Story By John Mann
Even with the summer reading program wrapped up the Albertville Public Library is still continuing to host events as they work to get back into a permanent facility. This past Wednesday they held Storytime in the Park at Sand Mountain Park, reading a book and playing outdoor games.
The book, which was read by Children’s Services Director Samantha Daniels, was Billy’s Bucket by Kes Gray and illustrated by Garry Parsons. The 2003 story follows Billy as he receives a bucket as a gift and finds out that when filled with water it contains an entire ocean’s worth of life, much to the disbelief of his parents. The book is a fun story about imagination and the importance of listening and paying attention to children. The book is one of the many children’s books that the library has since recovered following a fire earlier this year that stopped all in person services.
“I thought the story was great,” Social Media Clerk Julia Honea said. “Billy’s Bucket is truly a great story and perfect for all these kiddos in Albertville to learn the true value of a bucket. It’s a book from our library that we recovered along with some other children’s books since the fire. Thankfully a lot of our patrons have brought back our children’s books that were checked out.”
Honea says that it’s not too late to bring back any materials that were checked out before the library fire, and that there will be no fees or penalties for anything returned to the drop box at the library located at 200 Jackson Street. She says that getting materials back helps them figure out how much of the collection they have and that it “really helps our progress for when things open back up.”
Even though the library is not currently conducting physical services, library card are still being issued for patrons to take advantage of digital services like Libby, which offers eBooks and audiobooks. Library cards can be applied for by messaging the library on Facebook and can be delivered via mail.
The library has plenty of events planned for this fall, which includes even more Storytimes in the Park under Daniels. On September 9 at 10 am they will be hosting True Crime Tuesday at the Taste and See Coffee Shop which will focus on the Yuba County 5, a group of five men who disappeared in the 1970s in California and of whom one was never found.
“You’ll be able to come by, grab some coffee, listen to a podcast maybe, take some notes and go over what they think really happened to the Yuba County Five.” Honea said.
This Thursday there will also be Playtime Tales at 10 am, featuring more story time and activities, at the Rotary Park behind the library. It shows that even without a library building at the moment the staff is committed to providing service to the community.
“We’re looking forward to just getting our boots on the ground this fall,” Honea said. “We’re hoping to have a temporary location soon so we can reopen and better accommodate the community but most of all we’re looking forward to the eventual reopening of the library itself.”
The Albertville Public Library can be found on Facebook under “Albertville Public Library – Alabama.”
