The holiday season is approaching, and now is the perfect time to pay a visit to the library and pick up a cookbook filled with yummy recipes to add to your traditional Thanksgiving menu.

You may also be on a budget for the holidays, and what better way to be thrifty than to pick up a craft book and make your own Christmas gifts this year? Not only will you save a penny or two, but also your friends and family will surely love such a personal touch.

This fall, Brown Library received a gift from the Brownstone Book Fund. It donated 100 new children’s books, ranging from prekindergarten to early readers. Brownstone Book Fund is a private foundation based in New York City, interested in fostering early reading, instilling a love of books in children and encouraging parents and children to spend more time reading together. Each book donated has a golden Brownstone seal on its cover. The library is honored to have received such an amazing gift, and we hope our patrons enjoy the new additions to the collections.

Speaking of children’s books, be sure to bring your little ones by the library Saturday for a “Pajama Storytime.” For children ages 3–10 (accompanied by an adult), this program is a half-hour story session from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Children are encouraged to wear their pajamas and bring a stuffed toy or blanket.

With the upcoming holidays, it also means that the annual Friends of the Brown Library book sale in January is right around the corner. Now is the perfect time to start bringing in your old or unread books to donate for the sale — especially any children’s books you may have. Keep in mind that all book donations are tax deductible; so help yourselves and us out all at once.

Brown Library will be closed Friday in observance of Veterans Day. We will reopen Saturday with normal operating hours. The library will be closed Nov. 24-25 in observance of Thanksgiving. We will reopen Nov. 26 and resume normal operating hours.

Brown Library is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday; from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Be sure to bookmark our blog on your computers as your resource for news and events happening at Brown Library: http://brownsbookshelf.blogspot.com. We’ll see you in December. And if you haven’t already done so, make sure you come by and get the smartest card you’ll ever have: a library card.

Elizabeth Tankard is a part-time library assistant at Brown Library, 252-946-4300; etankard@washingtonnc.gov.