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Weekly Program eNews

May 5, 2025

In this Issue


• To Taste Life Twice Seminar

• Crafternoon: Stamped Tea Towels

• This Week at the Library

• Upcoming Program Highlights

• Staff Review: The Backyard Bird Chronicles

Teen Book Beat: Escape from Aleppo

• Ask a Librarian


See our full calendar here.

Above right: Join us for the book launch of Another Way: Building Companies that Last … and Last … and Last. Dave Whorton with Bo Burlingham introduce an alternative path for founders and business leaders: what they call an “Evergreen company.” More/register here

In the Spotlight

The Community Library's Center for Regional History opens the nomination

period for the Sun Valley Winter Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025!

Nominations are accepted May 1 through August 1.

Learn more/download a nomination form here.


Photo: Chuck Ferries (1939-2025) competed in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics

and was inducted into the Sun Valley Winter Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.

Stop by after school to create a stamped tea towel to gift to someone special

for Mother's Day! Crafternoon will be held in the Children's Library messy space. Participants must be 6+ years of age to attend; registration is required.

 More/register here.


3:00 - 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 6

The Children's Library

Join us for three days of writing, reading, and connecting over words, May 8-10.

Presented in partnership with Boise-based Story Forward.


Opening Keynote with Anna-Marie McLemore

Thursday, May 8, 5:30 p.m. • Lecture Hall


Writers Roundtable and Writing Workshops

Come explore new methods, strengthen your writing, and connect with others. Writing workshops are limited in size but open to all levels.

Registration for workshops is required.

Friday-Saturday, May 9-10 • Times and locations vary


Closing Storytelling Event

Saturday, May 10, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. • Lecture Hall

This Week at the Library

Story Time: Cinco De Mayo


Monday, May 5

10:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Children's Library

Lunchtime Language: Spanish



Monday, May 5

12:00-1:00 p.m.

Idaho Room

Conversational Spanish-Offsite!



Monday, May 5

1:30-2:30 p.m.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo at

La Cabañita restaurant in Ketchum.

Beginning Knitting



Monday, May 5

4:30-6:00 p.m.

Foyer Fireplace

Crafternoon:

Stamped Tea Towels


Tuesday, May 6

3:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Children's Library

Book Launch: Another Way

with Dave Whorton



Join Executive Director Jenny Emery Davidson in conversation with author Dave Whorton for a discussion of Another Way: Building Companies that Last … and Last … and Last. With Bo Burlingham, Whorton introduces an alternative to the "cash in, cash out, walk away" business model.


Tuesday, May 6

5:30 p.m.

Lecture Hall + Livestream

English Language Learning



Tuesday, May 6

6:00-8:00 p.m.

Idaho Room

Regional History Open Hours


Visit the Reading Room to ask Regional History Librarian Liam Guthrie your questions about the storied history of

the Wood River Valley. Ongoing drop-in hours on Wednesdays and Fridays.


Wednesday, May 7

Friday, May 9

11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Betty Olsen Carr Reading Room

Virtual Creative Writing Workshop


Wednesday, May 7

12:00-1:00 p.m.

Zoom

Register here for Link


Pop-In Poetry


This Week:

Their boo-boo was fixed by Chairman Mao's doctor. This exile blossomed a peach.


Thursday, May 8

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Learning Commons

Anna-Marie McLemore

To Taste Life Twice Keynote


Join us for the opening keynote talk of the 2025 To Taste Life Twice Seminar. This talk is open to all, whether or not you're participating in other TTLT events over the weekend. Registration requested.


Thursday, May 8

5:30 p.m.

Lecture Hall | In-person only


Writers Roundtable and

Writing Workshops


Come explore new methods, strengthen your writing, and connect with others. Writing workshops are limited in size but open to all levels. Registration for workshops is required.


Friday-Saturday, May 9-10

Times and locations vary

More/register here


To Taste Life Twice

Closing Storytelling Event


To close out the 2025 To Taste Life Twice Seminar, all attendees and the public are invited to hear readings from participants and workshop instructors. The event is open to all seminar attendees, family and friends, and the entire community!


Saturday, May 10

5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Lecture Hall | In-person only


Upcoming Program Highlights

May 13: Gathering History: Ketchum Buildings at the Wood River Museum

May 14: Film Screening: Dawn of Impressionism: Paris 1875

May 20: United Futures: The Vision for Mexico-U.S. Progress with Sergio Suárez

May 21: Evolution of Stream Restoration with Warren Colyer

May 26: The Library will be CLOSED for Memorial Day

May 28: "Into Your Wild" Workshop with Writer-in-Residence Heidi Kraay

May 29: Elephants in the Hourglass with Kim Frank

May 26: Summer Reading begins for preschoolers, kids K-6, and teens!

June 4: Library Book Club: The God of the Woods

June 5: State of Idaho’s Public Lands

June 6: Adult Summer Reads begins!

June 10-13: Sun Valley Early Literacy Summit

June 17: Degenerate Music with Adrienne Haan

June 19: Library and Museum will be CLOSED for Juneteenth

June 20: Cougars on the Mountain with Maurice Hornocker


See our full calendar of events/register here.

Community Speaker Series


Registration is OPEN for the 2025 Community Speaker Series presented by The Community Library and the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference. Join us for two free lectures at The Community Library.

Advance registration is required to attend.

Seating is limited.


Ruth Reichl: Wednesday, July 16

Sonia Purnell: Tuesday, July 22

More/register here.

Title Review: Library Staff

"[Amy] personifies the birds, imagining dialog easily relatable

to birders. Magpies, unsurprisingly, are mafia."

Librarian Andrea Nelson recommends The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan. Unapologetically dedicated to birders everywhere.


Birds. My husband calls them flying rodents—lovingly, of course. But birders. OMG, right? They’re everywhere, blocking trails while pointing at treetops, sketching in their annoying little weatherproof journals, breaking every rule of fashion imaginable. My twenty-something self would flounce by them in her little jean skirt and crop top thinking, “I will never, ever, be seen in public in a canvas fishing hat, staring at the sky with binoculars around my neck.”


So, my book review is about... Hold on, is that a Yellow Warbler? It’s WAY too early in the season for those. Or is it?


I grab my worn copy of Birds of the Rocky Mountains and my binoculars simultaneously. While fumbling through the pages, I silently beg the bright little bird to stay put. Then it hits me. Somewhere along life’s journey from youthful arrogance to—let's just say late middle age—I’ve become a birder. I even have a life list. I have proudly embraced my inner dork, and more power to her. She sees things the sorority girl did not. She appreciates even the tiny, feisty, jewel-toned little Rufus Hummingbird dive-bombing her head and giving her the stink-eye when she comes near its feeder.


Which gets me to my book choice: Amy Tan’s The Backyard Bird Chronicles...


Read Andrea's entire review here.

Find more staff book recommendations here.

Book Beat: Student Book Review

Hi! My name is Reese. I like hanging out with friends, skiing, and playing softball. For my Book Beat review, I read Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai.


In the book Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai, you follow the journey of a young girl who is fighting her way through the war in South Sudan.


In the start of the book, 14 year old Nadia’s house is bombed, and she is separated from her family. She is living in the war-torn country of Sudan during the civil war between the president and the rebel forces.


Nadia has to find her way back to her family while trying to stay alive in these times of war. As Naida tries to make her way across the state lines to Turkey, she meets new people who are in the same position as her.


One of the main characters that she comes in contact with and comes to like very much is Ammo Mazen, a traveler who has a secret job as a collector of precious items...


Read Reese's entire Book Beat review here.

See all Book Beat Reviews here.

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