Welcome to the Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center

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The 14th annual Texas Word Wrangler Book Festival

Join us the second weekend in September for our biggest event of the year, the Texas Word Wrangler Book Festival. Our "word wranglers" are talented authors from all over the state of Texas who come to Giddings to share their passion for literature. Twenty-five authors are selected by the Word Wrangler Committee to headline the festival. They will be available at their booths to sell their books, sign autographs and take pictures when they are not speaking. Various book readings and talks are scheduled throughout the day on Friday only. We accept a wide range of book genres including: Murder-mystery, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Cookbooks, Self help books, and of course Jr. Fiction novels and picture books. Many local schools bring children to meet the authors to educate them on the writing process and to inspire them to love reading and writing. The Word Wrangler Festival is unique in that it is designed to promote and support the literary arts in Texas. Bring your family and experience the magic of The Texas Word Wrangler Book Festival.

See our schedule of events:

Thursday: Fundraiser Gala 6-8 pm

Join us for a lighthearted evening of celebration as we open the festival with the annual fundraising gala. For only $25 a ticket, you can rub shoulders with all of this year's headlining authors and our esteemed sponsors. Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served, catered by Reba's Pizzeria.

Friday: Festival indoors from 9-6

The Festival doors are open to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Friday. There is no charge for parking or entrance to the festival. Tour our beautiful library and meet all of the authors as you walk around the festival and stop at the different author's booths. Sections of the library will be reserved for author talks and readings. A schedule of these readings can be found in the library on Friday. Plan to purchase books for friends and family to support these local literary artists. If you are with a school, or other large organization please call 979-542-2716 and ask for Taylor to arrange a field trip to the festival on Friday.

Saturday: Festival indoors and outdoors from 9-3

The festival opens at 9 am Saturday for a day of family fun! There is no charge for parking or entrance to the festival. All of our headlining authors can still be found inside the library along with new authors from The Texas Association of Authors. Outdoors you can enjoy lunch at a local food truck, while children play on the bouncy houses, ride the barrel train, get their faces painted by our local GHS Buffalo Gals and much much more. Turn reading into a life-long love for your children with the memories you will make at The Texas Word Wrangler Book Festival.

If you are interested in reading more about The Texas Word Wrangler Book festival, check out these links below:

https://www.catheynickell.com/wrangling-words-and-authors/

wordwrangler.bookfestival.network

Click on the link below to follow us on Facebook and receive notifications of all of our free family events throughout the year.

https://www.facebook.com/gplacc/

If you are an author, and you wish to submit your book for review for The Texas Word Wrangler Book Festival 2020, please contact our Author Chairman Carolyn Dorsey at twwf2006@gmail.com.

Any other questions may be directed to the library staff at 979-542-2716.

We are currently accepting applications for volunteers who would like to participate in our Literacy Outreach programs! Volunteers must be adults (18+) with an active drivers license and their own vehicle, available on Tuesday mornings throughout the school year.

Our literacy outreach program sends a librarian or volunteer to a different school or day school center every Tuesday morning to bring the experience of story time at the library to the school kids! A volunteers job will be to: Pick up the bag of books and supplies from the library, drive to the assigned local school, follow school procedures for signing in as a visitor, read book and lead simple craft with class of school kids assisted by teachers, document the number of program participants for the library, sign out according to school procedures, and deliver the bag and all materials back to the library! The whole process takes no more than 1 hour on a Tuesday morning and you can sign up for as few or many as you like!

If interested, call the library at 979-542-2716 and ask for Miss Taylor. Thank you!

The Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center would like to thank everyone who participated and helped with the fantastic success of Summer Reading 2019! The Library registered over 250 local children ages 18 months to 18 years for the annual Summer Reading Program entitled “A Universe of Stories”. All summer the children developed their love of reading through our incentive based reading rewards program, while learning about space by engaging in six weeks of hands on learning activities with “A Universe of Stories” as the theme.

Week 1: Children learned about our galaxy The Milky Way, identifying different types of galaxies, and our solar systems place in the galaxy and the universe. Then we made galaxy colored slime for a fun reinforcement activity.

Week 2: Children learned about force, air pressure, and propulsion by making and shooting their very own rockets with science teacher Jason Kuiper.

Week 3: Children learned about the different planets in our solar system and used a chemical reaction to blow up their own mini planets!

Week 4: The moon! Kids learned about the earth’s very own satellite, the moon. Everyone got to participate in hands on experiments to learn about the different aspects of the moon.

Week 5: Special guest Carolina Quiroga-Herrera from the Tres Cuentos podcast brought us stories from across the universe with her bi-lingual storytelling program.

Week 6: What is the most unique part of our universe? The humans who live in it! This special program focused on the uniqueness of each child and the special gifts they bring into the universe. Then our friends at Reba’s pizzeria blessed us with their special talent! Pizza Making! They did a pizza making demonstration where all the kids got to help make a pizza and eat some!

Children ages 3-6 years old celebrated the end of the Summer Reading Program on July 24^th, with an end of summer party at the library. The children played in pools with water guns, slid down a water slide, threw water balloons, and more summer water games! The end of Summer Reading celebration for the 7-12 year olds was held at the Giddings City Pool on July 25^th. The children at both parties enjoyed hotdogs, lemonade, chips, and popsicles for their party lunches.

Programs like this would not be possible without the out-of-this-world community that supports it! The turnout of children, the great support of our very faithful volunteers, the wonderful contributed talents of our guest presenters, and the generous support of many businesses and individuals within Giddings and Lee County made for a very successful summer program. The Giddings Public Library’s Summer Reading program continues to be a staple of Lee County’s summer!

