Marc Tonglen, Nederland. To stand in line with these evolutionary times, so too must our public libraries change to meet the needs of these transitionary days. This is where local Patron Services Supervisor, Michael Sivcovich, comes into play -- expanding the offerings of the Nederland Public Library toward the musical realms. His program, Songs from the Stacks, continues to succeed in accentuating the musical history and culture of Nederland’s thriving creative landscape.

Songs from the Stacks was created in response to the Covid 19 pandemic and has now been going on for almost one year.  The concert series was born from having to figure out more virtual programming because of the restrictions that the pandemic imposed.  As Sivcovich explains, “We started by inviting local artists such as the Irish group, The Gael. They’re not so much of a touring group but are a fixture to those local to town.  As time went on, we started branching out to other groups in the region.”  

Most recently the Songs from the Stacks Concert Series featured musical renaissance man Thomas LaFond of Banshee Tree, as well as Pioneer Mother, Coppertail, New Family Dog, Lizzy Hayes, et al….  Part of what makes the concert series so unique is that Sivcovich takes time to discuss elements of the craft with each performer.  For instance, Ben Teitelbaum, who plays the Scandinavian Nyckelharpa was recently a featured artist in the series. For this specific performance, Sivcovich asks Ben Teitelbaum the history of this hauntingly beautiful instrument, and the representation of its Nordic tones are astounding.

Overall, libraries more and more are becoming less of a book depository and are therefore needing to expand their services to keep up with the nature of these changing times.  Luckily, Michael is on the cutting edge of doing just that, and the Nederland Public Library is staying ahead of the curve. As Sivcovich elaborates, “The need to expand library services is becoming ever more important. Up until the pandemic, my busiest community offerings were after school programs for kids and teenagers. This of course has shifted in the past year….”  He continues on, “A library’s role is about community building and providing services for community expansion to occur.  Some examples are small business promotion, job training, etc…”. He further elaborates, “People don’t just go to libraries to get books anymore; you can check out GoPro’s at the library now and we even have experience passes, to go to places like the Nature and Science Museum in Denver.  Overall, libraries are struggling to stay relevant so we’re trying to remind people that they’re a needed part of the community.  In so doing, we are looking to enact more workshops, as well as one on one personal services in order to stay relevant.”

As for preserving and expanding the music culture of Nederland, Songs from the Stacks is a prime place to start.  These performances can be found on the Nederland Public Library Facebook page, and are also nicely laid out on this page of their website -- https://nederland.colibraries.org/songs/.  All in all, let’s be sure to support the services and programs that the Nederland Public Library provides, as Michael Sivcovich and his team continue to push the edge of what small town libraries are able to offer in Colorado.

To check out the latest videos, including Songs from the Stacks, go to https://nederland.colibraries.org/our-youtube-channel/.

(Originally published in the February 18, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)