Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

 The Calhoun County Library would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

New Community Mah Jongg Program

            The Calhoun County Library is introducing a new program and would like to invite each of you to come play this trending game with us!

Mah Jongg originated in China and is a tile-based game that combines luck, skill, and strategy. Similar to rummy, it involves acquiring and discarding tiles to create a complete hand. Playing the game has cognitive benefits like improving executive function, enhancing overall cognitive function, and improving memory and focus. After many requests to start a Mah Jongg program here at the library, we’ve decided to get on board and join the trend. So, here it is! We will be holding Community Mah Jongg on the first Tuesday of every month. Guided play, where we teach you how to play the game, will begin at 4 PM. Open play will then be from 5 PM - 6:30 PM.

Make sure to join us for our very first Community Mah Jongg on Tuesday, January 6, 2026! We would love to play this new popular game with you and have some good old-fashioned fun together!

Library Christmas Decorations

Come visit the Calhoun County Library and enjoy all of the Christmas decorations! It's not too late to take last-minute pictures in front of our pretty tree!

Holly Jolly Calhoun County Christmas

            St. Matthews was bustling with Christmas spirit last week as Santa came to the library and elves were hiding at the museum!

            On Thursday, December 4, 2025, at 4 PM, the Calhoun County Library came together with the Calhoun County Museum to have the best Christmas event possible! Starting at 4 PM, Santa came to the library to see all the boys and girls from the county. We’re not sure where he parked his sleigh, but we heard his sleigh bells before he made his grand entrance. Santa came jingling around the corner and greeted everyone; he then began visiting with each and every little one and took pictures with everyone. After they took pictures, kids enjoyed making custom ornaments and other crafts. Then everyone got a special gingerbread cookie and hot chocolate with whipped cream, sprinkles, and peppermint. We went all out!

            After visiting with Santa, it was time to go to the museum for more fun to continue over there! Pesky little elves made their way into the exhibits and we needed help trying to find them all. The museum also took up all of the letters to Santa in case you forgot to give them to Santa when you took pictures. To make sure that every person was able to make it to both locations, we had a reindeer shuttle going every 15 minutes to drop off and pick up.

            Porkchop Productions performed Holly Saves Christmas at 5:30 PM and 7 PM at the Calhoun County Museum. In the play, Santa Claus came down with a cold and couldn’t deliver gifts so Christmas was canceled! Oh no! Little Elf Holly couldn’t let that happen so she did everything in her power to make sure we could still have Christmas! We won’t give too much away, but we wanted to let you know that Porkchop Productions gave us a chance to reflect on the fact that Christmas isn’t just about presents. It is about spending time with people you love and making wishes come true!

            This whole Calhoun County Christmas event was free to attend and we are so glad that we had tons of people have fun with us to celebrate the upcoming holidays. If you took pictures with Santa and are placing them on social media, please tag us! We would love to see them!

New Library Employee Welcoming

            The Calhoun County Library has hired two new employees to join the team and we would like to introduce you to them.

            Madelyn Robinson is our newest full-time Patron Services employee. After retiring as the Assistant Town Administrator with the Town of Summerville and traveling for a couple of years, she and her husband, Ed, are relocating to St. Matthews where he grew up. She became involved with the Calhoun County Library's Book Club and decided to apply for one of the open positions as being a part of the library was another opportunity to serve the public. Plus, where else would a bookworm like to work?! She is currently reading The Midnight Library by Matt Haig; The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown; It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey; and, Mistletoe and Magic by Helene Sula. She also enjoys photography and traveling.

            Madison Jackson is our newest part-time Patron Services employee. She received her Bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science at South Carolina State University. She volunteers at different organizations in Calhoun County. She even volunteered at the library quite a few times in the past. She is currently reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and her favorite book series is Junie B. Jones. Her hobbies include exercising, traveling, and watching crime mysteries. She also works part-time as a Substitute Teacher.

            Come stop by the library and say hello to these two new employees. We are so excited and lucky to have them join the team to make the library the best place it can be so we can serve you!

