Thursday, May 08, 2014
April report
Chambers County
Library System – April, 2014
April started off with good tidings towards the library with
the award of a grant from Entergy.
Assistant County Librarian, Annie Vass wrote a grant to purchase EMT
training DVDs to add to the library’s existing collection of Fire Training,
Vehicle Extrication, and Hazmat training DVDs.
These materials are available for area Emergency Responder groups for
checkout from your local library. We
appreciate the support from Entergy, and Annie’s hard work in putting the grant
together.
Annie also had the opportunity to attend the annual State
Library conference this year in San Antonio.
As a first time attendee, Annie spent the week attending programs
related to public libraries, saw the latest and greatest books/technology/furniture/services
in the exhibit hall, and enjoyed getting information she could bring back to
the staff. It’s always great to send staff to these
conferences to inspire the rest of the gang with new ideas.
April 1 may be April Fool’s Day, but in Chambers County
Library System’s terms, it’s the day for the local version of the International
Edible Book Festival! In our 8th
year, this Friends’ sponsored program allows people to enter edible items that
had some connection to books, and which were, in the end, edible. This year we had entries from Harry Potter,
Magic Eye, and several kids’ books. We
have such fun with these events, and the public enjoys it too. In conjunction with the edibles, the staff at
Anahuac held a 3 day book sale the rest of the week. Book sales are always well attended and a
local attraction at all the branches when we have them. Proceeds go towards library programs and
events for the community.
The Friends of the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge donated
3 copies of their highly anticipated book, A
Year in the life of our refuge. The
books will be placed at each branch with a plaque acknowledging the
donation. We appreciate the continued
support from the refuge.
Ongoing after-school tutorials at Anahuac continue to
thrive. Kids were treated with some
special tutors in April. Ariele
Brownfield and Caitlin Armstrong with ONEOK in Mont Belvieu were excited to
show their support of the program by offering some math help to the kids. The students had a great time learning from
the ladies, and left with smiles on their faces eager to know when they would
be back. It’s wonderful to have such
widespread support for this program.
On the 23rd, we welcomed a new addition at
Winnie. Jennifer Kellum started as a
Library Technician to assist with front desk work and coverage as Winnie
continues to grow both in circulation and program attendance. She’s jumped in and become a quick learner
and we welcome her to the staff.
In program news, along with the usual movie nights, computer
classes, craft programs, genealogy classes, homeschool programs, toddler times,
and teen programs we began April with Easter parties for the young set, and
there were various activities in the three branches, from egg hunts to visits
from the Easter Bunny.
Winnie’s “tween”
programs have also become quite the hit targeting that 7-11 age group! And finally, resident cheese maker and County
Librarian, Valerie Jensen took her show on the road to the Groves Public
Library. They had a great turnout with
close to 30 people in attendance.
Sharing program ideas and resources with area libraries is always a
great thing – we get some of our best ideas from each other.
Lastly, we’re gearing up for our annual Summer Reading
Program. We have some great programs and
activities lined up this summer for all age groups. Be on the lookout at your local branch for
some weird and wacky decorations! It’s
going to be a great summer! Check our
website soon for more details on the summer program. It all starts June 9th.
Until next month!
FOAR President, Matthew Jackson presents Assistant County Librarian, Annie Vass with their highly anticipated book on the life of the Refuge
OneOK engineers volunteering for after-school tutorials at Anahuac
Firefighter and EMS worker, John Willey holds DVDs received by the library through grant funds from Entergy