Past Programs

The Administration and Staff of the JGAPL participated in the City of Natchez Black History Parade in the month of February. 

 Santa Claus came to JGAPL this Christmas Season and we had a blast! Patrons took pictures with Santa Claus, enjoyed hot coca and made their own take home Christmas tree craft! The Pokémon Meetup was a lot of fun as well! 

We held a Christmas-themed scavenger hunt during the month of December. Patrons searched areas of the library for each item. Patrons who completed the hunt received a treat!

The library staff hosted the JGAPL Board/Trustee for a Christmas Luncheon. Thank you to our board! 

Our supervisors and staff participated in a community service project by delivering socks and  sweets to residents of the Natchez Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center. We also read the story “Twas the Night Before Christmas!" 

 Congrats Natchez Early College @ Co-Lin on your first Poetry Out Loud event & contest! Thank you for  inviting our Program & Outreach Coordinator, Kristin Hogans to be a  judge for this inaugural event. 

 Thank you to all that donated to our can food drive! All items were donated to the Natchez Stewpot for Thanksgiving. 

The library participated in Pumpkin carving contest hosted by a local nursing home. JGAL won 3rd place!

Congrats to all the participants of our Empowering Seniors class. These students met weekly to learn and revisit computer skills. This was the 2nd session of this class and we are just getting started. Many of the students are returnees and have expressed how they will keep returning! This class was grant funded by MLC!

We hosted a Trunk Or Treat for Halloween! Thank you to the organizations who set up trunks outside the library to interact with the children. We had music and giveaways as well. We also hosted our Pokémon Meetup that included Pokémon Go, trades, how to draw a Pokémon and Pokémon trivia. 

The library participated in the Trunk or Treat hosted by the City of Natchez on the Natchez Bluff!

The library partnered with the Downtown Natchez Alliance to have story time at the Pumpkin Patch! Patrons enjoyed fun in the patch and got to meet new friends. 

Pre-K Students from Gilmer McLaurin Elementary took a field trip to JGAPL. They toured the facility, participated in story time and sing-a-longs. They even got some Halloween goody bags!

Thanks to the Mississippi Library Commission for supplying JGAPL with solar glasses and information on the next two eclipses for 2023 & 2024. We are forever grateful for this assistance, and we offered this service along with the glasses to our patrons on October 14, 2023, at 12:00 PM noon for the eclipse project. It was a nice turnout, and the patrons enjoyed the event.  

 We  ended National Library Week with “Lunch at the Library!"  Our patrons enjoyed lunch on us while we had a funny table talk! The  laughter in the room was contagious!  

We encouraged others to “Thank A Librarian," so we got in the community and did the same! It was great making connections with everyone and thanking them for all they do! We visited librarians and library staff from Cathedral Catholic School, Morgantown Elementary, Adams County Christian School, Natchez Middle School, Gilmer McLaurin Elementary, Copiah-Lincoln Community College Natchez / Natchez Early College, Alcorn State University: Natchez & Susie B. West Elementary! 

 We held our Toddler Storytime during National Library Week! The kids always love when Ms. Liz gets them up and active. They then enjoyed a fun craft and lunch!  

We showed our Patron Appreciation by kicking off National Library Week 2023 with coffee and donuts! 

We participated in “Trucks On The Bluff," which is an event hosted by the City of Natchez. This was such a fun and interactive event for the kids! The library also held a book raffle for those that stopped by our table. Winners were announced on Facebook

Congratulations to our Graduates! Thanks to a grant funded by ARPA, we were able to provide a weekly computer class for Senior Citizens in our community. This grant, "Connecting Senior Citizens; A Computer Literacy Project" allowed us the opportunity to purchase five large screen computers, large screen keyboards and mouse to conduct this class. Class Instructor, Joseph Perry took these students through the basics of computer literacy. After completing the class, they were all celebrated with a Graduation. 

We closed down South Commerce Street and threw a party in honor of Read Across America Week and Dr. Seuss' Birthday! Children and Adults came to join in the fun. We had storytime led by Alderwoman Felicia Bridgewater-Irving and Alderwoman, Valencia Hall. We also had a special Dr. Seuss rap! Everyone enjoyed the space jumps, mechanical bull, Seuss-themed games, face painting, food and more! Thank you to the Nu Xi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi and the City of Natchez for partnering with us for this well attended event!

