Friday, July 21, 2006
Summer Reading Program Results & Thanks!
The Chambers County Library System congratulates the 715 children who enrolled in the 2006 Texas Reading Club. This year, 8,523 books were read by the children at the Anahuac, Winnie, and Mont Belvieu libraries. Participants of the program, designed for children from pre-school through 5th grades, attended events with a sports theme, tying in with the Texas State Library theme this year of “Reading, the Sport of Champions.” Children who reached the goal by reading 12 books in the 6 week program period were awarded certificates of completion, and parties were held at each branch to celebrate their achievements. Sponsors of the parties included the Barbers Hill Bank and Sam Karim of Valero in Mont Belvieu, Security State Bank and Sunrise Grocery in Anahuac, and the Winnie-Stowell Noon Optimist Club, Family Dollar, Finch & Company, and Creative Selections in Winnie. Reading incentives during the summer were provided by Dairy Queen, and Sonic Drive-In of Winnie, Texas Brine Company of Mont Belvieu, McDonald’s of Mont Belvieu and Hankamer, Station KWBB of Beaumont, and the Friends of the Chambers County Library System.
Adults and teens participated in their own reading clubs: for every 4 books read, a library patron submitted a ticket for a drawing. This year’s prizes included dinner gift cards, movie ticket cards, a book bag or cd case, and tickets to area attractions. The Friends of the Chambers County Library System underwrote the prizes in conjunction with Station
KWBB in Beaumont. Winners of the “Dinner and a Movie” raffles are: Wilma Quin and Maritza Hernandez at the Chambers County Library, Anahuac; William Skinner and Bonnie Marberry at the Juanita Hargraves Memorial Branch, Winnie; and Denesse Malone and Juanita Beauxis at the West Chambers Branch, Mont Belvieu.
Books placed in the collections of the Chambers County Library System to honor those who supported the 2006 Texas Reading Club:
At the West Chambers Branch, Mont Belvieu: To honor the Barbers Hill Banking Center: Lasso Lou and Cowboy McCoy. To honor George Espanlaub, McDonald’s of Mont Belvieu: Texas Zeke & the Longhorn. To honor Texas Brine Company: The Land of Hungry Armadillos. To honor Sam Karim, Valero of Mont Belvieu: Petting Zoo. To honor Marcus French for his musical program: Walk the Dog. To honor Dairy Queen of Mont Belvieu: Pete and Polo’s Big School Adventure. To honor Waffle House of Mont Belvieu: Nicky and the Fantastic Birthday Gift.
At the Juanita Hargraves Memorial Branch, Winnie: To honor Dairy Queen of Winnie: Dog Wash Day. To honor Sonic Drive-In of Winnie: Josefina Javelina. To honor Joe Dore, Family Dollar Store of Winnie: Eaglet’s World. To honor Tina Drake of Creative Selections: Happy 4th of July, Jenny Sweeney! To honor Myrna Finch of Finch & Company: Cowgirl Rosie and Her Five Baby Bison. To honor the Winnie-Stowell Noon Optimist Club: Trick or Treat Countdown. To honor the Friends of the Chambers County Library System: Fat Chance Thanksgiving. To honor program presenters A. Lynette Parsons and Jacquelin Lopez-Brookshire: Ten Little Bears, and, Hugs & Kisses.
At the Chambers County Library, Anahuac: To honor Donna Ramirez, Blimpies: Let’s Hang and Dangle. To honor George Espenlaub, McDonald’s of Hankamer: Halloween Hoots and Howls. To honor Security State Bank: Sneakers, the Seaside Cat. To honor Sunrise Grocery: Littlebat’s Halloween Story. To honor Shontele Fontenot of the City of Baytown’s Parks Department for her program on hip-hop: The Foot-stomping Adventures of Clementine Sweet. To honor Marcus French for his musical program: We, the Kids. To honor A. Lynette Parsons for her programs on Tai Chi and Chinese Jump Rope: Let’s Leap and Jump.
Adults and teens participated in their own reading clubs: for every 4 books read, a library patron submitted a ticket for a drawing. This year’s prizes included dinner gift cards, movie ticket cards, a book bag or cd case, and tickets to area attractions. The Friends of the Chambers County Library System underwrote the prizes in conjunction with Station
KWBB in Beaumont. Winners of the “Dinner and a Movie” raffles are: Wilma Quin and Maritza Hernandez at the Chambers County Library, Anahuac; William Skinner and Bonnie Marberry at the Juanita Hargraves Memorial Branch, Winnie; and Denesse Malone and Juanita Beauxis at the West Chambers Branch, Mont Belvieu.
Books placed in the collections of the Chambers County Library System to honor those who supported the 2006 Texas Reading Club:
At the West Chambers Branch, Mont Belvieu: To honor the Barbers Hill Banking Center: Lasso Lou and Cowboy McCoy. To honor George Espanlaub, McDonald’s of Mont Belvieu: Texas Zeke & the Longhorn. To honor Texas Brine Company: The Land of Hungry Armadillos. To honor Sam Karim, Valero of Mont Belvieu: Petting Zoo. To honor Marcus French for his musical program: Walk the Dog. To honor Dairy Queen of Mont Belvieu: Pete and Polo’s Big School Adventure. To honor Waffle House of Mont Belvieu: Nicky and the Fantastic Birthday Gift.
