The Denver Public Library is the public library system of the City and County of Denver, Colorado . The system includes the Denver Central Library , located in the Golden Triangle district of Downtown Denver , as well as 25 branch locations and two bookmobiles . The library's collection totals more than 2 million items, including books, reference materials, movies, music, and photographs. Of that total, more than 347,000 items are in specific collections including the Western History and Genealogy Department, Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, and Reference Department holdings.
31-604: Fred F. Haberlein was an American muralist, painter, and sculptor. He grew up at Conejos Ranch, a guest ranch in Conejos County, Colorado . He studied sculpture and printmaking in college, but he was best known for his murals throughout the western United States, predominantly in Colorado. He lived near Glenwood Springs, Colorado and died in 2018. Haberlein was twice nominated for the Colorado Governor's Award for Excellence in
62-410: A Democratic president in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, making Conejos county the only Colorado county with the distinction of leaning liberal with the 2008 and 2012 presidential picks while leaning conservative with regard to marijuana policy. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 1,291 square miles (3,340 km ), of which 1,287 square miles (3,330 km )
93-635: A bellwether county (Only voting for the losing party candidate in 1928, 1968, 1988 and 2004 since 1912). Recently, Conejos has trended to the right, becoming a consistently Republican County, in contrast to the state itself which has been trending to the left since 2004 . Donald Trump flipped the county in 2016, held it even in his loss against Biden in 2020, and won it by 18 points in 2024. In 2022 , despite both Governor Jared Polis and Senator Micheal Bennet easily winning re-election by large margins, Conejos voted against both of them (even flipping to support Bennet’s opponent Joe O’Dea after Bennet had won
124-493: A collection of Western fine art and prints. The quality of its collection of oil paintings rivals that of the Denver Art Museum next door. The library's collection includes western landscape paintings by Albert Bierstadt , Frederic Remington , Charles Marion Russell , Thomas Moran and Otto Kuhler , as well as a portrait of Colorado historian and Denver Post writer Caroline Bancroft . The photography collection includes
155-432: A collection of books that included the 1455 Gutenberg Bible and 1640 Bay Psalm Book that are both rare and valuable artifacts. Throughout the 1950s and 1970s, Denver experienced an explosion of growth and quickly required more branches to be open to serve the new neighborhoods that branched out to the southeast and southwest. Among these branches were four Ross branches, funded with a $ 100,000 donation from Frederick Ross who
186-477: A fire, but birth records for 1877-1907 are still preserved. Websites that will be of use when doing genealogical research are The Colorado Genealogical Society and Conejos County WW II Enlistments . When Colorado Amendment 64 was being voted into effect by Coloradans, Conejos County residents voted against approving the measure to legalize and regulate recreational Marijuana consumption and possession for those 21 or older; Conejos residents simultaneously voted for
217-415: A household in the county was $ 24,744, and the median income for a family was $ 29,066. Males had a median income of $ 26,351 versus $ 20,200 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 12,050. About 18.60% of families and 23.00% of the population were below the poverty line , including 28.20% of those under age 18 and 17.30% of those age 65 or over. Conejos County had a pretty solid track record as
248-698: A meetinghouse there. Fox Creek, however, does not have a predominantly Mormon population. Records available for this area are marriage records, which are held by the county clerk. Divorce records are maintained by the clerk of the district court. Agencies that hold records for marriages and divorces from 1900 to 1939 are the Colorado State Archives and Denver Public Library Genealogy Department. Other records available are marriage records from 1871 and death records from 1877 to 1907. This also include land records from 1871, probate records from 1875, and court records from 1877. However, some records were lost due to
279-605: A new Central Library to be located on Broadway and West 14th Avenue. The property had previously been an auto dealership for the Ford Model T , Model A , and Model B before being condemned by the City in 1953. The Fisher/Hoyt Central Library in the city's Golden Triangle opened in 1956 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. As part of the dedication of the new library when it opened, Yale Library loaned
