Like many of my friends, I’ve had mindflayer parasites on the brain. With August came the release of Baldur’s Gate 3, a role-playing video game based on the popular tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons. The game has its hooks in me, emboldening my love of tabletop and fantasy. I’ve been checking out what our library system has available for any potential, new, or current fans of games like D&D. Turns out, there’s a lot on offer! To show off what the library has in the realm of tabletop games, I’m starting a little blog series of different movies, video games, and different tabletop game systems available for check out. To ease anyone into the concept of tabletop without having to actually get your feet wet, I highly recommend the new movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. It’s a fun fantasy action-adventure romp starring Chris Pine. The tone and characters of the movie remind me so much of the hijinks I’ve gotten up to with friends in my own games, so you could easily get a sense for how your own adventures might go just through watching the movie. All around a fun adventure-heist to watch with friends. While we don’t have the latest Baldur’s Gate game available at the library, you can check out the original, early 2000s role-playing games. Available on the Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, and Xbox are Baldur’s Gate and its sequel Baldur’s Gate II. Those two games are based off of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons system, so they can be a lot more punishing if you don’t know what you’re doing or how to build a character. Still, they remain classics for a reason and are worth taking the time to figure them out. All of the companion characters are so different and interesting, you're bound to latch on to one as your favorite (love you Minsc). But enough about D&D for now. Next time I write, we’ll be taking a look at some actual tabletop systems themselves. If you haven't heard of Pathfinder, soon you will!

I can think of no instrument more representative of the American spirit than the cigar box guitar. A utilitarian instrument built from the necessity for musical expression, its ingenuity is a testament to our creative nature. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Just what the heck is a cigar box guitar? As the name implies, a cigar box guitar is simply a guitar built from a cigar box. Guitars and similar stringed instruments are amplified by allowing their strings to vibrate over a hollow space known as the resonant chamber. The cigar box fills that role, serving as the body of the guitar. The size, shape, ports, and material composition of the chamber alter and color the overall tone of the instrument. As cigar shipping containers became more standardized during the industrial periods of America’s development, the small wooden boxes were given new life by handy musicians looking to build their own instruments. For many, purchasing such a luxury item was simply not an option. Professionally made instruments were expensive and not always easy to come by. In addition to cigar box guitars, violins and other stringed instruments were common. A cigar box guitar can take on many forms. Three strings and a fretless neck are common, but any number of strings and a variety of scale lengths can be found. Sometimes, a cigar box guitar isn’t even built with a box, but with alternate resonant chambers such as oil cans. Fretless guitars are typically played with a slide, while fretted variants may more closely resemble standard acoustic guitars. Whatever their scale, string count, or type of neck, all cigar box guitars are handmade, usually from recycled or repurposed materials. A simple bolt may serve as a bridge, screw heads as string trees, and cabinet hinges can make excellent saddles. The humble cigar box guitar is frequently electrified, with builders adding all manner of pickups and electronics to alter and amplify their creations. The cigar box guitar is an important artifact in the history of American folk music that continues to be a fixture in many contemporary styles. With a consumer market flooded by cheap relatively decent guitars, why would anyone choose to play a crude homemade instrument? Perhaps there’s a little bit of magic in the handmade that the mass produced simply can’t capture. No two cigar box guitars are alike, and their uniqueness is a reflection of their creator's skill and intentions. Maybe the resilience of the cigar box guitar is a response to the commercialization of music, a manifestation of the human component, or just a reminder that the soul still sings.

