50th Anniversary of Doctor Who!

This Saturday, November 23rd is the 50th anniversary of the sci-fi show Doctor Who!

EXCITEMENT

If you're not familiar with the show, you should be! It is an extremely popular TV series. I first became familiar with the series when I was still a senior in high school. I heard so much about it, but I didn't take the time to watch it until Syfy had a marathon one Saturday (back when I didn't have a job). I was instantly hooked.

I Like Libraries

I mentioned a few posts back that I also work at the public library and I talked about what we offered along with the summer programming. Fall programming is in full swing and there's some cool stuff that you should know about.

For out high school readers, the library is introducing a Teen Advisory Council and those who participate can earn volunteer hours. Those of you that are in groups like National Honor Society or the International Baccalaureate Program that require community service hours, you can fulfill those here.

After every meeting, there will be a movie matinee at 2:00 PM.  The council meets the first Saturday of every month. The next meeting is on October 5th at 1:00 PM. So you get your volunteer hours and a movie.

Our greatest goal of the library is to get more children reading. For our readers that have families with younger children, we have four different story times. We try to accommodate all kinds of time constraints when it comes to our story times. 

The amount of time a child spends reading books is related to the child's reading level in the fifth grade and growth in reading proficiency from the second to the fifth grade. The case can be made that reading books is a cause, not merely a reflection, of reading proficiency (x).

We also have programming for older children:

Of the three learning activities—reading, studying, and television—only reading was linked to achievement. We found that children who spent time reading for pleasure did better on tests of cognitive achievement (x). 

Since Halloween is a little over a month away, we're doing a costume exchange as well. 

For all our other readers that want to volunteer at the library (who wouldn't?), you can sign up through The City of Tyler. You can help promote literacy, work with cool people and make children happy.

Farmer's Market!

I promised our followers on Twitter you totally should if you aren't yet following us a blog post regarding Thursday when I went to the farmer's market (the one downtown on the library's patio).

I used more exclamation points than I realized

If you want to make it this week: the farmer's market is Thursdays from 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM. There's many benefits to supporting your local farmer's market, but what I love the most is the variety of things you can buy. 

Yes!

While I was there, there were fruits and vegetables, freshly ground coffee, gluten-free baked goods made from all natural ingredients, sundresses, pillows, homemade soaps, and natural hair products. 

Just a portion of the patio

I left the farmer's market with a watermelon, a cantaloupe, some cucumbers, and some coffee. I will probably be there again next week because those homemade soaps smelled wonderful.

Try out the farmer's market at least once and you'll see how much you'll love it. Tell me why you love the farmer's market (or if you don't).

Things in the City of Tyler: Tyler Public Library

Yes, we have a library on campus, in case you still have yet to figure that out.  However, there are students on campus that have not ventured out to the Tyler Public Library. I currently work at the public library, so let me introduce you. If you live within the Tyler city limits, (i.e. you have moved here recently or pay Tyler property taxes*) all the resources are free. Ready for a walk-through?