The 2000 summer reading program ended on July 12 with presentation of certificates signed by the governor of Texas, the director of the Texas State Library, and the children's librarian.

Special recognition was given to the children who had read at least 60 books during the six-week event. Leading the way with 300 books was 7-year-old Christi Sexton, who will be in the third grade at East Side School next fall.

Other enthusiastic readers were Shelby Cameron, age 7, 135 books; Stephanie Sanders, age 10, 75 books; Yannika Stafford, age 7, 64 books; and Michael Baker, age 9, 60 books.

Presley Brown had 92 books read to her during the period, and Karli Anthony had 75 books read to her. Each is three years old.

More than 25 young readers and their families were present at the closing party to collect their certificates, enjoy refreshments, and take one last "blast off" in the rocket. Children who missed closing day may retrieve their participation certificates from librarian Jo Jones.


STAFF DINNER

Members of the Library staff and Dona Ralston, curator of the Vanishing Texana Museum, were honored by the Friends directors, on behalf of all Friends, with dinner at the Larissa House on July 11.


THANKS: YOU'RE A TRUE FRIEND!

Says webmaster David Emprimo, "Basically, everything has been updated and rearranged to make it easier to find." Emprimo is a full-time employee of Risecom, the Library's Internet provider, and a part-time employee of the Library. As a volunteer service, he is also webmaster of the Friends' page at http://friends.jacksonvillelibrary.com.

Among the specific changes are these:

- The local links have been moved to the front page where they are easier to find.

- There is access to the card catalog. (No more need to phone the library to ask if it has a certain book!)

- The children's page now has its own list of new books. Previously, only the new books for adults were listed.

- There are brief information pages about NETLS (the Northeast Texas Library System), the regional Forest Trails system, and Friends. Each of those pages links to those organizations' individual sites.

- The Helpful Links section has been updated to include Topozone, offering topographical maps for any area in the U.S., and Find A Grave (a site with listings of cemeteries around the world).

- A local page of search engine links has been added.

And, says Emprimo, "We removed all the 'bad' (inoperable) links!"