District 4’s Commissioner Jeremiah Ray Blocker in May visiting to the Ponte Vedra Beach Branch Library once a month to meet with citizens by appointment. By traveling to the local library from the County Administration building, Commissioner Blocker makes it easier for citizens to meet with him about concerns and ideas regarding their communities.
The June schedule of citizen meetings was full. Still, he asked if library staff would pose for a picture with him and selected the branch’s Summer Reading Reward Board as the backdrop. He told staff how much he appreciates the library.
The staff and community appreciate his support of the Ponte Vedra branch and libraries in general, and look forward to serving his family this summer and seeing them at programs.
The branch has hosted District 4’s County Commissioner as a special guest reader at Storytime at the PVB Library.
“While I was working for SJC Communications during my Library’s closure, I took the opportunity to visit Commissioner Blocker and ask him to be our guest reader. We are so excited about Commissioner Blocker being our special guest for Preschool Storytime Class at 10:30 a.m. June 27,” Anne S. Crawford, assistant branch manager and youth services librarian said. “We know he’s going to do a great job as he has hands-on experience with two little ones at home who love to read.”
Commissioner Blocker is looking over the library’s Storytime book selections to pick the perfect book to rehearse first with his kids, and then perform at Storytime. He took two summer reading reward bookmarks home so his children can “compete” in the 0 – 5 age group for most days read this summer. “Thus far, ages 6 – 8 are leading, followed closely by 0 – 5, and then 9 – 11,” Crawford said. “Commissioner Blocker’s kids could help put the 0 – 5’s over the top.”
In the 10 years Crawford has been assistant branch manager and youth services librarian at the Ponte Vedra Beach Branch Library, she said the Ponte Vedra community has been fortunate to have such library-lovers as their district’s county commissioners – first Commissioner Jay Morris and now Commissioner Jeremiah Ray Blocker.
“We’ve also hosted Commissioner Henry Dean in the past as a special guest reader at Storytime who presented a fun cautionary tale, “The Little Red Hen,” to our preschoolers reminding them that hard work always reaps its reward,” Crawford said.
“As a Youth Services Librarian of 16 years for SJCPLS on July 28, 2019, I’m always delighted to have advocates in our community who believe in the spirit of all that Libraries have to offer. Be it our teen programming which has attracted not only Bartram Trail Branch Library’s teens during their closure, but also many special needs teens as well or our children’s programming devoted to growing readers or our adult programming proving all ages have value and potential, the Library is truly for everyone,” she said.
