Labor Day, September 7, 2020

The Jennie Woodworth Library will be closed on Labor Day. Our dropbox on the north end of the building will be available for those that are returning materials. 

While your government offices and buildings are typically closed on Labor Day and the vast majority of Americans enjoy family get-togethers and such, do you know why Labor Day is a holiday?

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Labor Day is the first Monday in the month of September. This day is set aside in order to honor the laborer. Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894 because of the American labor movement during the height of the Industrial Revolution.

Why we celebrate?

Just before the end of the 19th century, American workers had 12-hour workdays, 7-days a week. This labor was just to squeak by on. There were even children as young as 5 or 6 that would be working in factories and mines.

The conditions of the workplace for the manufacturing industry was often precarious. Fresh air, sanitary facilities, and safe working conditions were a luxury. Those that were susceptible to these jobs were the poor and recently immigrated.

The labor unions that first developed in the late 18th century became more prominent and began organizing strikes and rallies in order to compel employers to improve both the conditions and the workload. Unfortunately, many of these events became violent. This included the infamous Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago where both policemen and workers were killed.

Other events can be attributed to the tradition of "Labor Day", on September 5, 1882, some 10,000 workers took an unpaid day in order to march in New York City from City Hall to Union Square. This became the first Labor Day parade in U.S. History.

12 years later the employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike protesting their treatment on May 11, 1894. This was followed by a boycott on June 26, 1894, of the Pullman railway cars that was led by Eugene V. Debs and the American Railroad Union. The resulting onslaught of riots and death forced Congress to legalize the "workingmen's holiday".

Who created Labor Day?

President Grover Cleveland signed the law instituting Labor Day on June 28, 1894. This was done in hopes to repair the relations with American workers and squelch the unrest.

The individual that came up with the idea of the holiday, although both Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor and Matthew Maguire of the Central Labor Union have both been credited.

Labor Day Celebrations

Many state and local governments went on to adopt the holiday and thus celebrate it. Since Labor Day falls on a Monday, it typically encompasses the entire weekend that it is attached to.

In the past, these celebrations have included parades, picnics, barbeques, fireworks, and other celebrations. Often Labor Day is acknowledged as the end of summer and return to school.

Concluding Thoughts

“The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy,” notes the Labor Department. “It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pays tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership— the American worker.”

References:

History of Labor Day. (n.d.). Retrieved August 11, 2020, from https://www.dol.gov/general/laborday/history

History.com Editors. (2010, April 13). Labor Day 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020, from https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/labor-day-1

Longley, R. (2019, September 04). The Purpose and History of the US Labor Day Holiday. Retrieved August 11, 2020, from https://www.thoughtco.com/labor-day-purpose-and-history-4052473

St. Patrick's Day

Across the world, St. Patrick's Day has become a celebration of Irish heritage. But do you know why we celebrate it?

Saint Patrick, who lived during the fifth century, is the patron saint of Ireland and its national apostle. Born in Roman Britain, he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave at the age of 16. He later escaped, but returned to Ireland and was credited with bringing Christianity to its people.
In the centuries following Patrick’s death (believed to have been on March 17, 461), the mythology surrounding his life became ever more ingrained in the Irish culture: Perhaps the most well-known legend of St. Patrick is that he explained the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) using the three leaves of a native Irish clover, the shamrock. (History.com)

While the roots of the holiday are definitely associated with Catholicism, the celebration has gone beyond its origins.

Today, people of all backgrounds celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, especially throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. Although North America is home to the largest productions, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the world in locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore and Russia. Popular St. Patrick’s Day recipes include Irish soda bread, corned beef and cabbage and champ. In the United States, people often wear green on St. Patrick’s Day.
In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day was traditionally been a religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use interest in St. Patrick’s Day to drive tourism and showcase Ireland and Irish culture to the rest of the world. (History.com)

So, now that you know a little more about St. Patrick's day, what are you doing to celebrate it?

- Listen to Irish poetry by  W.B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney, and Samuel Beckett on Spotify.
- Listen to a 3-hour compilation of some of the best Irish music here.
- Learn some Irish dancing, here are plenty of to teach you, so you can learn from the comfort of your own home.
- Search your yard or local park for 4-leaf clovers.
- Print off some color pages from scribblefun.com
- Educational worksheets from education.com

Thank you! Don't Stop

At the end of September, we shared the post - We are growing, and you can help.

The gist of the post is that our library is growing and we need to add shelves in our fiction and our genealogy/local history areas.

Current display area where shelves
will be added in

So an awesome update!