A Calhoun County Christmas

            SAVE THE DATE!

Be sure to put Thursday, December 4, 2025, on your calendar. The Calhoun County Library has joined the Calhoun County Museum to create an unforgettable event for the holidays.

Cookies with Santa at the library, Porkchop Productions, and the Elf Hunt at the museum are always highly anticipated in the county.  Because of this, the library has partnered with the museum to put on a holiday event for our community: A Calhoun County Christmas!

On Thursday, December 4, 2025, join us at 4 PM - 5:15 PM at the Calhoun County Library to craft, take pictures with Santa, and enjoy hot chocolate and cookies. Then take the Rudolph shuttle over to the Calhoun County Museum to experience the Elf Hunt from 5 PM - 8 PM. While you’re at the museum, don’t miss out on one of Porkchop Productions’ performances at 5:30 pm and 7 PM. Come to the first performance, the second performance, or both!

Don’t worry about getting back and forth from the library to the museum either. Park at the library to enjoy the festivities there first. We will have the Rudolph Shuttle Bus going back and forth every 15 minutes from 4:30 PM - 8 PM. Here’s the night’s agenda:

4 PM - 5:15 PM: Cookies with Santa at the library

5:30 PM: Porkchop Productions’ 1st performance

7 PM: Porkchop Productions’ 2nd performance

5 PM - 8 PM: Elf Hunt at the museum

4:30 PM - 8 PM: Rudolph Shuttle commuting between the library and museum

Ghosts, Games, and Gru

The Calhoun County Library held a spooktacular Halloween event that drew in quite the crowd to celebrate.

On Friday, October 31, 025, from 4 PM - 7 PM, Boo Bash! was happening at the library. Over 600 people visited the library for this event and enjoyed playing games such as Ring ‘Dem Bones, Monster Mash, Bat Bullseye, and others. We also introduced a new game, which was the fan favorite this year, Apple Scoopin’. Everyone who played a game won a prize, so each person walked away with candy, stickers, spider rings, bubbles, and most importantly - a free book! Trick or treaters also received fresh spun cotton candy by Twisted Sugar.

Some of the staff and our director dressed up as characters from Despicable Me while others were a silly clown, a witch, the Greatest Showman, and Darth Maul. We always have fun here at the library, especially at Halloween!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by the library during our Boo Bash! event. We had a great time playing games with you and seeing everyone’s different costumes.

We would also like to thank everyone who joined in on our Pumpkin Book Character Contest!

 Congratulations to all of our Pumpkin Book Character Contest Winners:

1st Place was Mattie Wise with The Christmassy Cactus.

2nd Place was Daniel Swisher with Dogman.

3rd Place was Axton and Rocky Rivera with Narwhal & Jelly.

Most Creative was Hannah Trotter with Louis: the Trumpet of the Swan.

These winners all received an Amazon gift card. All of our entries were so unique and creative and we thank everyone who submitted an entry. If you'd like to keep your pumpkin characters, please come by this week and pick them up; otherwise, they'll be food for the animals!

We can’t forget to announce the winner of the eyeball count at our Boo Bash! This year’s closest guess came from Brittany Yeargin who also won an Amazon gift card. Congratulations to all of our winners!

Local Author Tells Spooky Stories

Spooky times took place at the library in October! The Calhoun County Library had the opportunity to hold two events for local author Tally Johnson to share ghost stories with our community.

Author Tally Johnson from the Lancaster County Library joined us to tell ghost stories and tales of eerie happenings. In his free time, he enjoys history and writing books about local hauntings. He has written several so far and we were lucky enough for him to come speak about his most current: Ghosts of the South Carolina Midlands. This publication tells tales specifically about places such as Orangeburg County and Greenwood County so these scary experiences happened right in our backyard.

On Tuesday, October 7, 2025, from 5 PM - 6:30 PM, Tally Johnson entertained teens at Teen Night. He told them ghost stories that gradually got scarier throughout the night. Even though teens are too cool to get scared, some of our teens were a little shaken by the end of the night mainly because they happened right around here!  We set the scene with a dimly lit room filled with creepy candlelight, glowing pumpkins and skulls, and a bubbling cauldron.

