Aerial Photography by Dan Carter
Upcoming Events

January & February: Story Times for Children @ SPL, check Facebook for dates
and times

January & February: Youth Programs: STEAM Team, Crafternoon, Art Club, Lego Club,
and more @ SPL, check Facebook for dates and times

January 26: New York Times Bestselling Author John Gilstrap presents "Dare to Dream" @ SPL; wine & cheese reception and presentation in the Commons Room starting at 6:30, details below

January 28: Discover Local Research Resources (History and Genealogy) presented by Addison Reese, Historic Landmarks Commissioner and Adult Services Librarian;
1:00 pm, Commons Room, details below

February 8: Board Meeting; 7:00 pm

February 9: FOSL Board Meeting/Social; 5:15 pm

February 21: FOSL Game Night; 5:00 pm, Commons Room;
featured games: Sequence and Chess

Coming Soon: FOSL's All Arts Auction and Art Show - stay tuned for details!
LOTS AND LOTS GOING ON OUTSIDE THE LIBRARY THESE DAYS ...

... considering it is January and supposed to be wintry and cold.

Located outside the Adult Program Area and continuing up to the Children's Program Area, our Contemplative Reading Garden is taking shape in the form of a new retaining wall and approximately 600 square feet of sidewalk. Orion Home & Garden took advantage of the relatively balmy weather earlier this month to complete this portion of the work.
The Orion team of two, Logan (left) and Scott (right), discuss the work that needs to be done.
Progress after two days on the job.
Drop by to see the beautiful new retaining wall and sidewalk that meanders through our Contemplative Reading Garden.
MEANWHILE, AT THE ENTRANCE ...

Our elite team of Garden Stewards would like to say "thank you, thank you, thank you" to all the volunteers who came out on January 15th to spread our latest giant pile of mulch. Says Peggy Bowers, "The future woodland is looking great. We will need to spread another 4 loads or so when it magically appears, so until next time."
ELECTRIC CAR CHARGERS UP AND RUNNING!

The donor of our car chargers dropped by to take a look and give them a little test. Good news! They work perfectly! Says Mr. Fernatt, "Seeing 32A and 200-208V on both units. Nicely marked parking spots and clean installation. Very nice!"
Our chargers are rated Level 2, 6 KW, so you can even bring your Tesla here for a quick charge (look right)! We are listed on Plugshare, so drivers everywhere will know they can stop here for a charge. It will cost the library about $.80/hour of charge time (about 30 miles per hour of charge time), so, while there is no specific charge for use, donations will absolutely be welcome!
A short ceremony / photo op / EV drive-in will be held on January 30th to celebrate the installation of our new EV chargers! Details forthcoming.
DARE TO DREAM
FEATURING NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR JOHN GILSTRAP

January 26 / 6:30 pm / Commons Room
Wine & Cheese Reception/Presentation

A fun photo of John (left) celebrating the puppy school graduation of his new little dog, Kimber. The doggie mortarboard was a nice touch!

A brief bit of bio (and possibly presentation preview) in John's own words: "My first novel, Nathan’s Run, was in fact my fourth novel, and when it sold, it sold big. At a time in my life when things were going well — I was president of my own consulting firm — things were suddenly going very well. Warner Bros. bought the movie rights to Nathan’s Run two days after the first book rights were sold, and as of this date, the novel has been translated and published in one form or another in over 20 countries. With Nathan’s Run in the can, as it were, I thought I might finally be on to something,
but I didn’t quit my 'day job' until after I sold the book and movie rights to my
second novel, At All Costs. I figured that while one-in-a-row might be luck, two-in-a-row was a trend. So, I started writing full-time. More novels followed, and then a few screenplays. I was living the dream."
At 8:05 am on January 26th, turn in to Talk Radio WRNR and TV10, Eastern Panhandle Talk with Rob Mario, co-hosted by John Gilstrap and Jonathan Bodwell, with special guest Library Director Hali Taylor as they discuss John's upcoming Dare to Dream presentation at the library as well as the beautiful new library and its many features and programs.

Tune in - then click on "Listen Live."

FATHER / DAUGHTER
STORY TIME @ THE LIBRARY

Just one of the many special features at our new library is plenty of space and comfy bean bag seating for Natalie and Rob Consiglio (pictured right) to read "Where is Baby Pumpkin" together. What a sweet and wonderful way to start this new year.
LOCAL RESEARCH RESOURCES WORKSHOP FOR BEGINNERS (HISTORY & GENEALOGY)

January 28 / 1:00 pm / Commons Room

Join Addison Reese to learn about free online resources focused on historical and genealogical research. 
NEW TECH AND AN EXPERT TEAM
TO SET IT UP!

With the wonderful WISH grant award we received last year, the library went tech shopping in a serious way! So far, we have purchased multiple new all-in-one computers, with all the latest software, keyboards, mice, and more, for our adult and children's program areas, several new laptops, plus an amazing Studio Display iMac Pro and a whole big bunch of really cool peripherals for our Media Lab.
Now that much of the new technology has been purchased, we needed our WVLC tech experts to come in and set it all up. Very special thanks to Tech Leader Tina Snyder and her team: Emily, Josh, and Ryan (pictured right). They are working to get all our new computers and printers set up and communicating properly. It's a big job, but we believe our amazing tech team will have us up and running any day now.
We are also pleased to announce the library's new and fantastic Wi-Fi connection!
Network: WVLC-Shepherdstown / Password: WVLC-Guest


Carl Jenkins (pictured left), happy new library card holder #609 since the new library opened its doors in July last year. Let's keep it growing!
Bit of News: AmazonSmile will be discontinued effective February 20, 2023. If you still want to give to the library, consider joining our Nourishing Literacy Giving Circle where you can commit to an ongoing contribution equivalent to the cost of one meal per month! Read more about it.
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