HOLIDAY VISITORS AT LPPL: SANTA & MRS. CLAUS SIGHTING & LADY CHOPS
The holiday season is here! If you and your family are looking for fun and free activities, head on over to your local library. This holiday season, we’ll have tons of holiday programs, including Santa & Mrs. Claus at your library. Each main branch (Thibodaux, Lockport, and South Lafourche) will also be hosting Lady Chops, a one-woman drum show.
Check the list below for holiday visitors in your community.
Choctaw
Mrs. Claus & Ornament Craft: Mrs. Claus will be here to make ornaments and take pictures with her little friends.
Wednesday, December 4, 4:30 PM
Thibodaux
Christmas Open House w/ Mr. & Mrs. Claus: Families with children of all ages are invited to come take photos w/ Santa & Mrs. Claus and create a Christmas-themed craft! Mrs. Claus will also provide story times at 15-20 minute intervals throughout the two hours.
Tuesday, December 10, 4:00-6:00 PM
Lady Chops Christmas Event: Special Guest, Lady Chops is coming back to Lafourche for a special event! Elizabeth Vidos, aka Lady Chops, is bringing her one woman drumming show to Louisiana Libraries! Her holiday show is energetic, interactive and fun for all ages.
Jean Lafitte National Park
Monday, December 23, 10:00 AM
Bayou Blue
Mrs. Claus Visit: Visit with Mrs. Claus at the library. Bring your cameras for photos!!
Monday, December 16, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Raceland
Mrs. Claus is coming to storytime! Come visit and take pictures with Mrs. Claus. Bring your cameras for photos!!
Tuesday, December 17, 11:00 AM
Gheens
Story Time with Santa: Santa will be arriving at 4:45pm at the Gheens Public Library for a story time. Please bring cameras for photo ops.
Tuesday, December 17, 4:45 PM
Lockport
Morning Story Time “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” & pictures with Mrs. Claus. Don’t forget to bring your camera!
Thursday, December 12, 10:30 AM
Pictures with Santa: Have you taken a picture with Santa? Fret not! Santa will be making his way to the library to take pictures with everyone. Don’t forget to bring your camera!
Thursday, December 12, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Lady Chops Christmas Event: Special Guest, Lady Chops is coming back to Lafourche for a special event! Elizabeth Vidos, aka Lady Chops, is bringing her one woman drumming show to Louisiana Libraries! Her holiday show is energetic, interactive and fun for all ages.
Monday, December 23, 2:00 PM
Larose
Story Time & Craft with Mrs. Claus: A story hour for children ages 0 to 5 that incorporates finger plays, song, and dance that follows with a craft program.
Thursday, December 19, 1:00 PM
South Lafourche
Photos with Santa: Tell Santa what you’d like for Christmas and take a photo with St. Nick when he visits the library this holiday season.
Tuesday, December 10, 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Lady Chops Christmas Event: Special Guest, Lady Chops is coming back to Lafourche for a special event! Elizabeth Vidos, aka Lady Chops, is bringing her one woman drumming show to Louisiana Libraries! Her holiday show is energetic, interactive and fun for all ages.
Monday, December 23, 5:00 PM
Golden Meadow
Pictures with Mrs. Claus: Mrs. Claus has traveled all the way from the North Pole to the bayou to take pictures with our patrons. Parents can bring cameras to take photos but one print will be given per family.
Tuesday, December 3, 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
For more information on other holiday programs, check our calendar online, or call/stop by one of our branches today.
COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION WEEK
Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) is an annual program held during December 9-15, dedicated to inspiring students to take interest in computer science. At LPPL, we will be hosting Hour of Code programs at our branches. Hour of Code is an opportunity for every student to try computer science for one hour. Check out our calendar to get the scoop on all of the great events that we have planned for Computer Science Education Week.
INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY
Libraries are community hubs, and wouldn’t be successful without the help of our volunteers. We at LPPL truly appreciate our communities and the people who assist us. That’s why we’ll be celebrating International Volunteer Day. International Volunteer Day is held each year on the 5th December. We at LPPL view this day as a unique chance for us to celebrate our volunteers and their efforts, and to promote community efforts to build a better tomorrow. Our library volunteers are involved in many aspects of library service, such as planning and preparing programs and activities, shelving items, pulling materials to fill patron requests, and assisting with the summer reading program. We accept volunteers of all ages, and opportunities and opening vary from branch to branch. Interested in volunteering your time at your local branch? Just call or come in to ask how you can help.
