Bayou Community Foundation is Helping Grand Isle Recover and Rebuild
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Houma Spring Open Tennis Tournament returns
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Happy National Library Week! Terrebonne Parish Libraries all have top-notch services we all love to use. To kick off the week, Terrebonne Parish Library shared the following list of things you can do through your library.
Genealogy and LA Collection
Trace back your ancestry using the library’s genealogy collection and databases. The Main Library has an expansive collection of censuses, obituaries, graveyard records, church records, and more. The library system also has subscriptions to Ancestry.com, Fold3, HeritageQuest, and Digital Sandborn that are available on any computer connected to the Terrebonne Parish Library’s internet. Alongside the Main Library’s genealogy collection, all of the system’s branches have books and other resources on local history spread across the reference and nonfiction sections.
Microfilm
Local newspapers are often great sources for historically- and genealogically-based research. The Main Library has an expansive collection of various newspapers on microfilm for anyone to access—even without a library card.
The Creative Lab is a free, library-operated workspace for patrons 15 and older available at the Main Library. The lab has tools, materials, and machines for patrons wanting to make their creative ideas into reality. The Main Library currently has 3D printers, Cricut cutting machines, sewing machines and a serger, a Glowforge laser cutter, lightboxes, a laminator, and assorted handicrafts and art tools. Instructional classes on how to use the Cricuts and beginning sewing are available, as well as demonstrations and Open-Lab hours.
Book Clubs
Almost all branches have book clubs to join! Call your library branch to see what club is offered and meeting times. The Main Library also offers a “not-so-book-club” alongside more traditional ones. The Name Pending Book Society is partially a book discussion, partially tangent conversations. Join them Tuesday, April 26th at 6pm for their next meeting.
Informal Classes and One-on-One Sessions
All library branches offer informal “classes” on a variety of things. Classes include how to use Microsoft Word or Excel, Internet basics, resume building, ESL, and more. There are also Device Drop-Ins, where patrons are welcome to bring in a device for a librarian to help show how to use it.
Southern Writers Workshop
The Southern Writers Workshop is an adult writing group that meets at the Main Library to discuss writing, share works, offer creative and editing support, and motivate each other. Writers of all skill-levels are welcome to join the macabre and quirky group.
StoryWalk®
A StoryWalk® is a fun way to get kids active by combining story time with exercise. A children’s book is set up page-by-page and spread out along a walking path, and families are encouraged to read by walking from page to page. The Terrebonne Parish Library hosts several a year. Contact the library at 985-876-5861 (ex. 233) to find out when the next one will be held.
Sensory Kits
The Main Library has Sensory Story Time at Home kits, made possible by a grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. Each kit goes with a theme and includes three books, four rhythm sticks, two egg shakers, two scarves, two exercise bands, one sensory game or activity, and a binder full of songs to use with the items. The kits can be checked out at the children’s help desk to any patron with an account in good standing. They can be kept for up to two weeks.
Summer Feeding Program
During the summer months, the Terrebonne Parish Library System partners with Second Harvest Food Bank to offer lunches to children over school break. There is no sign-up, but contact the library at 985-876-5861 (ex. 233) for more information.
The Terrebonne Parish Seed Library is a free, accessible seed sharing project made to encourage the Terrebonne community to grow its own food through education that cultivates community resilience and sharing. The Seed Library is in the Reference Department of the Main Library and available to anyone who wants to participate.
Comb through the catalog drawers of seed packets, choose what plant you’d like to grow, log it in the member binder provided, and get to planting! When your harvest grows, save some seeds from what flourishes and donate them back to the Seed Library to be used by another community member.
E-Resources
The library has a variety of e-resources available to the public across several fields. Apps like Hoopla, Libby, and Kanopy can be used from anywhere with internet access to check out e-books, audiobooks, comics, music, songs, movies, and documentaries. Just sign in with your library card and PIN (your six-digit birthday) and browse the selections.
If you don’t have a library card, you don’t even have to go in to get a number. Due to COVID, the Terrebonne Parish Library System introduced an e-card. Fill in the required information on this form to receive a number, (You can always request a physical card from the library after getting your number, as well.)
Mango Languages can help you learn different languages—including Pirate—in one convenient place.
They also have subscriptions to Peterson’s Test Prep and Driving Test Prep to help you study for exams coming up.
Their subscription to Weiss Financial Ratings is designed to teach about several finance-based topics like stocks, credit unions, and financial literacy in an easily digestible way.
Alongside all the above, they have databases for a variety of research areas including genealogy, art, literature, math, science, home improvement, medical, philosophy, maps, and more. Britannica E-books, World Book, Gale, and the Louisiana Digital Library are all accessible on mytpl.org.
Community Garden
The Terrebonne Parish Library partnered with Live Healthy Houma Coalition, LSU Ag, and the St. Francis Vegetable Garden to plant a vegetable and pollinator garden on the side of the Main Library near the Children’s Department. All produce grown is donated to the food bank. The garden is open to anyone, even when the library is closed. Helpful QR codes bring up a page full of information about the plants growing so you can learn something new while admiring the view.
Study Rooms
When you need a quiet place to study or attend a Zoom meeting, a study room at the Main Library or North Branch is an excellent choice. They have free WiFi—just bring your laptop and study materials. Small study rooms can accommodate four people and large ones can accommodate six people comfortably. Stop at the Reference desk at the Main Library or at the front desk at the North Branch to check into a room. To ensure a room at the time you need it, you can call your preferred library ahead of time to reserve one.
Downtown Houma Makers Market
The Downtown Houma Market located at the South LA Seed Store has been rebranded as a Makers Market and is now held in the parking lot of the Main Library every Tuesday from 3:00 p.m. to dark. There is no entrance fee and it is free to participate in as a vendor. For more information or to become a vendor, visit https://mytpl.org/market/ or follow their Facebook at @DowntownHoumaMakersMarket.