On Thursday, October 30, 2025, from 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM, Mr. Johnson joined us for an event entitled “Spirit Spooks and Local Lores: Tally Johnson Ghost Stories Author Event.” This event was for everyone above the age of 13. Johnson told us a few stories from his book and one in particular stuck out.

The Devil's Footprint is said to have taken place in Fort Motte and involved a young man leaving a hoof-shaped footprint when he departed. Tally Johnson’s book includes many short stories like this that give you a chill because every story is local. Imagine the shivers you would get from reading stories about places you’ve been or heard of before. That’s terrifying!

We would like to thank Tally Johnson for his time and his talent. We loved hearing all the stories!

New Melodic Nature Sculptures

Did you know that the Calhoun County Library has a little garden right across the street by the front door? Did you know that we use this garden multiple times a year to teach about bees and other pollinators, pollination, and the importance of keeping our planet clean from litter? Well, now it has a TONE-tally fun upgrade to it!

The Calhoun County Library has created a new whimsical feel to the Gressette Children’s Garden by adding a musical caterpillar and four musical butterfly sculptures.

Each caterpillar body segment and butterfly wing makes its own individual melodious note as it is hit with the mallet. This means that children can create music all of their own in a combination of notes and rhythms. Play with the small one, two, or all seven segments on the caterpillar, and choose among the four butterflies. Just make it original and have fun with it while being outside at the same time! These five new additions are designed to improve motor skills and allow children of all ages to create beats in a natural environment. They can improve hand-eye coordination, teach young children to count, and even give small ears the chance to learn the difference between sounds.

Come take a look at our garden, play some notes, and learn all about the importance of pollinators and plants. With cooler weather coming, we wanted to give our garden a colorful upgrade while many of our native plants go dormant. We look forward to seeing you in the Gressette Children’s Garden to bring your own sense of fun!

There’s a Lot of Haunting Going On At The Library

            The Calhoun County Library has a very spooky last week of October, full of events and contests for everyone.

Tally Johnson, a local author from the Lancaster County Library, is visiting the library on Thursday, October 30, 2025, for Spirit Spooks and Local Lores. Johnson, author of the book Ghosts of the South Carolina Midlands, will be telling ghost stories from 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM. Join us to hear about ghostly encounters that have happened right here in our very own backyards! Because the stories that Johnson will be telling are chilling and true, they are not suited for children under the age of 13. This event is for ages 13 and up.

On Halloween Night, our annual Halloween Boo Bash will take place here at the library from 5 PM - 7 PM. We will be playing games, winning prizes, giving away free children’s Halloween books and free freshly spun cotton candy by Twisted Sugar, and having fun together. Don’t miss the Boo Bash! We look forward to seeing everyone in their costumes and ready to have a good time with us again this year!

Also, don’t forget about our first-ever pumpkin book character contest! All you have to do is design an uncut pumpkin, real or fake, as your favorite book character using whatever you want. This can include markers, paint, foam, fabric, etc. This contest started on October 1, 2025, but it will continue until October 30, 2025. So, you still have some time! Get your creative juices flowing and then bring your pumpkin into the library to enter the contest. Patrons will be the ones voting on their favorites and the winner will receive an Amazon gift card! It’s not too late!

Make sure to stop by the library this week to enjoy both of these free programs and enter your pumpkin in the pumpkin character contest. All three will be fun and bring the spirit of Halloween alive in our small little town. We look forward to seeing you!

The Calhoun County Library’s October Outreach:

 A Health Fair and Two Fall Festivals

The Calhoun County Library had a very busy week last week with multiple opportunities to engage the community through outreach.

On Thursday, October 9, 2025, we were invited to attend Zeus’s Health Fair. We brought free books, flyers for all of our adult programs, and door prizes for special winners. We also offered promotional items such as pens and keychains. Everyone needs to take care of themselves and that includes taking a break and reading a book.

