Let’s celebrate Black History Month and Valentine’s Day at the Library!

Hiya everyone!! Miss Tandra here! I hope everyone is healthy and happy and enjoying the weather! Ahhh February...here in the blink of an eye! It seems like only yesterday it was New Year’s Eve! Monday, February 14^th is Valentine’s Day! It is sneaking up on us. In my opinion, Valentine’s Day is not ONLY about showing love to friends and family, but also about making yourself feel loved, believed in, and appreciated and making others feel the same! “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”- Maya Angelou, author and poet. It is a chance to make a new friend or make someone’s day. To me, love is the best medicine! When we show kindness and acceptance to others, that is a way of showing love.

February celebrates more than just Valentine’s Day. Did you know the entire month of February is Black History Month? Fun fact: The acknowledgement of Black History Month began as only a week-long celebration, which was created in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, a noted African American historian, scholar, educator, and publisher. It became a month-long celebration in 1976. The month of February was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. I would like to celebrate by showing loads of LOVE for all of our differences! I asked my son, “What would you think if everyone was exactly like you? Same name, same hair color, same clothes-same everything?” My 6 year old son says, “If everyone was just like me-that would be so boring!” I could not agree more, kiddo! “We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.”- Jimmy Carter

We want to know what our patrons love. Whether it is books, food, family, friends, sports, TV- absolutely anything you really love - we want to know! In the children’s department, there will be paper hearts where you can write down what makes your heart skip a beat. We will hang it on our giant heart in our hallway for everyone to see! Our goal is to have it filled up with all the different things everyone loves! To CELEBRATE love & differences!

Also in February, enjoy the power of reading aloud with the thirteenth annual World Read Aloud Day on Wednesday, February 2. We have plenty of wonderful books that would be perfect to help you read-aloud. VOX books are a seamless way to enjoy reading aloud. Press play, listen, and escape into a story or some fun facts! Here are some of my favorite VOX books at the library:

Our Little Kitchen written by: Jillian Tamaki

Toasty written by: Sarah Hwang

From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate written by: Robin Nelson

Maybe written by: Kobi Yamada

Inky the Octopus written by: Erin Guesndelsberger

Too Many Carrots written by: Katy Hudson

Butts Are Everywhere written by: Jonathan Stutzman

Wemberly Worried written by: Kevin Henkes

We have lots of VOX books so come to the library and check some out! Who knows? Maybe you will learn something new about others…you might even learn something new about yourself!

For more information and resources on Black History Month and World Read Aloud Day, check out these website links!

beyondthebookends.com/18-kids-books-for-black-history-month

pbs.org/parents/thrive/childrens-books-to-celebrate-black-history-month

asalh.org

tuskegee.edu/black-history-month-2022

familyfuntwincities.com/world-read-aloud-day

litworld.org/worldreadaloudday

scholastic.com/worldreadaloudday