Jax Book Fest Lines Them Up Around The Block

More than 4500 people attended Jax Book Fest featuring more than 90 local authors and R. L. Stine, author of the best-selling Fear and Goosebumps books, at the Main Library, February 22-23, 2019.  One or two pictures could not tell a portion of all the activities, interest, and fun so enjoy the collage of customers and staff Justin Keiser shares with us:  

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Fs6YDKgC1VBjAYYHA

The day before people lined up around the block to attend either or both the dinner and later the story time hosted by the JPL Foundation.  Zoe Carr, Development Associate, said, "The dinner, An Evening with R.L. Stine, entertained 150 guests.  Mr. Stine spoke and read funny letters from his fans. There was a meet and greet and later 250 more fans joined the dinner guests in the auditorium for a story time. Mr. Stine read A Ghostly Stare, a short story from The Haunting Hour Series. The children were ecstatic to meet their favorite author and the adults were thrilled to meet the author of their childhood. We had families that traveled from Saint Augustine and Gainesville. One family was from Canada, vacationing in Florida, and made it to the event. The family of five said it was a dream come true to meet Mr. Stine, their favorite author. Overall the event went really well.”

Lisa Buggs, Coordinator of Lifelong Learning and Community Outreach, added, "Making Strides for Autism was on site to make the event autism-friendly and the ASL interpreter made the presentations by Stine and children's author Mike Thaler accessible to more customers.  The entire JPL staff made the event a success."

One example of the effort staff members gave to this project is shared by Main’s Librarian II Stacey Van Hoy, "Marsha Collins went above and beyond to advertise the Book Fest. She single-handedly went in and chatted with people at 30+ businesses. Our goal was to have each staff member distribute flyers to a few locations; she was unstoppable and relentlessly cheerful." 

Terry Welch Wins $1000 Grant For JPL

Interim Director Jennifer Giltrop and JB Branch Manager Theresa Rooney were on hand, August 23, 2017, for a very special day for JB and Library Clerk Terry Welch.  For the last four years Terry has entered the Sisters in Crime (SinC) "We Love Libraries" contest. This year, thanks to Terry's persistence, JPL was randomly selected as the February 2017 winner and received a $1000 grant to purchase materials for our collection. Terry said, "Each item purchased with these funds will include a bookplate indicating the purchase was made possible by the SinC grant. Debbie East, President of the Florida Chapter of Sisters in Crime, presented the check to JB Branch Manager, Theresa Rooney. Forty four people--many of them aspiring writers--attended the grant presentation and author panel, including FOJPL President Margaret Smith, who was one of the founding members of the Florida SinC Chapter.

L/R: Interim Director Jennifer Giltrop; authors Susan Kiernan-Lewis and Nancy Quatrano;  JB Manager Theresa Rooney; Debbie East, President, Florida SinC; author Kathy Bain and Terry Welch (wearing the Nancy Drew vest she made.)

"Following the presentation there was an author panel about the craft of writing crime fiction. The SinC authors were Nancy Quatrano, Susan Kiernan-Lewis and Kathy Bain and the moderator was JPL Coordinator of Lifelong Learning & Community Outreach Lisa Buggs. Each of the authors also donated books, which will find a home in JPL’s upcoming Florida Authors Collection.

"Killer snacks were served and it was a fun filled evening. (The event was also live streamed on Facebook.) "

Library Clerk Terry Welch (L) and Teen Volunteer Ilyssa Ward in the photo that won the February 2017 SinC "We Love Libraries" contest.

Main Teen & Children's Staff Promote JPL Resources

Alexandra (Alex) Bishop is a new Library Associate in Main's Teen Department and shares news about several of their staff outreach programs. Alex said, "The Teen and Children’s departments have been visiting Eugene Butler Leadership Academies to talk to them about the solar eclipse and promoting JPL resources. We talked to them about student cards, Brainfuse, and Science in Context and did science experiments about surface tension as an example of what to do for science projects. These outreaches were made daily from August 14-18, 2017 and will continue on August 21-25." 

KR Telling Shoppers About JPL's Services

Above are Mandarin Branch Manager Mark Hohnadel and KR's Children's Library Assistant David Foster, who manned a table at the Avenues Mall, Saturday, August 5, 2017, as part of the Sheriff's Watch Safety Fair. Mark said, "During this event we talked to many people about the library and the varied services JPL's 21 locations offer."  THANK YOU for being good advertisers for all of us.