At the Juanita Hargraves Memorial Branch, Winnie: To honor Dairy Queen of Winnie: Dog Wash Day. To honor Sonic Drive-In of Winnie: Josefina Javelina. To honor Joe Dore, Family Dollar Store of Winnie: Eaglet’s World. To honor Tina Drake of Creative Selections: Happy 4th of July, Jenny Sweeney! To honor Myrna Finch of Finch & Company: Cowgirl Rosie and Her Five Baby Bison. To honor the Winnie-Stowell Noon Optimist Club: Trick or Treat Countdown. To honor the Friends of the Chambers County Library System: Fat Chance Thanksgiving. To honor program presenters A. Lynette Parsons and Jacquelin Lopez-Brookshire: Ten Little Bears, and, Hugs & Kisses.
At the Chambers County Library, Anahuac: To honor Donna Ramirez, Blimpies: Let’s Hang and Dangle. To honor George Espenlaub, McDonald’s of Hankamer: Halloween Hoots and Howls. To honor Security State Bank: Sneakers, the Seaside Cat. To honor Sunrise Grocery: Littlebat’s Halloween Story. To honor Shontele Fontenot of the City of Baytown’s Parks Department for her program on hip-hop: The Foot-stomping Adventures of Clementine Sweet. To honor Marcus French for his musical program: We, the Kids. To honor A. Lynette Parsons for her programs on Tai Chi and Chinese Jump Rope: Let’s Leap and Jump.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Summer Reading exploded at CCLS this year, with a wonderful surge of interest by the youngsters, who have enrolled this year in a big way. Our programs have been very well attended, and all the libraries are featuring events nearly every week. Interest in the adult and young adult reading raffles has also grown, from the looks of the stubs in the raffle cans. Programs have featured baseball, Chinese jump rope, Tai Chi moves, and other events to focus on this year’s theme: Reading, the Sport of Champions. The program continues through July 15, with more programs and movies to be presented, as well as our famous “End of Summer Reading” parties, where the children receive their certificates for a job well done.
Our database is in the process of a huge growth spurt at this writing; over 28,000 title records for “e-books” have been loaded into the system, and we are editing them for easy understanding and access by the patrons and the staff. This will increase our database size by 20%, and provide another method for patrons to get the materials they need. The actual e-books are housed in the Texas State Library TexShare database site, which is reached through our webpage with a password provided at our libraries. Patrons can “check out” a title for reading, and can copy and paste parts they need, if they are doing a term paper, for example. The books include titles like the classics, and everything else from engineering materials to dog raising.
The library’s webpage continues to alter in content and look, with several staff members adding tweaks and features. The “Librarian’s Blog” and the “Teen Blog” are both receiving comments from readers. We are currently attempting to add the Wallisville Age Index, which was created by Assistant County Librarian Valerie Jensen as part of her grad school project, for access by the public. It is housed in the “Special Collections” part of the webpage, but we haven’t got it working yet. That takes a little assist from the IT Department.
We continue to receive help from the county to enhance our facilities each month. Our storm-damaged marquee sign at Winnie was anchored firmly back on its base by the Building Maintenance folks, who also worked with the county fathers to get a new roof on the building. The IT Department transferred a few of the unused wireless network computers from the Pine Island site to the library system, where they will get a real workout at last. And of course, the wonderful Parks Department fellows have been hard at it making our block look good in spite of thunder, lightning, and rain. The lawns are lovely and green.
The Houston Area Library System has once again awarded us with a Technical Improvement Grant, and we will be receiving a new computer in the fall as a result. Funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation were received for the most recent upgrade to their ongoing efforts to provide computer access to those who can’t get it elsewhere. Those machines will be purchased before December. And the Texas Loan Star fund grant provided a new computer with a Spanish operating system this month for Anahuac, to be added to the wireless network.
Our database is in the process of a huge growth spurt at this writing; over 28,000 title records for “e-books” have been loaded into the system, and we are editing them for easy understanding and access by the patrons and the staff. This will increase our database size by 20%, and provide another method for patrons to get the materials they need. The actual e-books are housed in the Texas State Library TexShare database site, which is reached through our webpage with a password provided at our libraries. Patrons can “check out” a title for reading, and can copy and paste parts they need, if they are doing a term paper, for example. The books include titles like the classics, and everything else from engineering materials to dog raising.
The library’s webpage continues to alter in content and look, with several staff members adding tweaks and features. The “Librarian’s Blog” and the “Teen Blog” are both receiving comments from readers. We are currently attempting to add the Wallisville Age Index, which was created by Assistant County Librarian Valerie Jensen as part of her grad school project, for access by the public. It is housed in the “Special Collections” part of the webpage, but we haven’t got it working yet. That takes a little assist from the IT Department.
We continue to receive help from the county to enhance our facilities each month. Our storm-damaged marquee sign at Winnie was anchored firmly back on its base by the Building Maintenance folks, who also worked with the county fathers to get a new roof on the building. The IT Department transferred a few of the unused wireless network computers from the Pine Island site to the library system, where they will get a real workout at last. And of course, the wonderful Parks Department fellows have been hard at it making our block look good in spite of thunder, lightning, and rain. The lawns are lovely and green.
The Houston Area Library System has once again awarded us with a Technical Improvement Grant, and we will be receiving a new computer in the fall as a result. Funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation were received for the most recent upgrade to their ongoing efforts to provide computer access to those who can’t get it elsewhere. Those machines will be purchased before December. And the Texas Loan Star fund grant provided a new computer with a Spanish operating system this month for Anahuac, to be added to the wireless network.
