August 2024 Newsletter

Hello Jarrell Community!

Our library staff has been busy preparing for our Fall classes, activities, and Storytimes during the month of August. We are excited to share our new improved Storytimes for the school year. We have purchased curriculums for each of our Storytime groups and for our Homeschool Meetup group. It is exciting to continue our quest to improve the services in the library! Our language classes continue to grow. This semester, we are offering three English classes and a Spanish class. We are working with Williamson County Literacy Council to offer a GED class starting in January. We will advertise once we have the details for the class.

Thanks to the American Library Association, we received a grant for a "Wellness Through Music" group, a "Creating Calm Through Art" group and a "Creative Play" group. If you or someone you know may be interested in leading the Creating Calm Through Art or Creative Play groups, please contact the library. Training will be available to lead the groups. Ailina Aponte, Peer Support Specialist, will be leading the Wellness Through Music group.

Please mark your calendars to attend our seminars throughout the year. We are fortunate to have partnered with many health and wellness entities in our extended community who would like to bring information and resources to our community. In the coming months, we will be focused on the upcoming changes in Medicare in 2025, caring for the ill and aging, planning for the end of life and healing after loss. Bob with Medicare 101, Education and Caregiving Seminar, The Gift-Planning for End of Life Seminar, and Dianne Brazell, author of Weaving Peace, a Memoir of Life After Loss session will be presented in September.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Art and Wine Walk was postponed until Spring. We are excited to announce we will be hosting our Annual Fall Family Festivities on November 16th at the library. Please refer to the flyer to see events and to sign up to be a vendor. We are partnering with the Jarrell Chamber of Commerce to create a fun family event. There will be more details to come.

The Library is excited to announce the Jarrell Chamber of Commerce will be joining us in our building the third week of each month. Please join us in welcoming Sherry Smith, Director and all of the Chamber Board and Ambassadors. Together We Rise to meet the needs of our community.

We hope you will take the time to celebrate the success we are having in our library. Our staff, Board of Directors, and Friends Group have been working diligently to bring our library to the next level of services for the Jarrell Community.

Here comes Fall! Let's enjoy the changing of the seasons.

Sincerely,

Susan Gregurek

Thank you to our donors who came together to ensure we met our goal of $5,000 for our matching donation! Every dollar made a difference in reaching our goal.

We would like to thank our language teachers, Pete Escalante, Michelle Gamboa, Tanya Alvarado-Galvez and our new teacher Felippe Garcia. They have truly embraced leading our students to success.

As we continue to expand our services, many nonprofits, groups and leaders are working with the library to make connections and improvements for the Jarrell Community. Our library would like to express our gratitude to WilCo ESD 5 Chief Stewart and Asst. Chief Jernigan, Traci Anderson EDC Director, , Medicare Representative Bob Diederich, Williamson County Institute of Nonprofits Director Bob Novello, Sherry Smith Director of Jarrell Chamber of Commerce, Blake Reynolds Director of Sonterra Parks and Rec, Felippe of WilCo Cares, Valerie Zapien of Williamson County Health Department, and Edith Marsarlia of Foundations Communities for taking their time to join us in the library to have conversations on how they can help the library continue to gain resources for Jarrell, Texas.

It takes a village to build a library community. We appreciate each and every person who continues to help improve the health of the community.

Special Events Coming Up!

Sept. 2: MEXICANO MONDAY

Sept. 3-6: Classes Begin: English, Spanish, Storytime, Music Group

Sept. 14: 10:30 Education and Caregiving Seminar

Sept. 17: 12 The Gift Workshop

Sept. 21:11:00 Author Talk Dianne Brazell "Weaving Peace" a discussion of life after loss

Sept. 26: 3:00 Senior 55+ Social

Sept. 28: 10:30 Bob With 2025 Medicare Updates *Many changes everyone urged to attend.

Oct. 1: Morning English Class Begins 9:30 am

Oct. 26: 4-7 WilCo ESD 5 Trunk or Treat

Nov. 16: Fall Family Festivities at the Library

Dec. 7: Sonterra Parks and Rec Breakfast with Santa

Grounding is a practice that can help you pull away from flashbacks, unwanted memories, negative or challenging emotions.Grounding techniques are exercises that may help you refocus on the present moment to distract yourself from anxious feelings. You can use grounding techniques to create space and are helpful for lessening anxiety, stress, depression and improve your mood.

Physical Grounding Techniques use your five senses or tangible objects. Simple deep breaths are a simple technique you can do anywhere. Another method that can be used is the 5-4-3-2-1 Method. This method is working backwards from 5, using your senses to list things you notice around you. (5 things you hear, 4 things you see, 3 things you can touch, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste.) Making an effort to notice the little things that we tend to not always pay attention can help refocus and keep calm.

Mental Grounding Techniques are exercises that use mental distractions to help redirect your thoughts away from distresssing feelings and back to the present. Thinking in categories is a good exercise that can be done individually or in a group. Choose one or two broad categories, such as "Ice cream flavors, sports teams or book titles". Take a minute or two and mentally list out as many from each category as you can. Another exercise that can be useful is to use a anchoring statement. It might sound something like "I'm Full name. I am number years old. I live in City, State. Today is Date and today is going to be a great day" The phrase can be expaded by adding details until you feel calm and ready to go on with the day.

Soothing Grounding Techniques are used to offer comfort in times of imotional distress. These exercises can help promote good feelings that may help the negative feelings fade or seem less overwhelming. Practicing self-kindness or using affirmations can help not only recenter yourself but also eventutually boost your self-confidence. You can accomplish this technique by repeating a kind, compassionate pharse about yourself either aloud or in your head. Phrases might look like "I look in the mirror and say I am cute, I am smart, I am loved". or "I am having a rough time, but I'll make it through". Listening to music can be a powerful technique because you can customize the playlist to how you are feeling. While listening focus on the melody and lyrics, try leaning into and loose yourself in the song, letting all negative outside influences melt away.

Grounding techniques can be powerful tools to help you cope with distressing thoughts in the moment. It is best to try doing a grounding exercise when you first start to feel bad and not waiting for the distress to reach a level that is harder to handle. If a technique doesn't work at first, try sticking with it for a little bit before moving on to another one.

Peer Support Specialist: Ailina Aponte

Hours: Tu/Th: 10:00-3:00 pm, Weds 1:00-6:00 pm, Fri. 10:00 am-2:00pm

We are so excited to start the new School Year with Storytimes and our Homeschool Meetup Group.

This year we will be having three different storytime opportunities starting the first week of September. Pre-K Storytime (ages 3-5) will meet Tuesdays from 1030-1130 and will develop skills and strengthening concepts needed to help their preparation for Kindergarten. Books and Babies Storytime(ages 0-3) will meet Thursdays from 10:30-11:30 focusing on movement, play and socializing. Bilingual Storytime(All ages) will meet on Fridays from 10:30-11:30 is dedicated to early exposure to another language which will improve a child's capacity for language learning in later years.

Our Homeschool Meetup Group is available to Prek-12th Grade. The homeschool group meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the Month from 3pm-4pm. We will be breaking the group up into smaller sections this year. Prek-1st, 2nd-3rd, 4th-5th and 6th-12th. This year we will be focusing on STEM related projects and activities.

If you are interested in volunteering to be an assistant leader to one of the homeschool group or a storyteller assistant please let us know.

One Sentence Summary: Lolly is given the chance to live a day in a life she could have had thanks to some magic lemon drops, and must then determine which life she wants to live forever.

My thoughts:

The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie has all the ingredients for the kind of story I gobble up with great enjoyment: food, family, romance, quirky friends, delightfully mysterious older relatives…and a similar premise to a book I’ve previously enjoyed. This book really has a lot of charm and lovely characters, one of whom is placed in an enviable situation.

In the end, The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie does nicely balance the women’s fiction and romance aspects. It does tell a very sweet story of second chances and of figuring out what one ought to do with one’s life. It tells a heartwarming story of family and loss and the drive to do one’s loved ones proud. It also offered Lolly the enviable opportunity to briefly live a life she could have had on her journey to either torture herself with what could have been or to help her find her way from the daily drudgery she’s committed herself to since her mother’s untimely death right when everything was going right for Lolly.

I really liked Lolly as a character. She really tried, she really loved her family, she really put her all into everything to keep her family's restaurant afloat. I felt her loss with her use of every lemon drop, every could have been, as well as her deep love and devotion to her mom. Emotionally, it was easy to connect with her, to feel the consequences of every decision and every road not taken.

The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie has a lot of good ingredients. It's charming and includes the recipe for the famous pie that this reader really wants to try.

Credit: Christina- Confessions of a Book Addict