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Say YES on Garfield County, Colorado 6B

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The Garfield County Public Library District has been in existence since 2006, established by voters who wanted a strong and sustainable library presence in their communities. Part of that vote was to establish a 1 mill property tax levy. It was used to build and maintain 6 branches: one in Parachute, one in Rifle, one in Silt, one in New Castle, one in Glenwood Springs, and one in Carbondale. All of them were indeed built. All of them are beautiful and busy. In recent years, the library has won awards from both the local community and the state library association. The mill levy expires in 2027. With it would go $1 million in revenue a year, beyond the debt which will also be paid off in 2027. In early 2026, The library hired a scientific survey, conducted by Magellan Strategies . The findings were pretty clear. 80% of the respondents approved of the direction of the library; just 6% did not. The majority wanted the library to continue providing the services it already provides. The on...
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Rise Up, Sing Out!: A Concert for the First Amendment

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On Sunday, June 14, at 5 p.m., please join us at the Rifle Branch Library, 207 East Avenue, Rifle, Colorado 81650. There we will live stream a concert organized by the Committee for the First Amendment. Originally formed to fight the McCarthy era, it has been reconstituted to respond to an alarming rise of threats to free speech in the US. The concert starts at 5:30 p.m. At 5 p.m., we encourage you to bring a dessert to share. Nothing builds community like dessert! You'll also hear some local updates from the event sponsors: Mountain Action Indivisible and Protect Our GarCo Libraries . The event is free, you don't have to register, and it's open to all. The event ends at 7 p.m. Come show your support for the First Amendment!
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More Linux on MacBook Pro

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Last week I did a full upgrade and something about the kernel crashed my elementaryOS 8.1 installation. That's a problem; I don't want an unreliable computer. So I had a CD from a recent Linux magazine with Linux Mint. It installed well, found the broadcom wifi, and all was well. Then I got to dinking around  with making it look more Maclike. Installed the White Sur theme with icons. So now I have the rounded corners, the red yellow and blue dots on the left of a window, and a Maclike logo for the program launcher. I installed Plank (a Maclike dock), and fiddled with it. Then for no reason I can discover, Plank just disappeared. I uninstalled and reinstalled it and no dice. It's there, it has preferences, but I couldn't make it show up on the screen. But it's ok. Linux Mint on a Mac is pretty easy to use. Firefox, Emacs, pandoc, Upnote all work fine. Without the dock, I can run everything from a minimal panel in a way that's a little calmer. I don't need thi...
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Garfield County Libraries explore mill levy extension

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A famous Wyoming bumper sticker reads: “Lord, Please Give Me One More Boom — This Time I Promise Not To P*ss It Away.” Boom and bust defines the West. Some of us get caught on the wrong side of each end of the cycle. The smarter ones learn from it. They hedge their bets. They invest their money in things they can sustain. I’ve been a library administrator for almost 45 years. This is the first time I’ve worked in a district that got 50% or more of its revenue from the natural gas sector. It makes you cautious. It encourages you to save. In 2026, library revenues fell by over $830,000, all due to a decrease in natural gas valuation. In 2006, Garfield County voters approved a 1.0 mill levy for libraries. Its purpose was to build or renovate branches in each of the county’s six municipalities. The money also provided some operational support. That’s why we have six beautiful libraries, one in every town in the county. We keep them up, too. In 2027, those bonds (basically mortgages for pub...
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Why are people so mean?

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In my last job I took a required workshop on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. One of the exercises paired me up with a young woman whose parents were born in India, although she’d been born and raised in the States. We were supposed to talk about where we’d grown up. Who did we feel comfortable around? And who not so much? She grew up in Dallas, Texas. At first, she lived in a neighborhood with a bunch of other brown children. She liked it. Then her parents moved her to a “better school.” She was the only kid with brown skin there. So she said she felt most comfortable with people who looked like her. She felt least comfortable with (looking at me) old white guys. I said I totally got that. I’d grown up north of Chicago, on the shore of Lake Michigan. My mother was consistently kind and competent. My father was often mean and drunk. I was raised on the dividing line between the Black and white parts of town so was definitely aware of race. I’m comfortable with people who are kind. I’m ...
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Library Director begins new chapter

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Before I came to Garfield County, I lived in two big cities: Chicago and Denver. I was surprised to learn that I did a lot more walking and biking there than I did in the more rural and suburban settings I’d lived in before. Cars are a hassle in the city. In the country, you have to have one. That means you spend more time sitting. Foolishly, I did a little too much biking in Denver despite the wildfire smoke trapped in the heat inversion. It led to adult onset asthma. Since starting my job here, too much driving and sitting behind a computer edged me over into Type 2 diabetes. (I’d been borderline most of my life but kept it under control through exercise. My siblings, all younger than me, slipped over years ago.) Let’s not even get into sleep apnea. Or dental issues. The story is old as time, because it IS time. I’m getting old. Last May, I started thinking about retirement. I’m just one year younger than my father when he died. Four of my six best friends have died in the last coupl...
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Reading and Riding the Rails

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Recently I took a train trip from Chicago to Glenwood Springs. I sprung for a roomette with a fold out bunk bed for the night. (And sleeping on a train was just as much fun as I hoped it would be!) As I left Chicago, there was a winter storm coming. But the train just shrugged that weather aside. During the over thousand mile trip, Amtrak passed right through the heart of many downtowns. I caught a glimpse of many libraries. That's not surprising, since there are more than 16,000 public libraries across the nation--more than there are McDonald's or Starbucks. Isn't that good news? In almost every town across the Great Plains, there are those earmarks of place. A library. A Post Office. A school. A town hall. These spaces represent something we don't think about too often: a public investment in knowledge and civic participation. These are the pillars upon which our nation stands. As I sat in my little room and watched the miles fly by, I also listened to an audiobook (B...
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