By Zach Hillstrom The Pueblo Chieftain Local libraries like those in the Pueblo City-County Library District often serve as a gateway to adventure, with countless books and resources capable of transporting visitors to another place and time.
Sometimes, that gateway is even a literal one, such as the Check Out Colorado State Parks program —a partnership between the Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Colorado State Library, and local library districts that allows people to check out a backpack and a parks pass to gain entrance to any of Colorado’s 42 state parks.
Jill Kleven, the director of user services for PCCLD, said Pueblo’s libraries have participated in the program for the past four years, with 24 park passes split amongst its Pueblo County branches.
“We send those to all of our different branches and they are in backpacks that come with other things besides just the park pass,” Kleven said.
“So customers can get binoculars, there’s a wildlife viewing guide, park brochures for all of the state parks, there’s a tree and a flower guide and then there’s a list of suggested activities to do at the park.”
The park pass is good for entry into any Colorado State Park for up to seven days.
Each backpack and its accompanying materials may be checked out from the library for one week, but cannot be renewed, Kleven said, as library officials want as many people as possible to take advantage of the opportunity.
Nearly 300 libraries across Colorado participate in the program, which eliminates most costs as a barrier from people getting out and enjoying Colorado’s outdoors.
A daily park pass for a single vehicle currently costs between $9 and $11, and an annual pass for a single vehicle currently costs $80.
“There’s a lot of families that can’t afford that,” Kleven said.
“So it’s just a way to provide that service to customers and get them outside and doing something. And I think this year and last year, especially, with how many activities have been limited for people to do (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), people did take a lot of advantage of spending time outdoors.”
Kleven said in the four years PCCLD has participated, the program has seen 765 checkouts.
When passes are already in use, library members can be placed on a hold list, giving them priority when the passes become available.
But even in the busier, summer months, the hold list is typically no longer than a 1-4 week wait.
“We have some customers who will put themselves on the hold list again and just keep checking them out over and over again,” Kleven said.
“So that’s an option, too. If they don’t want to buy a day pass they can do that.”
Also in each backpack is a survey inquiring about the user’s experience with the backpack and pass.
In 2019, CPW published the result of 371 surveys collected that year, which showed 99% of respondents said they were likely to recommend a visit to a state park, 79%said they were likely to purchase a day pass to visit a state park, and 57% said they were likely to buy an annual pass.
Eighty-six percent said their experience helped them learn more about nature, and 94% said the experience changed their mind about the kinds of resources local libraries have to offer.
“I think the public really appreciates the fact that this partnership exists between CPW, the state library and our library district,” Kleven said.
“They just are appreciative that they can come to the library, have a resource and get to do something they wouldn’t normally get to do just because either its cost prohibitive or is just something they hadn’t even thought of.
“They walk in our buildings and they see these backpacks and think, ‘Oh wow! That’s kind a of a cool thing the library is doing, maybe I’ll check it out, literally.’”
Chieftain reporter Zach Hillstrom can be reached at zhillstrom@gannett.com or on Twitter @ZachHillstrom
Sometimes, that gateway is even a literal one, such as the Check Out Colorado State Parks program —a partnership between the Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Colorado State Library, and local library districts that allows people to check out a backpack and a parks pass to gain entrance to any of Colorado’s 42 state parks.
Jill Kleven, the director of user services for PCCLD, said Pueblo’s libraries have participated in the program for the past four years, with 24 park passes split amongst its Pueblo County branches.
“We send those to all of our different branches and they are in backpacks that come with other things besides just the park pass,” Kleven said.
“So customers can get binoculars, there’s a wildlife viewing guide, park brochures for all of the state parks, there’s a tree and a flower guide and then there’s a list of suggested activities to do at the park.”
The park pass is good for entry into any Colorado State Park for up to seven days.
Each backpack and its accompanying materials may be checked out from the library for one week, but cannot be renewed, Kleven said, as library officials want as many people as possible to take advantage of the opportunity.
Nearly 300 libraries across Colorado participate in the program, which eliminates most costs as a barrier from people getting out and enjoying Colorado’s outdoors.
A daily park pass for a single vehicle currently costs between $9 and $11, and an annual pass for a single vehicle currently costs $80.
“There’s a lot of families that can’t afford that,” Kleven said.
“So it’s just a way to provide that service to customers and get them outside and doing something. And I think this year and last year, especially, with how many activities have been limited for people to do (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), people did take a lot of advantage of spending time outdoors.”
Kleven said in the four years PCCLD has participated, the program has seen 765 checkouts.
When passes are already in use, library members can be placed on a hold list, giving them priority when the passes become available.
But even in the busier, summer months, the hold list is typically no longer than a 1-4 week wait.
“We have some customers who will put themselves on the hold list again and just keep checking them out over and over again,” Kleven said.
“So that’s an option, too. If they don’t want to buy a day pass they can do that.”
Also in each backpack is a survey inquiring about the user’s experience with the backpack and pass.
In 2019, CPW published the result of 371 surveys collected that year, which showed 99% of respondents said they were likely to recommend a visit to a state park, 79%said they were likely to purchase a day pass to visit a state park, and 57% said they were likely to buy an annual pass.
Eighty-six percent said their experience helped them learn more about nature, and 94% said the experience changed their mind about the kinds of resources local libraries have to offer.
“I think the public really appreciates the fact that this partnership exists between CPW, the state library and our library district,” Kleven said.
“They just are appreciative that they can come to the library, have a resource and get to do something they wouldn’t normally get to do just because either its cost prohibitive or is just something they hadn’t even thought of.
“They walk in our buildings and they see these backpacks and think, ‘Oh wow! That’s kind a of a cool thing the library is doing, maybe I’ll check it out, literally.’”
Chieftain reporter Zach Hillstrom can be reached at zhillstrom@gannett.com or on Twitter @ZachHillstrom