NEW YEAR'S EVE
Didn’t 2019 fly by? It’s already time to celebrate the New Year. Before you start making your New Year’s resolutions, head on over to your favorite library branch. Since we won’t be open when the clock strikes midnight, we’ll be kicking off the New Year with Noon Year celebrations, which focuses on bringing families together to celebrate the upcoming year. Each branch will be hosting its own unique 2020 celebration.
Choctaw
Noon Year’s Eve: Celebrate New Year’s Eve in a fun new way. We will have a fun craft, snack, a countdown to noon, photo ops and lots of fun on Monday, December 30, at 11:30 AM
Thibodaux
Noon Years Eve Kids Craft: Children are invited to bring in the “Noon” Year with us at the Thibodaux library. All will be participating in making their very own “whistle blowing craft” to use for the celebration on Monday, December 30, 11:30 AM
Bayou Blue
Noon Year’s Eve Celebration Story Time: Join us for themed rhymes, songs, activities, and stories for children on Monday, December 30, at 10:30 AM.
Raceland
Goodies: Come make one last sweet hooray as Santa helps us bring in the New Year before heading back to the North Pole on Monday, December 30, at 12:00 PM.
Gheens
Noon Year’s Eve Monday Movie Matinee-Disney’s The Lion King: Join us in watching Disney’s The Lion King to ring in the New Year on Monday, December 30, at 2:00 PM
Lockport
NYE Celebration: We are kicking off the new year a little early at the library. Come enjoy games and activities with friends on Monday, December 30 at 2:00 PM.
Larose
Noon Year’s Eve: Celebrate New Year’s Eve in a fun new way. We will have snacks, games and prizes to welcome the New Year on Friday, December 27, at 11:00 AM.
South Lafourche
Noon Year’s Eve Extravaganza: Join us for a fun-filled hour of games and crafts as we count down to the noon hour on Monday, December 30, at 11:00 AM.
Golden Meadow
Noon Year’s Eve Celebration: We are kicking off the new year a little early with a Noon Year’s Eve celebration at the library. Come enjoy activities, a craft, and a Noon Year’s Eve countdown on Monday, December 30, at 11:30 AM.
WONDERBOOKS & VOX BOOKS
One of LPPL’s main goals as a public library is to inspire a love of reading and lifelong learning. The most important activity for building knowledge for future success is learning how to read. Research shows that hearing and seeing words at the same time can improve reading success rates. Since audiovisual materials greatly benefit reading comprehension, LPPL has purchased two types of audiobooks for kids. The first type is VOX books, and the second is Wonderbooks by Playaway. These audiobooks paired with print books are a multisensory literacy tool that give kids extra help with vocabulary development, phonics, and comprehension.
Vox books are hardcover books with full audio recordings built in. The permanently attached VOX Reader transforms an ordinary print book into an all-in-one read-along. There’s no need for computers, tablets or CDs. Children simply push the play button to listen and read. Once you turn on the VOX books, there are easy to follow audio instructions, as well as a sticker on the inside of the front cover that explains what each button does on the Vox Reader.
Wonderbooks are very much like our Playaway Bookpacks. Instead of a separate MP3 player and books, Wonderbooks are a print book with a ready-to-play permanently bound audiobook inside. Kids simply press play to read along with their favorite books in read-along mode and then switch to learning mode to keep talking about the book they just read. In learning mode there’s a narrator-led question and answer session that includes open-ended questions about the story they just read. Wonderbooks are extremely easy to use. Once you turn on the audio device, there are easy to follow audio instructions. There are also stickers on the inside cover with written instructions.
For both devices, patrons do not have to worry about charging the audio-readers; your library charges them in house. We have a large selection of both Wonderbooks and Vox Books throughout our library system. Patrons are allowed five of these audio-reader books per card, for 21 days. Wonderbooks and Vox books are wonderful learning tools for both reluctant and avid readers. Stop by your local branch to check one out today.
We hope to see you at our libraries this December!
- Katie, Reference Librarian