The Pearl Library's March Madness Outreach Continues!

Wow! I’ve been many places since Monday. But since my last post was so long and rambling, I’m going to try something a little shorter and to the point with this one: in short, I will make a list of everywhere I went for March Madness on Wednesday and of the people I met AND of the things I thought about in each place. Be prepared, library goers of Mississippi! It’s about to get real up in this blog post.

Without Further Ado:

1. (This one was a ribbon cutting, so it doesn’t technically count as part of “March Madness,” but I’m listing it anyway!) Holiday Inn Express: Here, I met many people, including Aleksandra, the Assistant General Manager, and I got to go on a tour of the rooms and facilities. This is a gorgeous hotel, and it’s just the beginning of a new development in Pearl.  I can’t wait to see more!
   2. Jose’s Tamales. I met Diane here, and I fought back the urge to order tamales, chips, and salsa. This is on Pearson Road, and I think that I know what I want to eat during my next lunch break!
   3. Glow Tan and Salon. I met Carrie Wheat here. Glow has only been open for a few weeks, so you should know that it’s not just a good place to get a tan; it also has a hair salon AND a little retail space that features some very cute purses!
   4. Papa’s Pizza and Subs. Here, Andy convinced me that my next pizza will be a Papa’s pizza. In our Brown Bag last month, I learned/talked about how tomatoes (and tomato sauce!) are a superfood…which means that delicious pizza is super-healthy, right? Right!
   5. Solar Nails. I only got a chance to run in here and drop off a flyer, since everyone here was busy working, giving manicures and pedicures. This reminded me that I need a spa day, ASAP!
   6. Kobe Japanese. Mr. To, the owner, greeted me here. He will be helping us in May when we do our Asian and Pacific Island Heritage potluck! I love that Kobe is so close—my favorite thing to eat here is the Teriyaki Chicken bento box with a California roll. Yum!
   7. That Special Touch. I spoke with Richard Bailey, the manager here. Before I started working in Pearl, I knew about That Special Touch. All of my friends use this bakery to cater special events like baby showers and bridal showers. In fact, the cake for my baby shower came from here, and I ate A LOT of it. Seriously, SUCH GOOD CAKES (and cupcakes) (and cookies) (and donuts! They actually donated a bunch of donuts to us for Come in from the Cold in February)!
   8. Save A Lot. I talked to Mark here. I had no idea what good-looking produce and other stuff Save A Lot carries. I will be stopping here for some fruit the next time I head out to buy things for the library!
   9. Dollar Tree. Here, I talked to Widley, the manager. The Pearl Library frequents the Dollar Tree to get decorations and prizes for different library events. Dollar Tree has used our big meeting room for some of their events, and we have a great partnership with them!
   10. Pearl Parent Teacher Community Resource Center. I talked to Janice here. She and Alfongelia always welcome us here to make signs and to cut out decorations for the library. But the resource center has so much more! The staff here serve many educational needs, including teaching English to Spanish-speakers and providing teaching resources to parents and educators. We’re so lucky to be located next to the PTCRC!
   
   
   What a day! And now, I'm getting ready for today's Computer Class--every day holds something exciting at the Pearl Library! See you soon!

March Madness Outreach at the Pearl Library

The Clock tower outside of Pearl City Hall

This month, I've been visiting the businesses of Pearl in a little initiative I have dubbed "March Madness," though it has nothing to do with basketball. In preparation for National Library Week's "Community Matters" theme, I'm trying to get out into the community to let owners, managers, and employees of Pearl businesses know the kind of services we offer at the Pearl Library. We've got everything from free story times and craft classes to free computer classes and meeting room facilities here. In the next month alone, we're going to have appearances from Marshall Ramsey, James Meredith, the MDAH (speaking about Eudora Welty), and MS Telco (who will do a program on smart savings plans)--and that's just for adults. We have a whole list of programs for children's events, which you can access on our website at http://www.cmrls.lib.ms.us.

Last week, I visited Anytime Fitness, Dollar General, O! How Cute, Los Parrilleros, McAlister's, and Wendy's, and on Monday, I visited more businesses!

First, I stopped by Dunkin' Donuts, which is one of my favorite places to get coffee in Pearl. Furthermore, DD has partnered with us for several initiatives, like our Come in from the Cold program where we gave out free donuts and coffee in February. The manager, Willie, was in a meeting, so I talked to one of the cashiers and got a dee-licious cup of hot coffee to help me stay alert during the rest of my visits!

