Calhoun County Library Starry Kickoff

            The Calhoun County Library has announced their Summer Reading Program kickoff event: a Portable Planetarium from Roper Mountain Science Center.

            The Summer Reading Program is starting soon. The theme this year is “Adventure Begins At Your Library.” To really get the adventure started, we have a special kickoff event planned for Thursday, June 6, 2024. Roper Mountain Science Center is going to bring their portable planetarium to the John Ford Community Center gymnasium. So, what is a planetarium? Well, a planetarium is loads of fun! It is a large inflatable dome that shows what it’s like to be in outer space. This can range from the night sky to big shooting stars to the Aurora Borealis to other planets. To get our Summer Reading Program started off with a bang, we’re bringing the galaxy to St. Matthews!

            There will be multiple viewings for the Portable Planetarium. Each viewing will be 30 minutes long and can hold up to 25 people. Therefore, you must make a reservation to attend this stargazing viewing. Please call us at 803-874-3389 to choose a time slot. We are anticipating that this will get full quickly so don’t wait!

            Also, don’t forget to register for the Summer Reading Program to log all your books and get your prizes for every milestone. Registration for Beanstack will open on June 1, 2024. You do not need to be registered to attend the events, but you do need to be registered to get prizes. This includes the chance to win our end of the Summer prizes of bikes, gift cards, and more. So, register and log those books in just a few days!

Calhoun County Library’s Quarterly Employee Spotlight

            Meet our employee spotlight, Linda Coleman! You have seen her putting new materials out, helping you on the front desk, or leading one of our crafty programs. The Calhoun County Library has many wonderful employees who are dedicated to serving the community and helping out wherever there is a need. This month, we would like to shine the spotlight on a special staff member: Linda Coleman. Linda received a gift card and is featured on our Employee Spotlight wall in the library, so come check it out and congratulate her!

Linda’s professional title is Cataloger, which means that she organizes the library materials to make them easier to find here. It is because of her that we can find all the children’s books by the same author, all the Harry Potter movies, and all the Parent Help kits together by lesson. Linda has been with the Calhoun County Library for around 14 years which means that she has vast experience in the day-to-day workings of the library. She is a wealth of knowledge!

Linda also leads our Bee Creative group every 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday of the month from 5 PM - 7 PM. This is a program that Linda is passionate about as she enjoys sewing and crafting with the community she loves. In addition to Linda’s position here at the library, she has two children, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Come by and congratulate Linda and join us in thanking her for all her hard work and dedication to the Calhoun County Library because we appreciate her so much!

Calhoun County Authors

            Did you know that Calhoun County has a number of authors within the community that have their books in the Calhoun County Library? To celebrate these authors, who are both self-published and traditionally published, we held a Spring Author Fair last weekend.

On Saturday, May 4, 2024, from 11 AM - 1 PM, six local authors gathered at the library with the sole purpose of talking about writing, books, and their lives.

Authors included:

W. R. L. Battle, author of Wilhelm the Lemming

Heidi Bozard, author of Paper Plate, No Hair, & Jesus: Pictures,Posts,Prayers,and Pleas with Jesus on my Breast Cancer Journey 

Janice Larrymore, author of Emma Julia’s Journey: Our Family’s Faith Walk Through Dementia

Jay Mims, author of multiple books including The Gray Ghost Inn, The Five Santas, The Cult of Koo Kway, Racing the Storm, The Rose Bandit, and The Girl Who Saved Dan Landis.

Monica Roe, author of multiple books including Air, the Wilderness Ridge series: Turkey Hunt Tradition, Duck Hunting Dreams, Elk Hunt Adventure, and Big Alaskan Bowhunt, and several earlier books.

Christine Santana, author of Murder Beneath the Magnolias and Salt & Light Seasoning For a Simple Life Course Cookbook

Starting at 11 AM, all the authors began with introductions and then moved on to a Q&A session. Some of the questions our patrons had for our hometown authors included who their inspiration is, how long it took to write their books, and what were some of the best and most unusual experiences as authors. We won’t give away all of their secrets, but let's just say that the average time to write and edit was about two years. As far as unusual experiences go, one author actually got contacted by a police station that is NOT in Calhoun County for something they wrote. To get more answers, you’ll have to find these interesting authors and ask them yourselves! At noon, participants moved to the vendor’s room where they were able to talk one-on-one with the authors, purchase books, and enjoy delicious refreshments.

The whole event was locally represented through food, words, and a ton of talent. Everyone we spoke to loved the idea of showing support to the authors that have shown Calhoun County Library their support and had a great time. We would like to thank every author and patron for spending a Saturday morning with us for our first Spring Author Fair and we are looking forward to next time! Be on the lookout for our next Author Fair where you can meet talented writers from right around you.

From left to right: W. R. L. Battle, Monica Roe, Christine Santana,

Jay Mims, Heidi Bozard, and Janice Larrymore

School Bee Field Trips

            Did you know that inside the Calhoun County Library there is a real beehive full of living bees? Over 150 students visited the library and saw for themselves last week during Bee Field Trips. St. Matthews K-8, Calhoun Academy, and Sandy Run K-8 arrived at the library by the busloads to learn about the importance of bees in our community.

These three schools were invited to send elementary school students to the library to view our indoor bees while they received valuable lessons about them. On Tuesday, April 30, 2024, we had St. Matthews K-8; Wednesday, May 1, 2024, we hosted Calhoun Academy; and on Thursday, May 2, 2024, we had Sandy Run K-8. All of the students rotated through four bee stations: bee crafts, bee viewing in their hive, bee pollinator garden outside, and bee waggle dancing and fun facts.

Students were able to create two bee crafts, learn how to interpret the bees’ waggle dance (and they even did a little waggling of their own at the end), examine our pollinator garden with magnifying glasses and look for items on a scavenger hunt, and view our indoor beehive our very own beekeeper, Melissa. The bees showed off for our visitors flying in and out of the hive, depositing pollen, and even doing a waggle dance or two!  Each student left the library with fun facts, an interesting bee packet, and a goodie bag including a bee pen, a temporary bee tattoo, and a delicious honey stick for a sweet treat. We can’t wait to continue with these field trips for years to come and save the pollinators that are so important to us.

In case your child was not able to attend the field trip, or if you would like to view the bees yourself, we would love to have you visit the Calhoun County Library to watch these little busy-bodies fly in and out to gather pollen, make honey, and take care of their queen. Come and see what all the “buzz” is about!