St. John the Baptist Parish Library System will soon be celebrating the Easter holiday at all branches.

Simply Paint will be held at the Garyville Library at 5 p.m. on Monday, when children, ages 6 and older, are invited to paint an image related to the holiday. The Central Library will have an Easter Egg Hunt following their Storytime on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

The Edgard Library will host an Easter Egg Hunt at 4 p.m. Thursday, when children, ages 3 and up, are welcome to participate. The Reserve Library will also host an Easter Egg Hunt at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, when children, ages 3 and up, will make Easter baskets before starting the hunt.

April will be an exciting time to attend St. John the Baptist Parish Libraries as we celebrate National Library Week from April 8-14. The American Library Association leads the celebration, highlighting the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians to promote library use and support.

The American Library Association theme for this year is “Libraries Lead,” encouraging communities to tell their stories of how libraries led them to something of value in their lives. St. John the Baptist Parish Libraries will have activities held throughout the week.

The Edgard Library is hosting, “Corner Bookmarkers” at 3:30 p.m. April 9, when children 6 to 12 are invited to make corner bookmarks in cool, colorful, designs and shapes.

Tweens and teens are welcome to attend a “Teen Crafternoon” at 4 p.m. April 11 when those 8 to 13 will paint bookends to add some pizazz to the Teen section of the Edgard Library. On April 13, “Bookface” will be held at 4 p.m., when adult patrons choosing a book, work themselves into the cover art and then taking a selfie creating a “Bookface.”

The Reserve Library invites adult patrons out at 6 p.m. April 9 to create beautiful “Spring Floral Floating Teacups” that can be used as décor in participants’ homes and offices.

The Central Library will host a “Computer Class” at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. April 11 for adult patrons to learn and become more proficient on basic computer operations and the use of Microsoft Office programs, such as Word, Publisher and Excel.

The Reserve Library will host a “Library Scavenger Hunt” at 4:30 p.m. April 12, when children 10 and over are welcome.

The Garyville Library will host an “E-mail Class” at 3 p.m. April 14 for adult patrons to learn how to set up an email account and operate it effectively.

St. John the Baptist Parish Library System is proud to celebrate “National Poetry Month,” which was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996.

Schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers and poets throughout the United States banded together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture.

The Central Library will host “Blackout Poetry/Poetry Jam Session” at 6 p.m. April 10, and the Edgard Library is hosting “Blackout Poetry/Poetry Jam Session” April 12 at 3:30 p.m. Teens and adults will create a fun way to see literature in a new light with Blackout Poetry. The technique allows the poet to blackout existing words from the page, thus revealing new meaning and life to the remaining words. They will then recite their poems in a jam session style.

The Reserve Library will host a “Poetry Jam Session” at 5 p.m. April 19, and the Garyville Library will also host a “Poetry Jam Session” at 5 p.m. April 23, when teens and adults are welcome to share their unique creative expression. Join us in celebrating National Poetry Month!

For a full list of all programs, please refer to our online calendar on our website, Facebook (St. John the Baptist Parish Library) or pick up a newsletter at any of our four branches. I hope you all can attend some of the spectacular programs offered at St. John the Baptist Parish Libraries.

All library branches will be closed for Good Friday (March 30) and for Easter Sunday (April 1).

Don’t forget, St. John the Baptist Parish Libraries now has an Instagram and Twitter account. Check us out!

Kearston Poché is the administrative services coordinator for St. John the Baptist Parish Library. She can be reached at 985-652-6587.