What's New!

Take a spooky stroll in Old Colorado City and read Trick Arrr Treat by Leslie Kimmelman. Pick up a map at Old Colorado City Library, or print one here, and stop by each location to read the book. The story will be available Oct. 1 - 31. 

Old Colorado City October Strolls

Trick Arrr Treat by Leslie Kimmelman - Download the map!

• Old Colorado City Library
• Jives Coffee
• Carnelian Coffee
• Sanctuary Studio
• Jen's Place Boutique
• Stella & Beau
• Eclectic OCC
• Simple Body
• The Holly Leaf
• ELLYBlue
• The Spark
• Squash Blossom
• Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
• Dice Guys
• Old Colorado City History Museum

Voting is both a right and a responsibility, and democracy works best when everyone participates. Learn more about making your voice heard with the Library’s nonpartisan Voting & Elections Guide for information about:  

• How to register to vote or update your voter registration, as well as useful information for first-time voters   
• How you can vote, including when to expect to receive your ballot via mail, when and how to return your completed ballot, and where you can return your mail-in ballot on or before Election Day     
• What will be on the ballot, including candidates running for elected office as well as local ballot measures   

This nonpartisan resource guide, compiled and maintained by PPLD librarians, also includes other useful information like finding news sources, fact checking, and identifying fake news. You can also find information on your current legislators and see how political campaigns are financed.  

Here are other ways that PPLD can help you prepare and participate in upcoming elections:   

• PPLD partners with the League of Women Voters of the Pikes Peak Region throughout the year to ensure residents can easily register to vote or update their voter registration.  
• There are secure, 24-hour ballot drop boxes outside of East Library and Library 21c. They are accessible by vehicle, bicycle, or on foot. (Fun facts: These are two of 39 total ballot drop boxes across El Paso County. Plus, East Library has the LARGEST ballot box in the state! It had to be specially built and installed due to high use by local voters.)
• Political literature may be available inside your local library as the general election date gets closer. If space allows, at Library locations, there’s usually a table dedicated to this purpose with clearly marked signage, and anyone can display political information in this spot only. (PPLD does not endorse any political campaigns.) 

For anyone interested in petitioning, hosting a voter registration drive, or conducting other civic engagement activities on any PPLD property, please review our Solicitation Policy.  

Who can vote in Colorado?

• U.S. Citizens.
• Individuals who are 17 years old if they will be 18 years old by election day (but 16 and 17-year-olds can preregister!). 
• People who have lived in Colorado for 22 days or more before election day. 
• People who are not in detention in a correctional facility, jail, or other facility for a felony conviction. 
• People who have finished their sentence for a felony conviction, including any parole, are eligible to vote. 
• If you are on probation or were convicted for a misdemeanor, you are eligible to vote. 

Pikes Peak Library District is pleased to announce the selected title for All Pikes Peak Reads (APPR) 2023. This year’s book is The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of WWII, by Mari K. Eder.  

All Pikes Peak Reads is Pikes Peak Library District’s annual community reads program that focuses on celebrating literature, improving community connections, and fostering dialogue across social, cultural, and generational lines. Each year, PPLD selects APPR titles that focus on timely topics and plans a variety of community-wide programs. This year’s selected title serves to complement the Americans and the Holocaust Traveling Exhibit being hosted at East Library from September 5 – October 11.  

Author visit

Join Pikes Peak Library District as we welcome General Mari K. Eder to discuss her book The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of World War II, the 2023 All Pikes Peak Reads selection.

Following her keynote address, General Eder will do an audience Q&A and will be available for book signing. Books will be available to purchase during the event. 

When: Sat., Oct. 7 at 3:00 p.m.     
Location: Library 21c     
Click here for more information

Programs

• A Cool and Lonely Courage: Game Night Presented by UCCS, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 6 p.m.
• All Pikes Peak Reads Book Discussion with Food For Thought, Thursday, Oct. 5, 6:30 p.m.
• All Pikes Peak Reads Presents: Mari K Eder at Colorado College, Friday, Oct. 6, 3 p.m.

Skip the Wait with Freading

Borrow a copy of this year’s book with your library card! Place hold a hold on a physical copy, an eBook, an audiobook, or an eAudiobook (digital copies are available through the Libby app), or get instant access through Freading! The Girls who Stepped Out of Line is always available on Freading.

• Freading allows for simultaneous access to all of their content, meaning that any number of people can borrow and read the book at the same time without having to wait. Learn more and download the app here.
• You can have three books a week checked out at one time through the app for two weeks.

More about The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line

From the publisher: 

For fans of Radium Girls and history and WWII buffs, The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line takes you inside the lives and experiences of 15 unknown women heroes from the Greatest Generation. The women who served, fought, struggled, and made things happen during WWII—in and out of uniform, for theirs is a legacy destined to embolden generations of women to come.

The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line are the heroes of the Greatest Generation that you hardly ever hear about. These women who did extraordinary things didn't expect thanks and shied away from medals and recognition. Despite their amazing accomplishments, they've gone mostly unheralded and unrewarded. No longer. These are the women of World War II who served, fought, struggled, and made things happen—in and out of uniform. 

Liane B. Russell fled Austria with nothing and later became a renowned U.S. scientist whose research on the effects of radiation on embryos made a difference to thousands of lives. Gena Turgel was a prisoner who worked in the hospital at Bergen-Belsen and cared for the young Anne Frank, who was dying of typhus. Gena survived and went on to write a memoir and spent her life educating children about the Holocaust. Ida and Louise Cook were British sisters who repeatedly smuggled out jewelry and furs and served as sponsors for refugees, and they also established temporary housing for immigrant families in London. 

Retired U.S. Army Major General Mari K. Eder wrote this book because she knew their stories needed to be told—and the sooner the better. For theirs is a legacy destined to embolden generations of women to come. 

About the Author

Mari K. Eder, retired U.S. Army Major General, is a renowned speaker and author, and a thought leader on strategic communication and leadership. General Eder has served as Director of Public Affairs at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and as an adjunct professor and lecturer in communications and public diplomacy at the NATO School and Sweden’s International Training Command. She served in senior positions in the Pentagon, in the Department of Defense, and on the Army Staff.

General Eder is the author of the award-winning The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of WWII.  Her next book in the ‘Girls’ series will feature groundbreaking policewomen; The Girls Who Fought Crime will be released in August 2023. When not writing, lecturing, or traveling, she works with rescue groups and fosters rescue dogs.