310-883: A permanent archive of archaeologist Thomas L. Carr 's work. The Western History Department holds the Otto Perry collection of railroad photographs, numbering 20,000 negatives from all parts of North America made available for viewing on the Internet. The Western History and Genealogy departments merged in 1995 and are located on the fifth floor. The Genealogy department includes 60,000 books, 75,000 pieces of microform, and hundreds of magazine and newsletter titles, charts, clippings, atlases and manuscripts. From 1995 until 2015, The Western History Department worked on digitizing over 100,000 of its images to make them available online. The Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library serves as an educational and cultural resource focusing on
341-432: Is 4 degrees. In summer, the average temperature is 61.4 degrees, and the average maximum temperature is 79.6 degrees. Seventy-one percent of the annual precipitation falls in the months of April through September. Average seasonal snowfall is 28 inches. The average relative humidity in mid-afternoon in spring is less than 35 percent; during the rest of the year, it is about 45 percent. The percentage of possible sunshine
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#1732876842915372-563: Is 77 in the summer and 73 in the winter. As of the census of 2000, there were 8,400 people, 2,980 households, and 2,211 families residing in the county. The population density was 6 people per square mile (2.3 people/km ). There were 3,886 housing units at an average density of 3 units per square mile (1.2 units/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 72.76% White , 0.21% Black or African American , 1.69% Native American , 0.15% Asian , 0.07% Pacific Islander , 21.50% from other races , and 3.61% from two or more races. 58.92% of
403-529: Is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado . As of the 2020 census , the population was 7,461. The county seat is the unincorporated community of Conejos . Being 50.7% Hispanic in 2020, Conejos was Colorado's largest Hispanic-majority county . The first European known to visit this area was Juan de Oñate y Salazar in 1550 followed by Don Diego de Vargas in 1694, but he left behind no colonists. In 1708, Juan de Uribarri passed through searching for run-away Indian slaves. Conejos County
434-614: Is also available to all visitors. The Denver Public Library offers library card holders access to equipment and experiences to check out. Current items include bicycle repair kits, State Park Pass, Chromebooks, draft check meter, GoPro camera, museum and cultural passes, power check meter, Speck indoor air quality meter, video projector, and WiFi hotspot. The Denver Public Library system provides access to makerspaces , called ideaLABs, at various locations. Denver Public Library offers library card holders free passes to participating local museums and cultural institutions. Institutions include
465-609: Is land and 3.6 square miles (9.3 km ) (0.3%) is water. Conejos County is in a broad high mountain valley in South Central Colorado . It has an area of approximately 825,446 acres (3,340 km ) in 1,290 square miles (3,340 km ). Roughly half the area is on the nearly level floor of the valley, where the average elevation is about 7,700 feet (2,350 m). The western half of the county ranges from gently rolling to steep foothills with mountains that rise in elevation to about 13,000 feet (4,000 m). Conejos County
496-531: Is situated with the National Forest to the west and the Rio Grande to the east, along Colorado's southern border with the state of New Mexico . Only about 34 percent of Conejos County is privately owned with the other 66 percent being National Forest , Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or State owned lands. In winter, the average temperature is 21.6 degrees Fahrenheit, and the average daily minimum temperature
527-544: The Arts. He taught art classes at Colorado Mountain College for eighteen years. His first mural was rendered in Oracle, AZ in 1977, and he completed over 130 murals since then. A Native American friend gave him the name "Lightning Heart," which he used professionally. Haberlein completed more single-handed murals than any other U.S. artist. Conejos County, Colorado Conejos County
558-557: The Board of Water Commissioners for many years, and survives as McNichols Civic Center Building , in the Civic Center Historic District (Denver, Colorado) .) Between 1913 and 1920, Carnegie also underwrote construction of the library's first eight branches. Previously the city relied on traveling trunks of books. In the 1950s the city commissioned the architectural firm Fisher & Fisher and designer Burnham Hoyt to build
589-779: The Butterfly Pavilion, Denver Center for the Performing Arts Behind the Scenes Tours, Denver Firefighters Museum, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Trolley, Denver Zoo, History Colorado Center, Molly Brown House Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. Card holders can also enter drawings to win vouchers to plays and concerts held at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company and Colorado Symphony. Former branch libraries include
620-618: The area were from New Mexico , primarily from Abiquiu, San Juan de los Caballeros and Santa Cruz. As more people arrived, mission churches were set up and all had the records housed in Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. When the neighboring town Los Sauces of Anitonito was built, the Theatines , priests from Spain, came into the area and built St. Augustine church in 1880 within Antonito. The church records from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish are now housed at