The next day, Friday, October 10, 2025, we attended the Council on Aging’s Fall Festival. While we were there, we painted ceramic pumpkins using a technique called decoupaging. Using Mod Podge and festive fall napkins, attendees painted their pumpkins and created unique designs that turned out beautifully. Council on Aging participants loved doing this project and we had the most perfect pumpkins in the end!

Saturday, October 11, 2025, brought the Sandy Run Fall Festival. The Bookmobile made its appearance and provided free giveaway books for all children. Community members received information about all of our programs for children and adults, and left the Bookmobile with books to read over the weekend! Everyone who attended had a fantastic time. Including us!

We’ve had a very busy October so far and are looking forward to the rest of the month’s activities. Don’t forget about our upcoming events:

Pumpkin Character Contest, from October 1 - 30, 2025 - Bring your uncut pumpkin decorated as your favorite book character.

Spirit Spooks and Local Lores: Tally Johnson Meet the Author Event, on Thursday, October 30, 2025, at 5:30 PM - Come listen to local ghost story teller (ages 12 and up).

Boo Bash!, on Friday, October 31, 2025, from 5 PM - 7 PM - Come play games, win prizes, get free books, and eat fresh cotton candy.

There’s a tree in the Calhoun County Library!

            The Calhoun County Library has a designated room for children’s programs now and we’d like you to come by and see our changes.

            The Merle Govan Program Room is now only for children’s programs. To make it more child-friendly, we have a new dedicated children's storytime space with vibrant colors and a reading tree. We made it a bit more colorful and fun. A little paint and a little muscle have transformed the Program Room; each wall is a different color to inspire children’s imaginations. One blue, one green, one yellow, and one orange wall are better and brighter to enhance our young community’s bright future. 

            Speaking of decorations, that moves us on to the second big change in the now colorful room: a big ‘ole tree!  We have added a permanent reading tree! This large tree has cubbies all over that give plenty of space for the best books and toys of the week. These easily accessible shelves and bottom cubbies make it easy to grab the free book from the program and they are perfect for Mother Goose to store Buddy, Mrs. Perky Bird, and Puff the Magic Dragon. Vinyl seats encircle the base of the tree to allow for a relaxing reading area underneath the canopy of foam leaves on the top to mimic a real tree.  Aside from it being big, inviting, and useful, this brand new reading tree is simply just awesome!

            Come visit the library and join us for a children’s program to take a look at these new and improved changes.  Together let’s make this place as fun as possible because reading is FUN-damental and the earlier we can get children to agree, the better!

FREE: New Fitness Classes

            The Calhoun County Library is excited to introduce new fitness classes designed to build strength, improve balance, boost cardio, and support overall wellness. Join us each week for Strong & Stable, Half & Half, and Strong & Limber—all led by health instructor Summer Johnson.

And the best part? Every class is completely FREE—all it costs is a visit to the library!

Please read the class descriptions below and decide which one is right for you.

 Strong & Stable  Tuesdays from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM.

●       Dynamic and accessible

●     Builds strength, improves cardiovascular fitness, and increases flexibility

●     Combines resistance training and core and balance work

Half & Half  Thursdays from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM.

●     Perfect blend of movement and mellow

●     Provides 30 minutes of energizing cardio and strength work

●     Slows down with 30 minutes of deep stretching, breath work, and total relaxation

Strong & Limber  Fridays from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM.

●     Designed to support strength, flexibility, mobility, and overall wellness

●     Offers a mindful approach to movement that nourishes both body and mind

Because all of these classes are at no charge to you, it’s easier to attend one class, two classes, or all three if you would like. There are no limitations and no sign up required. In fact, all classes can be experienced seated, standing, or mat-based, depending on how you would like to participate. Equipment is provided, but feel free to bring your own mat if you prefer.

We’re thrilled to have a calendar packed with exciting events—and even happier to offer more of what our community has been asking for: more exercise classes! Now, patrons can enjoy three fitness sessions each week, and the best part is, they’re completely free. So, next time you feel like you need to get your heart beating, blood pumping, or even just a nice little stretch, find a class that suits you and give us a visit!