Spring Developments at the Library!
National Library Week here at the Library was a huge success, and we wanted to thank all of our patrons for coming out and celebrating with us! As part of the celebration, we enjoy being able to show people exactly how much they personally have saved using the Library – many are surprised to see that the materials they have checked out over the years have added up to thousands, tens of thousands, and even – literally - hundreds of thousands of dollars! We also got to celebrate with Wild Tales - Live Adventures as they showed off and talked about the cool critters in their collection all throughout the County, and Mother Nature even got into the act with the eclipse we all got to enjoy at our Watch Party that week. Not only that, but the amazing people at the Grantsville Library celebrated their 20th anniversary in grand style this month - hard to believe that it has been twenty years since our last library building, isn’t it? We’re looking forward to ending that dry spell in Friendsville, starting this fall…
In partnership with the Department of Natural Resources and the US Forest Service, the Library is proud to participate in the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge! With Smokey celebrating his 80th birthday this year, the Library has partnered up to provide a reading program through May 31 - participants can take “Smokey’s Pledge” and earn badges and prizes for reading, as well as for learning more about the great outdoors!
The Library is also partnering up with the Grantsville Lions Club to help make a difference for our school libraries in their service area! Through the end of April, you can donate money or books from a list developed by school librarians to help provide great new reading materials for kids. You can find the list at www.relib.net!
With the weather improving, it’s time to get out and socialize again - visit friends, meet new people, and rebuild connections. The Library prides itself on being a connector for the community - so many of our programs are created with the express purpose of getting people to know each other - from the book clubs at our five locations to the gaming events we hold regularly, to Storytime connecting families, to our STEM and LEGO clubs, to so much more. And now we have something new to connect people - our “Let’s Talk” series at the Main Library, where people of all backgrounds are encouraged to come in, meet one another, and talk about what’s going on in Garrett County. Participants get to share their perspectives in a safe environment, hear those of others, and help zoom in on the issues Garrett County faces - and possibly even discover people with similar interests.
For those kids with STEM interests, the Library has some excellent STEM challenges in the near future thanks to our friends at 4H! Kids will get to make squishy circuits and solar bugs courtesy of Karen Wood from University of Maryland Extension - there is a program at each of our locations. Registration is required, but all you have to do is call your Library or visit www.relib.net!
And for those adults with gardening interests (or anyone, really!) we have an impressive slew of gardening classes all throughout the Spring, thanks to the wonderful Master Gardeners we work with. Learn about such things as “Easy Herbs,” “Garden by Moon Signs,” “Cut Flowers for Your Home” and “Integrated Pest Management” with them, and make your thumb the greenest it can be this year!
I’m also happy to announce that our Classics Buttons are expanding once again into Season 4, with twenty new titles to choose from - The Wind in the Willows, Finnegan’s Wake, East of Eden, The Godfather, Montaigne’s Essays, The Arabian Nights, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Origin of Species, Middlemarch, Thomas the Tank Engine, The Tempest, My Antonia, Their Eyes were Watching God, The Aeneid, A Christmas Carol, Watership Down, The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter, Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Bear Called Paddington and Because of Winn-Dixie. Not only are there new books, though - there are new prizes as well. Those who hit 25 read will receive a “Silver Reader” pin, and those who hit 50 will be considered “Gold Readers!” And who knows - if we get a superstar who surpasses that, we might have to recognize their achievement further down the line…
Finally, summer will be upon us before we know it, and our staff have been busy preparing a great slate of events, prizes and fun to show how “Adventure Begins at Your Library!”
Stay tuned!
