QPL Connections by Delene Allen

 Thursday, June 1, 2023    ●   Wood County Monitor – Wood County, TX       

Don’t miss the QPL Summer Reading “Libraries Rock” kick-off party on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, featuring Rafael Espinoza & the Rockabilly Railroad beginning at 2 p.m. in the library’s Shamburger Community Room. Rafael is a Berklee College of Music graduate, winner of The Heart of Texas Blues Challenge, a recording artist, music instructor, and a great entertainer! Summer readers will make their own percussion shakers at the lobby craft tables hosted by the Friends of the Library.

Summer Reading entertainment for the remainder of the month will be as follows: June 13^th – “Painting Rocks Together" with the Quitman Garden Club; June 20^th – “50s Sock Hop” featuring top entertainer, Dale “The C” Cummings; June 26^th – “70s Disco!” featuring dancers from Dance Dimensions - Mineola. Programs are designed for children, but parents, grandparents, and friends are encouraged to join in the fun.

Visit the library’s website at www.quitmanlibrary.org or stop by for your “Libraries Rock” game card to earn free ice cream from Sonic – Quitman and a free all-day swim pass at the Coach Delbert Ballard Memorial Pool in Quitman, sponsored by the Quitman -Lake Fork Kiwanis. Prizes will be awarded on June 27, so start getting that game card filled up!

Knitting and crochet instruction class will continue to meet through the summer, each Thursday from 2 – 4 p.m. in the lobby. Students of all ages and skill levels may bring their own supplies and enjoy free instruction and pattern exchange.

The Wood County TX Genealogical Society will have volunteers on hand throughout the summer to assist you with your family history research. Contact Shirley Patrick (903) 312-8451for appointments and follow the society’s page at http://www.facebook.com/groups/woocotx.

Whyte Dove Writers’ Club meets monthly on second Tuesdays from 6 – 8:30 p.m. at the library. Consider joining this impressive group of local published authors.

Wood County Metal Detector Club is all about metal detecting and historical research here in Wood and surrounding counties. If you are interested in digging for treasure, join the meeting on first Mondays at 6:30 p.m. in the library’s Shamburger Community Room.

The In-Focus Photography Club of East Texas meets monthly on last Mondays in the library’s community room. Join the club and network with other photographers, share ideas, and participate in photography-related contests and events. Social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. followed by the 6:30 p.m. meeting and workshop. 

Patrons may connect to our library’s vast collection of eBooks, audio books and streaming videos by downloading the Libby® and SimplyE® apps.  

Notary service is generally available at the library during regular business hours, but to guarantee an appointment, call Susan Lomanto or Delene Allen 903-763-4191.

Visit the library’s online catalog at http://quitman.biblionix.com/catalog and select “What’s Hot” to see all the latest books, audiobooks, and DVDs ready to be checked out. Call us to sign up for email or text notifications to remind you when your books are due.  Check out the library’s online TexShare® database at www.quitmanlibrary.org that is loaded with invaluable and up-to-the-minute research tools and reference resources.  Patron cards are for Wood County residents with photo identification. A guardian must sign for children ages 5-17. Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.  Keep current at www.facebook.com/quitmanpubliclibrary.

Some people will believe anything if you whisper it to them.
--Miguel de Unamuno

Really Bad Analogies

These analogies are about as awful as something pretty bad can be ...  if you happen to be somewhere around negative stuff ... or something like that ...whatever.

Naugahyde

Heard this one from a librarian at another library (not mine). A person called on the phone and asked what animal was naugahyde  made from?

Library Usage on the Upswing in 2012

Library usage is on the upswing! If you have not noticed this recent phenomenon, just check out any of the public libraries and see for yourself. The local public library is definitely a happening place!

The Quitman Public Library has been serving a record number of patrons of late. There have been days where the parking lot is completely filled.

People are sometimes waiting for us to open each morning. Many come for the traditional reasons to read the papers, look at magazines, perform genealogical research, check out books, or enjoy a comfortable, quiet place to study or read. Others come to the library to use our public access computers, to access the Internet on their laptops using our wireless connection, to attend English as a Second Language Classes that take place each Thursday; to bring their children to Story Time each Friday at 11:00; to join in the Bluegrass Acoustical Jam Session that takes place each month (call 903-952-8305 for schedule).

The library’s computers are almost continually in use and the staff stays busy helping people with research, database searches, e-mail accounts and other informational needs.

I am surprised at how many people rely on the library’s 8 public access computers and Internet. Sometimes we have to put patrons on a waiting list. It is routine for many use the library’s computers to pay their bills online, correspond, check stock quotes, make online purchases, and a few people operate their small personal businesses using the library’s computers.

There is also a big increase in checking out movies, DVD's and audio books. Between unemployment and digital television, people are trying to find other outlets, and many are discovering what their public library has to offer. If you’re bored, come to the Quitman Public Library!

There has been a noticeable boost in reading over the past year. Reports show that circulation statistics have doubled, and nearly tripled on certain days. People are checking out their maximum of ten items at a time, then returning a week or two later for more.

People may not be aware of the variety of resources they can find at the Quitman Public Library. In addition to popular printed fiction and non-fiction books and periodicals, the library offers an array of additional media including local and regional newspapers, audio books, movies on video tape and DVD, genealogy resources, directories, children’s books and media, and nearly 27,000 books in electronic format.

Visit our website at www.quitmanlibrary.org