May 2024 Newsletter

The weather is telling us summer is arriving this weekend! The month of May seems to have flown by in the library.

Please congratulate Ailina Aponte as she moves to her new position as the Librarires for Health Mental Wellness Peer Support Specialist! She has many new ideas for groups, book clubs, Wellness Wednesday arts and crafts activities, and more. It is also an honor to welcome Donna Oestrick to her new position from volunteer to Circulation/ Program Coordinator. We are thankful to have Donna join our team. Donna is also the Treasurer of our Friends of the Library Group.

As the school year comes to a close, we are gearing up for a FANTASTIC SUMMER! The Library will kick off June with Health Week. June 4-8 there will be information in the library for living a healthy life. June 8 the library will host the Jarrell Community Health Fair. The day will begin with a 1K Fun Run/Walk at 8:30 am. Please see the flyer to sign up. The FREE Health Fair in the parking lot of the library will include the St. David's Foundation Dental Bus, "We Are Blood" Blood Drive, the WIC Bus and many community health and wellness organizations. Come out and spend the day, gathering information and enjoy the free give aways from 10:00-2:00 pm. Please see flyer to sign up to donate blood.

Ailina will start her new Book Club book "When Will The Heaven Start" on June 5th. Ally Breedlove has signed 10 copies of this beautiful book detailing her brother's life to donate to participants. If you'd like to learn more about the story, you can see more information https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmlTHfVaU9o. We hope to have Ally join in via Zoom during the book club.

"Adventures in the Library" Summer Reading Program begins June 11. Classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays will be held at the JISD Annex. There will be a bus to transport participants to and from the library. Wednesdays and Fridays the activities will be held at the library.

Saturday, June 15th is National Garbage Collector's Day! We will celebrate with ACDI "Touch a Truck" Day. There will be recycle and garbage trucks at the library from 10:00-12:00 am. At 10:30 am there will be Storytime with a special guest reader from ACDI.

Throughout the summer there will be special guests and activities to celebrate Summer Reading. On June 1st we will launch our Beanstack App Challenges for the summer. We are seeking sponsors to help create the perfect summer activities for all ages! Donations can be made in person or via Venmo.

We wish you a safe and restful Memorial Day. The Library will be closed on Friday and Saturday in celebration of the holiday weekend.

Happy Summer vacation to all! We look forward to seeing you in the Library!

Special Events Coming Up!

May 20: STEM Forged Camp (payment due)

May 22: 3:00-4:00 Homeschool Cirriculum and Book Swap

May 24-25: Library is Closed

June 3: Mexicano Monday All Day

June 1-8: Community Health Week

June 8: Community Health Fair

June 4-7: 3:00-6:00 STEMForged Video Game Development Camp

June 11-July 27: Summer Reading Program

June 11-27: English II, III classes (English 1 will resume in September)

June 14: Library Closed for Staff Training

June 15: 10:00-12:00 Touch A Truck (garbage and recycle trucks) 10:30 Storytime

Stay up to date with the library activities at: https://jarrellcommunitylibrary.org/programs/

QDo you have a child between the ages of 9-18 that enjoys video games? JCLRC will be hosting the STEM Forged Video Game Development Camp again this year. The camp is open to all levels of gamers. Those students who attended in the past are welcome to be challenged to take their game development skills to the next level.

The camp is June 3-7 from 3:00-5:30 pm. It will be held at JMS, led by Tech teacher, Michael Griffith.

Cost: $125 for the 12 hour course. Do not let the cost discourage students from attending. The library will help find sponsors to lower the cost if needed.

Sign up soon! The class has limited seating.

Mark your calendars for our first Community Health Fair! A few of the guests will be We Are Blood Donation bus, St. David's Foundation Dental Bus, Williamson County WIC bus, and many vendors with give aways and information! Sign up to donate blood. See the flyer below.

Summer can be a time full of excitement and happiness. It is also a great time to invest in lifestyle habits and support your mental health. While there are some stressors unique to summer, such as feeling overwhelmed by the amount of activities and getting less sleep, it is a good time for most people's mental health. Therefore, it is a good time to set habits and prepare for the coming months.

Forming Habits

• Set Boundaries: You don't have to say yes to every opportunity you are presented with. Seek out the activities and plans that seem the best to you and take breaks when you need them.
• Set a sleep schedule: One possible way to do this is by sleeping with the sun, don't stay up for too long once it is dark outside.
• Engage in physical activity: Improving your physical health can have great benefits on your mental health. With the warmer weather comes more opportunities for outdoor exercise and play. Set a standard for how active you are now so that you will more likely find ways to stay active moving forward.
• Have fun: Making an effort to intentionally improve your mental health is beneficial, but don't let it get in the way of your fun.

Peer Support Specialist: Ailina Aponte

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

We are proud to announce ECourage 2 Overcome Counseling will be joining our library services. Starting Sunday, June 3rd at 10:30 am, there will be in person support group meetings every Sunday. Anyone struggling with anger who would like to find a pathway to a better you are welcome to join the group. Call the library to sign up or for more information.

We will be taking a short break from storytimes to prepare for Summer Reading starting June 11th.

For the May meetup the Prek-3rd graders made a list of what they wanted to accomplish during the Summer. Then made pompom launchers as a celebrative end of year craft. The 4th-12th graders worked on making buttons for the library while practicing teamwork and problem solving skills.

Remember the Jarrell Community Library is hosting a curriculum and book swap on the 22nd of May from 3pm-4pm.

The Friends of the Jarrell Community Library Group dedicate their time and efforts to raising funds for the library. We would like to thank Maya Wrought- President, Jenny Roberts - Axelrod-Vice President, Jennifer Leavitt-Secretary, Donna Oestrick- Treasureer of the Friend's Group for their excitement to bring Jarrell Library and Resource Center to the next level in Jarrell, Texas.

The next meeting of the Friends Group will be May 23 at 6:00 pm. We welcome all new members to join us in planning our Art and Wine Walk fundraiser being hosted at Serano Farms September 28th from 11am to 5pm. This will be our largest event to date. There is a need for many volunteers to create this event. Please spread the word to join us as we plan for the event.

This fundraiser is extremely important to the library's operations for 2025. St. David's Foundation graciously provided a grant to build capacity and to grow the library for the first three years. This grant comes to a close December 31st. The future success of the library is determined by fundraising.