Giddings Public Library Director - Pamela Hutchinson, Children’s Librarian - Taylor Lara, and the rest of the library staff: Rosa Tovar, Jackie Arteaga, Lupe Barron, and Bonnie Wenke: Thank you all!

Accepting Teen Volunteer Applications Now!

Looking for Something to do This Summer?

Try Volunteering at the Library!

We Always Need Help With Our Summer Programs!

Work will include, but is not limited to:

Typing, printing, and cutting materials; Creating and assembling various props and crafts needed for library programs and displays, and supervising and co-leading group activities.

Looks great on scholarship applications
Fantastic work experience
Leadership opportunities available!

Fill out an application by JUNE 13^th at the Giddings Public Library.

Ask for Taylor- (979) 542-2716

BLACK OUT POETRY

Have you heard of black out poetry? This unique art form is rising in popularity all over social media. The concept is simple: take a page of printed words from a book, magazine, or newspaper etc. and "black out" some of the words to create your own unique poem or prose with a completely different meaning than the original. Try it this National Poetry Month, April, at the Giddings Public Library in the Jr. Lounge. Post your finished work on Facebook or Instagram and #gplacc or #giddingspubliclibrary and #blackoutpoetry.

National Library Week is coming soon!

Join us in celebrating the impact that local libraries have on their communities across the country by visiting your local library April 7th - 13th. We will be providing walk-in activities all week long, with take home crafts, and opportunities to win books and other great prizes. Refreshments will be provided on Friday, April 12th. Come in and enjoy all that your library has to offer during National Library Week and all year long!

March 2nd would have been the 115th birthday of the legendary children’s book author, Theodore Seuss Geisel. Celebrate with us at the Giddings Public Library by checking out a Dr. Seuss book from our Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss display in the children’s section. Enter the contest by coloring and decorating a birthday card for the doctor. The library staff will choose our favorite card and the winner will receive a gift bag of Dr. Seuss merchandise.

“Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive that is you-er than you!”
— “Happy Birthday To You” by Dr. Seuss

ADULT COMPUTER CLASSES

Get comfortable and confident with computers!

For only $25 you can join one of our new computer basics classes! Sign up for a 6 week long class starting January 15th. This class is considered an introductory course for beginners. The lesson plans will include the parts of the computer, how to turn a computer on and off, how to use the mouse, how to use the keyboard, files and folders, and basic internet safety. Classes will be held every Tuesday evening from 5:30 - 6:30 starting on January 15th. To join the class you must sign up by calling or coming in to the front desk. We must have your registration information complete and your $25 paid before the 15th. We have a 10 student minimum on the class, so if we do not get 10 students signed up we will have to cancel it, and any students who have already signed up will be automatically moved into the next available class.

The Winter Reading Challenge is back!

This year, the children of Giddings need to "Warm up to a Good Book!" in this marshmallow challenge! For every Easy or Jr. Fiction book checked out this winter (Dec.- Feb.) One "marshmallow" will be added to the giant cup of hot cocoa on display! The goal is to beat last year's record of 1,554 books!

Are you ready? Go!

Getting ready to travel for the holidays? We can help!

The Giddings Public Library is excited to re-introduce our December reading contest, "Fuel Up and Read". The first 5 adult patrons (age 18 and older) who check out and read 10 books from the Giddings Public Library from December 1st – December 21st, will win a $25.00 gas card from the Giddings Public Library!

Start your engines! Read!

It's November!

That means Food for Fines is back!

We host this event every year from November 1st - November 19th. Anyone with outstanding library fines can bring in canned goods to donate to the local food pantry in exchange for their fines. One can = $3 in fines! This offer is valid on accounts with up to $100 in fines. Court cases, non-returned items, and lost items are not eligible. Please donate your unopened packaged or canned food even if you don't have fines that need forgiving! Let's spread some cheer this holiday season.

Sing it with me!

"This is Halloween, this is Halloween, Pumpkins scream in the dead of night..."

Are you as excited for the holidays as we are right now? We are busy getting ready for all of the Halloween fun here at the library.

First is the Story Time Halloween Party from 10:30-11:30 on the morning of October 31st. We will read a story, do a craft, and enjoy party refreshments before trick-or-treating through the library! If you plan to attend, please call Miss Taylor at 979-542-2716 Ext. 202 and sign up to bring a refreshment to share. Don't forget to come in costume and bring a treat bucket.

Then, come back after school for our annual Family Halloween Festival from 3:30 - 6:30. Enjoy face painting, apple bobbing, crafts, coloring, contests, a kid-sized haunted house, and almost a dozen games with prizes completely free! Bring a little pocket money if you would like to buy a treat from one of our refreshment tents, or a pumpkin from the Lee County Christmas Tree Farm! If you choose to buy a pumpkin, you can paint it at the festival before you take it home!

Everyone who comes to the library in costume on October 31st, may also trick or treat the librarians, and spin the "Spooktacular Prize Wheel" for a chance to win great giveaways!

We take great pride in offering this festival almost completely free for our community every year, so that families of all abilities and income levels have a place to celebrate Halloween! Come and join us!

eShelf & Research - Work and research from the office or from home, anytime:

TexShare Databases: books, articles, research databases, and more
Selected Sites: what's good on the Web
Community Organizations: local, nonprofit groups and services
Good Reads: book reviews, top sellers, author interviews, and news headlines
Try these databases filled with magazine articles, encyclopedia entries, and other materials to help you discover more on any subject, from general interest to business, hobbies, and more. Please see your librarian for the password.