We had an amazing summer this year, so many great activities with the community! With a busy schedule and a lot of planning, we were able to make it to every outing that we were invited to and to see a lot of wonderful families and residents of our beautiful community. Read along to hear about just some of the events that we were able to attend. We visited Caldwell High School summer school students and brought our mobile makerspace with our summer STEM kits created just for teens and provided by the Idaho Commission for Libraries Summer STEM grant. The teens had a great time learning more about circuits and creating their own shadow puppets with a stage. It was amazing to see them all learning and exploring and working hard on projects that we had created. Thanks for invitation to your school! We partnered with Oasis' Summer Feeding Program as well as with Caldwell School District this summer and visited 8 parks. We brought activities for multiple ages, some summer reading promotional items, and some free books. We got to talk to so many awesome families and help a lot of kids make their own bubble wands or paper kites. Nothing is better than watching a kid enjoy a toy of their own creation, something that they spent time and care on building. Thanks to Delta Dental for partnering with us as well as Caldwell School District and all the other partners that were a part of the Book and a Bite program! We had some amazing storytimes at the Indian Creek Plaza this summer. So many staff members from the Caldwell Public Library got to tag along and participate in a storytime for the community, and they all did such a great job! The outreach team is so grateful for their help and support and dedication to making the storytimes fun, engaging, and full of variety. We sure hope you enjoyed them! We had a fun day at the Aspen Creek Senior Living Center with our mobile makerspace. In collaboration with our Adult Services team we were able to show off our 3D printer and talk about the Talking Book Service, Caldwell Public Library homebound services, and other interesting topics for our community members who are residing at Aspen Creek Senior Living. We just love being able to visit this facility and provide services for the residents, thanks so much for hanging out with us this summer! Were you able to catch us at some of these outreach events? Did you sign up for summer reading or did you go home with a book you loved? I hope you enjoyed some of the stories we read, activities we ran, or got to learn more about what the library does! See you again in the fall for more fun outreach adventure highlights!

June’s here, school’s out, and Summer Reading’s started! With warmer weather here to stay for a while, it’s easier to plan some fun outdoor activities. One of the great things about Idaho is the bounty of options for outside summer fun. And right here at the library is a great place to start looking. We don’t just have books for you to check out, but all kinds of kits and activities to choose from! Want to try some outdoor sports, but don’t feel like buying a bunch of equipment? Here at the library we have a few activity kits for you to try. Find a park nearby and try out our Baseball Kit. In it you’ll find a bat, a few balls, a helmet, and a mitt to get started with. This is just one example of some of the kits on offer at the library, so come check one out today! If you’re interested in a trip to Boise, did you know we have a park passport to the Idaho Botanical Gardens? The pass gets a group of five into the garden and comes with a map and a sheet of guidelines and information about the pass itself. Or if you’d like a little more adventure than a garden, there are tons of books about the different hiking trails throughout Idaho. This book, Hiking Idaho, is just one example of what you can find here. Hopefully some of these options are helpful and you find a fun new activity this summer!

Outreach has been a rollercoaster and wonderful ride this spring season! I feel like we have been everywhere, but I will try to organize and condense the information so that we can share our experiences serving our community! Farmway Village Farmway village has invited us to many fun events, and my favorite in spring was the Egg Drop celebration at the beginning of April! Even though it was cold and windy, we still had a lot of fun hanging out with families, having some food, and watching the kids create fun contraptions to protect their eggs from breaking! Everyone was able to get involved, and lots of other community members came to this event. Thank you, especially, to the Caldwell Housing Authority staff for securing our canopy so that we had shade from the wind and rain! We can't wait for the next event. We are still offering library card signup at the Farmway community center during our monthly program, as well as some fun activities for the kids! Stop by and say hello! Homebound Delivery Homebound delivery is as busy as ever! We are expanding every month, adding in new patrons, and getting our books delivered to those who need our services! If you or someone you know is in need of our homebound services, fill out our online application, call the library, or stop in and ask some questions about this service! We deliver books every Tuesday afternoon, so you may see us driving around your neighborhood during that time. Thanks to Friends of the Library for our nifty bags! Library Tours and Family Nights We have had some great times doing tours for schools and family nights for some preschool classrooms. It's always a joy to see kids excited about the library and all that we have to offer, as well as great to see the parents and introduce everyone to ways that they can incorporate reading into a daily lifestyle! Thanks to all the teachers who have reached out to organize these events and get their families and students involved. We are always so happy to have your support and enthusiasm for libraries and reading! Book Readings and Senior Center Visits We have begun to do some programs back out at the care centers again, starting with a book reading for Aspen Creek Senior Living. What a joy it is to read some books out loud to these residents and to spend some time with the community. We are hoping to be able to do more readings soon at more locations, so stay tuned! School Outreach Thanks to all the schools that invited us out to do presentations, be a part of their events, and allowed us to offer library card sign ups at their locations. We talked about library services, and summer reading (which is right around the corner!) We ran STEM activities, went to literacy night, and offered free books at kindergarten registration. We even got to have fun at a school carnival. I feel like we almost know everyone in Caldwell at this point! Special Events Last but not least, we did some really fun special events with other community partners such as the Caldwell YMCA, Rediscovered Books, The Idaho Commission for Libraries, and Boise public library. We love our community partners and always feel honored to be invited places as well as be able to share what the library has to offer at these events. Summer Summer is on the way and we will be off having new adventures soon. We hope we see you around and if you see us, stop by and say hello. We always want our community to know that we are out and excited to share what the library has to offer to all ages and all types of people. See you around!

