COMMUNITY BABY SHOWER

 

 

On Saturday, April 27, 2013, the Bucyrus Public Library held its first ever Community Baby Shower.  The event was held from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. in the Library’s Community Room.  This event was targeted to first-time parents, parents-to-be, non-library patrons, and families who are involved in programs such as W.I.C., GRADS, etc.

            Agencies serving families and children were contacted to participate.  Those represented were:  SPARC, Child Care Choices, Crawford County WIC, OHCAC Head Start, Little Stars Daycare and Preschool, Voice of Hope Pregnancy Center, Bucyrus Public Library, and Avita Health System (Bucyrus and Galion Community Hospitals).  Sonshine Childcare and Preschool Center and Third Street OB/Gyn were scheduled to attend, but called prior to the event and had to cancel.

            Prior to the event, the library asked for RSVPs.  Fifteen responded, and the day of the event, fourteen attended.  10 of these were ones who had RSVP’ed and 4 were walk-ins.

            Attending agencies were placed around the Community Room.  Avita Health System Food Services provided refreshments for the day.  Cupcakes, bagged chips, an assorted fruit plate, and cookies, along with water and/or fruit juices were available. 

            A variety of door prizes were provided by WIC (diaper cake with baby items attached), Child Care Choices (gift bag filled with baby items), and OHCAC Head Start (package with diapers, package with breast pump, and two large filled baskets, one pink and one blue).  Attendees signed in as they entered the Community Room, and also signed up for door prizes as well.

            Attendees enjoyed going from table to table and speaking with agency representatives, as well as receiving a T.R.E.A.T.  tote, provided through a United Way grant to the Crawford Children’s Initiative, of which the library is a member.  They also enjoyed the variety of refreshments offered.

            Around the 1:00 p.m. hour, drawings for door prizes were held.  Several families/couples had stayed the entire time, so when door prizes were drawn, they got first pick of the items available.  Once all names were called, those not present were put back into the drawing to give away the remaining two prizes.

            As I started to move my items into the hallway to take back upstairs, a couple came down the stairs and asked if the door prizes had been drawn for.  I told them that they had been, but I did have two prizes that I would need to make phone calls for.  When I asked the name, it turned out that the mom-to-be had won the diaper cake from WIC.  The dad said, “I just want to tell you how great this was.  I have an 8-year-old, and they never did nothing like this back then.”  The mom-to-be was near tears as I handed her the diaper cake.

            All agencies were well pleased with the turnout and would definitely participate in an event next year.

 

LESSONS LEARNED FOR NEXT YEAR:

·         Email and/or send announcement out to schools.

·         Contact Wal-mart about possible donation of a stroller for a grand prize.

·         Advertise event on marquee at First Federal Community Bank downtown.

·         Remember to have tables set up for attendees to use for taking survey/eating.

·         Contact Galion and Crestline libraries to see if they wish to send information to be given out or have a presence at the event.

 



LEGO CLUB!!!

Our LEGO club met on December 1st from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.  We had our largest group ever, with 25 participants!

Here are pictures of some of the creations!

MORE LEGOS!!!

Our LEGO club met on May 5th and our attendees were quick to "get building"! Here are their creations!

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

Well, it's officially official! I received the author's copies last week and I am published again! Many thanks to Charles Harmon at Neal-Schuman and my super-fantastic editor, Kathy Buschbaum! Earl Musick of Bucyrus was the illustrator for my book. Check out his site as well: www.earlmusick.com

LEGO MY LEGO!!!

On March 3rd, 2012, the Bucyrus Public Library hosted its very first LEGO club. 9 eager participants built and rebuilt some AWESOME creations!

A big thank you goes to Gary Fyock of Galion, Ohio, who gifted the library with a large collection of LEGO pieces, including figures!

Check out our pictures below to see some of the COOL creations! (OH, and yes, we enjoyed snacks along the way...)

MY NEWEST BOOK!

Here's the description from the newest N-S catalog:

Are you tired of the same old activities for Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Valentine ’s Day? Do you have trouble finding activities for Grandparent’s Day, May Day, Earth Day, Rosh Hashanah, Diwali, or Ramadan? Here, you get countless activities for 33 holidays, saving you from scouring through hundreds of books and activities trying to find appropriate material.

Each chapter contains a small history of the holiday, an annotated collection of the perfect books, poems, and activities (such as coloring pages, cut-and-tell pages, draw-and-tell stories, flannel board stories, and games). Loads of finger plays included in each chapter make this book more than a guide to finding storytimes. Songs and crafts will bring life and variation to your holiday programming.

This one-stop compilation is easy to use and very inclusive. But the best part is the amazing amount of resources! You get over 700 activities, and at least 2 crafts and 2 cut-out drawings for each chapter. If you want story time to be amazing, this compendium has everything you need to serve your users instead of reinventing the wheel every year.

MY NEW BOOK!

Well, it was a long time coming! I pitched the idea for this book about 9 years ago to a variety of publishers and no one bit. A little over a year ago, I sent out the idea again. Charles Harmon of Neal-Schuman Publishers in New York was kind enough to offer me a contract and as of June 30th, 2010, I am a published author! The book appears in Neal-Schuman's latest catalog and I am told it was in Neal-Schuman's booth at the recent American Library Association gathering in Washington, D.C.! I think the book is perfect for librarians, of course, but also for preschool teachers and other early childhood educators!

Here is the description from the Neal-Schuman site:

"Watch the live video demonstrations to envision your new skills in action!

Incorporate creative, educational, and fun fingerplays into your storytime with this time-saving, uniquely extensive one-stop resource. Organized by theme from “apples” to “zoo”, experienced children’s librarian Barbara Scott’s one-thousand, ready-to-go fingerplays and action rhymes provide busy librarians and teachers with the up-to-date, cost-effective material needed to improve storytime without the extra planning time.

Scott explains numerous developmental benefits that children gain from fingerplays, and offers helpful guidance for selecting appropriate material and organizing and marketing storytimes. The book’s one-thousand fingerplays are grouped into over forty categories and span a wide range of themes, including different types of animals, foods, activities, games, colors, shapes, and more. Much more than just another storytime book, Scott brings her decades of successful experience to your screen through an accompanying DVD. Watch her perform all types of fingerplays and action rhymes so you can choose different styles to implement or adapt in your own storytime.

Learn to lead 1,000 fingerplays with confidence while your young listeners absorb listening and memorization skills, motor coordination, and a love of storytime fun."