LOCAL LITERACY
The Jones County Library held their ribbon cutting on Wednesday, Aug. 2 to officially open Library Park for people in the Jones County community to have a place to sit outside as they enjoy their library time.
Branch manager Julie King said they were excited for the ribbon cutting that took place on Aug. 2. She said a lot of people in the community helped to make the outside area a success.
“The ribbon cutting was to let everyone know the library park is open now. We were really excited about it, because it’s been in the works for two years now,” she said. “We’re glad it’s finally done, and everyone can enjoy it.”
She said people in the community have already been taking advantage of Library Park. She said it’s nice to see people out at the tables on their laptops or reading. Families also like to have picnics out there, and she can’t wait until the weather cools down, so more people can be out there.
“Every child in the Jones County school system has something called a PlayCard they can use here at the library to check out books. It’s their student account number, and it’s the number they give the lunch lady at school. They can check out up to five books,” King said.
The branch manager said the PlayCards are a lot easier for the students to come in and use whenever they want. She said they love using the PlayCards at the library, because it’s something they can do on their own. She said a lot of students used them this past year, and it stays with them until the year they graduate.
“Summer reading was amazing. We partnered with the Jones County Board of Education with their summer reading,” the branch manager said. “We were able to use our Beanstack app to combine the two to make it simpler. The kids didn’t have to keep up with two things. We did so much this summer, too. It was great.”
She said there is no funding for the programs and prizes for summer reading, but lots of people in the community stepped up to help and donated funds to the library. She said she is grateful for all of the support, because the library couldn’t do all they do for the children in the community without all of the help.
King said they don’t have a lot scheduled at the Jones County Public Library for August, since they are planning for September and the rest of the year right now. She said keep an eye on the Jones County Library Facebook page for updates.
“Reading is everything we do. We want to promote literacy in everything we do here,” she said. “Everyone needs to know how to read, and the library park will hopefully help create a fun reading atmosphere. It’ll be nice to see more people out there.”
