Welcome to Race City Reads, sponsored by the Friends of the Library: the monthly newsletter where you can find updates about what's happening at the Mooresville Public Library.



Smart Lockers at Iredell Health System

Mooresville Public Library Smart Lockers are now at Iredell Health System at 653 Bluefield Road! You can put any item on hold through our website, our app, or by giving us a call and you'll receive a notification when your item is ready to pick up! Iredell Health Systems' Urgent Care is a 24-hour facility, which means you can pickup your holds whenever you'd like!

It's super easy to check out items using our Smart Lockers: simply scan your card and follow the on-screen prompts to get your items. After you have your items in hand, close the locker door and take them home! You can return items to Iredell Health System, the Mooresville Public Library, or the Mooresville Public Library West Branch. We're so excited to offer this resource to the community and we are happy to answer any additional questions you have about our Smart Lockers!



News From the Friends

Please save the date for our Friends Annual Meeting on February 8 at 10 a.m. at West Branch. Tesa Jones will be our guest speaker for this year's Annual Meeting. Tesa is the author of Reflections of Memories and Cobwebs of Time. Tesa is an Elon University alumna, retired teacher, wife, and mother of two. She is an active member of the community, regularly attending Library events and covering Library programs/services for Lake Norman Connect.

The Friends meet most months on the second Monday of the month at the Main Library at 7 p.m. Meeting dates and times can be confirmed by checking the calendar on our website. Meetings are open to all members and the public. If you have any questions, email us at FriendsofMPLNC@gmail.com. 

Friends Speed Dating: A Program for People in Their 20s and 30s- 2/15 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Main Library



Are you in your 20s or 30s and struggling to find new friends in the area? Join us at the Main Library on February 15 from 2 to 4 p.m. for Friends Speed Dating to meet new people and participate in some lowkey small group activities! 

Main Library | 304 South Main St, Mooresville, NC 28115

Friday Flicks- 2/28 at 11:30 a.m. at Main Library

Adults, join us every 4th Friday for a movie. You can even pack a lunch to enjoy during the matinee. This month, we will be watching Dog (dir. Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin, 2022).

Black History Month Teen Art Exhibit- 2/3 to 2/28 at West Branch

Join us at the Mooresville Public Library's West Branch location to view artwork created by local teen artists and inspired by Black artists in celebration of Black History Month.

Teen and Adult Manga Book Club- 2/13 at 6 p.m. at Main Library

Discuss our monthly Manga title and participate in an activity based on the Manga. February's title will be Spy x Family v. 1 by Tatsuya Endo. You can pick up a copy of the book at either Library location. 

Registration is required.

Kid's Corner

Community Corner- 2/27 at 10 a.m. at Main Library

Preschoolers, ages 3-5, and their caregivers are invited to meet or friends from around town. This month we are excited to have Happy Teeth Mooresville join us to celebrate Dental Health Month.

Arts Exploration- 2/10 from 1 to 3 p.m. at both locations

In honor of National Feed the Birds Month we invite children to join us to make a bird-themed art project to take home during this drop-in art program. Arts Exploration will take place at both the Main Library and at the West Branch on Monday, February 10 from 1 to 3 p.m.

In celebration of Black History Month, the Local History & Archives has curated a poster exhibit featuring Tuskegee Airmen, the first black military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps (AAC), a precursor of the U.S. Air Force. Trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, they flew more than 15,000 individual sorties in Europe and North Africa during World War II. Their impressive performance earned them more than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses and helped encourage the eventual integration of the U.S. armed forces. The exhibit will be on display beginning in February and will remain up through the end of April. The material in the exhibit has been created from materials provided by Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Red Tail Squadron’s Rise Above Tuskegee Airmen Resource Kit.

Andy Poore has been appointed to the North Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB), the central advisory board for historical records planning and project assistance in the state responsible for assuring that the objectives of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) are implemented in North Carolina. 

The board develops educational tools and programs that help documentary repositories in North Carolina preserve and provide access to historical and archival materials. SHRAB works with the State Archives of North Carolina to advance preservation of the state’s rich documentary heritage, collaborating with historical records custodians across the state to promote the multi-vocal historical records of North Carolina’s diverse communities. Andy was asked to serve because of his work within the archival community, the Town of Mooresville, and as archivist at the library. Appointments to the board are made by the Governor of NC.

Moore(sville) to Learn

Library of Things Update

Did you know that you can check out a variety of non-traditional library items from our Library of Things? These items include: recreational equipment, cake pans, musical instruments, puzzles, DVD players, and more! You can find a full list of available items by checking our "Library of Things" page on our website under "Library Services" or by viewing our Library of Things book at either the Main Library or West Branch. 

Things can be checked out by teen and adult cardholders in good standing for two weeks. Each cardholder can check out up to two items at a time. Items will be housed at the Main Library, but can be placed on hold for pickup at the West Branch. 

Some new additions to our Library of Things include:

• Nintendo Switch games
• Nintendo Switch console
• Hues & Cues board game
• Scattergories board game
• Catan board game
• Disney Villainous board game
• Mini projector
• Bluetooth speaker
• Document scanner
• 1 inch button maker

February Featured eResource: Digital Public Library of America

by Travis Sherrill

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is a free, online collection of materials from American libraries, archives, and museums. The DPLA’s mission is to make these collections available to the public. Photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, manuscripts, and sounds are just a few of the types of content housed within the DPLA.

The DPLA is home to more than 51,000,000 artifacts. Patrons can search by timeline, map, format, or topic. The DPLA also provides free access to eBook versions of banned books. The DPLA collaborates with organizations called hubs to add content to its collection. Service hubs bring together content from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions. Mooresville Public Library provides an access point to patrons and staff alike. Simply go to the library’s website

www.mooresvillelibrary.org

Scroll down to and click on the Local History and Archives page, click on research tools, then click on DPLA. A library card is not required to access DPLA’s content. Questions? Ask Andy or Sara in the Local History and Archives department.   

Friends of the Mooresville Public Library | (704) 664-2927 | FriendsofMPLNC@gmail.com| mooresvillefriends.com