Tag Archives: Grassroots Library

by wmecommunityworks | June 16, 2016 · 9:57 pm

Ongoing and Upcoming Events

Happy One Year Anniversary, WME Community Library!

We opened June 8, 2015. What does our ongoing growth look like?

We now serve 75 families.

We have over 1,000 books and multimedia items in our system.

We have checked out 1, 015 items to our patrons since we opened our doors last year!

Thank you to all of our board members and all of you who have donated time, books, and various resources to our library. We love our communities and hope to continue to be even more better able to serve them.

Ongoing Events:

Our Summer Reading Program runs from May 31-July 30. Your children don’t have to be members to participate. Simply bring your kiddoes in and as long as they can tell us one sentence about a book they read, they will receive:

1 coupon for a child’s cone from Treats R Us

The choice of 1 item from our prize box

& a chance to enter their name in a drawing to win a gift card.

Please also donate to our library via crowd funding. No donation is too small. For more information and to make an online donation, please copy and paste this link to your browser: https://fundly.com/the-little-library-that-could

Upcoming Events:

June 24- Open House from 4-6pm. We will have a membership and Summer Reading Program Drive, small book sale, and the creation station will be open to your children for somewhere cool and safe to play from the heat.

June 28- Culver’s Fundraiser from 5-7pm. A portion of the proceeds earned during this time will benefit the library.

September 18– Paint with Stang Arts for the WME Library. Cost is $40. All painting supplies and light refreshments will be provided.

October 22– Monster Dash 5k for the library in Watson, IL. Check your newsletters and back to this website for more details.

November 17– Family Read Night. Great things are in the works for this event that the entire family will enjoy.

Thank you! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments or email: wmecommunityworks@gmail.com

We Need Your Help

Last week, we began an online crowd funding effort through the Fundly site. Please follow this link: The Little Library That Could

Nearly a year after opening our doors, we’ve grown. We now have over 3,000 book titles and media available to our patrons. Eighty families are signed up with our Little Library That Could. We offer public access to computers, free Wi-Fi, free workshops such as yoga, summer reading programs, story times, and family movie and craft events. Much of what we offer is available to everyone in our communities, regardless of membership. (Membership is only $5 for your entire family, good for one year).

We really do love our communities and wish to better serve them. The WME Community Library has great plans for the future: Mentoring programs, after school homework help, computer literacy, internet courses, free workshops from more yoga to genealogy, and more.

We want to help our communities thrive.

What can you do to help?

Donate to our online fundraiser. No amount is too small.
Donate new books (books that have come out in the last five years) and classic titles for all age groups.
Attend our fundraisers.
Share our online fundraiser, other events, and library hours on social media.
Volunteer. Please. We need volunteers and love them for sharing their time and resources.

Upcoming Events:

Summer Reading Program begins Tuesday, May 31st
Culvers Fundraiser: eat at Culvers June 28th from 5-7pm and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the library
Paint with Stang Arts fundraiser Sept. 18th
Monster Dash 5k for the library on October 22nd
November 17 is Family Read Night

Five Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month and the WME Community Library is celebrating our love for all things verse.

This April marks the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month and is the world’s largest literary celebration. To find out more about this national event, please visit http://www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/home for more information.

Here are five ways you can add a little poetry to your life:

Read poetry. This goes without saying, but there are so many poets to read, from the classics such as Shakespeare and Whitman, to more modern poets such as Maya Angelou and Alice Jones. Add a twist to story time with your children and read them Shel Silverstein for lots of giggles and fun language.
Our recommendations (and available for checkout): Good Poems, Selected and Introduced by Garrison Keillor. Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.
Attend a poetry slam/reading. Slams and readings introduce you to local creatives and broaden your poetry horizons. Poetry often flourishes in these environments, wherein you discover new, fresh voices.
Create and share your own poetry. Poetry doesn’t have to rhyme, or be pages long, to express something important. Try your hand at it- write about anything you please and share it with friends and family. Read it aloud to your family, or share with your friends on social media.
Read a memoir or biography on a favorite poet. Recommended reading (and available for checkout): I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. We lost this great legend, but her powerful and evocative poetry, as well as her personal story, continues to inspire dreamers and survivors today.
Watch a poetry or poet inspired movie. There are brilliant movies and documentaries out there about poets such as Sylvia Plath (Sylvia) or Dylan Thomas (Set Fire to the Stars). Then there is the penultimate ode to verse, Dead Poet’s Society, starring the late, great Robin Williams. Set Fire to the Stars is available on Netflix, and Dead Poet’s Society is running on Hulu.

Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.
~Carl Sandburg

Grand Opening and June Library Hours

Superhero Summer Reading Program

Come celebrate the Grand Opening of the WME (Watson, Mason, Edgewood) Community Library on June 8.

We will be there from 3pm-7pm and kicking off our inaugural Superhero Summer Reading Program.

During our grand opening, we are also available to issue library cards. Cost is $5 per family. The WME Community Library serves citizens of Watson, Mason, Edgewood, and West and Union Townships.

Bring your children to register for their Superhero Reading Adventure. The odyssey begins June 8 and runs until August 1.

(No library card needed. Anyone can participate in library activities.)

Kids will start off with their own Superhero book tote:

Which will include a WME Summer Reading Program calendar of events, and a few other top secret goodies. Scheduled activities include: Story time for children of all ages every other Tuesday at 10am, crafts, a super hero movie night (Big Hero Six for the younger children and the latest Avengers release for the older set), as well as an end-of-summer rewards party. We will have weekly prizes available for all participants who meet their goals, and a drawing for a bicycle at the end of the program.

Our Children’s’/Young Adult section will be open as well as a selection of adult popular fiction and nonfiction. We will also provide two computers, with free internet access, and a printer to the public during library hours.

Other highlights include: Community computer classes and activities for all ages.

This fall, we will be expanding our adult selection as well as creating the very special Willow Tree Children’s Library Lounge, dedicated to the memory of Willow Long. This will feature an inspired mural by local artist Jamie Stang.

June Hours:

Mondays: 3pm-7pm

Tuesdays: 9am-11am

Wednesdays: 9am-11am

Thursdays: 9am-11am & 2pm-7pm

Fridays: Closed

Saturdays: 1pm-4pm

Sundays: Closed

Upcoming Events:

June 27: We will be taking part in the Edgewood Fest Parade. Look for sign up sheets at the grand opening and during regular library hours.

July 13: Fundraiser at Culvers. Come eat from 5-8pm and a portion of the proceeds will go to the library.

August: Trivia Night at the Watson Civic Center (more details coming soon)

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions please comment below, emails us wmecommunityworks@gmail.com, or call Tonia Harris with any questions at the phone number: 618-238-9213.

Spread the word!

Images of a library in progress: