Library news for the week of Dec. 2, 2020

At the Converse County Libraries, we have an abundance of events/activities to offer in December:

BOOKS & BREWS

Tonight (Wednesday, Dec. 2), our Glenrock Book & Brew Club has a special guest attending our Zoom discussion of “The Lace Reader.”

Salem, Massachusetts resident and author Brunonia Barry (descendant of an accused  witch), will be joining us for the discussion! We are so excited to meet her and discuss her fascinating contemporary mystery set in Salem. If you’d like to join us and meet Bru, contact Tamara at 436-2573, or tlehner@conversecountylibrary.org prior to the 6 p.m. meeting.

THE POLAR EXPRESS

We are asking people to go full “Clark Griswold” on decorating their houses this year, because we found a way to still have our popular Polar Express event! We decided since trains are made up of individual cars, ours will be, too!

Family/friend groups will line up in their cars at the library, and our intrepid Polar Police be the engine to lead the way around town to see the lights! Passengers should still wear their PJs inside their private “box cars,” as well as we will have cookies and cocoa for all — dispensed in complete safety! It’s also possible that if the little ones keep a sharp eye out, they may see a special guest sometime during the evening!

The 2020 Polar Express Box Car Lights Tour will be leaving the station on Dec. 16 for three departure times:  5:30 p.m., 6:45 p.m. and 8 p.m. You’ll need to save a bit of time before and after your departure to collect your refreshments from a drive-up window near you, and to visit an extra-special magical window for a chat with our special guest. Please sign up in advance of this magical night!

DICKENS EVENTS

It’s been a Dickens of a year and CCL Glenrock has decided to have a Dickens of a Christmas!

Duffy Hudson, an actor from L.A. who has twice been named “L.A.’s Best One-Man Show,” has filmed a professionally produced one-man version of “A Christmas Carol” for us this season. He has appeared in Converse County twice, as Ernest Hemingway, George Burns, Dr. Seuss, and Albert Einstein. 

Please sign up for this free event with the library and we’ll send you an access code for his private you-tube channel to view the show. It’s available all month long.

MURDER & MAYHEM

We are also in the process of casting a gleefully ghoulish Murder Mystery Party. We need five men and five women for “A Bloody Dickens Christmas” to be performed via Zoom for free to anyone who wishes to join us and solve the crime on Dec. 19 at 6:30 p.m. Contact Tamara if you’d like to be in the cast or attend the event as a spectator.

Other events to sign up for ASAP are a Victorian (Dickens) Silhouette Book Folding Zoom Craft (free) on Dec. 10 (register by Dec. 8) and two Culture Club Outings to the Planetarium in Casper. The first show is a first-come-first-served outing on Dec. 12. Please register for either or both Planetarium events by Dec. 11 at the latest.

Saturday’s “The Season of Light” is a look at many of the different cultures and religions around the world who celebrated the “Return of the Light” in December. We will meet at the Planetarium (904 N. Poplar in Casper) at 6:15 p.m., as the doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show. While both shows are family-friendly (seating only 30), the second show on Dec. 14 is animated about two children who learn a lesson about the meaning of the season called “The Light Before Christmas.”

This is a private showing just for us. We will meet at the Planetarium when the doors open at 7 p.m. The shows are free to our patron and friends, as the admission costs are covered by the library. Masks are required for all guests, as well as socially distanced seating.