Santa is Coming to the Library

            The holiday season is among us and the Calhoun County Library is getting ready to hold its annual Christmas celebration event: Cookies with Santa and Porkchop Productions!

In order for everyone to see Santa, we have decided to have this event a little bit earlier this year. Join us on Tuesday, December 17, 2024 for Cookies with Santa at the library from 3:30 PM – 6:30 PM. with Porkchop performing at 5:00. There will be plenty of delicious cookies and warm hot chocolate to go around for all ages.

We will also have two very special guests to make this event perfect. Come take pictures with Santa! He will be here to bounce you on his knee, listen to what you want for Christmas (even though he already knows), and get a smiling picture to share with all your friends and family. The second special guest is a Calhoun County favorite: Porkchop Productions! They will be here to perform a holiday play for everyone at 5 PM so you do not want to be late! You do not need to reserve a spot for this play, but you might want to get here early to have the best seats in the house.

We look forward to seeing everyone at Cookies with Santa. Make sure to dress nice for your pictures, get a great snack, and see a funny performance by a wonderful group of people!

Teen Night Life Lessons

            The Calhoun County Library had the pleasure of engaging teens during the last two Teen Nights with Vincent Sanders and Lee Hollingsworth for lots of fun and learning!

Accidents involving drinking and driving are a leading cause of death in teenagers in the state of South Carolina. In order to teach the teenagers of our county about the dangers of drinking and driving, we invited Vincent Sanders from Tri County Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse to visit our teens during  National Red Ribbon Week. Teen Night, held on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, was an important, educational one about prevention. Vincent brought drunk goggles, which simulate an experience when you are under the influence of any substance. Once the teens placed these goggles on their heads, everything got distorted and their depth perception and movements were impaired. Attempting to walk or perform simple tasks were met with little success. While the teenagers thought it was funny seeing their friends almost run into objects and fall over, they understood how harmful this could be outside of a game. The really exciting party occurred when everyone went out into the parking lot and attempted to drive an adapted go-cart through a series of traffic cones while wearing the goggles. They truly got to experience attempting to maneuver a vehicle through cones while impaired, and they realized the impact that alcohol or drugs can have. This was a life lesson that will hopefully stay  with them. Thanks to Vincent Sanders for impacting our teens.

After learning about the influence of drugs and alcohol, teens joined us on November 5 to learn about taking care of their cars. Lee Hollingsworth from Hutto’s Transmission came to us to teach Calhoun County teens important tips involved with maintaining a car. Do you know how to change a tire, check the oil, and jump the battery? Calhoun County Library teens do! Teens who may just be starting out driving need to know how to do these tasks and even teens who have been driving for a while need a refresher. Lee gave our attendees proper instructions and then they had an opportunity to perform these hands-on experiences to make sure that they were doing it correctly. They learned how to use a lug wrench, how to plug a tire, how to jumpstart a battery, how to change a tire, and how to put air into a tire. Lee also gave the teens a peek into  how to install custom lights and speakers in their cars. Our teens learned a lot about car care and road safety; in fact, maybe some adults could have learned a lot, too!

These last two Teen Night’s held crucial information for our soon to be young adults of our county. With Vincent Sanders and Lee Hollingworth’s help, we were able to give them the information they needed in a fun way. Big shout out to Vincent and Lee for volunteering their time and knowledge to help our teens. We appreciate you!

If you are between the ages of 12 and 17, please join us for the next Teen Night on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, from 5 PM – 6:30 PM. This event is free to attend and on the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesdays of the month. We love having fun with the Calhoun County teenagers as we give them a break from school and a chance to not only have fun with friends but also learn important lessons in life with us!

Boo Bash! BLOWOUT!

            Complete with our giant spider web and black widow out front, the Calhoun County Library held its annual Boo Bash last week and it was a great time for everyone!

            On Thursday, October 31, 2024, from 5 PM - 7 PM, we held our Halloween event. We had games galore, including the fan-favorite Monster Mash where kids ranged from confused, scared, or even disgusted when they reached behind a curtain to touch items like witches’ fingers, vampire’s hearts, monster’s eyeballs, or mummy’s skin. Don’t worry, nothing was too bad for our brave little trick-or-treaters and all of it came out of our kitchen! What makes it so scary is the fact that kids were sticking their hands into an unknown substance without seeing it and the library might just have had a friendly ghost who wanted to grab their hands!

