Flathead County Library celebrates America 250 with programming

This summer the Flathead County Library is celebrating the United States’ 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with programming for all ages.

The Library will host a feel‑good, patriotic community sing-along with The Good Times Chorus at the Columbia Falls Library on July 3 from 4:30-6 p.m. Then, Head Librarian Tony Edmundson will offer a lively reading of the Declaration of Independence on the front steps of the Kalispell library after the Kalispell Fourth of July parade.

In addition, the library is bringing the Our Montana Voices Speaker Series to the Flathead Valley, sponsored by Humanities Montana and the Montana 250 Commission. The series celebrates Montana and America’s heritage through storytelling and education.

The speaker series continues throughout the summer. 

On June 27, Living with The Land is from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Bigfork Library. Explore Anishinaabe traditions, history, and cultural ways of life through stories, songs, and artifacts with elder Louise Ogemahgeshig Fischer.

Learn from an Army combat veteran and Veterans Studies instructor through powerful, personal perspectives on the American experience with Elizabeth Barrs on July 3 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Northwest Montana History Museum. 

Montana cowboy, musician, and storyteller Philip Page shares the early history of the West through song, images, and stories on July 24 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Columbia Falls Library. 

Lailani Upham presents Connecting to Land Through an Indigenous Lens on Sept. 4 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Glacier Institute Columbia Falls Nature Center. 

This place-based talk explores how Indigenous stories, history, and lived relationships with land shape conservation in real and practical ways. The talk is co-hosted by Flathead County Library, Flathead Audubon Society and Glacier Institute.