Wednesday, March 04, 2009
New Author, New Floor
Lots of things happening this month! Author and staff member Lesa Boutin was featured on the 4th at the West Chambers Branch with an “Author Signing” event to recognize her 2nd book, “Amanda Noble, Special Agent”. We’re quite proud of our “author in residence.”
The Winnie Library finally got their Ike-damaged floor repaired on the 14th and 15th; the water covering the floors had destroyed the mastic that holds the tiles down. As a result, we were able to mitigate some of the noise at the front entrance by replacing some of the tile with the special hard-wearing carpet that all three libraries had installed some years ago. The new storage building that was built last summer (and destroyed by Ike) was also replaced this month with a container box similar to the one at Anahuac. We look forward to having it leveled so we can use it. Our pretty library is looking a bit cluttered with all our out-of-season decorations and equipment scattered about.
The Library Advisory Board met on the 10th, and 2 new members were brought on, and given a thorough indoctrination on their new jobs. All board members, HALS representatives, and the two staff members were in attendance, a first for quite a while. The group decided to travel to the other libraries for their next two meetings, so all members could get an idea of what’s available in each place.
Valentine parties were all the rage of course, with the preschool set having theirs in the mornings, and the after-school crowd whooping it up in the afternoon. The Young Adult group had a Valentine movie (The Wedding Singer) and followed that the next week with a rowdy group learning how to make wallets out of duct tape.
We have finally started an English as a Second Language (ESL) class! Several students have been on our waiting list for over a year, and we are juggling our GED and ESL instructor’s time in order to accommodate these eager learners. New students are more than welcome to both classes, anytime. The instructor is paid through federal funds courtesy of AISD and through the Loan Star Grant Direct Aid to Libraries, courtesy of our state legislature.
Assistant County Librarian attended the Houston Area Library System’s “geographic meeting” on the morning of the 27th, followed by a Continuing Education Committee meeting in the afternoon. This committee is responsible for the activities related to staff at all the HALS sites, and they award staff development funds when available for worthy projects. Chambers County Library System has received several of these grants in past years.
The Winnie Library finally got their Ike-damaged floor repaired on the 14th and 15th; the water covering the floors had destroyed the mastic that holds the tiles down. As a result, we were able to mitigate some of the noise at the front entrance by replacing some of the tile with the special hard-wearing carpet that all three libraries had installed some years ago. The new storage building that was built last summer (and destroyed by Ike) was also replaced this month with a container box similar to the one at Anahuac. We look forward to having it leveled so we can use it. Our pretty library is looking a bit cluttered with all our out-of-season decorations and equipment scattered about.
The Library Advisory Board met on the 10th, and 2 new members were brought on, and given a thorough indoctrination on their new jobs. All board members, HALS representatives, and the two staff members were in attendance, a first for quite a while. The group decided to travel to the other libraries for their next two meetings, so all members could get an idea of what’s available in each place.
Valentine parties were all the rage of course, with the preschool set having theirs in the mornings, and the after-school crowd whooping it up in the afternoon. The Young Adult group had a Valentine movie (The Wedding Singer) and followed that the next week with a rowdy group learning how to make wallets out of duct tape.
We have finally started an English as a Second Language (ESL) class! Several students have been on our waiting list for over a year, and we are juggling our GED and ESL instructor’s time in order to accommodate these eager learners. New students are more than welcome to both classes, anytime. The instructor is paid through federal funds courtesy of AISD and through the Loan Star Grant Direct Aid to Libraries, courtesy of our state legislature.
Assistant County Librarian attended the Houston Area Library System’s “geographic meeting” on the morning of the 27th, followed by a Continuing Education Committee meeting in the afternoon. This committee is responsible for the activities related to staff at all the HALS sites, and they award staff development funds when available for worthy projects. Chambers County Library System has received several of these grants in past years.
# posted by Valerie @ Wednesday, March 04, 2009 
