Growing Forward at Your Local Library

The following figures compare the 21/22 fiscal year (a year still shaped by pandemic-era restrictions) to the 25/26 fiscal year. This growth reflects our community fully re-engaging with the Library. Programming up 605%, new borrowers up 341%, programs offered up 247%, and community outreach events are up 275%. If you would like a more detailed breakdown of these statistics you can get a pdf copy of People Power Our Growth by Library Director Cindy Scheu at: https://www.jrjml.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/49/2026/08/CommunityGrowthReport.pdf.

The Library continues to expand our Seed Library; this week we have added:

• Beets – Plant in the spring from late February to April (about 2 to 4 weeks before the last frost) and in the fall from August through October, depending on your local region’s hardiness zone.
• Snap Sugar Daddy Peas – Plant standard garden (English, snap, and snow) peas is in the early spring from mid-February through March, traditionally around St. Patrick’s Day. You can also plant a second crop in August through September for a fall harvest.
• Snowball Improved Cauliflower – Plant cauliflower seeds is late winter (February to mid-March) indoors for a spring harvest, or mid-summer (late June to early August) outdoors for a fall harvest. Fall crops usually perform best in Virginia because the heads mature during cool autumn weather.
• Swiss Chard – Plant Swiss chard seeds is in the early spring (about 2 to 3 weeks before your last frost date, typically late March to April) and in the late summer (mid-July through August) for a fall harvest.

**Patrons are allowed 3 items per household, per week from the Seed Library, when supplies are available. If you have extra seeds, bulbs, bareroots or other gardening related items you are encouraged to donate them to the Library’s seed library to share with others.**

On Tuesday August 11th, the Library Director Cindy headed down to the Pamplin Depot for Story and Craft, she read “Give Bees A Chance”, Don’t Eat Bees” and “Swarm of Bees”, followed by snacks and a bee craft using circles of construction paper. If you are interested in any of these children’s book, they are available for checkout at the Library.

Cindy followed up with the Pamplin Depot Adult Book Club, featuring the book “The Queen of Crimes” by Marie Benedict. The next Pamplin Depot Adult Book Club will be on Tuesday, September 8, starting at 3:00 pm in the Pamplin Depot. September’s book is “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austin. Copies of the book will be available at the Town of Pamplin’s main office.

Tuesday wrapped up with the Appomattox Court House Quilt Guild meeting at the Library for a relaxing night of quilting and conversation. If your club, organization or friend’s crafting group would like to book the Library’s community room for a central place to meet up, please feel free to reach out to use.

On Wednesday, August 12th, Virginia Legal Aid stopped by the Library to host an interactive seminar on “Changes to the Housing Law”. The next interactive seminar is September 3 at 2:00 pm in the library community and will be discussing Wills.

Starting on Tuesday, September 1st, the Library will be hosting another free Raffle. This month’s raffle will be “Science Across America” as we continue to celebrate our Country’s 250 anniversary.

GED Outreach to return to the Library for the month of September on Tuesdays from 4:00 pm to 6pm on the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th. Come meet Mrs. Mills from the Appomattox County Adult Learning Center to find out more about how to get your GED with comprehensive instructions to help students successfully earn their high school equivalency credential. For more information visit their website at: https://www.acpsweb.net/o/acps/page/adult-ed .

The Library will be a guest vendor at the Town of Appomattox’s “Town Picnic” on Thursday, September 3rd, from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm in Abbitt Park. Join us for crafts, bubbles and glitter tattoos as we promote Library services! Remember that September is also “Library Card Sign-up Month!

In observation of the Labor Day Holiday, the Library will be closed on Monday, September 7th. We will reopen for normal business hours on Tuesday, September 8th, starting at 9:30 am. Our book depository, located at the back of the building, will remain open.

Coming on Thursday, September 17th, Jamerson Library will feature our first Film Noir Club! Meet us in the communicate room at 5:00 pm for some spine-tingling, gritty tales. It was a dark and stormy night ……… the perfect setting for sinister danger, sexy femme fatales, crime dramas, hard-boiled detectives, and fatalistic stories where heroes rarely get their happily ever-afters, mixed in with a touch of classic black and white films from the 1940s and 1950s. If you are interested in learning more about the genre, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has a great YouTube video to explain the grittier details at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOrgAnJNoTA .

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.

Article/photo submitted by
Katharine G. Bloodworth
J. Robert Jamerson Memorial Library

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

DVDs

• Toy Story
• Toy Story 2
• A Great Awaking
• Proud Princess
• Homestead The Series: Season 1