Welcome back to Behind the Stacks!
A new month means new crafts at both of your West Haven Library locations! In celebration of Earth Day, Ora Mason will be providing a Take and Make Upcycled Mini Collage kit for adults. Each kit includes a 5×7 blank canvas curated with reclaimed paper elements, including magazine clippings, a salvaged book page, calendar imagery, and leftover wrapping paper.
This design embraces creativity through reuse and gives discarded paper a second life through art! Kids can pick up their own Take and Make Umbrella Suncatcher craft and use colorful tissue paper to fill in their umbrella and create a bright craft that lets the light shine through, because after all, April showers bring May flowers!
On theme with the season, environment, and upcycling, the Main library will offer two sessions for adults to make DIY Paper Flowers using repurposed book pages on April 22 and 25. The Children’s Department will also create their own paper flowers in celebration of Arab American Heritage Month. Many flowers hold special meanings in Arabic culture–stop by and decorate paper flowers to be part of our Arab American Heritage Flower Garden Display!
Kids are also welcome to participate in themed scavenger hunts at each location–stop by the Main library to enjoy the Dragon Treasure Scavenger Hunt and see what Ora Mason has in store with their Spring Shape Hunt! Teens and tweens grades 5 through 12 are invited to join our Henna program Jamilah Henna Creations. Come learn about the history, origin, and traditions of henna. Participants will each receive their very own henna design!
The Friends of the West Haven Library are thrilled to be hosting their annual Spring Fill-A-Bag Book Sale on Saturday, April 18. The sale will be held outdoors in the parking lot behind the library and moved indoors to the community room in the event of rain. Between 10am and 2pm, purchase a bag from the Friends and fill it with as many books as you can carry! Bags will be sold for $10 for the first three hours of the sale, and then for the final hour of the sale, the price will drop to $5 per bag. The Friends will be accepting donations of gently used books and DVDs for the sale up until April 11th. Donations can be brought to the Main Library’s Circulation desk located on the first floor.
Now, let’s take this chance to meet another fantastic WHPL employee, Jasmine!
My name is Jasmine and I am the Reference Librarian here at the West Haven Public Library. I first started here as a humble part-timer, who split her time between shelving/checking out books at the library and serving coffee at Starbucks. After about a year or so, a position opened for a full-time assistant in reference, which I immediately applied for. Though I have loved to read for as long as I can remember, I never expected to develop such a deep, passionate love for the library field itself. It became clear to me that this was where I truly belonged – this was who I was meant to be.
In that first year as a full-time reference assistant, I learned so much about the vibrant West Haven community. Every interaction with its wonderful people and every glimpse into its history through the archives fueled my love and admiration for this place. I also uncovered a profound passion for learning and discovering new things every day through the diverse individuals I had the privilege to meet. I’ve been here for almost five years, and I am continuing to learn something new every single day. During this time, I was also contemplating going for my master’s in library science. When the position for the Reference Librarian opened up I finalized my decision to pursue my master’s degree, and I was able to secure the position. I am now on my last semester and will be set to graduate in May 2026.
In my free time, I love to read. My favorite genres tend to vary from sci-fi, modern fantasy, cozy mysteries, and horror. I’m also a sucker for good autobiography/nonfiction. Expanding my knowledge is my favorite pass time. Right now, I am currently obsessed with “Murderbot Diaries” written by Martha Wells. I devoured the entire 7-book series, including all the short stories and the television adaptation, in less than a month, and am eagerly awaiting book 8, which will be coming out in May – just in time for graduation. I am also slowly delving into “The Creation of Patriarchy” by Gerda Lerner, eager to deepen my understanding of history and society.
I’m an avid Pinterest user who loves good aesthetics, and I love fashion. I do my best to romanticize my life to the fullest. My favorite food is most definitely cinnamon rolls. I can never turn them down. I am a notoriously picky eater and tend to stick to a lot of my safe foods – including the famous chicken tenders and French fries.