Please join us for our ANNUAL MEMBERS MEETING IN OCTOBER:
Date: Monday, October 21, 2024
Time: 630 pm
Where: Geneva South Whatcom Fire Station #21,
4518 Cable St, Bellingham, WA 98229
Our mission is to enhance library services through support and advocacy,
raising awareness of the library’s value in our community.
The regular FoSWL October Board of Directors meeting will follow immediately after the Annual Members Meeting.
ANNUAL MEMBERS MEETING
AGENDA
1. Call to Order
2. Quorum Call
BOD: Deb Wibe, Nancy Wyen, Sandi Mitchell, Diane Devlin, Amy Buchanan, Gena Evola,
Alma Deckert Alexander, Catherine Martin
ABSENT:
GUESTS:
3. Approve Agenda
4. Approval of September 18, 2023 Minutes
5. WCLS Update – Christine Perkins, WCLS Executive Director
6. Introduction of the Board of Directors Candidates & Election Results
7. President’s Message
8. SW Library – Liz Andre, Manager
9. Treasurer’s 2023-2024 Reports
10. Public Comment
11. Adjournment
SOUTH WHATCOM LIBRARY EVENTS
LEGO CLUB
Tuesdays, Oct 15, 22, 29; Nov 5
4:00-5:30pm
Design, build, & share at this South Whatcom Library drop-in program for ages 4 and up. We provide the LEGO® bricks; you bring the creativity. What will you create?
South Whatcom Community Helpers Storytime
Wednesdays, Oct 16, 23, 30
10:30am – 11:00am
For ages 2–6, 30 minutes, A storytime featuring community helpers – like firefighters, humane society workers, and more – sharing what they do to make our community better! If you’re curious about what helpers are coming on what days, check in with your South Whatcom Library staff.
South Whatcom Social Hour
Thursday, Oct 17
10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Come to the South Whatcom Library on the 3rd Thursday of each month to connect with others in the community. Join us for some informal conversations and enjoy some coffee or tea. Would you like to chat and do an activity at the same time? We will have a few games out for use during this drop-in social time.
South Whatcom Booktober Party!
Saturday, October 19 from 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Kids! Join us at South Whatcom Library for a celebration of all things reading. Tell us about your favorite books and discover some new ones. Make crafts to decorate your home library. Eat, drink, and be merry – reading is the best! Comfy clothes are encouraged.
Valley Book Club In-Person (Adults)
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Nov 1 2024
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Dec 6 2024
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Jan 3 2025
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Feb 7 2025
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Mar 7 2025
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Apr 4 2025
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, May 2 2025
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Jun 6 2025
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Jul 11 2025
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Aug 1 2025
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Sep 5 2025
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Oct 3 2025
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Nov 7 2025
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Friday, Dec 5 2025
Join us at the South Whatcom Library on the first Friday of each month to share your current read and hear about great new titles from others. This is a “choose your own” style book club where members will introduce others to their next favorite! Registration is required as space is limited. Register: https://wcls.libcal.com/event/12472067
Looking for inspiration? Each month you can participate in our optional reading challenge; find and read a title related to the theme. November’s reading challenge is “Children’s Literature”.
South Whatcom Storytime
Wednesday, Nov 6
10:30am – 11:00am
For ages 2-6, 30 minutes. An open program at the South Whatcom Library that includes stories, rhymes, and songs with opportunities for movement and interactive participation.
November Author Showcase Featuring Erika Shephard: Being Transgender – A Candid Conversation In-Person
Wednesday, Nov 6 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Transgenderism: Lately, it’s in the news, a subject of endless comments, debates and memes on social media. But what is it? Is it a natural human variation, a delusion or worse — a perversion? How does any person know they are trans?
Local author and speaker Erika Shepard will address such questions to help us understand and navigate the changing social landscape around transgenderism. For this program at South Whatcom Library she will make a short presentation on the subject, then open the floor to questions—questions she strongly encourages. The discussion that follows will be frank, open, and proceed in a way that lets you know it’s all right to ask.
Erika Shepard is a retired geologist, transgender woman, and the author of two books. Her first, a memoir, is titled Trans-Formations – From Field Boots to Sensible Heels and was awarded First-Place in the Journeys category at the 2024 Chanticleer Book Reviews conference. Her second book, a novel titled Abomination Child received a five-star review from Chanticleer and has been submitted for the 2025 awards at Chanticleer. She is currently working on a third book, a historical fiction novel that follows two widowed women in 1870’s Kansas as they struggle to survive in a hostile patriarchal culture.
Registration is required as space is limited. Please register at: https://wcls.libcal.com/event/13095663
SAVE THE DATES!
Storytime Pirate Party
Wednesday, Nov 13 from 10:30am – 11:30am
Ahoy, Mateys! Storytime Pirate Party for ages 2-6 this morning at South Whatcom Library. Come dressed as a pirate if you like, and be prepared to walk the plank and look for treasure. Avast ye landlubbers!
November Author Showcase Featuring Alma Alexander: Alchemy of the Word In-Person
Wednesday, Nov 13 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Join novelist, anthologist and short story writer Alma Alexander as she presents her book, Alchemy of the Word: Dreams and Transformations at South Whatcom Library. A luminous guide through the written word with personal essays, book reviews, anecdotes, and insights, this book is a recipe for a literary elixir consisting of equal parts inspiration, revelation and transformation.
On becoming a writer, Alexander says, “How does a writer get created? Well, first they read. My house – every house I ever lived in – has always been made of books – and my entire life is a story about how all those words got transformed into my own, how I became who I am today, and how reading was the foundation of it all.”
Alma Alexander currently shares her life between the Pacific Northwest (where she lives with two obligatory writer’s cats) and the wonderful fantasy worlds of her own imagination.
Registration is required as space is limited. Please register at: https://wcls.libcal.com/event/13041391
Find out how you can support your South Whatcom Library!
Visit swlfriends.org and click down on the Volunteer tab.