651-599: The artist Edward Ruscha and fossils are embedded in its floor within the Schlessman Hall. There is also an art gallery within the Level Five Gates Western History Ready Room. The Denver Public Library has a large Western History collection, which began under the direction of City Librarian Malcom G. Wyer and includes 600,000 photographs, 3,700 manuscript archives, 200,000 cataloged books, pamphlets, atlases, maps, and microfilm titles as well as
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#1732876842915682-455: The church offices of Saint Augustine. Conejos is approximately a mile northwest of Antonito. Presbyterians came into Conejos County in 1880 establishing churches in Antonito, Alamosa, Cenicero, Del Norte, Mogote, San Rafael, and Monte Vista. They also established schools in the area and had a large number of Hispanic converts. A jacal went up in 1854 in Guadalupe, now known as Conejos, which
713-480: The city's board of education, which were then maintained in a wing of East Denver High School. John Cotton Dana was named chief librarian and the "Denver Public Library" was officially established in 1889. The library moved into its own building in 1910, a Greek revival design funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie that was located in Civic Center Park downtown. (The 1910 building was repurposed to serve
744-414: The county in 2016 ). 37°13′N 106°11′W / 37.21°N 106.19°W / 37.21; -106.19 Denver Public Library The Library's humble beginnings started in 1859 as an outdoor facility built from a carpenter's bench under a tree. It was founded by Arthur Pierce, one of the pioneers during the gold rush era. The library later evolved from the 1878 donation of books to
775-559: The county included a large portion of southwestern Colorado. In 1874, most of the western and northern portions of the county were broken away to form parts of Hinsdale , La Plata and Rio Grande counties, and Conejos County achieved its modern borders in 1885 when its western half was taken to create Archuleta County . The community of Conejos is the location of the oldest extant church house in Colorado , constructed in 1856 and named "Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish". The first settlers into
806-880: The history, literature, art, music, religion, and politics of African Americans in Colorado and throughout the Rocky Mountain West. The Library opened in 2003 and houses a full service branch library, research archives and the Western Legacies Museum, an exhibition space that spans more than 7,000 square feet (650 m ) and includes an African American Leadership Gallery, a replica of the Office of Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb, and rotating exhibits which highlight historical periods, notable individuals and local Denver history. All locations offer patrons access to public computers with Internet service, Microsoft Office 2013, copying, printing, and scanning. Wireless Internet (WiFi)
837-442: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 2,980 households, out of which 38.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.30% were married couples living together, 12.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.80% were non-families. 23.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
868-400: Was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.33. In the county, the population was spread out, with 32.10% under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 23.60% from 25 to 44, 20.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 98.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.10 males. The median income for
899-654: Was a Denver Real Estate Investor and the Library Commissioner. In the 1990s Denver voters approved a $ 91.6 million bond issue to add onto the Fisher/Hoyt building; the new 540,000-square-foot (50,000 m ) structure, designed by the 2012 Driehaus Prize winner Michael Graves and the Denver firm of Klipp Colussy Jenks DuBois, opened in 1995. The seven-story exterior is finished with limestone and pre-cast concrete with copper accents throughout. Murals are painted inside by
930-618: Was one of the original 17 counties created by the General Assembly of the Territory of Colorado on 1851-11-01. Conejos County was originally named Guadalupe County but was renamed Conejos County a week later on November 7. Its name comes from the Spanish word " conejo ", meaning rabbit, for the abundance of rabbits in the area. Also early in its existence, the county seat was moved from the town of Guadalupe to Conejos. The original boundaries of
961-574: Was the beginning of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. There is also a large Mormon population within Conejos County. Settlers belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) began settling in the towns of La Jara, Manassa and Sanford; each town currently has an LDS meetinghouse . Fox Creek, a village approximately 11 miles west of Antonito, is the newest community to have an LDS meetinghouse erected, although there had previously been