A Busy Baby

            The Calhoun County Library held a very successful Community Baby Shower on the last Sunday in September to celebrate all of the new parents in our county.

We had a fantastic turnout for our Community Baby Shower on Sunday, September 24, 2023. We had 70 people total, which included 30 mothers! That’s incredible. Babies are such a joy and we want a happy community with healthy babies. The Calhoun County Library and supporting partners throughout our county want to make sure every child is welcomed home with all the necessities. Therefore, we gifted each family with diapers, wipes, a bib, a pacifier and clip, a onesie, a welcome baby box, and five brand-new board books to start the baby’s home library. Parents also received a handmade baby blanket, thanks to the hel;pful hands of the Friends of the library and staff members.

Not only do we want to provide some necessary items, but we also want to connect our parents with the many resources we have in our community. Our partners, DHEC, First Steps, Family Health Center, MUSC Orangeburg, Natural Teacher, and OCAB Head Start, are valuable assets to these families, and this shower is the first time many of these parents are learning about each organization’s wealth of knowledge and support. Attendees enjoyed a lunch followed by cupcakes while listening and learning about newborns with various professionals from our community. After partners introduced themselves, we held a raffle, and thanks to community members’ donations, some lucky parents won wonderful prizes such as a bassinet, baby swings, Bumbo seat, hand crocheted blankets, and rocking baby seats. 

Parents had the opportunity to sign up for the library’s 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program and for First Steps’ Dolly Parton Imagination Library program. These two programs expose infants and toddlers to books and the love of reading by celebrating reading milestones and by providing a free book delivered to each child’s home every month. In addition to those programs, we gave the opportunity to sign up for library cards, for both parents and babies. With our new library cards, children can get their very first card as  infants!

Thank you to our partners, volunteers, and donors for our Community Baby Shower. It was a huge success and many parents received valuable information along with some great gifts and goodies. Thank you to our partners, our volunteers, and the Friends of the Calhoun County Library who helped prep bags and blankets before the event. Thank you DHEC/WIC St. Matthews for the beautiful crochet blankets. Thank you community members who donated baby items. You made some community members very happy! Without all of your help, this event would not be possible. We appreciate you!