Recap of Recaps: October 19–October 25

Submitted by Joanie Goforth

Here is a small sampling of recaps from programs across the system that took place from October 19–October 25:

Snakes Alive! participants get involved with the presentation

Families playing together during Game Day at the Library!

Snakes Alive! at Cumming Library
59 children, 38 adults
"Kathy Church from Smithgall Woods gave an excellent presentation this afternoon about snakes. She was overflowing with knowledge about these scaly reptiles, which she shared with lots of humor and enthusiasm. Everyone was very engaged through the entire program, especially as she walked around the room with a

six foot rat snake wrapped around her neck! Kathy also shared tips about what to do if bitten by a snake. She concluded by having the kids line up and take turns petting one of the snakes she brought. The final take-away: Snakes eat dozens of disease carrying rodents every month. They are good. Just leave them alone and let them do their job." –hosted by Julie Boyd

World Food Day at Hampton Park Library
3 adults, 2 children
"We had 9 tables of UNG students to present poster boards of their chosen cultural food for World Food Day. The theme was water conservation, so students described their food, cultural background, and how water played a part, either in its lack of use or how its water use could be recycled. Patrons went in a circle and each table presented their food to the patrons. Boards included soba noodles, cornbread, arepas, noodles, bread, tuna tataki, Lebanese cucumber salad, fry bread, matoke, spam, and joumou. The students were mostly freshmen, so it was good practice for them to present their posters." –hosted by brooke West

Game Day at the Library! at Post Road Library
47 children, 32 adults
“We had a consistent turnout for our Game Day at the Library from opening until closing! In the morning, there were more parents with young children. Many families brought babies and children under the age of five, so we promptly brought out wooden blocks, foam blocks, and several puzzles for these younger patrons to enjoy. Towards the middle of the day, we began to see more families with children ages 5-10 come to play games, and several patrons commented that they were pleased with our selection of games! They were differentiated for age groups, with games such as Candyland and Go Fish present for younger children, and games such as The Settlers of Catan or Trivial Pursuit for older children and patrons. Visitors seemed to enjoy the Headbands game, and I saw many families laughing and having a great deal of fun!.” –hosted by Kate Wallis

Claudia Rankine’s Citizen at Sharon Forks Library
10 adults
“For our 14th Race and American Culture discussion led by UNG professor Ian Afflerbach, we explored excerpts of Claudia Rankine's poetry in her book Citizen. This is the first book of poetry ever to sell more than 300,000 copies, to make the New York Times Bestseller list, and to win the Book Critics' Circle Award for both poetry AND criticism (2014). The first excerpt we discussed was about Serena Williams and the racial injustices she experienced in her tennis career. Her famous outburst garnered a lot of media attention, and we talked about the advantages and disadvantages of different ways to handle these types of injustices. A few of the poems addressed different types of microaggressions, which are brief--and often unintentional--behaviors that are demeaning towards others. Although small, microaggressions can have a cumulative effect with lasting consequences. The book is also sprinkled with poems that cross over into visual art. The line ‘I do not always feel colored’ (a quote from Zora Neale Hurston) repeats over and over again until it becomes messy and saturated, as it would if it were a phrase you were having to constantly repeat to yourself. ‘In Memory’ features a list of black people who have died at the hands of police brutality. The opposite page reads 'because white men can't police their imagination black men are dying.’ With each reprint of Citizen, the publisher has updated the ‘In Memory’ list. It started with 4 names and the most recent version has 24, but there are still empty spots fading as they go down the page, which makes its own statement. When the first woman was added to the list, the poem was updated to read ‘black people’ rather than ‘black men’. I was pleased to have one new person join the group this month. We had a great discussion that was made even better by our patrons’ personal insights.” –hosted by Brooke Rose

Outreach Visit to Denmark High School Trunk or Treat
198 children, 103 adults
“The Denmark Trunk or Treat was an amazing experience! Christine and I had over three hundred visitors that wanted to check out the Bookmobile and learn a bit more about what the Forsyth County Public Library is doing in the community. We educated a lot of parents about how the school IDs are connected to our system, allowing us to quickly find and loan materials to their children! Many first-time visitors were excited and impressed by our adult collection (both English and Spanish), our online tutoring resources, and the amount of Bookmobile stops throughout the county. The kids had a blast trying to find the literary ghosts hidden throughout the Bookmobile and they all wanted to pet my iguana puppet (I was dressed as Miss Frizzle). We received an incredible amount of praise from new visitors and veteran library users alike which is always heartwarming and reaffirming. All in all it was a wonderful night and we can't wait to do it again next year!” –contributed by Katie LeDuc