The Jefferson County R.J. Bailar Public Library would like to extend our gratitude to all the community leaders, businesses and organizations that helped make our summer reading program possible, including:
The Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners, for their leadership and faithful support of the library and the annual summer reading program.
The Friends of the Jefferson County R.J. Bailar Public Library, whose generous support and advocacy is essential to library programs. The Friends of the Library volunteered their time, talents and money to make our theme of “Libraries Rock” come alive, funding training for our staff, food and decorations for events and equipment and prizes for the children.
The City of Monticello and the Monticello Police Department.
The local vendors and volunteers who provided entertainment, education, food, and gifts for the children and their families: Tampa Taiko Japanese Drums, the Florida Archaeology Network, Wizzle’s New Beat, the African-Caribbean Dance Theatre, children’s author Faith Harkey, Animal Tales, comedian Ron Anglin, Burger King, Carrie Ann & Company, Jump ‘n’ Fun Rentals, hot dog cook Marty Andrews and DJ George Pittman.
Hines and Janegale Boyd, William Massey, Dr. Barbara Reddick, Sam Madison, Jr., Angelo Barker and Anonymous, the generous donors of the grand prizes, which included three Amazon Fire Tablets and two bicycles. Children were able to enter the contest by reading during the summer and participating in library events.
We would like to make special mention of the NASA lunar rock and meteor program, which would not have been possible without the efforts of the following:
The National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) for generously making these rare and unique samples free to the public to help extend our firsthand knowledge of space and geology.
David Driggers, Jr. and the staff at FMB for housing these priceless discs in their vaults and for taking them out and locking them up each day we had an event.
Captain Mac Norton of the Monticello Police Department, who provided security for the lunar samples every day for two weeks, which enabled NASA to release the discs to the library safely.
Additionally, we would like to recognize the library staff, each of whom put many hours into organizing and leading these programs and providing a safe and welcoming environment for children and families during the summer. They are library paraprofessionals Terez Washington, Rani Rae Morgan, Ashley Garcia and Heather McClelland; Doris Andrews, who advocated tirelessly for this program and personally reached out to families every week; and Youth Services Librarian Courtney Nicolou who organized each program, coordinated the calendar, became a Certified Lunar Rock Handler, and led weekly storytimes for our babies and preschoolers.
Finally, we would like to thank the children who attended our programs and their parents and caregivers. Children who attend library programs over the summer are more likely to succeed in school and grow up as readers and writers. Your children are the future and your dedication to their success is remarkable.
If you participated in organizing, funding or leading the Libraries Rock summer reading program, and you are not mentioned here, please know that your support and involvement is no less appreciated. Our summer reading program was a huge success thanks to this wonderful community.
Natalie Binder
Library Director