Exceeding "Getting To Yes"

Mrs. Cathy Santiago, an appreciative KR customer, wrote SST''s E-Services Librarian III Eric Soriano a note of thanks for the computer class she completed at KR recently. She agreed to meet with Eric and KR's Manager Mark Hohnadel, April 26, 2017, to receive her MS Office 2010 Tech Classes Certificate of Completion and have this picture taken.  

Below is another picture of a happy customer. UPK Manager Tamera Branam said, "Summer Parker (center) is a regular UPK tech class customer  and was awarded a certificate of completion for finishing the MS Office 2010 Basics track. Eric Soriano and I presented the certificate on April 26.   She is the first 'UPK graduate' so we are very excited!" 

Highlands Readies Kids For Jax Book Fext

The week before Jax Book Fest, March 25, 2017, children visiting DU had the opportunity to learn about three of the children’s guest authors: Karen Beaumont, Ethan Long and David Catrow. We used the Something about the Author database to accomplish our goal. 

 We focused on a different author each day. Youth learned to develop surprise endings, such as Ms. Beaumont does; draw in a cartoon style using Ethan Long as a model; and mix 

up media and design as David Catrow does.  During the week, 40+ children enjoyed creating art inspired by some of the 27 Jax Book Fest children’s authors.

Of course, everyone was invited to the big day of Jax Book Fest at Main. 

Tuning Up For Poplular Tune-In With Customers

Lunch @ the Lounge with Steve Gallatin, pictured left "tuning up" for the noon hour-long concert, September 14, 2016, had about 35 people enjoy the concert. Steve is a guitarist rooted in the traditions of American jazz, blues, and R&B, representing America’s musical heritage from the perspective of the modern generation.  He also plays with local R&B collective Band of Destiny, World View, The Steve Gallatin Trio, and the Raisin Cake Orchestra.  (Thanks to Kathleen Brunner for the input and blurb.)

May's Happenings At EB

Raelyn Wiirre, YS Librarian II at Eastside Branch reports, "We held a raffle during our school celebrations recently to promote the student cards. Every child that used his or her student card to check out a book received a raffle ticket. Shareef Bryant (first pic) was our winner!

     

       

May Kramer conducted a Mail Art program for children on May 27^th. Participants used  a     variety of materials in their creations, such as used stamps, colored pencils, and scrapbook paper to create the mail art. More importantly, they learned how to properly write a letter. Each child received a postage stamp to mail their art to a friend or relative. Fifteen children and teens attended.

 Linda Griffin-Foresto hosted a Taste of Asia on May 23 in observation of Asian and Pacific Heritage Month. Egg rolls, white rice, and stir-fried vegetables were served. A film was shown that demonstrated traditional Chinese dances and taught viewers some of the language.

Brentwood Goes Hawaiian

Phenessa A. Gray, NS and EB Manager reports, "In recognition of Asian-Pacific Heritage Month, Brentwood hosted A Taste of Hawaii program, May 26, 2016. Betty Williams, Library Associate, did an amazing job teaching us about the history of Hawaii, the hula dance, and she created some delectable Hawaiian delights, such as pulled pork sandwiches, pineapple-watermelon salad, and macadamia nut cookies. The final count was 23 with a mix of adults, teens, and children. We had an awesome time." 

Comin' Up: Maker Space At Main

Deputy Director Jennifer Giltrop, Main/Urban Manager Michael Sullivan and an audience of about 40 were excited to hear Sara Radovic's "Maker Space" presentation, May 23, at Riverside's Unity Plaza.  

What's that all about? JPL will be moving Main's Popular media collections and romance books now shelved on the first floor to the second floor. (Browsing will remain on the first floor.)  This will avail about 4,000 square feet to be used for a collaborative space that will include furnishings. This project will amplify and complement smaller-scaled spaces which are already being developed and they will bring together resources for small business owners and entrepreneurs in a way that has not been done before. The spaces will also afford library customers the opportunity to enjoy musical presentations, view artists' works, learn low to high technology, use 3-D printing, work on their inventions, etc. 

