Park County Library System

What do Bigfoot, a magical flying horse, sea monsters, jealous stars, and some people with bad breath have in common? They are characters in ancient legends about the night sky constellations and are recreated in a shadow puppet show by master puppeteer Patti Smithsonian.

Smithsonian makes her first-ever appearances in Park County this month at the three county libraries to perform “Coyote’s Eyeball” as part of the Summer Reading program. Having studied in France and Turkey, she is internationally known for her many types of educational puppet shows. “Coyote’s Eyeball,” an adventure through the night skies, will appear at all three Park County libraries next week.

• Meeteetse Branch Library, 2 p.m., July 10
• Park County Public Library, 10 a.m., July 13
• Powell Branch Library, 3 p.m., July 13

No admission is charged for the puppet shows, which are educational and entertaining for persons of every age.

Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James — Dueling lawyers duke it out professionally (and romantically) to see which one will make partner.

Genghis: Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden — Ghengis Khan continues his adventures that started in Iggulden’s Ghengis: Birth of an Empire.

Loitering With Intent by Stuart Woods — The latest Stone Barrington novel takes our hero to Key West, Florida.

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer — Two novellas in which a London journalist named Jeff (or possibly two different London journalists both named Jeff) travels first to Venice and then to India in an attempt to give his life some meaning. Continue Reading »

Wyoming author Craig Johnson returns to Park County next week to talk about his latest Walt Longmire mystery, The Dark Horse.

Sunday, June 28 at 7 p.m. Craig will regale Meeteetse residents with his tales at the Cowboy Bar at 1936 State Street in Meeteetse. On Monday, June 29th from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Friends of the Powell Branch Library will host a pizza party with Craig in the library’s meeting room , and Monday night at 7 p.m. Craig will talk in Grizzly Hall at the Park County Public Library. Thanks to the Friends groups at each library for sponsoring the events!

“We are always excited to welcome Craig to our library,” says Powell librarian Maggie Sullivan. “He always has great stories to tell, and whether you are a brand new fan, or have loved the Walt Longmire books from the beginning, Craig always brings with him a love for the written word and for his fans.” Continue Reading »

Hey kids, check it out! The Mother-Daughter Book Club donated all three sets of the Warriors series including Warriors, Warriors: The New Prophecy, and Warriors: Power of Three by Erin Hunter to the Park County Library.

So stop in for some feline excitement in the world of the Warrior cats.

The Park County Public Library in Cody has a new librarian in the Teen Room! Jessica Neiweem is the county’s first ever librarian for teen services. She started work on June 1, and already she’s started a blog, a Twitter feed, a teen book review program, and she is running this year’s teen summer reading program (check out some of their fabulous prizes!). And that’s not all — stay tuned for more details on an upcoming Harry Potter night at the library!

We’re all excited to have Jessica on our team, and teens in Park County can be excited that she is on their team.

Magician Cody Landstrom is coming back to Park County libraries! Great fun for both adults and kids, you don’t want to miss his terrific magic shows. He will be in Cody Monday evening, June 15 at 6:30 p.m. in Grizzly Hall and in Powell Tuesday, June 16 at 1:00 p.m. See www.codylandstrom.com to get an idea of the fun in store! Come one, come all!

Last summer’s Gathering of Grizzlies raised money to support youth services in all three Park County libraries, and this week some of the first fruits of that effort came to Meeteetse in the form of a cartload of new books. Librarians Beth Roberson and Laura Crossett have been combing the collection to identify battered or outdated volumes. “Our copy of Gary Paulsen’s classic Hatchet was more tape than book,” noted Laura, “so we’re thrilled to have this new 20th anniversary edition.”

Do you want to be a June Bride, were you a June bride, or know someone who was a June bride?  Then you know that love is definitely in the air during June, and the Powell Branch Library is happy to announce new books for June that deal with that very subject!  We’ll start with a “how-to” book on fairness in romantic partnerships, Try to See It My Way: Being Fair in Love and Marriage by Drs. Hibb and Getzen, gives an insightful look into being fair in different kinds of relationships.

A Reliable Wife: A Novel by Robert Goolrick takes us to 1907 Wisconsin where the main character, Catherine, answers an ad for “a reliable wife”, but she has plans of her own. . . . Continue Reading »

School’s out for summer, and that means it’s time for Summer Reading at all three Park County libraries. Preschoolers through high school students are invited to “Be Creative” with this year’s summer reading program, which will include puppeteers, magicians, and more! The programs in Cody and Powell begin June 1 and Meeteetse’s begins on June 8. Check the Kids page for all the details!

• Summer Reading in Cody
• Summer Reading in Powell
• Summer Reading in Meeteetse

Join us at Wednesday, June 3 at 7 p.m. in the Bison Room of the Park County Public Library in Cody for the first meeting of the Canine Companions book discussion series sponsored by the Wyoming Humanities Council.

We’ll be talking about Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog by Ted Kerasote. If you can’t make this discussion, please consider joining us for the rest of the series. You can sign up at the library or by emailing ephillips@parkcountylibrary.org.