Funny Bunny Festival Featuring Grow with Me

The Calhoun County Library held the second annual Funny Bunny Festival last Saturday that featured a new concept: Grow with Me.

On Saturday, March 25, 2023, the Calhoun County Library had a day full of fun for all ages with over 250 people! From 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM. the library was hopping! At 11:30 AM, there was an Easter egg hunt for children up to the age of 10. Children scrambled around looking for eggs in the courtyard between the annex and the courthouse. All plastic eggs were placed in the Egg Drop Box after children emptied out all the candy from inside them. The Easter Bunny even took time out of his busy schedule to take pictures with everyone as he hopped about and greeted everyone.

In addition to that, we added an element for kids’ nutrition and fitness. To promote healthy living in our community, we introduced Grow with Me. Everyone got a lesson from master gardeners from local garden clubs on how to plant a take-home vegetable. Each child got free books and gardening goodies to continue taking care of their vegetable plant at home. Children of all ages danced and exercised with Celeste Smith from Move with Celeste. When they were tuckered out from dancing, they enjoyed a nutritious snack prepared by Whittaker Williams, CCPS Director of Nutrition.

Children enjoyed a hands-on STEM project with Janice Baskin and practiced their skills with planting lima beans in a zip-loc bag to take home for sprouting. Farm Bureau distributed information and goodies, too.

Thank you to everyone who came out to have a great time celebrating Easter and learning healthy living with a new plant to nurture! The Calhoun County Library loves building your home library and now your garden!

Don’t forget to join us on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month for Music & Movement at 11 AM. It is a free program where your children get to dance and each program ends with a free book and free diapers and wipes!

Promoting Early Literacy

            Representatives from the Department of Education visited the Calhoun County Library last week to promote the importance of early literacy to parents.

            Learning Engagement Coaches Samantha Reynolds and Sharonda Johnson came to the library on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 to hand out free books to parents and children. They came at the perfect time, too: when Mother Goose on the Loose was starting! Parents and children arrived for Mother Goose and got a surprise when the coaches gave them free books to take home. Each child got a free book after enjoying an amazing free program. We just love expanding your personal home libraries!

            Join us for Mother Goose on the Loose every Wednesday at 10:30 AM. Dance, sing, listen to a good book, and play with bubbles with Mary Jo. You never know what surprises we may have up our sleeves!

20 things You Need to Know Before Leaving High School at the Calhoun County Library

 Part Five: Emergency Protocols

            When an emergency arises, we all need to be prepared. That’s why the Calhoun County Library welcomed county service members last Tuesday for Teen Night to show them important procedures to follow in case of an emergency.

            On Tuesday, March 7, 2023, our Teen Night program focused on what to do during an emergency as part of the 20 Things You Need to Know Before Leaving High School series.

            EMS Kelsey Willis came to Teen Night with his friends (CPR dummies) to briefly talk about the importance of knowing how to do CPR. Even if you only know the basics, it could save someone’s life. Teens were informed about how to assess the situation, how to call for help, how to decide if a person needs CPR, how to check for a pulse, how to prepare the person to receive CPR, and the proper way to fold their hands in order to perform CPR. Willis told them to push down on the chest 2-2.5” and to allow the chest to recoil before the next chest pump. They were taught to give 100-120 chest pumps per minute. Willis showed the teens the correct way to perform CPR on the dummy and then it was their turn to give it a try. Every teen was allowed to practice administering CPR on a dummy. They quickly realized that it was much more difficult than they expected. Keeping your arms straight while trying to keep the rhythm of the song “Staying Alive” in your head was no easy task. The teens even practiced trading off with a partner while not missing a beat of the chest pumps. Willis informed the teens that if they stop chest compressions even for a second, the person will not have as good a chance of surviving. After they practiced CPR, the teens then got a lesson on how to do the Heimlich maneuver if they are ever in the area of someone who is choking.  Willis showed them where to place their fists and how to push in and up  to dislodge any obstruction. In addition, he briefly touched on how to use a tourniquet and how to stop bleeding in severe situations. 

            After instructions on CPR, the Heimlich maneuver, and using a tourniquet, the teens were introduced to the Chief of the St. Matthews Fire department, Greg Sandlin and firefighter Corey Sandifer. They taught the teenagers how to properly use a fire extinguisher. After receiving instructions, the teens were taken outside to give it a try.  Some tips that they were given were to only aim towards the base of a fire to put it out and that there are different fire extinguishers for different types of fires. And, of course, if you are on fire, stop, drop, and roll.

            Our teenagers had a lot of fun learning what to do in case of an emergency and had even more fun being hands-on with test dummies and fire extinguishers! This was a very educational evening. Our teens love coming to 20 Things You Need to Know Before Leaving High School at the Calhoun County Library. If you have a teenager between the ages of 12 – 17, join us for Teen Nights every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month from 5 PM – 6:30 PM.

            Thank you to everyone who attended and Kelsey Willis, Corey Sandifer, and Chief Greg Sandlin for coming to educate the teens of our community.

Love Our Schools

            The Calhoun County Library received a lovely surprise from one of the local schools in support of Random Acts of Kindness Week.

            Random Acts of Kindness Week is from February 13 through February 19. In the last week of February, Mrs. Susan Morris from St. Matthews K-8 came to the library and dropped off items that the students had made specifically for us as a sign of their appreciation.

            There is a big card that is signed by each K-5 student and they all designed cutout red hearts for us. This was such a surprise for our staff who visit these children each month for storytime. Calhoun County Library staff members visit local schools in the county each month for storytime. Every time we go to read to them, we also bring them a take-home craft that goes along with the book. It makes our hearts warm when we see their faces light up at the sight of the Calhoun County Library staff. Students recognize us outside of school and they always say hello or give us a big hug. We believe it is important to set a good example for children and by reading to them every month, they know that the library can be fun. The impact they are having on us is just as important as the impact we are having on them. We truly appreciate their random act of kindness and we look forward to many more storytimes!

            Stop by for a visit and come see the card and the hearts that we have on display at the Youth Services Office in the Children’s Area.