            After visiting the Monster Mash, everyone had a great time playing games, winning prizes, getting candy, and snacking on fresh spun cotton candy from Twisted Sugar. Almost 800 people- yes, 800- visited the library in those two hours and we loved seeing every one of them. There were so many cute and interesting costumes. Some of our favorites might have been sharks, movie characters, animals, and puns! Everyone knows that the library loves some good puns. Even our library staff dressed up as some. We literally had staff members dressed as cinnamon sugar, pumpkin pie, and ginger - the Spice Girls. We had an old bat, which is what Batgirl turns into as she ages, too!

            We had the best time seeing all the costumes, playing games, and eating cotton candy with trick-or-treaters of all ages. We really do live in a special place, Calhoun County, and we love serving our community. Next Up: Cookies with Santa and Porkchop Productions on December 17, 2024. So, be on the lookout for that information coming soon!

Calling All Readers! Special Friends of the Calhoun County Library Book Sale

            Our shelves are crowded and we have to make room at the Calhoun County Library; therefore, we have a great offer on lots of books for you!

            Listen up all of you readers out there! This is going to make your day. We have begun making room on our shelves and the extra books are going to be sold to you! The Friends of the Calhoun County Library have so many books that they want to see on your shelves. There are dozens, if not hundreds, to choose from! We have audiobooks, large print books, DVDs, and more in almost every genre. We have what you’re looking for!

            Here’s the DEAL! Come fill up a tote bag of any materials you like and pay a set price of $15. That’s a steal! The Friends have a Book Sale every Tuesday from 2 PM - 5 PM. See what magical finds you can score!

                        Hardback books $2 (3 for $5)

                        Paperback books $1 (7 for $5)

                        AudioVisual Materials $2 (3 for $5) *BluRay $4 (3 for $10)

                        Board Books for Babies $ .50 (5 for $2)

                        Jigsaw Puzzles $5

Celebrating New Babies

            The Calhoun County Library held its annual Community Baby Shower last week and it was a huge success for welcoming new babies in our county.

            They say raising a child takes a village; therefore, we wanted to support as many new parents as we could by showing that the library is a part of that village. On Tuesday, October 15, 2024, we had fifteen new parents along with their guests attend our Community Baby Shower. We have many community resources here in Calhoun County for parents and there are numerous professional healthcare offices that you might not know are available. We had representatives from the area give away free goodies and information. Representatives from Early Learning Academy, First Steps, OCAB, Family Health Centers, Inc., and MUSC are here to make your life easier with a new baby.

            Of course, we couldn’t have an event for new parents without refreshments and door prizes. There were so many prizes that every parent walked away with items for their new addition. These prizes included diaper genies, toys, white noise machines, and more. We even had Pack n’ Plays, bassinets, bouncy seats, and walkers that were brand new to give away!  Very special door prizes we offered  were handmade blankets from our very own Mother Goose, Mary Jo Springs! As a thank you for attending our event, every parent received a goodie bag with diapers, wipes, bibs, blankets, and multiple board books to start their very own library for their little one.

            The only requirement that we had to attend this event was be a Calhoun County resident and either be expecting, adopting, or having had a baby within 12 months. That’s all!

            We would like to thank so many people for making this event possible. We would first like to thank all of the parents who came to celebrate their child with us. We hope that we made them feel welcome and helped them get ready for their bundle of joy. We would like to thank all of our volunteers who helped to make sure this event ran smoothly, and we would like to especially thank all of the donors who donated funding or items for our door prizes. We would also like to express our gratitude towards all of our speakers and sponsors: Calhoun County, Calhoun County Public Schools, Family Health Centers, Inc., MUSC Health, Help Me Grow South Carolina, Tri-County Commission on Alcohol & Drug Abuse, Head Start, Calhoun County First Steps, OCAB, Friends of the Calhoun County Library, DHEC, and Natural Teacher.

            We had a blast celebrating all of our new parents! This event is so important to our community and we love that we can help ease the stress of welcoming a new life. If you attended and took pictures, feel free to share them with us. Good luck to all the new parents of Calhoun County. We look forward to seeing you return to the library reading to your child and enjoying our children’s programs!

Boo Bash! Extravaganza!

The Calhoun County Library is getting ready to have a scary good time on Halloween night!

If you are out and about trick-or-treating in the town of St. Matthews, stop by the library for some indoor fun! If you need a break from walking around getting candy, come play some games and get books, prizes, and even more candy! We will be having Boo Bash! on Thursday, October 31, 2024, from 5 PM - 7 PM. We will be playing games, which includes Toss Dem Bones, Pin the Spider on the Web, Eyeball Toss, and many more. We will even be bringing back one of the favorites, which is Bat Bullseye! Come take your chances and see if you can shoot hanging bats with a Nerf gun! In addition to winning prizes, we will be giving out candy and something even more exciting: freshly spun cotton candy from Twisted Sugar!