Next, I went to see Alana Robertson at MS Telco Federal Credit Union. Alana and the other people at MS Telco have been great supporters of our library; they donated all of the delicious food for our Youth Art Month Reception, and they're going to help us with our Money Smart Week programming in April. As always, Alana was beautifully coiffed and enthusiastic about working with the library. Thanks, Alana!

After MS Telco, I went to Tinseltown and met Mr. Keen, the manager. I've seen so many movies at Tinseltown, and it was  nice to be able to let him know about the services we have for him and his employees. While I was there, I also noticed that a recent movie featuring Jennifer Lawrence is still playing. I thought I had missed it, so I'll probably be in there in the next couple of weeks to see it!

The Mississippi Braves!

From Tinseltown, I headed into Braves territory. First, I stopped by the MS Braves office and talked to Miranda, Gene, and the new receptionist about the Pearl Library. Our reference librarian Cecelia and her husband are both avid Braves supporters, so I mentioned that for good measure. I can't wait for baseball season to begin! After going to the Braves office, I went to the Holiday Inn at Trustmark Park and talked to Brenda and Jessica. First, I have to say that that facility is just gorgeous. Also, Brenda and Jessica were a lot of fun to talk to, and I hope I can lure them in to some of our awesome programs here!

Speaking of lures, I went to the Bass Pro Shop next. While I'm not much of a sportsman (sportslady?), I did take my daughter to get her first Santa picture there, so there is quite a soft spot in my heart for that store! Also, we get lots of Bass Pro Shop employees in here, checking their schedules and using our computer lab. So I was happy to get to talk to Lisa, the manager, about our programs, and I hope we can see more partnerships with Bass Pro in the future!

Finally, I went to Sam's. Sam's has been such a great ally of our library--the team there has given us many donations over the years, and we love having their support. All of the managers were in a meeting, so I left some calendars and candy with the customer service cashier, and I've got big plans for making a phone call later on today to talk to the manager and advertise our services.

I know this post was long, but it is so important to us that the community members know how much we appreciate all that they do for us and all that they contribute to the City of Pearl. See you soon for my next installment of March Madness!!

Paper Flowers at Pearl Library's March Craft Night

We had a ball at Pearl Library's craft night last Tuesday! Once again pulling some inspiration from Pinterest, we made mountable paper flowers from paper bags. The Pinterest craft looked like this:

 

 

We got a little creative and painted some of our paper bags. We also used some colored paper, buttons, and glass beads in the middle of our flowers. Look how pretty they turned out:

 

 



 What fun! Notice that we got to have our craft night in the presence of a lot of great art made by students from the Pearl Public School District. It was inspiring to get to make some crafts in such an artistic environment!

We can't wait for next month, when our craft will be to make necklaces out of old t-shirts. If you're interested in attending, we'll meet on Tuesday, April 9th, at 5:30 p.m. Bring an old t-shirt (preferably without seams on the side) and get ready to turn it into something new!

Florence - Family Movie Night

Come and bring the family to enjoy a movie and popcorn! it's FREE, FUN for the entire family. We will be watching Brave. Brave is a production of Walt Disney Pics/ Pixar and is rated PG 

For more information contact Tina Clyburn: Youth Services

Florence Public Library
115 West Main Street
Florence, MS 39073
Phone: 601-845-6032

M & Th 9:30-7:00
Tu & W 9:30-5:00
F 1:00-5:00
Sa 9:00-12:30

Pearl Library Snuggle Up and Read! Winners

This January and February, the Pearl Library held a reading contest for Young Adult and Adult patrons. The goal was simple: read the most books and win a big prize! And we were so impressed with our patrons-those who turned in reading logs read almost 500 books! 

Here are some pictures of our most avid readers:

 

With a grand tally of 43 books read, Tabatha won the adult category. Here she is with me (Joy, the Reference Supervisor) and her gift, which included a back rest, a blanket, some coffee cups, a box of tea, a book light, some cozy socks, a cool candle, and a few other small prizes.Tabatha is one of our loyal patrons, and we're so excited that she read so many books and won this prize! Good job!

And here's a picture of Elizabeth, who read 128 books!!! That's amazing! Included in her prize were a back rest and a cozy blanket, along with socks, hot chocolate, a book light, a travel mug, a candle, and a cute notepad.Way to go, Elizabeth!

We hope everyone will stay tuned to hear about future programs we're doing here in Pearl! A special thanks goes to the Friends of the Pearl Library for helping us to fund these prizes and the other small prizes for entrants in this program.