close

Photographer John Bennett is featured artist at Beach library

6 min read

Weekly Activities

-Preschool Story Hour for children on Wednesday, July 8, at 10:30 a.m. Story Hour will meet in the Children’s area.

-Patriotic Inspiration presentation on Wednesday, July 8, at 10:30 a.m.

-Internet Searching for Beginners class on Friday, July 10, at 10:30 a.m.

-Summer Reading Program on Tuesday, July 14, at 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

Activity Details

Activities continue in the Preschool Story Hour. The children are lucky to hear stories which foster the imagination and offer better command of the language. We’ve had large groups the past three weeks and it’s equally gratifying to see the involvement of parents and caretakers.

Patriotic Inspiration focuses on our nation’s capitol via patriotic music and a visual display of Washington, D.C., its buildings and monuments.

The class for beginners or for those who search but don’t get satisfactory results offers a good opportunity to follow the basics. The poster for this class suggests a number of titles that would be helpful to read or consult before coming to the class. Pre-registration and $1.00 sign up fee are necessary.

Summer Reading Program continues with the sessions on July 14 for ages 8 & 9 at 9:30 a.m. and for ages 12 & 13 at 11:00 a.m. Pre-registration of children is necessary. Parents need not accompany the children but are expected to be present to pick up children after the session.

Upcoming Events

Knitters meet again on July 15 at 6:30 p.m. Those who’d like tips in knitting are most welcome, as well as those who enjoy comradrie with other knitters.

Dog Day is scheduled for July 16 from 4 to 5 p.m. Sign up children for a time to spend reading to dogs. We experience so many wonderful moments on this Day that it’s become a special time. When one sees the growth in reading comprehension among some children, it becomes reinforcement as to how important this literacy activity is.

Healthy feet, often a relief from knee, hip, back or neck pain, will be the center of attention by Dr. Nicole Bennett on July 17 at 1:30 p.m.

Artist of the Month

Beach resident and member of the North American Nature Photography Association, John Bennett is our featured artist this month in the Conference Room. He first discovered the wonders of photography while experimenting with an instamatic camera as a teen and one can see that his interest and travel in this art has enabled the capture of priceless scenes and moments.

He began his career in the U.S. Navy, receiving extensive training in traditional photographic techniques. While traveling with the Naval Aviation Choir, he documented the group’s performances during the Miss USA pageant, Today Show and myriad community and civic appearances. He is a multiple award winner of the All Navy and All Military Photography competitions, which no doubt contributed to his assignment as an instructor at the Naval Schools of Photography, and later the team photographer for the Navy’s Flight Demonstration Squadron “Blue Angels.”

Enjoy the images on display. There is much to saver as it’s clear John has advanced skills in both the darkroom and in the digital imaging lab. His work concentrates on nature, scenic and fine art subjects.

Lover of Crustaceans

You’ll notice a delightful array of unique and special treasures made out of S.W. Florida coastal shells. In the display case in Senior Zone and on top of the case near the library model are shell boxes. Each one has its own features and if you were to ask Bonnie Roberts, the avid sheller and lover of crustaceans for 50 plus years, how much time she devotes to each one, she’d quietly say “Oh, the hours aren’t important, it’s the love brought to the work.” When you look carefully at the work you can guess that the hours are many.

Bonnie’s mother researched and appreciated sea creatures and that dedication inspired Bonnie to be enthusiastic and thankful for the blessings from the sea.

In the display case at the top of the stairs on the second floor is more ‘bounty from the sea’ as exhibited in the snowflakes and platter and mirror creations. The shells she uses are permanently secured and triple glazed.

These gifts from the sea are worth stopping by for.

Volunteer

We need someone to help shelve returned materials on Thursdays from 9 to 1 for August, September & October. If you can assist, please fill out an application, we’ll set up a training time. If your schedule doesn’t permit every week during these months, consider being a sub, someone we can call upon to fill in when someone can’t make it because of a doctor’s appointment, unexpected need, etc.

Interlibrary Loan

We try to have as expansive a collection as possible and devote hours each week closely scrutinizing and searching among the many titles being published for the best to add to our collection.

With the myriad needs and interests of users, it is impossible to add every title that may be checked out or used in the library. One of the purposes of interlibrary loan is to request a title when we don’t have an applicable one in our collection.

Some users are conscientious in their use of interlibrary loan, checking to see first if there is a compatible title in our current collection that might serve the needed purpose or wish of the interlibrary loan title. Others seem to get a bit carried away requesting multiple titles without any further evaluation or cost to the library.

As libraries across the state struggle to meet growing usage of the library and its resources with budgets that are shrinking, the cost of interlibrary loan is under review. Most libraries find that such titles requested run around $20-30 per transaction. I try to review many of the interlibrary loan requests, finding it more economical to add the title to our collection instead of involving several staff in requesting, processing, and returning the title. Transportation, whether courier or via the mail, is becoming more costly, as you might guess. Some think that if it comes to government, cost is not a factor for it’s free. But that is not true-the cost is borne by the community. In addition, government should be run as efficiently as our most efficient institutions and companies.

Bottomline, evaluate and check what we have in our collection, and then, if a comparable title is not to be found, consider an interlibrary loan request.

Library Hours

Don’t remember library hours? Call for information. When we are closed, a recorder gives the hours of operation, either on 765-8162 or on 765-8163. Except for holidays, which would be mentioned on the recorder, we are open Monday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. We look forward to seeing you.