Flathead County Library celebrates America 250 with programming for all ages

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

The library is hosting a patriotic community sing-along with The Good Times Chorus at the Columbia Falls Library on July 3 from 4:30 - 6 p.m.  

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. 

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 Our Montana Voices Speaker Series includes the following talks: 

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

Elizabeth Barrs: The Veteran’s Experience and Military Culture, Northwest Montana History Museum: July 3, from 4-6 p.m. Learn from an army combat veteran and veterans studies instructor through powerful, personal perspectives on the American experience. 

Philip Page: Cowboy Music and Authentic Storytelling, Columbia Falls Library: July 24, from 4-6 p.m. Montana cowboy, musician, and storyteller Page shares the early history of the West through song, images, and stories. 

Lailani Upham: Connecting to Land Through an Indigenous Lens, Glacier Institute Columbia Falls Nature Center: Sept. 4, 5-7 p.m. This place-based talk explores how Indigenous stories, history, and lived relationships with land shape conservation in real and practical ways. This talk is co-hosted by the Flathead County Library, Flathead Audubon Society and Glacier Institute.