Library shows off clubs, programs

By BRITTANY FHOLER 
Cove Leader-Press 

The Copperas Cove Public Library held its sixth annual Rally Day to wrap up National Library Week on Saturday. 
Despite the heavy rain, dozens of people came out to see the different clubs and organizations that meet at the library and learn more about what the library has to offer. 
Throughout National Library Week, the library handed out free muffins on Muffin Monday, signed up new library patrons at the Copperas Cove Walmart on Travel Tuesday and encouraged staff and patrons to wear crazy book-inspired t-shirts and costumes for Wacky Wednesday. For 3D Thursday, library patrons had the opportunity to watch the library’s 3D printer in action and take home a customer-printed library fob or another 3D printed prize and on Friends Friday, guests were encouraged to post a photo of something in the library for a chance to win a free library cup. 
Participants in Rally Day had the opportunity to win a free library cup and a ticket for a free book from the Friends of the Library book sale after the finished a game of Library Bingo by going to each of the different areas inside the library and having volunteers sign off. This allowed guests to get a chance to see all the new renovations and changes that have been made. 
“Libraries are a critical and central part of any thriving community, and so we take National Library Week to recognize that and encourage people to come in and sign up for their library card if they haven’t done so already and just do different fun things throughout the week,” said Library Director Kevin Marsh. “It’s just a great opportunity to kind of interact with the community more and get more people to come out and see what’s going on. Then we like doing the Rally Day at the end just to put an exclamation point at the end of the week.”
In the library’s meeting room, different clubs and organizations and featured writers set up information tables, including the Boys and Girls Club of Copperas Cove, authors Paige Ewing and Renee Alter, the Central Texas Writer’s Society, the Double C’s Square Dance Club, the local chapter for the Society for Creative Anachronism, the Five Hills Art Guild and the Central Texas Makers Club. The Friends of the Library provided drinks and lunch from Jersey Mike’s and Raising Cane’s for a donation, with proceeds going back to the library for its summer reading program. In the Joe and Marion Palumbo Reading Room, the Friends of the Library also held their book sale, with paperbacks starting at 25 cents. 
Students from S.C. Lee and Copperas Cove Junior High Schools read poems they had written that were published in an anthology through the Boys and Girls Club of Central Texas. The topics of the poems read ranged from a favorite color to a softball field to racism. 
Khrystal Westeen, the branch director of the Copperas Cove elementary site at Fairview Community Church, and Brandy Odom, the area director for Boys and Girls Club Central Texas, set up a table where they sold copies of the anthology for $20. 
Each student from the middle school sites, which include Copperas Cove Junior High and S.C. Lee Junior High, and elementary school sites in Copperas Cove, Lampasas, Gatesville and Killeen contributed a poem to the book, which is titled “Writing for Positive Change.”
“It’s everything from politics to gender to race, things that’re going on in their life,” Odom said. “They got to write about what they wanted to.”
Twenty-eight of those students are military-dependent and also contributed, sharing about their experiences, Odom said. 
The Boys and Girls Club of Copperas Cove has three sites where children meet and participate in after-school programs, two of which are inside the two junior highs, and one located at the Fairview Community Church at 1202 Veterans Ave. 
“We keep them busy and we make sure we’re making a positive impact on their lives, so we make sure we’re leading them in the right direction as well,” Westeen said. 
The book is $20 now and will be sold on Amazon.com for $25. To buy a copy, those interested can contact the Boys and Girls Club of Central Texas or visit the Fairview Community Church site. 
Members of the Society for Creative Anachronism demonstrated armored combat fighting as well as rapier sword combat fighting and had a table set up where guests could make their own bookmarks and try their hand at weaving. 
Other demonstrations included performances from the Hettie Halstead Elementary Honor Choir and the Hettie Halstead Elementary Step Team as well as the Copperas Cove High School Copperettes and Varsity cheerleaders. Students from Self Defense America also demonstrated their martial arts skills. 
Featured authors Paige Ewing and Renee Alter read samples of their books, while members of the Central Texas Writer’s Society shared poems they had written. 
 The Central Texas Writer’s Society meets the first Thursday of every month at the library at 6:00 p.m. The Double C’s Square Dance Club meets every Tuesday evening for free square dance lessons and holds square dances the second and fourth Friday of each month at 7 p.m. at the library. The Friends of the Library meet at 7 p.m. the third Monday of the month in January, May, August and November. The Central Texas Maker’s Club meets the second Wednesday each month at 6 p.m. in the library meeting room.