BUCK the film

The fall movies are rolling in at the library and one of the most anticipated is Buck, the compelling story of Buck Brannaman, American horseman.  Place a hold today!
From the film's website:
BUCK, a richly textured and visually stunning film, follows Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real-life “horse-whisperer”, he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment.
Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses – and people – with his understanding, compassion and respect. In this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a metaphor for facing the daily challenges of life. A truly American story about an unsung hero, BUCK is about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds. http://www.buckthefilm.com/

Do You Read Banned Books?

For the next week, September 24 through October 1, FCLS will be celebrating Banned Books Week, an annual nationwide observance to raise awareness of book challenging and banning.

Have you read a banned or challenged book lately? Books challenged in Montana in recent decades include The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Fools Crow by James Welch, and The Giver by Lois Lowry. Click here to see more lists of banned books.

Visit your local FCLS branch to learn more or read a banned book, and pick up a bookmark while supplies last.

Library Day Celebration a Success!

Last Wednesday, September 14, Flathead County libraries and libraries across the state celebrated Montana Library Day. We asked for comments from library customers, took photos, and gathered statistics. There were many happy library visitors that day, and storytime at the Main Library was a big hit, featuring stories about gardens and a sunflower craft.

Some of our favorite survey comments finishing the phrase "I love my library because..."

"The staff are friendly. They smile!"
"It gets my son excited about reading."
"I’d be lost without it!"
"A great selection at a great value...free!"
"It has manga!"

Flathead County libraries had 1,368 visitors and 1,797 checkouts on September 14. Our libraries issued 23 new library cards and answered nearly 200 reference questions.

Statewide results will soon be available on the Montana State Library website.

Celebrate Montana Library Day With Us!

Wednesday, September 14, is Montana Library Day!

Libraries across the state are taking the day to gather comments, photographs, and statistics chronicling a typical library day.

Stop by any Flathead County Library branch to take a quick survey and tell us why you use and love your library. If you can't make it to the library, you can take the survey online instead: http://www.msl.mt.gov/LibraryDay/survey.asp.

And don't forget storytime! There are three times and locations on September 14:

• Bigfork preschool storytime, 10:00 am
• Columbia Falls preschool storytime, 10:30 am
• Columbia Falls after-school storytime, 3:00 pm

Montana Library Day is a project of the Montana Library Association, the Montana State Library, all 750 Montana libraries, and the Flathead County Library System. For more information about Montana Library Day, please contact the State Library at (406) 444-3115 or visit http://msl.mt.gov/LibraryDay.

Summer Reading Winners!

We are pleased to announce the list of winners from our Summer Reading Program!

The following children won $25 gift certificates to the Imagination Station toy store. Congratulations and great job reading!

Jacob Cunningham, Bigfork
Arron Davis, Columbia Falls
Marianna Jouppe, Kalispell



In the Teen Program, the following participants won the grand prizes. Hooray! Good work and thanks for joining Summer Reading Program!

iPod Touch (2)
Casey Shea, Columbia Falls
Ashley Jones, Kalispell

Nook eReader
Lauren Christensen, Bigfork

Summer Reading Program Round Up!

This week is our final week of summer reading program events. Kids and teens can still log hours and pick up prizes until the end of the day Saturday. What a great summer! Scroll down to see pictures from our adventures; highlights included reading stories from a Nook ereader, making sand paintings and yarn paintings, designing t-shirts in the teen program, enjoying our wonderful Park Side volunteers, and eating a celebratory snack of foods from around the world.

Special thanks to Park Side Federal Credit Union and the Friends of Flathead County Library for generously funding our program. We also received support from Kalispell Parks and Rec and Norm's News. Thank you so much!

Best Picture Books of 2011 . . . so far

We recently stumbled across this very lovely list of best picture books of 2011 . . . so far. As the new Youth Services Librarian and the staff person newly in charge of picture book ordering, I am ever so VERY excited about picture books. And I am happy to tell you that FCLS has every single one of these fabulous books on order, on the shelf, or checked out and in some lucky child's hands. Visit our website and click on Library Catalog to place a hold.

Stay tuned this week for a Summer Reading Program photo round up!