The heat wave hasn’t slowed down the Library staff as we plowed through another busy week of fun. If you need a cool place to hang out, we have games, an interactive table, magazines, computers with internet, puzzles, activity sheets and more inside the Library. You can check out books, DVDs, and get a craft-project-to-go to take home with you. If you don’t feel like leaving the house, we have a lot of online educational and entertainment options online at www.jrjml.org.

Don’t forget that ACLA (Appomattox County Library Association) has a Library Store at our circulation desk. All proceeds from the sale of these items goes to support the Library and the many programs and events that the Jamerson Library offers to the public.

On Monday, July 6th, the ladies from Sun Bonnet Sue had a full group in the Library’s community room to meet up for crocheting, knitting, quilting and other fiber crafts, good conversation, and an exchange of lessons, patterns, and ideas. If you are interested in sharing or learning, please join them on Monday, July 17th, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm in the Library’s community room.

On Tuesday, July 7th, the Jamerson Library presented the first Pamplin Depot Story & Craft Time! The Library Director, Mrs. Cindy Scheu, was at Pamplin Depot to present an assortment of dog-related books. Those that attended enjoyed snacks while making a dog silhouette using markers and torn pages from recycled books.

Also on Tuesday, was Pamplin Depot Creative Class for adults. Attendees created butterfly and bird decoupage decor using wooden blocks, recycled book pages, markers, origami paper and clear craft glue. Our next Pamplin Depot Creative Class for Adults will be on Tuesday, August 4, featuring “Iris Folding”, a papercraft technique where folded strips of colored or patterned paper are layered in a spiraling, geometric pattern. Originating in the Netherlands, it gets its name because the finished design resembles the spiraling iris of a camera lens.

We wrapped Tuesday up with a BAC (Book, Activity & Craft) to the Jamerson Library. Library Fairy MaKayla presented the book “Dinky the Tinysaur” by Maggie Edkins Willis. The kids enjoyed snacks while creating their own prehistoric silhouette art using crayons, markers and other embellishments, and practicing their best dinosaur impressions dictated by the roll of the dice.

We didn’t let the threat of severe weather hold back Family Story & Craft Time on Wednesday, July 8th. We met up in the Library’s community room. Katelin from the Robert E. Lee Soil and Water Conservation District was our guest reader, and she introduced the book “Outdoor Farm, Indoor Farm” by Lindsay H. Metcalf. The kids enjoyed snacks while painting their own terracotta pots and picking out either a flower or vegetable pack of seeds, provided by the Robert E. Lee Soil and Water Conservation District. Each family was provided with a new copy of either the featured book, or a choice of “Green Green: A Community Gardening Story” by Marie Lamba and Baldev Lamba, or “Alfred Blooms” by Carrie Kruck and Carmen Mok by the Jamerson Library. Watch us grow and grow with us!

It was another Griffin’s Garden Library Fundraiser at the Jamerson Library on Wednesday, July 8th. Alexis was there with an assortment of dried flowers, crafts, cards and bookmarks. We want to thank Griffin’s Garden for supporting this Library and promoting a local business. If you have a local business you would like to promote while hosting a fundraiser for the Library please feel free to reach out to Director Cindy Scheu. This Library plays an important role in community outreach, and support patrons well-being with lots of programs, events, and other educational and entertainment options. Many of these events are paid for by grants and donations. You can support the Library and a local business by supporting Library fundraisers.

For the Jamerson Library Summer Blockbuster Movie Matinee on Wednesday, July 8th, the Library featured a movie about a young man who begins a journey that will change the galaxy. Nineteen years after the formation of the Empire, our hero is thrust into the struggles of the Rebel Alliance when he meets his mentor, who has lived for years in seclusion on a desert planet, beginning his journey to chance the balance of the force.

We wrapped up Wednesday with the Jamerson Library Adult Book Club. This month’s book was “The Rom-Commers” by Katherine Center. Emma Wheeler, an aspiring screenwriter and full-time caretaker for her dad, finally gets her big break: rewriting a script for her idol, Charlie Yates. But Charlie is arrogant, dismissive, and doesn’t even care about the project – he just wants it greenlit so he can move on. Worst of all, he thinks love is a scam. Emma refused to back down, fighting for herself, rom-coms, and love itself- until an accidental kiss complicates everything and the line between fiction and real life starts to blur. Our next Jamerson Library’s Adult Book Club will be Wednesday, August 12, starting at 5:30 pm, featuring the book “The Queens of Crime” by Marie Benedict. London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment. Copies of this August’s book are available at the circulation desk.

On Thursday, July 9th, the Jamerson Library welcomed the kids of Methodist Day Care for a dino-tastic time! We had several dinosaur-themed activity sheets, a selection of dinosaur crafts, and foam flying dinosaur gliders to assemble. The Library has been hosting the kids every Thursday since the start of summer through July, just one of the many outreach programs we host.

Thursday was wrapped up with another huge BAC (book, activity and craft) to the Library event. MaKayla featured the book “Pete the Cat: Cavecat Pete” by James Dean. The kids enjoyed snacks while creating their own Jurassic-themed artwork using cutout dinosaurs, paint sticks, crayons and colored pencils, and assembled Lego® brick dinosaurs. Each child got to take home their own building brick dinosaur to make.

The Library hosted a private group of adults on Friday, July 10th, who needed a quiet and safe place to gather for a movie showing. We served snacks and juice as we welcomed them out of the heat and into the cool for a morning of entertainment. If your group, organization, or club is interested in such programs, please reach out to the Library director.

The rain held off just long enough on Friday for the Jamerson Library’s Dino Academy by Bright Star Theater! We had several families show up as we stomped our way through stegosaurs to clever velociraptors, in this interactive journey that brought the ancient world to life! This program was part of the 2026 Summer Reading Program “Unearth a Story”.

Summer Reading ends on Friday, July 31st! This will be the last day that you can submit your minutes read on the Beanstack app or in-person at the Library. After this date, the Library will not be accepting any submissions. Saturday, August 8th, will be the last day that you can redeem your tickets for prizes. There are no exceptions to these dates.

Friday, July 31st, is also a day to “dress to get wet” as we say goodbye to the Summer Reading Program and hello to the the start of the new school year. Meet us in Abbitt Park from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm for a splashing good time with a huge waterslide, bubbles, games, vendors, and lots of fun! Don’t forget to bring a t-shirt to tie-dye!

As a part of our community outreach, the Library is maintaining a small food pantry in our foyer. Patrons in need are allowed to get 3 items per day. Patrons interested in donating items are welcome to bring donations to the front desk.

Get ready for your future with a free resume help desk, hosted by Virginia Career Works at the Jamerson Library on Tuesday, August 4th, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. If you need help with an existing resume, or have questions about how to build an eye-catching resume you are encouraged to come meet Tim Saunders in the Library’s community room. It is suggested that if you already have a resume that you bring a copy of it with you. This free service is to help patrons prepare for the upcoming Job Fair at the Appomattox CVCC campus, on August 12th, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

If you have any questions or concerns about this article or other library-related topics, please feel free to call us during normal business hours.

The Library receives a steady supply of new and donated items and would like to highlight the following items:

DVDs