The Friends of White Bluff offered a matching grant if we raised $500 towards are goal. On November 8th we reached $500 making our total $1000. We notified Tennsco and ordered phase one of our shelving.

We are looking forward to getting the new shelves and filling them.

Phase one of the shelving will add shelves in the fiction area. Currently it is where we have had a table with displays on it or our used book sale. (Never fear, our displays/book-sales are just relocating to other areas that are better suited for them.)

Non-fiction shelves

The shelves we will be installing match what we have used with our paperback books and our nonfiction books. These shelves will allow much needed space for our existing collection and continue to allow us to grow.

As you are able to see in the pictures, the metal shelves are tall and provide a lot of shelving space. This is great to add to our fiction section as we grow and have room.

We aren't finished, though.

We still are eager to get the shelves in the genealogy and local history section completed with a workstation. We are still working toward getting another $1000.

We have recently had people stop by looking into the history of the county and while they were able to take the reference materials to our sitting area, they would have loved it if the workstation was already in place.

How can you help?

Paperback shelves and Fiction

You can donate at The Jennie Woodworth Library in person. (We can take cash or check.)

You can participate in our fundraisers. The Jennie's Christmas Mercantile is December 14th 10-4 here at the Bibb-White Bluff Civic Center. Our story time on December 12th with Mr. & Mrs. Claus is also a fundraiser. ($10 donation per family suggested)

You can spread the word!

The Jennie Woodworth Library is supported by our patrons and community partners. We could not do what we do without you as a rural library. We appreciate everyone that contributes to our library and the programs that we are able to provide to the community.

September is Library Card Sign-up Month

Did you know that your local library has public access computers that all you or your child needs is a library card in order to use them?

Did you know that your local library has thousands of books that can benefit reading levels?

Did you know that your local library has hundreds of DVDs including non-fiction documentaries?

Did you know that your local library staff is happy to assist you?

We, we are your local library.

Here at the Jennie Woodworth Library we have many resources available to our community.

We have four public access computers that patrons can use for school purposes, looking for jobs, entertainment, and more.

We have thousands of books that provide entertainment and relaxation, in addition to a meager collection of non-fiction books. (Always looking to improve and expand!)

We have hundreds of DVDs that are available for a movie night or binge watching.

The best part? A library card is FREE and at the Jennie Woodworth Library our circulation is 2 weeks.

Did you lose your library card? That's okay too, a replacement card is only $2.

Back to School Bash

Hopefully by now you have heard that we are coordinating with the community of White Bluff to have a Back to School bash on July 27th here at the library from 11-1.

Our goal is to provided basic school supplies for roughly 50 students. If we have more, great! It will most definitely be first come, first serve.

We already have a few community sponsors that are helping us. Snow Station will be here the day of with snowballs! SOS Massage has donated goody bags to go in the backpacks. We have also had individual donors bring in some school supplies.

School supplies we need still:

• pencils - teachers like the Ticonderoga brand since they don't break as easily.
• crayons - 16 count or 24 count - teachers prefer crayola.
• notebook paper
• erasers
• glue-sticks

Mostly covered:

• backpacks
• folders
• composition/spiral notebooks

Other ways to help:

• outdoor games (we have the use of the Bibb White Bluff Civic Center for the day, please note that this would include setup, help, and cleanup.)
• Snacks (donations of chips, cookies, water, and other snacks.)
• We will need volunteers to help us as we hand out the supplies and to maintain order. 

If you are able to help us, email whitebluff_library@yahoo.com or call Faith at (615) 797-9553.

Activities for the week of June 17th

Are you enjoying our activities so far?

This is what is going on this week! Bring a friend and join us.

June 18th at 1 pm Story Time with Spots Pots Pottery. We will have a story and then get to enjoy making our own craft! 

June 20th at 4 pm Furry Critters with Randy Hedgepath, state naturalist. Join us as we learn about our local wildlife. Do you have a favorite wild animal? 

Activities for the week of June 10th

We are so excited to share our library with you!

The activities scheduled this week are:

June 11th at 1 pm - Ms. Liz is our story teller and she likes arachnids. Do YOU know what arachnids are? Make sure to come during story time to hear about them.

June 14th at 3 pm - We are having a play date for our younger patrons. Do you like apples to apples? connect 4? checkers? Go fish? Feel free to bring your favorite game or just come along.

Cannot wait to see our friends! And make new ones.

Birds of Prey

The Birds of Prey will be at the Jennie Woodworth Library TODAY, June 6, 2019 at 1 pm.

We are excited to have Ranger Tim bring his birds and share them with us.

All of our events are open to all ages.


UPDATE:: We gladly hosted 39 for this event in the auditorium. It was wonderful.