Dear Readers,
We have partnered with Appalachian State University in their
Common Reading Program.
The program's objective is that incoming Freshmen re
 ad the selected title, discuss it, and thus share a common experience. The title chosen for this year is "
The Laramie Project" by Moisés Kaufman.
The "Laramie Project" is a play about the community of Laramie, Wyoming in the aftermath of the 1998 tragic murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming.
The university is hosting not only the author Moises Kaufman but also the mother of Matthew Shepard and the
Tectonic Theater.
This October marks the 20th anniversary of Matthew's death. We encourage library visitors to take a paper heart, decorate it, and write a message of hope; children can write a suggestion that encourages kindness. The hearts will be displayed in the library.
Join us for a community conversation on Thursday, September 20 at 5:30 pm with students involved in the Tectonic Theater performance. We appreciate this partnership with Appalachian State University and thank ASU for
copies of the book which have been added to our collection.
~ Monica Caruso, County Librarian
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Back 2 School Festival will be Saturday, A
ugust 4 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at Watauga High School. Vounteers are needed! If you can give your time, please visit the
website
. For additional information, click here.
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New York Times Bestselling author, Sharyn McCrumb, visits "Cook the Books," the Watauga Library's mystery book club, on Tuesday, August 7 at 4:00 pm to discuss her novel,
The Unquiet Grave.
Sharyn McCrumb is an award-winning Southern writer, best known for her Appalachian "Ballad" novels, including the
New York Times best sellers
The Ballad of Tom Dooley,
The Ballad of Frankie Silver, and
The Songcatcher. She was named a
Virginia Woman of History by the Library of Virginia, and a
Woman of the Arts by the National Daughters of the American Revolution. The West Virginia Library Association presented her with their
Award of Merit for Contributions to Appalachian Literature (2017), and she was awarded the Mary Hobson
Prize for Arts & Letters (2014). Her books have been named
New York Times and
Los Angeles Times Notable Books.
The Unquiet Grave is a well-researched history of West Virginia's Greenbrier Ghost. It was chosen by the Georgia Library System as the 2017 selection for
North Georgia Reads, and the
All Conference Read for the West Virginia State Library Conference.
All are welcome to attend the book club presentation on Tuesday, August 7 at 4:00 pm in the Evelyn Johnson Meeting Room.
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 Betty J. Vaughn will be the featured speaker at the regular meeting of High Country Writers in the Evelyn Johnson Meeting Room on Thursday, August 9 at 10:00 am. The program is free and open to the public.
Mrs. Vaughn launched a career as an author upon retiring after 32 years of teaching art. All four novels in her historical series- Man in the Chimney, Turbulent Waters, The Intrepid Miss LaRoque, and Run, Cissy, Run- won the award for historical fiction from the North Carolina Society of Historians. In honoring her books, the judges commented: "It is gratifying to find an astute historian whose skills far exceed that realm; someone who can take facts and weave them together with fiction and end up with a story that actually could have happened."
She has also published a contemporary fiction, Yesterday's Magnolia, and the mystery thriller Tiger's Code. She is now working on a second novel in the CIA thriller series. Previously Mrs. Vaughn wrote numerous professional articles and wrote and published a statewide newsletter for the non-profit where she served as president.
In addition to being a prize-winning novelist, Mrs. Vaughn is a prize-winning visual artist with paintings in collections worldwide. She designed the magnet art program at Enloe Magnet High School in Raleigh where her students consistently won top honors. The recipient of a three year Federal Grant to the Wake County School System, she led Enloe Enterprises, Inc. in operating an art gallery, a summer arts camp, and an Emmy-award-winning television production company. As a result of Enloe Enterprises which Mrs. Vaughn designed, Enloe was named one of the four best high schools in the arts nationally by Newsweek magazine. |
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Awesome Alphabet Activities
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Feel free to drop in anytime between 9:00 am and
1:00 pm on Friday, August 24!
The Evelyn Johnson Meeting Room will be set up with multiple learning and literacy stations to provide you with opportunities to talk with children in your care about the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make.
Look for additional opportunities once a month first Fridays of each month from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm as well.
Research indicates that recognition of letter names, shapes, and sounds are essential skills in the process of learning to read. The Watauga County Public Library is providing this regular opportunity to engage with children around those basic skills.
"Research has repeatedly proven that two skills in particular serve as the best predictors of early reading success. Those two skills are phonemic awareness and alphabet recognition."
(Adams, 1990; Share, Jorm, Maclean, and Matthews, 1984; National Reading Panel, 2000)
"Phonemic awareness has actually been shown to be a more potent predictor of reading success than intelligence, vocabulary, or listening comprehension."
(Thompson & Thompson, 1998)
"And letter knowledge has been shown to be as strong a predictor on its own as other predictors combined.
In fact, reading scores in tenth grade can be predicted with surprising accuracy based on a child's knowledge of the
alphabet in kindergarten."
(U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2003)
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Currently touring nationwide, actress Barbara Bates Smith and musician Jeff Sebens will present "Go, Granny D!" on August 18 at 3:00 pm in the Evelyn Johnson Meeting Room. The program is free and open to the public.
