Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Back to school!
Chambers County
Library System – August, 2014
August started off with good news for the library
system. County Librarian Valerie Jensen,
and Assistant County Librarian Annie Vass were rewarded for their grant writing
efforts by receiving a state funded grant for 10 iPads to be used primarily for
the after school tutoring sessions at Anahuac.
The tutoring sessions are part of a partnership with United Way of
Greater Baytown and Chambers County, along with the Chambers County Sheriff’s
Department and Anahuac ISD. Tutorial
sessions began last school year and ended with great results, and we anticipate
more student involvement this year. The
Anahuac branch is always looking for volunteer tutors, so contact them
today!
Each year Commissioners’ Court sponsors the “summer helper”
program. This year, an exceptional group
of student workers were hired at each of the libraries. We hated to see them go, but their time was
well spent providing the library with assistance at programs, and performing a
wide variety of tasks that our regular staff can’t get to during the year. The salaries provided to these young people
help them a great deal as they get ready for college, or just to save money for
things they need. For many of these
young students, this is their first job and we like to think we leave a good impression
on them as they jump into the working world.
Over the last several weeks we’ve had some website problems
due to a server upgrade that left us without an online presence. We seem to be functioning again, thanks to
our local website guru, Kathy Fielding who was able to get us back up and
running.
Several staff members took advantage of the CPR training
provided by the County. It’s very
important that each staff member be properly trained since we deal so heavily
with the public. By the end of
September, all library staff will be updated in their certifications.
On the 28th, the Children’s Librarians met at
Anahuac for their yearly meeting to brainstorm ideas, talk about different storytime
strategies, and see all the resources available to them for the little
ones. Staff members, Michelle Mims,
Yolie Belt, Jennifer Kellum, Missy Parham, and newest staff member Krystine
Gonzales were all in attendance. Krystine
joins the West Chambers Branch at Mont Belvieu as the new Children’s Librarian.
Missy Parham, the current Branch
Librarian/Children’s Librarian has been over the kids program for the past
several years. She’s decided to hang up
that hat and concentrate more on the duties of running a busy branch. Of course, she’ll still be around to visit
with the little ones each week at storytime!
We welcome Krystine to the gang, and know she’ll do a great job!
In programming news, each branch held a “Back to School
Bash” during August. Anahuac had the
local dentist, Dr. Kevin King, Sheriff Hawthorne, and Deputy Dan to visit with
the kids and pose for pictures. Games
and snacks were served. Winnie held
their bash at the community building with giant games as the theme. Oversized classic games such as Chutes and
Ladders, and Perfection were on hand for kids to play. There were also donated back to school items
from local businesses raffled to those in attendance. Mont Belvieu held a Back to Homeschool Bash
for the parents to learn about the resources offered to them and their
children. A Little Chef’s Back to School
Cooking Class also took place at Mont Belvieu for the little ones under
12.
Ongoing meetings for the new Sam and Carmena Goss Memorial
Branch Library took place in August. We
met with shelving contractors, and the county’s Technology department to start
working on some very important details before construction can start.
Until next month!
Patron Bobbie Zigler enjoys one of the many public computers
Deputy Dan and Dr. Kevin King at Anahuac's Back to School Bash
Mike Kubik and his granddaughter enjoy visiting the library!
# posted by Valerie @ Wednesday, September 10, 2014 
