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County Librarian Bill Knott is retiring on April 30, after leading Jefferson County Public Library for 37 years. Members of the public are invited to attend an open house in his honor from 6-8 p.m., Friday, April 18, 2008, at the Belmar Library, located at 555 S. Allison Pkwy., Lakewood.

There will be a festive send-off complete with live music, hors d'oeuvres and beverages. A brief presentation will take place at 6:45 p.m. to honor Knott, who has built the second-largest library system in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region.

The event is free and open to the public. For those wishing to recognize Knott's many years of service, a donation to Knott's Kids would be greatly appreciated in lieu of gifts or speeches. Knott's Kids is an interactive children's literacy program created to recognize his lifelong passion for childhood literacy.

For more information, please contact Karen Maguire at 303-275-2201.

Earth Day is on April 22. Use JCPL’s free online resources to find accurate and up-to-date information on the Earth Day holiday and the environment.

For news articles related to Earth Day, try the NewsBank Public Library Collection. You can search for news articles or browse “Special Reports,” which includes a collection of news articles on the World Environment. You will find articles from papers as recent as today’s.

If you are interested in the science of the environment, JCPL also subscribes to many online science resources that will help you make sense of some of the more complex topics. You can use Science Resource Center to search for articles or browse a list of topics, including environmental topics such as “Ecosystems” and “Pollution.”

Accessing these resources is easy. From the JCPL homepage (http://jefferson.lib.co.us), click Research Tools, and then click Subscription Databases A-Z.

You can also access these resources and more through JCPL’s Earth Day page. On the Research Tools page, look for Earth Day as a featured link at the top of the page. This page will be featured throughout the month of April and includes links to a selection of our subscription databases as well as a selection of web resources. Look here for quick links to information about the history of Earth Day, celebrations in your area, and Earth Day activities for kids.

From the Earth Day page, you can also access JCPL’s Environment page, which provides many links to help you select environmentally-friendly products and services. April is a great time to visit this page and start learning about fuel efficiency and renewable energy, environmentally-friendly cleaning products, xeriscaping, sustainable building and much more.