We celebrated Dr. Seuss’ Birthday on March 2, 2023! 

Children from the Natchez area, Fayette and as far as Port Gibson stopped by to join in our celebration. 

The kids enjoyed Storytime and sing-alongs with Ms. Liz, face painting, coloring and made a take home craft!

 Thank you to all that participated in our “Made With Love” Project! Our very own, Marianne, dropped off the goodies to the Adams County Nursing Home today and read a couple Valentine-themed books to the residents! Their faces just lit up when they saw Marianne’s friendly smile come in to greet them!  

 Our Vision Board Party was lots of fun! We enjoyed chatting with new and old friends as we mapped out what this year will look like for us individually. We encouraged participants to hang their vision boards up  at home so they get a constant reminder all year long!

 If you were I’m interested in creating a vision board but couldn’t make the party, stop by the library to pick up a poster board and a couple magazines! 

Santa Claus came to town and visited us! Patrons were able to get their photo taken with Santa and enjoy the hot chocolate bar and cookies!

 Pokémon Go Players and those who wanted to know more about the game stopped by for our first meetup. The library is a Pokéstop so it was the perfect place to trade, battle and more! 

LOOKOUT: We will be hosting these meetups MONTHLY!

Happy Halloween!

 Around three hundred children, adults, volunteers & vendors hung out with us at our “Trunk or Treat!” Our DJ had us jamming out to a few Halloween staples, popcorn was steadily popping, the vendors had the candy rolling, our Fire Marshall read a couple stories, we went on a bear hunt, but the 360 Photo Booth stole the show.

Congratulations to our winners for the Mummy Tournament and the winners for Best Trunk & Best Costumes! 

We learned how important it is to pay attention to your body, having a support system and being willing to tell your story to others during our Breast Cancer Awareness Celebration. Nurses from Alcorn School of Nursing administered health checks and our DJ had us dancing to some classics.
Patrons were able to add their loved ones who may be battling with Breast Cancer or who have lost their fight to this illness to our display in the foyer of the library. 

Teen Author, Avery Merino visited the Armstrong Library and we heard the very first reading “The Beagle Bros” read by Mark Grandinetti. The Beagle Bros are based on Avery’s dogs, Frodo & Sam! 

A Q&A session followed the reading and we learned more about Avery’s journey of being an author. 

Afterwards, we enjoyed a craft created by Avery, his mother & brother. They made puzzles out of Frodo & Sam for our kids to piece together. 

Every Tuesday at 10:30 AM, we host story time & sing-alongs for our toddlers. This is a great way to get your children ready to start kindergarten. 

The Natchez Festival of Music hosted a One Act Opera, The Three Little Pigs. Students from the University of Southern Mississippi were among the cast portraying the story of the Three Little Pigs. We all know the story, but this one had a special theme as it encouraged kids to go to the library. The third pig's house didn't fall down because she went to the library to read and learned the best way to build a house. 

As the library filled with the aroma of movie theater-style popcorn, we enjoyed games like UNO, Charades, Connect 4 and more! We also introduced our new Virtual Reality goggles, Literacy Station and PlayStation 5! All games are available for in-library use in our Teen Zone! Come by and check them out!

#ConnectWithYourLibrary was the theme for National Library Week 2022. 

 In celebration of Read Across America Day 2022, the Judge George W. Armstrong Library hosted a Dr. Seuss Birthday Block Party sponsored by Save the Children! The Natchez Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Nu Xi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi partnered with the library for this well attended event! Over two hundred children and adults came out to enjoy story time with a couple of Dr. Seuss classics, Seuss-themed crafts and games, music, food, giveaways and prizes!

The MPB Literacy Tour stopped at the Judge George W. Armstrong Library for a Pinkalicious & Peterrific  event! Families in attendance enjoyed an episode of Pinkalicious & Peterrific, a themed activity/craft, and a read aloud. MPB also provided lots of goodies and one lucky participate received a playtime tablet.

Our patrons designed Valentine's Cards and we delivered them to local Nursing Homes in Natchez, MS