Looking for a new experience? Longmont Library has a bag for you

Longmont Library’s Experience Bags offer a curated collection on a range of topics —  from pop culture and well-being to travel destinations — for library cardholders to explore.

The program had been going on for several years before Librarian Josie Brockmann inherited the program, she said. Brockmann updated the bags to a durable blue canvas and tries to add a few new experiences each year.

“There’s a theme, usually pop culture, and we try to include books, DVDs, music and sometimes a game so you can have this whole experience,” Brockmann explained.

From TV shows like Schitt’s Creek or Stranger Things to cultural decades like the 80s, the bags offer something fun for family activities, date nights or just an opportunity to learn more about jazz, Brockmann said. 

The destination bags focus on a place, exploring Scotland or Hawai’i, Brockmann said. The library also has bags themed around the U.S. National Parks and destinations a little more difficult to travel to, like outer space, she added.

There are also bags that focus on well-being, Brockmann said, with introductions to meditation and mental health support. Three memory minder kits are designed for caregivers of people with memory loss. Divided into early, middle and late stage memory loss, the kits offer puzzles, flash cards, music from various eras, comforting DVDs and books to help caregivers navigate memory loss care, Brockmann said.

The children’s library has its own set as well, divided by age group. First Experience bags, aimed at preschool and early elementary school children. The youth bags offer the same curated content, focusing on visits to the dentist, starting school or getting a new sibling. Older kids can explore the great outdoors or learn about female empowerment, while teen experiences include an introduction to tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons and content focused on exploring personal identity.

Brockmann is already working on the next set of experiences, she said. One possibility is a ghost hunting kit including local authors, she said, as well as a Broadway musical experience. Brockmann is open to suggestions and ideas from the community when it comes to curating new experiences, she said, and Longmonters can reach out to her through email.