Library Happenings by Julie Jarman

Hello Everyone. Welcome to Library News. The 11th month of the calendar year is now before us. It feels like we went from January to November at the speed of light. There are so many things happening at Staunton Public Library as we begin the very first days counting down now to the holiday season.

First of all, the library has designated November as scarecrow art month in celebration of the fall season and the annual harvest. Stop by our library and check out our displays. Everyone is working on a different design. We also invited area businesses to decorate their windows and doors. Please feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own fall display. The hope is to bring the community alive with color.

Children's Story Time

The library will be having regular story time hours on the first and the third Thursday of every month starting at 4 p.m. for children age 3 and up and lasting 30 to 45 minutes depending on the story and the art activity.

Story Time Dates:

Thursday, Nov. 3

Thursday, Nov. 17

Family Reading Night

The third Thursday in November is designated as Family Reading Night. This special day of distinction was created by Illinois Secretary of State and Head Librarian Jesse White many years ago to spotlight the importance of children's literacy. Of course,the library strongly encourages introduction of reading at an early age. The children's room has many wonderful board books and picture books to assist families with this goal.

There will be a special story time hour beginning at 4 p.m. that day with some Family Reading Night grab bags while supplies last at the end of the program.

The library hours are normally:

Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Closed Friday; Saturday 9 a.m. to noon

Holiday Closings for

November:

Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8

Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 24

Just a reminder: Veteran's Day this year is Friday, Nov. 11.

To follow up on last month's activities,the Halloween party on Oct. 20 was a huge success.

Check out the pictures on our Facebook page. We loved seeing everyone there. The Little Old Woman Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams as the featured story was so funny.

Afterwards, everyone made spiders and skeletons, played the pumpkin ball toss game, the Snoopy Halloween bean bag throw and Fortune Teller's Bingo. Afterwards, 23 party Snoopy Halloween party favor bags were handed out at the door. Thank you to everyone who came to the program. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

The fourth annual Library Crawl was also a big hit. It was held the entire month of October and this year 125 IHLS libraries including Staunton participated. The rules of the game was to pick up a special passport at the library, get our library square stamped, travel around to get five more stamps on the passport and return it to the home library for a special prize drawing. Our library handed out over 60 Halloween goody bags to all who visited and flashed their library passports. Three Staunton passports were turned in. The gift card drawing will be held the first week of November and the winner will be notified soon after. We will definitely be playing the Library Crawl again next year. What fun!

COVID Tests:

The Staunton Public Library has received a huge shipment of home COVID tests from Macoupin County Public Health Department. Stop in and get a free test today while supplies last.

As you go through your days, please use caution and slow down when you see the farmers on the roads headed to the fields. We love our farmers.

A special thank you to the American Veterans. You do a great job of protecting all of us. We appreciate your service! Veterans should be honored every day, not just Veterans Day.

Stop in for the latest in great fiction, many choices in non fiction, large print books, children's books and young adult items. If we do not have it, most likely we can order it from another library and have it within a few days. We also have e-books at our fingertips. Come see us at the library one day soon.