Last year, we had almost 700 trick-or-treaters visit us throughout the night. Let’s see if we can top it this year!

Bookmobile’s Outreach

            The Calhoun County Library has a very active Bookmobile schedule that allows everyone in the community to have access to our portable library!

            Are you an avid reader or movie watcher? Do you want to get free materials without having to leave your home? If you answered yes to both of those questions, we want to help you! We offer home deliveries on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. This is when we come to your house and drop off the materials you requested. You don’t even have to leave your house for the library to come to you.

            In addition to home deliveries, we take our very fancy, full Bookmobile out to many places. We visit The Gressette Center, Counsel of Aging, Press Academy, Beulah United Methodist Church Afterschool Care, and more! During these visits, we do many activities such as making ice cream in a bag, playing BINGO, reading stories, and having fun. We also invite everyone to take a look around the Bookmobile and see if any books, movies, or Playaways spark your interest. You can check out everything right then and there. If you don’t have a library card, there’s no need to worry. We can sign you up for one!

            The Calhoun County Library wants everyone to be able to have access to library materials. So, if you can’t come to us, we will come to you!

Reading Has Never Been So Easy!

            Reading has never been so easy at the Calhoun County Library.

We have a variety of audiobooks ready to be checked out. We have standard CD audiobooks, Playaways that are audiobooks on the go, and even brand new read-along books designed for children called Wonderbooks. Wonderbooks by Playaway are books that have a ready-to-play mechanic that allows kids to hear the words as they follow along with the book. With each player, you can adjust the volume, start and pause, switch the reading modes, and so much more! Wonderbooks make it easy for a child to learn to read with all the great stories and fun sounds. 

Come check out a Wonderbook today and see what all the hype is about!

Viola Davis Book Club

            “I ain’t never found no place for me to fit. Seem like all I do is start over. It ain’t nothing to find no starting place in the world. You just start from where you find yourself.”

            -August Wilson

            The Calhoun County Library met last week for their monthly Book Club meeting and the book of choice this time was Viola Davis’s memoir Finding Me.

            On Thursday, September 19, 2024, from 1 PM - 2 PM, a group of avid readers met at the library for Book Club. We discussed a variety of books and this month we chose to read and discuss Viola Davis’s memoir that was released in 2022. Viola Davis is a very well-known and successful actress whose memoir has won many awards, including Oprah’s Book Club and even a Grammy for the audiobook, which she recorded herself! This book gave her a status that is called EGOT, which means that she has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony throughout her career.

            “He who has a ‘why’ to live for can bear with almost any ‘how.’”

            –Friedrich Nietzche

            For those who don’t know, Viola Davis was actually born right here in St. Matthews, South Carolina to a horse groomer and a maid; however, she was not raised here. Viola’s childhood was not a pleasant one. Throughout the book, she talks of struggles, horrors, and being afraid. She was often bullied by multiple groups of people and her family and home life were no better. Viola’s father was abusive to her mother, and she had a brother who abused her own sisters. Her sisters and the sisterhood they shared were her light in the dark and because of them, she persisted.

            “May you live long enough to know why you were born.”

            –Cherokee Birth Blessing

            We don’t want to give too much away, but her story was emotional, heartbreaking, and inspiring. One of our Book Club members even said that some days she thought that this was just a crazy story for entertainment, but then she remembered it was real - that this was Viola Davis’s real life. Another member said that she was once told that for every nonfiction, crazy story you read, you should read a biography to understand that every story has some truth within it.

            Books like these are the reasons that we love our Book Club and our members. We have great conversations and great company. We meet once every month on the third Thursday for an hour from 1 PM - 2 PM. Our book next month is Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille. Come pick up a copy of the book and join us on Thursday, October 17, 2024, at 1 PM!

Game On, Gamers!

            The Calhoun County Library recognizes how video games are a growing sensation and create a world of fun for the player. So, we have jumped on the bandwagon and upped our gaming! We now have a Nintendo Switch for teens to play when they visit, Nintendo Switch games to check out, and a brand new gaming program for younger kids.