Relient K is a good band and I’m not ashamed to say it. Welcome to another Freegal album review where I tell you all about the totally sweet music you can access with your Caldwell Public Library card. If you’ve never heard of Freegal despite reading all of my reviews, you can learn all about it right here. Christian Punk seems like a bit of an oxymoron, but this is Christian pop-punk and let's face it, pop-punk is about as dangerous as staying out past curfew or drinking milk that smells a little funny. Yeah, some of the lyrics are cheesy and occasionally preachy, but show me a pop-punk band that’s completely dairy free. I’m not interested in a secular vs. religious music debate because it’s all just music to me. If I can enjoy Black Metal’s sometimes cringey obsession with Satan I can handle a little bit of Jesus music. That said, Relient K’s third album, Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right… But Three Do is a banger of an album that deserves a place in the pop-punk pantheon. Where to begin? Firstly, the production on this album is totally decent. Everything hits like you want it to on a pop-punk release. Drums are tight and loud, with mellow cymbals and an articulate kick. The bass is tucked into the mix nicely and doesn’t overwhelm the low end. The vocals are upfront and clean with just a little bit of air and the backing vocals are blended nicely. My only complaint is that there isn’t enough guitar! It’s there, and the tone is good, but I need chunkier guitar! The album kicks off with “Chap Stick, Chapped Lips, And Things Like Chemistry”, an upbeat and inviting opener that sets the overall tone of the record. Bouncy lyrics and classic punk beats speed the track along as singer Matt Thiessen delivers some now hilariously dated lines about using all his “daytime minutes." “In Love with the 80's (Pink Tux to the Prom)” is another notable track that utilizes an 80’s sounding synth to accompany a very retro, tongue in cheek chorus. The band explores a more dynamic arrangement for this song that emulates the feel of an authentic tune from the era but retains a uniquely pop-punk feel. The last song I’ll mention is “College Kids." Full of fast paced energy, “College Kids” feels almost prophetic as it tears through the trappings of higher education. “Someone please save us, Us college kids! What my parents told me Is what I did! They said go to school and Be a college kid! But in the end I questioned why I did!” This track is an absolute blast that proves Relient K can rock just as intensely as any of their peers. It never fails to get me pumped up. If you're looking for a pop-punk group that's goofy, family friendly, but still rockin', look no further than Relient K. Plus, Relient K has released 11 studio albums to date, so if you enjoyed this release there's a lot more to explore!

