Recap of Recaps: November 20–27

By Joanne Garrett

Check out these highlights from some of the unique offerings patrons enjoyed systemwide November 20–November 27. 

Author Visit with Emily Carpenter and Kimberly Brock at Post Road Library

"We had several eager patrons waiting to hear from Kimberly Brock and Emily Carpenter. They started out by talking about their backgrounds and the beginning of their writing careers. Both authors discussed their books. Kimberly writes Southern historical fiction, while Emily writes thrillers/suspense. Both consider their writing Southern Gothic, with heavy emphasis in the story on dealing with the sins of the past in the present. They offered some great advice for writers and people hoping to be traditionally published. Both authors were incredibly engaging, funny, and kind. They signed books for patrons and chatted with everyone at the end." - hosted by Brooke Richards

Kimberly Brock (left) and Emily Carpenter (right)

Cumming Elementary Parade (Cumming Library Outreach)

“The media specialist at Cumming Elementary school invited us to participate in their first ever ‘Balloons Over Cumming Elementary’ parade. Kaity, Signe, and I, dressed all in black, brought the beautiful colorful Chinese Dragon that Sariah made for her Lunar New Year program. Kaity added a special tail with the library's logo on it. Participants in the parade were students in grades 3 - 5, high school students, and community partners. Kids in grades K - 2 were lined up all along the parking lot. It was a beautiful sunny day, but VERY windy. We all struggled to keep our long dragon from blowing us all away, but it was all worth it. As we walked out before the kids, they all screamed with delight. It was exciting to be a part of this!” - hosted by Julie Boyd

Family Storytime at Sharon Forks Library

“Today we had enthusiastic participation from the audience for the turkey day tale program. One older kid knew the tunes of the rhymes, and when I said he could join in singing, he was happy to join me up front and sang along with me for the rest of the audience. The books were well received and the families enjoyed making the paper pumpkin pie. After the craft, they proceeded to take pictures with the giant turkey on the wall.” - hosted by Anuradha Murari

  

Golden Hour at Cumming Health and Rehab (Outreach)

“We had a fun surprise at Cumming Health and Rehab when our Golden Hour had to be held at the nurse's station! Despite the mild chaos, we still had 18 adults join us to hear our presentation on Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Kindness Day, and Native American Heritage Month. The highlight was singing along to "You Are My Sunshine". Everyone belted out the song with a lot of joy! Other highlights were talking about going to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, giving money to the man who delivered ice in the pre-refrigerator days, and talking about our favorite Thanksgiving traditions. Popular opinion was that Christmas should not encroach on Thanksgiving. We also delivered books to a few residents, one of which was extremely excited to see us and already looking forward to our December visit.” - hosted by Brooke West and Joanie Goforth

3rd Annual Art from the Heart at Cumming Library

“We had an amazing turnout for our 3rd annual Art from the Heart program. Our theme, "What's Your Dream," gave participants the opportunity to share their hopes, aspirations, or crazy imaginings with their family. Some of the fun responses were riding a space unicorn, building a cabin on a lake in the woods, hiking around the world, becoming a Pokemon trainer, driving a monster truck, becoming a famous fashion designer, and becoming a fighter pilot. We always start the program with a brief painting tutorial, I explain the theme, and then give them time to come up with an idea. Then they fill out their artist statement and begin their rough sketch. Once the sketch is done, I give them nice linen paper and they begin their drawing. A few of my families returned from prior years, and this time they brought more siblings and dad. I had lots of sweet thank you's and offers to help clean up. We really do have the kindest people in Forsyth County.” - hosted by Sariah Homan

Ready Set Preschool at Hampton Park

“The centers were all focused on Thanksgiving and turkeys today. I played with some kids at one center, and one mom really liked that because they had just moved here from Florida and her little boy only speaks Spanish, so she thought it was great for him to play and interact with someone besides her and speak in English.” - hosted by Kelly Hollis