Logo courtesy the Jackson Madison County Library
In an effort to offer new resources and opportunities for community engagement, the Jackson-Madison County Library has added several unique items to its collection, including a community journaling project, learning kits and book bundles, according to a Wednesday morning news release from the library.
The journaling project called the Pages of Madison County, includes 40 journals for check-out to allow the community to share stories, memories, book and movie recommendations, recipes, poetry and sketches on a particular theme. Themes range from memories of the quarantine, sketches of animals, stories your grandparents told you, prayer requests and jokes, to ongoing stories with titles such as “Giraffes In Space” and journals for fans of series like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Harry Potter.
The project encourages creativity and connection during a time when people are trying to stay socially distant. The library hopes that the journals will allow the community to create a collection that can be enjoyed for years to come. A complete list of available journals is on the Library’s Facebook page and patrons can search the library’s online catalog for “The Pages of Madison County.”
After the project was posted on Facebook, it was shared in several library Facebook groups, catching the attention of two national organizations, the American Library Association and the Young Adult Library Services Association. Both organizations have contacted the library and plan to feature the program in upcoming publications.
Another new collection aims to assist parents and students who are having to learn in a virtual environment. Each learning kit includes two books and a few hands-on items for parents to explore together with their children covering topics such as geology, counting money, insects, geography and math, to name a few. Currently, there are 25 kits to choose from, with more added weekly. Kits are also being prepared specifically for teens and for early-literacy. Search the catalog for “learning kit” for the complete list.
For young adults and adults, the library has created 12 book bundle kits. Each kit includes three to four books related to a specific genre such as romance, mysteries, westerns, true crime and science fiction. Patrons can discover new authors and titles and “binge” read books based on what they enjoy reading most. The bundles can be found in the catalog under “book bundle.”
“Our staff are constantly thinking of ways to serve our community, particularly as many people are limiting their interactions with others,” said Dinah Harris, Library Director. “We hope people will take this opportunity to not only discover our newest collections, but to take advantage of all the services and resources that we already offer. Being recognized by two of the pre-eminent organizations in our field is exciting and we hope people check out these journals and enjoy what others have written or sketched.”
The Jackson-Madison County Library is located at 433 E. Lafayette St. in downtown Jackson and the North Branch is located at 8 Stonebridge Blvd next to China Pan Buffet. For more information, contact the Library at 731-425-8600, visit the Library’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/JMCLibrary or its website at www.jmclibrary.org.