If you’re a punk, Indie, or alternative rock fan of any sort you’ve probably heard of the Descendents. Often credited as helping kick off the pop-punk craze on the West coast in the early 90’s, the Descendents were among the first to infuse Hardcore with infectious pop minded melodies and more personal lyrical themes. How does this relate to today’s review? Allroy Sez… is the debut release from ALL, a group formed from the remaining members of the Descendents when their lead singer left the group to pursue his graduate degree. In short, ALL is Descendents minus Milo. Welcome to another Freegal album review! If you don’t know about the library’s free music streaming service, you can read all about Freegal here. For an album released in 1988, Allroy Sez… sounds remarkably modern in much of the song writing. Paradoxically, the album is also very grounded in 80’s production techniques that anchor the record to a very specific moment in time. What you get is an album that is clearly anticipating the breakout of pop-punk and laying the groundwork for its breakthrough, while still displaying it’s 80’s punk rock roots. The album kicks off with the up-tempo and extremely melodic “Pretty Little Girl”. The incredible guitar sensibilities of Stephen Egerton are immediately on display with a flurry of runs and licks that tie the various phrases of the song together. There’s rarely a moment on the album where the guitar takes a rest from its almost frantic pace, but it never steps on the toes of the other elements and still manages to maintain a strong power chord foundation. Singer Dave Smalley’s voice cuts right through the high energy instrumentals to deliver very clear and upfront vocal melodies. He projects a lot of presence and energy while still remaining intelligible and more importantly on key. A killer opening track and an excellent introduction to ALL’s sound, “Pretty Little Girl” is a great song through and through. “Just Perfect” is another standout track. Featuring a chorus that will live rent free in your head for the rest of your life, the song illustrates just how darn good ALL is at blending bubblegum pop with punk attitude. Karl Alvarez’s mad bass skills are on full display with accents and counter melodies weaving through the song in unexpected and pleasant ways. It’s not often that a bass line gets stuck in your head, but I think I can hum “Just Perfect” from start to finish. If Allroy Sez… tickled your fancy then you’re in luck, the band went on to record a total of eight studio albums, albeit with minor lineup changes from time to time. My personal favorite is ALL’s sophomore release featuring new singer Scott Reynolds, Allroy's Revenge. Reynolds’ vocal performance and styling has a lot in common with Smalley’s, but Reynolds' delivery has a bit more grit and punk rock edge.

This month’s Freegal review may be the least obscure, most mainstream album I’ve looked at on this blog. It’s the most pop leaning to be sure which will probably hurt my street cred. I guess this is just my way of selling out. Welcome to another Freegal album review, a blog series where I highlight awesome music available for our patrons to stream. If you’re not familiar with Freegal, it's a free music streaming service available to Caldwell Public Library card members. You can read more about Freegal here. For better or worse, Good Charlotte drastically changed the face of pop-punk with their 2002 release, The Young and the Hopeless. Critical reception of Good Charlotte’s sophomore album was somewhat mixed with Rolling Stone only awarding it two stars. Many reviewers were critical of the album's production, with some arguing that the sleek pop sheen was a poor attempt to elevate what was ultimately a derivative and uninspired pop-punk cash in. However, record sales and radio charts told a much different story, with many of the album’s singles crossing charts and the album itself eventually reaching triple platinum status in sales. The Young and the Hopeless is a tightly produced album that fully embraces the pop side of pop-punk. Every element works. Each layer adds depth and substance to the sound, elevating the songs and refining the presentation. When a chorus hits, it hits hard. Eric Valentine is credited as producer, and he pulls out all the stops. If you compare The Young and the Hopeless to Good Charlotte's debut album sonically, it's like night and day. I’m usually one to argue that less is more, or to favor a more organic or raw approach, but Good Charlotte sounds best with all the extra adornments. This album is packed with hits. “The Anthem”, “Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous”, “Wondering”, and “Girls & Boys” are all absolute killer tracks and insidious earworms. The layers of vocal harmonies flow like sweet honey across a soundscape of crunchy guitars, tight drum lines, and heavy bass. These tracks continuously evolve, with slight variations, additions, and openings that carry the listener through. The common critique of shallow lyricism is often leveled at The Young and the Hopeless, but what really counts at the end of the day are the hooks and this album has them in spades. That’s not to say that the album is devoid of substance, but it doesn’t try hard to be something it’s not. Often heartfelt, the lyrical themes are direct and relatable. Exactly how a pop album should come across. The Young and the Hopeless once felt like a guilty pleasure that I had tried to avoid, but twenty years later it’s a pop-punk classic that’s guaranteed to have me singing along. It’s shocking to realize just how much time has passed since Good Charlotte's heyday. Their greatest hits are approaching classic rock status and my pants seem to keep getting higher, but It seems The Young and the Hopeless will endure. Do you have fond memories of this album or are you discovering it for the first time? Good Charlotte’s follow up, The Chronicles of Life and Death is a worthy successor for anyone that enjoyed this release and I highly recommend giving it a listen. That is, if you’re a poser like me.