            One of the biggest video game systems out right now is the Nintendo Switch. We have heard how much fun these can be and how people love them. We had to figure this out for ourselves and bought a Nintendo Switch as we are redesigning our teen area at the library. Complete with a big flat screen TV and gaming chairs, we have a few games to play on the Nintendo Switch along with four controllers and four headsets. That means we can have four players at once! If you would like to come race your friends in Mario Kart or win mini games in Mario Party, come visit our Teen Zone and get to playing!

            If visiting the library and playing on the Nintendo Switch for hours isn’t your speed, we have something that might work better. We now have a handful of Nintendo Switch games for you to come check out and take home to play on your own time! With titles like Lego, Minecraft, Mario, and more, we have something for everyone. Each game can be checked out for one week so that is one full week of playing your favorite video games for FREE!

            Another way that we have included gaming into the library is by starting a new program. Gaming Group is for grades 2 – 6 and features a game called Picoo, an interactive, screen-free game that allows up to 12 players to play together. You might be wondering how someone can play a video game without a screen? Well, you simply take the controller, find the game card you wish to play, scan the card with the bottom of the controller, and start. It’s that simple! Games include Zombie Run and Red Light Green Light. If you are between those grades or know someone who is, feel free to join us! We meet on the 2nd Thursday of the month from 4 PM – 5 PM.

            We know that games are entertaining, just like a good book, and we want to make sure that our community has everything we can offer to make sure they are staying happy. We hope to see more people in the library playing games, checking out games, and playing at our Gaming Group program soon!

Congrats on Your Babies

            The Calhoun County Library is getting ready to host its annual Community Baby Shower in September for new parents.

Are you a new parent? Are you expecting, adopting, or did you have your baby within the last year? Are you a Calhoun County resident? If you answered yes to all three of those questions, we would love for you to come to this year's Community Baby Shower! This event will take place on Thursday, September 26, 2024, at 5:30 PM at the Calhoun County Library.

We have many community resources here in Calhoun County for parents and there are numerous professional healthcare offices that you might not know are here. We will have representatives from the area to give you free goodies and information. Places such as Early Learning Academy, OCAB, Family Health Centers, Inc., and others are here to make your life easier with a new baby. Of course, we will also be serving light refreshments and giving away door prizes. As a thank you for attending our event, every parent will receive a goodie bag with diapers, wipes, bibs, blankets, multiple board books to start your very own library for your little one, and more!

We are also asking that if you or anyone you know has any gently used baby items, we are collecting these to give away as some door prizes during the shower. All donated items must be in good condition and we are not able to accept any clothing at this time. If you have any items that you would like to donate for this event, please call us at 803-874-3389 and bring these items to the library at least two days prior to the event.

You must register to attend the Community Baby Shower. If you are interested in coming, please give us a call at 803-874-3389 to reserve a spot. We look forward to celebrating all of our new parents and seeing all the new babies we will be adding to Calhoun County!

Join our Gaming Group at the Library!

            Do you like to play games? We’ve got a new one at the Calhoun County Library and it is called Picoo. To go along with the new game, we are starting a new program!

            We’re starting an after-school program on the 2nd Thursday of the month called Gaming Group. It is for kids in 2nd - 6th grades. Our first day meeting will be on Thursday, September 12, 2024 and will be from 4 PM - 5 PM. We will be playing Picoo for the very first time.

            Picoo is an interactive gaming system known as “the first game console for outdoor play.” It promotes physical activity and social interaction among children. Each player will have their own controller with lights, sounds, and vibrations to make the games exciting. There are traditional games with a modern twist such as tag and new games like Dodge the Zombies and Spyhunt. These interactive games are especially designed for elementary aged children and gets them moving and playing without a screen!

            If you or your child is in Grades 2nd - 6th, come play with us! We look forward to playing interactive, educational games together for an hour each month!

Teen Night is Back

            CALLING ALL TEENS!

The Calhoun County Library is excited to announce that the return of Teen Night is coming up soon and we would like to invite our teens ages 12 - 17 to come!

Teen Night is a biweekly program that is only available for teenagers. Parents may drop off teens or may wait in the library and read the newspaper or a good book while you wait.  On the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesdays of every month, between the months of September through May, we welcome teens ages 12-17 for Teen Night from 5 PM - 6:30 PM. We have decided to kick off Teen Night  on Tuesday, September 3, 2024, at 5 PM. We’ll be playing ice breaker games and minute-to-win-it games which teens love to play!  Of course, we can’t have our first Teen Night  without pizza so come and fill up on pizza and fun!

Teen Night is a free program and there is no need to sign up. Just visit the library and expect to have a great time with teenagers your age. We promise that we won’t bore you and learning is optional. Having fun is required!