Collaborative spaces have done well in other libraries and Admin is looking forward to having Main's new venture ready by August 2016. Both the Orange County library system and Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative have collaborative spaces featuring a variety of programs and services.  

STEAM At Graham Branch

Graham Branch had a fun school age program, May 18, where kids focused on making buildings using marshmallows and spaghetti.  As you see, the kids were creative--and afterward enjoyed eating the marshmallows.

GB's Youth Services Librarian, Alexis Carter, said, "These STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) programs engage children in specific projects that can explore concepts such as cause/effect, creative interpretation and expression, and involve experimenting with different art mediums and tools to achieve a desired effect.”

339 Attend Jewish Program

The Radical Jewish Culture program presented at the Main Library, Sunday afternoon, May 15, drew 339 attendees and featured Grammy-nominated pianist Uri Caine (above).  After the dedication ceremony, Mr. Caine performed and discussed the idea of Radical Jewish Culture - a term coined by John Zorn describing the reimaging of traditional Jewish music with influences of classical, jazz, world and undefined musical genres. 

Keith Marks,  Laura and Peter Bailet and Avant – program producer and sponsors - presented the library with a

donation of 244 items: five DVDs, seven books, and 232 CDs. 

Library Director Barbara Gubbin, seen Hi-5ing Mr. Marks' daughter, asked the audience to give a Hi-5 for the Summer Learning program, drawing $178 in donations. Attendees checked out some of the newly acquired materials immediately following the program. 

Jill Sherrod, Theresa Barmer, Patricia Dowdell, Carolyn Woods, Raisa Grigoryeva, and Pertoria Kennedy were thanked for their contributions to the event. Lisa Buggs, Coordinator of Lifelong Learning and Communication said, "The program, acquisitions, and checkouts would not have been possible without their efforts. Their support of Lifelong Learning is greatly appreciated." 

Teens Learn How To Manage Money

JPL partnered with the League of Southeastern Credit Union on April 2nd to sponsor Mad City Money, a finance workshop designed to teach teens how to manage money. One hundred teens were given a virtual salary and asked to work out a budget and then offered different ways they could spend their money at different tables set up for the event and Channel 4 covered it. 

JPL's table was represented by Conference Center Manager Mitesh Sangani and Main Teen Library Associate Katie Guarino, who offered the library as a free entertainment and educational source.  Katie and Mitesh had plenty of p.r. materials to back them up.

The 30 volunteers pictured below helped make the event a great success for the teens and about 50 parents stayed to observe the workshop.

                                                             

SE Hosts 6th Great Decisions Program W/Topic On U.N.

The United Nations post-2015 was discussed at the sixth Great Decisions program at Southeast Regional Library on the evening of April . Joy Bagwell, former president of the UN Model team at UNF, led the discussion of 20 attendees. Bureaucracy, the role of the secretary-general, makeup of the security council and peacekeeping were addressed. Joy is the youngest facilitator of the program at the library and participants were vocal about their satisfaction with her perspective and ability to share insight on the only organization made up of all 193 recognized countries in the world. Joy will study international and comparative law at George Washington University in the fall. The final two programs cover climate geopolitics on April 21 and Cuba and the U.S. on April 28, 2016.

What Seniors Need To Know Program At SOM

On Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016, South Mandarin Branch held the program “What Seniors Need to Know,” presented by Eddie Malone of Elder Care Resources.  Additional speakers were Connie Robinson Long of Connie’s Tool Box and Lisa Atkinson of Home Instead Senior Services. The event provided information on the services available for seniors wishing to remain in their current homes for as long as possible.  Discussed were topics on upgrading homes to be user friendly for seniors and also how to remain independent by receiving help with personal and medical needs. The program was open to everyone, and specifically for interested seniors and family members of seniors.

 

   Eddie Malone is describing here the facts of aging in place.

   Connie Robinson Long is explaining why seniors need to maintain their homes properly.

 

   Lisa Atkinson is giving pointers on the importance of receiving help with medical needs   and services.

Thank you, Ralph Henderson, for the article and pictures.

Help for Small Business Planners At SOM

Entrepreneurs are excited people.  When you meet a person bent on starting their own business, you can sense their interest and intensity. This was evident at the South Mandarin Branch on the evening of March 30^th, during the Funding Your Dream: Small Business Strategies program where 26 men and women gathered to hear two interesting presenters. 

