Fall is in the Air, Old-Fashioned Book Fair, and Science Across America Raffle Winner

October comes from the Latin word octo, “eight,” because it was the eighth month of the early Roman calendar. October’s birthstone is the opal and the flower is the snapdragon. Some of October’s observances are: Adopt A Dog/Shelter Dog Month, Black Cat Awareness Month, Halloween Safety Month, National Arts & Humanities Month, Banned Books Week: 4-10, Earth Science Week: 11-17, National Friends of Libraries Week: 18-24, World Origami Days: 8/24-11/11, American Libraries Day: 6, I Love Yarn Day: 10, National Fossil Day: 14, World Pasta Day: 25, St. Jude’s Day: 28, and Halloween or All Hallows Eve: 31.

The winner of the Jamerson Library’s “Science Across America” raffle was Angel Coleman! Congratulations, Angel on winning a flower pot full of science-related items. Our next free raffle will be in celebration of accepting our differences. Be bold, be unique and be you! Starting on Thursday, October 1st, the Library will be celebrating individuality and being different with the famous raccoon named Jimothy. Jimothy sprang to stardom after a he was first filmed in Seattle in July of 2026, with his distinctive compact, round body shape due to short spine syndrome, a rare congenital condition. In honor of Jimothy, the Library will be hosting a free raffle with Jimothy-related items, complete with his very own trash can! It is one entry per person, per visit. We will announce the winner on Thursday, October 29th. Good luck!

The Library’s community room has been turned into a book shop, with something for everyone of all ages! It is not too late to come to this retro-style Jamerson Library Book Fair fundraiser. Support your local library and revisit the past by participating in this vintage-style book fair! The book fair is being held during normal business hours through Saturday, October 3rd. The library will have preschool through adult books for sale at an average cost of $2.00 to $10.00 per book.

Extra, extra, read all about it! The October edition of the Jamerson Library’s Newsletter is now available. Pick up a copy at the front desk for the latest updates, upcoming events and more! The staff works hard to make sure that our patrons have as many venues as possible to learn of our events and programs. You can also visit our website, Facebook, Instagram, or Bluesky.

Engine, engine number nine, going down the Pamplin line! Library Director Mrs. Cindy Scheu pulled up to the Pamplin Depot for another Story & Craft Time on Tuesday, September 22nd. She read the books . The kids enjoyed snacks while making a blue whale craft project.

Also on Tuesday, Spot the Book Bus was parked outside the Library ready to loan kids up through high school books of all kinds. The Jamerson Library had donated several boxes to the cause to help spread the love of reading as Spot and Trot travel around Appomattox to help spread the word, pun intended.

We wrapped up Tuesday with the Jamerson Library’s Cookbook Book Club. This month’s cooking theme was “Crockpot Cooking”, hosted by Assistant Director Katharine Bloodworth. She presented the book “Fix-It and Forget-It Revised and Updated: 700 Great Slow Cooker Recipes”. Her featured recipe was Chili-Cheese Taco Dip, which she served with chips. The Cookbook Book Club will meet next on Tuesday, October 27th, at 5:30 pm in the Library’s Community Room with the theme of “No Bake Desserts”. If you are interested in joining this group of creative cooks, please make plans to attend. This program is intended for adults. Bring your favorite cookbook, recipe card or internet recipe, and make a dish to share along with copies of the recipe used. The Library will have plates/bowls, plastic forks/spoons and napkins, but you must bring your own serving utensils. See you in October!

For the Wednesday, September 23rd, Story & Craft Time, Katharine read the book “A Very BIG Fall” by Emmy Kastner. The weather is pleasant, the view is fine, and everything just feels fresh. But when autumn breezes begin to blow, adventurous Birch, nervous Oak, and grumpy Maple each have their own way of facing the new crispness in the air. The squirrels take pleasure in warning the leaves about the transformations to come: new colors! And more … an actual fall. But will the ground be the end? Or a new beginning? The kids enjoyed snacks while assembling a squirrel craft project using a cut and paste pattern, googly eyes and crayons.

Library Fairy MaKayla spread her wings and flew to the CVCC (Central Virginia Community College) Fall Student Appreciation Picnic at the Lynchburg Campus, as the Library was a guest vendor to this event. MaKayla and Oz promoted Library services, passed out library-related information, and gave away bubbles, crafts and trinkets. CVCC has a branch in Appomattox, for students looking to expand their college education.

On Thursday, September 24th, the Library hosted a SUPER Movie Night! Brothers adventure to solve everyday problems in a kingdom, meet a new friend and look forward to a special birthday party. A call for help sends this crew across the galaxy to face new worlds, and unexpected threats. Our next Jamerson Movie Night will be on Thursday, October 15th, starting at 6:00 pm. We will feature a chick flick film about two sisters born into a magical family, and have mostly avoided witchcraft themselves. But when a vicious boyfriend dies unexpectedly, the sisters give themselves a crash course in hard magic. This movie is rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned). Snacks will be served.

Saturday, September 26th, started off with the Library being a guest vendor at the monthly “Cars & Coffee” gathering. The Library passed out the newest October Library Newsletter and bubbles. The Library and ACLA (Appomattox County Library Association) provided vehicle sticker sets for the kids! A huge thank you to Cars & Coffee for inviting us. We love doing outreach and being provided with an opportunity to promote library services.

Saturday wrapped up with a Fall Festival in Abbitt Park! We teamed up with the Appomattox County School system to provide a fun-filled day of games, mini horses, and other vendors to promote local services for families. It was a beautiful fall day and we look forward to lots more community service outreach with other organizations. If your own organization, club or group would like the Jamerson Library to be a guest vendor at your event, we encourage you to reach out to Director Cindy Scheu by calling the Library’s main line at 434.352.5340.

Join the Jamerson Library for our much-anticipated annual Fall Plant Swap. Bring your extra or unwanted houseplants, seeds, bareroots, and cuttings to the Library and exchange them for new friends to take home. You must bring plants in order to take plants in a fair or generous exchange of greenery on Thursday, October 8th, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm in the Library’s Community Room. There are a few simple rules to follow;

• Plants must be free of diseases and infestations.
• No dead plants.
• Plants must be easy to transport (put in some sort of container, pots, cups, baggies with a wet paper towel).
• You must leave plants to take plants. No taking plants without a fair or generous exchange.
• Bring your own totes, boxes, or crates for the swap to take selected plants home.

In observation of the Railroad Festival Weekend and Columbus Day, the Jamerson Memorial Library will be closed on Friday, October 9th, Saturday, October 10th, and Monday, October 12th. We will reopen for normal business hours on Tuesday, October 13th, starting at 9:30 am. Our book depository will be CLOSED during this time. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause our patrons.

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

• Hoppers
• Deep Water
• The Devil Wears Prada 2
• Cheer Dad
• Adventures with Trains
• Luca
• Arthur’s Missing Pal
• The Super Mario Galaxy Movie