A Fun Foamy Summer Reading Kickoff

            The Calhoun County Library invites everyone to attend the Summer Reading Kickoff in June to participate in an outdoor activity that your children are bound to love.

             Summer Reading is just around the corner. With it starting soon, we figured it was time to release our surprise. The Summer Reading Program Kickoff will take place on Thursday, June 8, 2023, from 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM, but that is not the surprise. This year, our kickoff event is going to feature - SURPRISE!! -  FoamnFun which will bring a foam party to us. It’s like a giant bubble bath outside! The foam solution is safe, biodegradable, and made from a soap ingredient base with vegetable glycerol plus water. It will take up a large area and look like a wintery wonderland made of bubbles! How cool is that? Depending on how active your child is during the playtime, some kids get damp and some kids definitely get as soaking wet as possible, of course. Feel free to bring the kids in swimsuits, and bring towels and goggles! Also, don’t forget your sunscreen! While supplies last, we will also be giving away free Randolph’s Italian Ice to cool everyone off.

            This project is made possible by a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the South Carolina State Library.

Art Winners for the New Library Cards

            The Calhoun County Library held a contest for artwork to be featured as the design of three new library cards and the winners have been chosen.

Art is a way of expressing yourself, and here at the Calhoun County Library, we wanted to give some new expression to our library cards. To accomplish this task, we reached out to local students and relied on their creativity. This contest was for students ages 5 - 16 who reside in Calhoun County and was open to all students in the county including homeschooled children. Three designs that met certain criteria were chosen by a panel of judges. Congratulations to:

Kimberly Alvarez, CCHS

Kaylen Bagwell, CCHS

Ruby Tang, Home Schooled

The three categories for junior library cards are Early Learner (a new category for ages

 0 - 5), Juvenile (ages 5 - 16), and Juvenile Restricted (restricted to borrowing from the juvenile section of the library only).

Winning artists received a $25 gift card and their art teachers received a gift card for future art supplies for their classrooms. These new designs are now circulating throughout the county, so be on the lookout for some colorful library cards.

All of us here at the Calhoun County Library would like to thank everyone for their participation in this competition and offer our congratulations to all three of our winners and their teachers. We can finally get these creative cards in patrons’ hands and make our community a little more colorful! So, come to the library and pick out one of these designs! Even if you already have a library card, you can exchange it for a new one!

I Won BINGO!

            “B4. G57. I29. O74. N34.”

“BINGO! I have BINGO!”

The Calhoun County Library had a great turnout for the BINGO program kickoff last week.

12 people visited the Calhoun County Library on Thursday, May 4, 2023, to engage in some community fun playing BINGO. Of course, it would not be BINGO without prizes! We gave out prizes such as a frothing wand, glass cup, water bottle, and a $25 Visa gift card. In addition, Connie Hart-Jamison from Unique Sensations donated 2 Starbucks gift cards for tiebreakers. Thank you to Unique Sensations!

BINGO will occur on the first Thursday of every month from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM. After a successful kickoff, we look forward to having an even bigger crowd next month, on June 1, 2023, at 5:30 PM! Come play with us at the Calhoun County Library! There will be fun and prizes to be won by you!

Purple Martin Paintings

            The Calhoun County Library staff and teen advisory board members had a wonderful experience painting with everyone at the Purple Martin Festival on Earth Day. We loved meeting new people and watching their artistic skills bloom. There are some talented artists in Calhoun County. Thank you to everyone who visited our tent and a special thank you to Calhoun County High School visual arts teacher and former teacher of the year, John Sawvell, who instructed the painting process and guided our gifted artists.