Oh, poetry. It takes me back to my high school and college days when I was so enraptured with the power of words. Personally, I love the relationship between poetry and music the most, but I also love art made around words. For instance, I love to create abstract art with song lyrics integrated into a painting or a drawing. Words have such power over me, even if I seem to forget - or take it for granted on a day to day basis. Where are you on your poetic journey? Are you familiar with all the classics, or are you just getting started? Do you have favorite poems that stand out to you, or favorite poets? Do you like the simple complexity of a haiku, or do you prefer rhyming verses? Does free verse catch your eye? Maybe deeply personal poetry that rings out social truths is what moves you. Whatever your preference, we have it at the library! Read on and I will share with you some of my favorite poets as well as some resources to get your started on the topic. My Faves Edgar Allen Poe, Jewel, Dylan Thomas, John Trudell, and T.S. Eliot are some of my favorite poets, with Edgar Allen Poe as my all time favorite poet and short story writer. Below are listed some of my favorite poetry books that you can find in our catalog: The Poetic Works of Edgar Allen Poe A Night Without Armor Dylan Thomas Selected Poems The Poems of T.S. Eliot To conduct your own search through our catalog, try this key word search: "classic poetry." Or you could also try the more general search: "poetry." Poetry Collections Looking for a more general overview of poetry? Check out some of these books below to ease into different themes: English renaissance Poetry : a Collection of Shorter Poems from Skelton to Johnson Idaho in Pictures and Poetry Poetry tine : An Inspirational Collection of Acrostic and Traditional Poems The Ecopoetry Anthology To look for your own search of our catalog, try the key word search: "poetry collections." Scroll through pages and pages to find all your options! If something looks more like what you were interested in, retype the search with the new genre/collection name and see what comes up! Books About Poets Interested in learning more about the poets themselves? Below are some suggestions to get you started. Poets, just like other artists, often lead unconventional lives and so the biographies can be very entertaining. Edgar Allan Poe : a critical biography Emily Dickinson's gardening life : the plants & places that inspired the iconic poet William Blake vs. the world Working in the dark ; reflections of a poet of the barrio Want to do your own search on poets? Try the key word search: "poet biography." You can also look up some of your favorite poets by name and add in the word: "biography," after or before their name and see what comes up! Your Journey Your poetic journey belongs to you. The library is here to point you in the direction of the poetry section and leave you to it to explore the options in front of you. We can also help you look up poets that you are interested in exploring and help you find the right resources for school or personal reading preferences. I have been known to browse collections of modern poetry after reading an interesting blog or article on a particular up and coming author, or going back to some classics such as in the Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends. Order them through our library catalog, or even see if we have them in a digital version. I wish you luck in your poetry adventures!

What better way to know spring is slowly approaching than the rain showers April brings. With weather like this, all I'd like to do is curl up on my couch with my cats and read a good book. So for the fine month of April, I'd like to mention a few books I've enjoyed over the years on days where you can't do much outside. I tend to veer towards reading science fiction or fantasy. Both of my parents are huge nerds, so I've fallen in love with those genres. Around this time last year I settled in on a particularly gloomy day to read a childhood classic I had never gotten around to reading, A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. The world was immediately intriguing and I quickly moved through the other books in the series. I think I read four of the books in that series in about two days. For some science fiction flavor, I'd recommend checking out Leviathan Wakes by James S.A Corey. It's the start of the series that the TV show The Expanse is based on. And after watching the show then reading the books, I'd definitely recommend giving the books a shot. While the show is great, it adds some unnecessary drama and conflict that isn't present in the books. Give both a shot and let me know what you think! If the rain means you don't want to head over to the library in person, both books I mentioned are available digitally through Overdrive and Libby, as either an ebook or eaudiobook. Don't forget to check out the catalogue for anything that might interest you!

