Recap of Recaps: January 9-15, 2025

 Submitted by Joanne Garrett

Check out these highlights from some of the unique offerings patrons enjoyed systemwide January 9-15, 2025. Note: Due to inclement weather, the library system was closed on Friday, January 10 and Saturday, January 11.

Bookmobile stops at Silversmith and Bridgetowne (Outreach) (1/15)

38 visitors

“Brooke and I visited both Silversmith and Bridgetowne neighborhoods with the bookmobile, and both were bustling with activity. Several families with young children came to Silversmith, and one young visitor was so glad to see The Bad Seed as she approached, she literally jumped for joy! At Bridgetowne, families and kids swarmed in at the beginning of the stop, choosing books, enjoying the craft and racing to finish the winter scavenger hunt. A handful of patrons finished up all the Winter Reading challenges and collected their trading cards, too! Between the two stops, we had nearly 38 visitors and issued 3 new library cards!” - hosted by Joanie Goforth & Brooke West

Crafts and a scavenger hunt were part of the fun at the Silversmith stop.

Hands-On History: Medieval Times at Cumming Library (1/13)

19 children, 34 adults

“We opened with a presentation giving an overview of some of the things going on in the middle ages across the world. We started in 500 AD, then jumped to 1000, then 1500. For each year, we looked at things happening around the world, what the world map looked like, and a selection of art. In-between 1000 and 1500 AD, we paused to study the Black Plague. I discussed how it began and the toll it took on the world. Then we did a simulation to see who could survive the plague. The kids, and the whole crowd, LOVED this part. They were cheering, applauding, eagerly awaiting the next chance to see if the participant would be infected or not. At the end of the presentation, we played a Medieval Bestiary game to see if kids could guess the animal based on the medieval description. This was also a huge hit. After the presentation, we broke into stations: Training Grounds, Castle Building, Ranged Weaponry, Coloring Sheets, Heraldry, Take Home Activities, and a Dragon Scavenger Hunt.” - hosted by Kaitlyn Bowers

Families recreated the spread of the Black Plague with an interactive game.

Hampton Park Poetry Writers' Group at Hampton Park Library (1/09)

4 adults

"We had four people brave the cold weather to come out and discuss some famous poetry along with some originals that our group had written. We started out listening to an original written by David. The group gave positive feedback about his romantic poem of self-sacrifice. We discussed ‘Dreams’ by Langston Hughes and ‘Leisure’ by W.H. Davies." - hosted by Diana Wolski

Post Road Writers' Group at Post Road Library (1/09)

4 adults

"We had a great meeting tonight! We discussed chapters from a middle grade spy chapter book and a young adult sci-fi fantasy novel. These writers are amazing. Feedback touched mostly on punctuation and questions that came up about characters' behavior and clarifications. We were excited to welcome two brand new writers who also offered helpful insights and shared a little bit about their own writing. We talked about outlining, plotting vs pantsing, and traditional publishing vs. self-publishing." - hosted by Joana Pedrosa-Pastro