By Somer Ojodeagua, Branch Manager
Oscar Wilde said, “All at once, summer collapsed into fall.” And if the speed in which September flew by is any indication, we better enjoy it while it lasts. I can’t remember a September ever flying by as fast as this one did. Probably because of all the excitement that was being had over here at the Patrick County Library. It was a great month. Chaotic at times but so enjoyable.
Storytime was back this month and Emme knocked it out of the park. September Storytime had the following themes: camping, where the kids made their own binoculars; frogs with the assistance of the Master Gardeners and making rock frogs for our flower garden; Autumn/Fall and hand painting our windows with special paint; and finally, Eric Carle, where the kids made collages. So much fun and such great opportunities for learning. Storytime is every Tuesday at 10:30am through the library’s castle door.
The Patrick County Agriculture Fair came and went and with it, tons of fun memories made. On Wednesday Fair Night, Gayle and I took our chairs and sat at the library booth, chatting up our programs and talking to people in the community about events that the library has that helps them and/or ideas where the library could create new programming. It was a great event and opportunity for our library to display its story.
Our Silent Book Club had only a handful of members this month attend; however, our book talk before the silent reading was entertaining. We did a “This or That” Bookish Edition conversation and discussed why we chose what we did.
For example: Bookmark or Dog-ear the page, re-read favorites or always new books, rainy day reading or sunny-day reading, long books or short books, first-person or third-person narration, realistic setting or fantasy world, etc.
We had a great time doing this and learned a lot about our own reading habits. I think this type of book talk will be used in future Silent Book Club meetings for sure.
Leandio’s Bee Sweet Wreath Workshop was a hit with eleven people in attendance. The class went great and everyone left raving over their wreath, the yummy snacks and how much they enjoyed themselves. October’s class is called Ghostly Goodies, where all who sign up will learn how to make a sweet candy bouquet.
The standout event for Patrick this month was our first Trivia Night event. This event will always be planned on the third Thursday of the month at 6pm. THIRD THURSDAY TRIVIA. The theme for September was Back to School and while no one dressed up in their favorite school team wear, we had 18 participants. Abby put together fifty general fiction questions which were answered in 45 minutes. We had four teams: The Big Dawgs (15 points), The Bookeneers (10 points), The Homeschoolers (11 points), and BaYou Books (12 points). There were only two questions that stumped everyone. What was the main thing I learned from this event? That kazoos or birthday horns are not the way to go when playing trivia night. Don’t fret, buzzers have been ordered, and October trivia night is going to be amazing. Great fun! As people left that evening, I couldn’t help but smile as I listened to them talk about not knowing that sharks didn’t have bones and who knew there are 23 countries in North America?! I can hardly wait for October Trivia Night, where our host, Abby Brammer, will ask trivia questions about Halloween and its origins, as well as name that Halloween movie, book or song. We encourage participants to wear their costumes but not masks and come by yourself or with friends and just learn and have fun.
The Homeschool Bookworms met on September 25th. We learned about the elements of a story and read the book appropriately titled, “The Library”, by Sarah Stewart. This program is a great opportunity for young homeschoolers to socialize and learn some new ideas along the way. If interested in this program, come visit the library the fourth Thursday of each month at 10:30.
The Senior Social is always on the fourth Friday of the month and for September we made an autumn themed door hanger and talked about books and upcoming events. Along with a gallon of sweet tea and some donut holes, it was a good way to just be together and create something beautiful to hang on a door or to give to someone else to make them smile. My goal with this monthly event is to have our senior citizens come to the library and have a space where they can converse with people and have fun at the same time. Those who attended did just that. They created something themselves and were able to meet new people.
We also had our first Book Bedazzling Program on September 27. We listened to fun Lofi music on the tv and talked books and why the particular ones we chose to bedazzle mean so much to us. Sometimes life just needs sparkles. And SpArKle we did. These glittering gals have requested this be turned into a monthly event. I told them it would be taken into consideration. I was sad that we had to retire the Journaling Junkies program earlier this year due to low participation. 2026 sounds like a fun time to start the Glittering Groupies Club, where we bedazzle all the books (non-library ones of course). Stay tuned.
I want to thank ALL the staff at the Patrick County Library for their encouragement and willingness to try new programs with amazing attitudes. One never knows what each day will bring but I do know that we are a great team, we find joy in what we do, and we always learn something new along the way. Thank you also to our wonderful community for showing up and taking part in these programs. I hope to see you at the library soon!
Until next month, Happy Reading.