Winter has been cold and full of sporadic snow, yet we still were able to visit some fun locations and bring our library services to surrounding neighborhoods! Read up below on some of the adventures outreach services had this winter. Night Light Parade Thanks to the dedication of my coworkers, we were able to deck our outreach van out in lights and participate in the 2022 Night Light Parade! The theme was Christmas at the Movies, and we found some really fun costume pieces to wear while we walked next to the van. Every year we are blown away by how much the community is happy to see us in the parade, and this year was no exception. We really love being a part of the city events and look forward to the 2023 parade! Did you attend this event? I hope you got a chance to wave and say hi! Storytimes - Preschools and Laundromat We have been having a lot of fun visiting some preschool classrooms for a storytime once a month. We sing songs, read books, and work on learning concepts such as spelling, rhyming, counting, and shape recognition. Sometimes I will bring my ukulele, Plucky, and sing a few songs with the classroom as well! This last time I brought Plucky he got two song requests...I hope I learn them before the next visit! We also do a laundromat storytime once a month at our literacy center, located at the Get the Funk Out Laundromat in Caldwell. These storytimes are more of a one-on-one experience at this time, and we can read up to 3 books during a visit! See our calendar for future dates for this program and come by and enjoy some stories. School Visits We have been delighted to be invited to some school events as well. STEM nights, math nights, and literacy nights were all a blast to be a part of. We brought library information, free books to giveaway to families, and other fun things like a literacy activity or a math activity. Partnering with Caldwell School District and MOSAICS this winter has been wonderful, and we love connecting with the families and supporting the children and their learning adventures. Homebound Delivery Services and Senior Center Visits Through all of the events we still make sure that we deliver items out to all of our homebound residents throughout Caldwell once a week. We drop off items to care centers as well as straight to doorsteps. If you or a loved one is in need of homebound delivery services, please fill out the application online or pick one up at the library. If you have more questions, feel free to call, email, or chat with us and we will be happy to help. Off-site programs Our team is gearing up to provide some regular off-site programming, and one place that has been having a great time receiving programs is the Farmway Village community. They have been enjoying programs such as arts and crafts and STEM activities. If you are in the area please come by and do an activity with us! The program is geared for 0-12, but we always bring information for all age groups and are available to talk about other library services if you have questions. We are also offering library card signups at this off-site program, just bring your photo ID and proof of address and we can sign you up! We have also been visiting the Caldwell senior center for a monthly tabling and we love being able to talk to our senior residents and listen to some great music before lunchtime! We highlight all of our library services, such as library programs, our digital collection, the community pantry, and also the Talking Book Service. Come by our table and chat about what our library has to offer, or just to say hello! Each time we go it is wonderful to connect with these amazing community members. Thanks for always supporting our library services. We love being able to be out in the community and support our schools, be a part of city events, help the preschoolers learn and foster a love of reading, and support our senior communities. The outreach team puts their heart and soul into creating these programs and we are passionate about our community. See you around town!

There’s a new program for adults that’s recently started at the library, a knitting and crochet social. People can bring in a craft they’re working on and chat with fellow crafters for a bit. If someone doesn’t have supplies of their own, the library has yarn, needles, and hooks needed to get started on something. Even if you’re just starting out, it’s easy to ask others for help or advice when everyone is together. Other libraries in the valley and across the country have similar programs, so I saw an opportunity to start one here at Caldwell! While there are a bevy of patterns online to find, if you like having the book in front of you the library has you covered. If you’re looking for some interesting new crochet patterns, take a look at Boho Crochet, 30 Hip and Happy Projects. Like to knit? Interested in new stitches? Try out 750 Knitting Stitches and see if any stitches strike your fancy. If you’re curious about starting to knit or crochet, then you’re in luck. Here at the library we also have some take-home kits with yarn, beginning books, and a few needle and hook sizes to start your journey. Personally, I crochet. My own journey with the craft has a start and stop history. My mom always tried to teach me growing up, but I never took to it. I gave both crochet and knitting a shot in college, but never quite found the time to focus on learning. It wasn’t until 2021 that I finally sat down, watched a few beginner videos, and fell in love with crocheting. Holding my first finished project in my hands, a little dice bag, felt amazing. Making anything and being able to see and feel the result is truly special, so I hope others interested in either knit or crochet stop by the social and find a passion.