The Van Alstyne Public Library landscaping is beautiful again, thanks to Girl Scouts who volunteered with Great Days of Service this past weekend. 

When I drove into the library parking lot on Saturday morning, girl scouts of all ages were swarming the flower beds, attacking weeds, raking already cleaned areas, and sweeping up debris from the sidewalks.  I was impressed with the smiling faces and the diligent work. 

Thank you girls for your excellent work and for the contribution you have made to community service and beautification.  Thanks also to the one who donated the mulch to cover the reworked flower beds.

Great Days of Service has frequently made the library a beneficiary of their excellent community service efforts.  We appreciate it very much.

The Friends of the Library Annual Book Sale was a tremendous success.  If you didn’t walk out with treasures, it’s because you didn’t manage to get there.  Thanks to June Vermillion and Pat Hendricks for co-chairing the event.  Thank you to all the people who have donated books for the past year.

Thanks to the many volunteers who moved boxes, unpacked them, arranged them on tables by category, prepared food for the spread on Thursday evening, manned the cash register, and carried out the multitude of details that often are overlooked but are necessary to make sure an event is successful.

Thanks especially to the Boy Scouts and Teen Council members who boxed up the leftover books, broke down the extra boxes, and swept the community center afterwards. 

Leftover books will go to Goodwill and some will be offered to the Crisis Center, McKinney Hospital Emergency Room, Care Now Clinic, or doctors' waiting rooms.

Free computer classes began at the library on September 13 at 2:30.  The same class will also be offered on Thursdays at 6:00 to accommodate those who can’t get to the early class.  The class is paced for beginners and covers the basics such as how to use word processing, how to search on the Internet, and how to use e-mail.  The six week long class will spend two days on each of the competencies.  Please call 903-482-5991 to register ahead of time.

Bilingual story time meets after school on Tuesdays at 4:00.  While children age 3-9 are engaged in story time with Amy Parrish, Laura Hornbeck will provide literacy activities with parents to help them strengthen their English language skills.  The program is designed to involve English speakers who want to practice their Spanish, as well as Spanish speakers who want to improve their English.

The library is planning to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month on September 25, with a party, a story time, and a piñata.  We invite everyone who likes parties to join us at the library from 12-2.  National Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15-October 15 and is a time to celebrate the cultural heritage of Hispanics as well as their contributions to America.