In 2000, the 90-year-old Doris "Granny D" Haddock blazed a 3200-mile trail across America for campaign finance reform, precipitating the passage of a McCain-Feingold Act. She continued her bipartisan reform efforts in countrywide voter registration drives, issuing her final challenge in 2010 at age 100: "Democracy is a running game. You huddle and you go back in. You keep going."
Blog reviewer Mic
helle Grasty wrote, "This show will make you laugh and think and beg for more." Sponsor Felicia Shelor said, "A full house of Liberals and Conservatives all loved the play."
Barbara Bates Smith, noted for her Off-Broadway adaptation and performance of "Ivy Rowe" from Lee Smith's
Fair and Tender Ladies, has toured for twenty-nine years with the works of Lee Smith. For fifteen years, Jeff Sebens has accompanied her shows with a hammered dulcimer, lap dulcimer, guitar, and banjo music.
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Firearms and Suicide Prevention
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On Tuesday, August 21 at 4:30 pm, Betsy Rhodes, area director for the North Carolina Chapter of American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will present information about Firearms and Suicide Prevention in the Evelyn Johnson Meeting Room. According to the AFSP's website:
- Half of all suicides in the U.S. are by firearm.
- Suicide risk increases when lethal means are readily accessible.
- Research shows that having a firearm in the home increases the risk of suicide.
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QPR prepares participants to Question, Persuade, and Refer those struggling with thoughts of suicide to life-saving help on Monday, August 27 at 1:00 pm. This 2-hour program teaches community members to recognize the warning signs of a suicidal crisis, offer hope, and encourage others to reach out to natural supports and professional care. QPR is applicable to anyone in the community who would like to help someone who is at risk for suicide.
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ARLE-Kits, the library's new pre-school reading program, successfully completed its first year in June. Named after the regional library's mascot Arly the Fox, this program was funded by the Friends of the Watauga County Public Library. The Friends' money bought books and puppets, and volunteers took story times twice a month to seven child care centers in Watauga County. Each story time highlighted one letter of the alphabet by using story books, songs, and activities to teach three and four-year olds how how the letter sounds and what it looks like.
ARLE-Kits will begin its second year in September, kicking off with a training session for new volunteers on August 8. If you would like to be a story time volunteer with this program, please join us that day at 10:00 a.m. in the Evelyn Johnson Meeting room at the library. As one of our volunteers said, "I love reading to the children. It's the best part of the month for me!"
Coming Soon!
8-Word Mystery Contest...One Story, Eight Words...
The Friends of the Watauga Library and "Cook the Books," the library's mystery book club, challenge writers to pen an Eight-word mystery story. The cost to enter the contest will be $8.00 per entry ($1 per word). Money raised will go to the Friends of the Library. The contest begins on September 1 and will run through October 31.
Harness your imagination and see if you can write a mystery in eight words! Entry forms will be available at the library on September 1. |
Funding
Friends of the Library ~ Youth Books, A/V, and Professional Services, Fish Tank Maintenance, Movie License, Adult Books, Supplies and Professional Services, Educational Assistance, Reading and Rolling Summer Book Delivery Program
Anonymous ~ Digital Watauga Project
Endowment Fund ~ Children's Books, Large Format Printer, and Matching Funds for Alphabet Ready Grant, year 2
Adult Services Coalition ~ Adult Books In Memory
of Dick Hearn
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Family Story Time
Stories, songs, and crafts!
Daily at 11:00 am
Alphabet Ready by 5
Celebrate a different letter of the alphabet on Thursdays!
Baby Laptime
Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 am
Share the Color: Create a Sub with Subway
Wednesday, August 1
11:30 am
Please sign up
Lego Club
Wednesday, August 8
3:30 pm
All ages welcome!
Family Bird Scouts
Thursday, August 2
3:30 pm
Birding by Ear with Eric Harrold
Thursday, August 2
4:00 pm
First Friday
Featuring kids' art from the Blue House Art Studio
Friday, August 3
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Back to School Festival (at WHS)
Saturday, August 4
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
EcoExplore with the NC Arboretum
Tuesday, August 14
1:00 pm
Drive-in Movie
Part of the Great American Read Grant
Wednesday,
August 15
11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Music with Laura Donovan
Tuesday, August 21
11:30 am
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Genealogy Gathering with Jill Privott
Monday, August 6
2:00 pm
Cook the Books! Mystery Book Club Discussion The Unquiet Grave by Sharyn McCrumb
Tuesday, August 7
4:00 pm
High Country Lifelong Learners
Free movie, "
The Manchurian Candidate," (1962)
Run-time: 126 minutes, Rating PG-13
Monday, August 13
2:00 pm
All are welcome, and popcorn will be served!
Legal Aid N.C. Clinic: Divorce
Thursday, August 16
2:30 pm
Legal Aid N.C. Clinic: Landlord/ Tenant Rights
Thursday, August 23
2:30 pm
Mindfulness Meditation with Sophia Ojha
Peaceful Mind, Peaceful Heart Meditation
Saturday, August 25
3:00 pm
Tuesday, August 28
1:30 pm
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Western Watauga Branch Programs and Events
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Subway Share the Color Program
Thursday, August 2
11:30 am at
Cove Creek Elementary School Cafeteria
Wednesday,
August 15
2:30 pm
Dementia Support Group
Thursday, August 30
3:00 pm
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