you or the families you serve would rather enroll online do so here.
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March Program: We have started to sign families up for the March 3rd program. The book is The Goat and the Stoat and the Boat by Em Lynas - Read by Dr. Tammy Elser, Education Director at the Salish Kootenai College with copies of the book to be handed out in and around the community.
Those who sign up online before February 9th will receive the book shipped right to their door.
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Supplies are limited. When we run out of books we will shuffle everyone who couldn't get one to the top of the list for the April program. Anyone who lives in Montana and has a child under five can sign up!
Any library can participate by sharing out information about the program.
Participating libraries:
Thanks to funds from the Birth to Five Grant we were able to expand the MontanaLibrary2Go collection of ebooks with 157 new beginner reader and decodable titles.
These were designed for Pre-K beginning readers to support early literacy and help families teach their little ones to read. This addition fills an important gap in our collection, offering engaging, age-appropriate resources for our youngest patrons across the state.
Explore these new titles today!
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Montana State Library Talking Books provides FREE reading materials in accessible formats to Montanans who are unable to use standard print materials due to visual, physical, and/or reading disabilities.
The library provides audio and Braille books and magazines. Materials are available for direct download or are sent through the US Postal Service. Librarians, did you know you can certify individuals for access to Talking Books?
For more information, please visit this link, or call (406)444-5352
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Libraries Partnering with Public Health – Check it out
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In this newsletter segment, we’ve shared information about chronic disease, community connection, and ways health-related information can be part of your programming.
Now let’s add a funded program opportunity to the mix! It’s a new health program called Talk with a Doc. This is a relaxed, community-focused conversation that can be held in most public spaces, including libraries. A local clinician (nutritionist, doctor, nurse, etc.) will provide a presentation to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease and answer questions. This program supports the library’s mission to promote lifelong learning and health literacy.
The program is designed to be simple for you to host and valuable to your community. The MT Cardiovascular Health Program will provide a small stipend to support the work of the coordinating group. Your library may know of a local clinician interested in this sort of event, or you can post the flyer or make it available electronically for others in the community to consider.
Margaret Mullins SDOH Program Manager
Do you have library volunteers who deserve recognition?
The Governor’s Office of Community Service (GOCS) announced today that nominations for the annual ServeMontana Awards are now open.
This award has recognized Montanans from across the state for over 10 years. This year nominations are open until March 31st, 2026. The public is encouraged to nominate individuals and groups of all ages and backgrounds for their outstanding volunteerism and leadership. All service must be performed in Montana or by Montanans. The ServeMontana Awards are presented in partnership with Montana’s Credit Unions.
“We encourage Montanans to nominate outstanding community volunteers from every corner of our great state” said Sarah R. Sadowski, Director of GOCS. “The individuals and groups who volunteer are essential to communities and preserve our Montana way of life. We look forward to honoring the people who make positive impacts through volunteer service.”
To learn more and submit a nomination, visit serve.mt.gov or go to
This Survey. Selected awardees will be notified in May and honored at a ceremony in June.
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