Presented by Specialists of the Small Business Administration, Donna Padgug and Jay Choi, future business owners were provided with information on financing, research support and given contacts to help them develop their new businesses.  Based on their questions, and answers provided, these future business owners received the advice and direction they needed to proceed to their next step of proprietorship.

Ms. Padgug and Mr. Choi provided another opportunity to meet the informational needs of the Mandarin community.          

 Ms. Padgug responds to a question from a future small business owner.

  

 Mr. Choi is seen here explaining the intricacies of financial assistance provided by the SBA.

Thanks to Ralph Henderson for the input and pics.

Easter Fun At San Marco Branch

The bunny theme at Stories for Young Children program at San Marco Branch saw 16 children painting while another 10 played with early literacy blocks.  After reading three books about bunnies, the children (assisted by their parents) created a "tape resist" painted Easter egg." They learned about mixing colors and "resist art".  Parents enjoy talking with each other after the programs and often visit with each other at the nearby park when they leave SS. 

SE Matches Two Great Days For A Fun Display

With Valentine's Day and President's Day back to back this year, Southeast combined the two to make one display. During February, customers are asked to connect the presidential couple with the fact stated about them. In addition, paired biographies of the Presidents and their First Ladies are available for checkout. Though customers have tried, so far this month, no one has correctly matched all of the facts with the presidential couples. *Do you know which president  and first lady were distant cousins? (Thanks to Beth Friederich for the blurb & pic.)

*(Answer:  32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor were fifth cousins, once removed.)

Rock-N-Roll Night At SE

Southeast Region Manager Keli Likins said, "Fifty people attended the Beatles program at Southeast Branch, February 16.  Many thanks to Lisa Buggs for setting it up and Erica Brown for hosting it."

This was a 90-minute multimedia program that illustrated the influence of Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and other 1950's American recording artists using side-by-side comparisons and musical analyses of Beatles covers and original recordings.

Do Yourself A Favor & See This

On display through February 28, the Smithsonian traveling exhibition, I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story, debuted Saturday, January 9, 2016, with 100+ attendees greeted by two keikis (Hawaiian for children) bearing leis. The program began with remarks from Library Director Barbara Gubbin and the Mayor’s Asian American Advisory Board Chair Wen Raiti. Classical Chinese songs were presented by vocalist Lijia Zhang and pianist Yue Yang. 

Children and adults interacted with Prince Pele's Polynesian Revue during dance demonstrations from Hawaii, Tahiti and New Zealand. After the program, customers were directed by Keli Likins, Lynne Baldwin and JPL Friends volunteer Janet Guerrero to the fourth floor to see the exhibit. The displays - filled with personal items loaned by many JPL staff members – drew visitors' attention. The ephemera includes clothing, handbags and accessories, tableware, musical instruments, book marks, books, teas and other items from Hawaii, the Philippines, China, Indonesia, Japan and Taiwan. Many thanks to staffs, who loaned their coveted items and to Arthur Finley and volunteer Patricia McCullough.

                                 Fiction Asian American display at Main

The Asian American Experience in Northeast Florida: a panel discussion on education, was moderated by Dr. Mei Zhao, Director of the Master of Health Administration program at the Brooks College of Health at UNF. Panelists included Rajiv Gupta (IT professional/robotics leader), Dr. Indrani Sindhuvalli (professor of Natural Sciences, FSCJ/Florida Master Naturalist/Reiki instructor) and Dr. Suze Weng (professor of Social Work, UNF). The panel and audience discussed the importance of education, the Model Minority Myth (all/most Asians excel academically and professionally) and disparities in health and wellness outcomes for Asian Americans.

The last programs (both will be in Main's Hicks Auditorium) are The Asian American Experience in Northeast Florida: a panel discussion on business and civic engagement, moderated by Sabeen Perwaiz on Sunday, February 7 at 2 p.m. (before the Super Bowl) and the finale on Sunday, February 28 at 2 p.m. featuring Japanese koto (string instrument) and Indian dance, music, and presentations.

Thanks to Lisa Buggs, Coordinator of Life Long Learning and Communication, for the article and Main Manager Lynne Baldwin for the pic of the display.