Monday, June 19, 2023

A New Library System

            The Calhoun County Library is migrating to a new software system and this will affect the patrons for a short period of time.

Our library along with the other 52 libraries associated with SC Lends will be undergoing a migration to a new software system. Things may look a little different and you may not be able to access your online account briefly. You will see a red banner on the OPAC system as well with all the information about this migration. As we get accustomed to this new system, we ask that you be patient with us as we take on this exciting task. We know you will enjoy the benefits of our new system.

In addition to all of these changes, the library will be closing for a few days. On Thursday, June 22, 2023, we will remain open for the Summer Reading Program Porkchop Productions event, but we will not be able to check out any library materials and will close to the public at noon. We will remain closed to the public on Friday, June 23, 2023. STEM Science Camp will not be affected by these closures.

Library resources such as Libby will be still available for all audiobooks and ebooks needs.

We apologize for the short notice, but we are looking forward to implementing a new software system at the Calhoun County Library.

Summer Reading Has Started at the Calhoun County Library!

            Summer Reading has officially started at the Calhoun County Library and the programs have been great so far. Please join us each Thursday at 10:30am as we are “All Together Now” learning new things each week.

The Summer Reading Program Kickoff took place Thursday, June 8 and it was a blast - literally!! We got to play in foam that was blasted out of a foam cannon!  Foam n Fun visited the library and created a field of foam in front of the courthouse. It was such a fun experience for all ages, kids and kids at heart.  Everyone can relate to playing with the foam in a bubble bath, but this was like a giant bubble bath without the water. After all, the best part of a bubble bath is the bubbles! It was a new experience for most participants who said they’d never seen anything like it. Curious onlookers even came over to see what it was all about!  Who knew playing in foam could be so much fun? To top off our bubble playground experience,  Randolph’s Italian Ice was  there giving away free Italian Ice to help everyone stay cool. There were games for all ages, bubbles to chase and pop, water guns for the babies, and funky music for a dance party. Kids used sidewalk chalk to create a masterpiece on the paved area to represent our theme this summer, “All Together Now.” It really was a kickoff to remember.

Following an amazing kickoff, the Columbia Marionette Theatre visited on Thursday, June 15. Everyone loves puppets, and these puppets were a little different from hand puppets.  Marionettes are puppets that are manipulated with strings and controlled with or without the puppeteer being visible. Unless you’ve visited the Columbia Marionette Theatre in Columbia, you may not have ever seen a marionette show. Puppets came to life as the puppeteers pulled and tugged at strings to create movements and gestures for each puppet. Kids and adults were mesmerized by the movements as they watched puppets walk across the stage, jump down into the audience, and even get down on one knee to sing a song. The puppets shared the story of the Three Little Pigs, but they put their own spin on the legendary tale. As the puppeteers told the audience that every story can have a different ending, we quickly realized that this story would not end up with the wolf eating the little pigs. Not only was the show entertaining, but it also reinforced a wonderful life lesson.

Don’t miss next week when Yasu Ishida, a Japanese storyteller, magician, and origami artist, will amaze us by combining traditional Japanese theater, music, origami, magic, and storytelling at 10:30 on June 29. Come on and have some fun with us!

Our Summer Reading Program is completely free and everyone is invited to attend the programs. While you’re here, we can get you signed up for summer reading. For every 60 minutes you read, you get a prize and your name goes into a drawing for grand prizes such as new bikes and Kindles to be given away at the end of summer!

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. Thank you to Save the Children for also donating giveaway books!




Tuesday, June 6, 2023

A Forest in the Library?

            There’s a forest in the library?

            Come to the Calhoun County Library and take a walk through our forest! Summer Reading is just around the corner and our theme this year is All Together Now: In the Forest. Every animal, plant, and material in a forest work together and play a part in creating a successful ecosystem. Since forests cover about ⅓ of the Earth’s surface, they’re pretty important. Whether you’re listening to an owl hoot or a cricket chirp, the sounds of a forest all come together to form nature’s orchestra. Since you’ll already be at the library, check out some books about a forest, its animals, or its climate. Come take a look around and take some pictures with our special friend. (Hint. He’s tall, brown, and may like to eat honey.)

            The next program at the library is on Thursday, June 15, 2023, at 10:30 AM. The Columbia Marionette Theatre is going to be performing “Build it Better with the Three Little Pigs.” Watch as three of our favorite storybook characters "Build a Better World" for themselves by combining their resources and working together to keep the Big Bad Wolf at bay. Special cameo appearance by Little Red Riding Hood.

            Don’t forget to sign up for the Summer Reading Program! It’s completely free and puts you in the drawing to win a prize at the end of the summer. To register, visit calhouncountylibrary.beanstack.org or scan the below QR Code.

            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.




Tuesday, May 23, 2023

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.



Tuesday, May 16, 2023

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!





Tuesday, May 9, 2023

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!



Tuesday, May 2, 2023

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.




Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Bingo!

            BINGO! BINGO! That’s what you will hear if you come to the library next Thursday night! Win some great prizes including gift cards to local businesses. The Calhoun County Library is introducing a new program next week that all ages are invited to attend and play.

            We will be having our very first Bingo program! Bingo will take place on the first Thursday of every month and the kickoff will be on Thursday, May 4, 2023, from 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM. Get ready to shout "BINGO!" and win some amazing prizes at this fun-filled event. We will guide you through multiple rounds of the classic game, and there will be plenty of opportunities to win! Come win some prizes and have some fun! See you on May 4!



Tuesday, April 18, 2023

STEM Outreach

             The Calhoun County Library has decided to take STEM on the road by making monthly visits to the local after school care centers as an outreach opportunity.

Our STEM team has been visiting Press Academy and Calhoun Academy’s after school programs. We have learned about wind energy, carbon dioxide, acids and bases, engineering and building, and even tested solvents. These programs were for the after-school participants of Press Academy and Calhoun Academy. There will be one more STEM lesson at these locations.

If your child does not attend either of those after-school programs, we have good news! We are also doing STEM at the Sandy Run Community Center on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at 3:15 PM. It is open to the public for ages 5 - 12. Join us in Sandy Run for a fun STEM program!

After these events, we are taking a break for summer, but we will be starting back up in the fall. Also, be on the lookout for information on our Summer Reading Program in June and July and Science Camp to be held in June!




Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Paint a Purple Martin

            The Calhoun County Library will be at the Purple Martin Festival on Saturday, April 22, 2023, to paint and have fun.

If you are interested in painting a purple martin, visit the Calhoun County Library tent at the Purple Martin Festival! From 11 AM - 3 PM, or until supplies run out, we will be painting purple martins with Calhoun County High School art teacher, John Sawvell. In addition to painting, we will also have a prize wheel and information about all of our programs.

The Purple Martin Parade is at 10 AM and the Purple Martin Festival is 11 AM - 7 PM. There are dozens of vendors attending. Come support our community and have a great Saturday. We hope to see all of our patrons come to paint with us!

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

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!



Tuesday, March 21, 2023

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!



Tuesday, March 14, 2023

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.