Friends Newsletter, August 2014

Photo on the right: Patron and Adult Summer Reading participant Robin Mulkey receives a Kindle Fire as a grand prize for being a part of OCPL’s Summer Reading Program.

Adult and Teen Services Program Coordinator presented Mulkey with her new e-reader.

ATS Has Summer Winners by Anne Pusey Head of Adult and Teen Services The Adult and Teen Services Department enjoyed a busy summer full of fun events, great reads, and new services.

We started things off on June 14 with our first-ever Summer Reading Program Kickoff. The event was a huge success with more than 350 people enjoying crafts, activities, performers, and live music. The fun continued throughout the summer, with Friday Movie Matinees twice a month, the Egg Drop Getting to Know our FOCPL President Getting to Know our FOCPL President!

On a recent morning under partly sunny skies, FOCPL Board Secretary Lori-Anne Shapiro sat with Board President Tommy T.

McNeill at one of the outdoor tables at the Hillsborough Weaver Street Market to learn of his thoughts and aspirations for the Friends of

OCPL. Here’s how the conversation went:

Shapiro: Good Morning, Tommy, and thank you for meeting with me! I know I’m glad for the opportunity to become better acquainted with you; I’m sure that’s true of all our Friends. I’d like to start with the obvious first question, what brought you to the FOCPL Board?

McNeill: That’s easy. My passion is early childhood education and literacy, and being the president provides me with a platform to influence researchers and authors to share their written words with the residents and students of Orange County. My own life has been largely influenced by great writers.

Challenge (a smashing success), two great Friends-sponsored author events and more.

Many thanks to FOCPL for their generous donation of two Kindle Fires, which motivated adult and teen readers to read and review numerous books this summer. On August 1, Shayla Glynn (teen) and Robin Mulkey (adult) were drawn as this summer’s lucky winners.

We also launched two new convenient services this summer. In June, we premiered our online chat service, which allows Continued on Page 3…

Shapiro: When and how did reading first become important to you?

McNeill: Reading became important to me as a kid growing up in Raeford, North Carolina. I had a teacher, Miss G.R. Jones at West Hoke Elementary School, who taught me how to read. It changed my life. She would place a book on a large easel in front of the classroom. That challenged to me to read those books from cover to cover. To this day I subscribe to the newspaper of my home county; I recently read that next year West Hoke Elementary School will be celebrating its 60th Anniversary. I plan to be speaking at that event. I’m also speaking at the school next week about the importance of literacy, and how Miss G.R. Jones taught me to read.

Shapiro: Loving to read is one thing, a passion for literacy is another. How did your passion for literacy develop?

McNeill: I came by it honestly, it developed over the years. I was raised in a family that shared Continued on Page 2…

FOCPL PRESIDENT

Continued from Page 1 newspaper reading. I was told to read last since I had mixed up all the sections of the paper trying to follow a story in one section to its conclusion in another section. I may have been seven years old at the time.

Shapiro: Did your parents read a lot themselves?

McNeill: I guess you could say that.

We had a set of encyclopedias –that was considered “big time” then.

We also subscribed to Jet and Ebony magazines –that was huge in our house. But, even though literacy was important in my family, I’m the first among my immediate relatives to have attended college. Subsequently, there have been extended family members who have pursued Masters and PhD degrees.

Shapiro: You’ve spoken of how reading and great writers have been so central to your life. What genre do you prefer and what have been some of your favorite books?

McNeill: I’m a history buff, and really like nonfiction. A favorite is Vernon Jordan, Jr’s Make it Plain: Standing Up and Speaking Out. I also really like self-help and motivational writers, like Zig Ziglar and Jim Rohn. Ziglar’s the one who taught me to be the difference-maker in the lives of others, and Rohn wrote The Art of Exceptional Living. One of my favorite books of that genre is The Magic of Thinking Big, by David Schwartz, which I read at least four times a year. It helps keep me focused.

Shapiro: Going back to your presidency of the FOCPL Board, your term began January 1, 2014 and ends January 1, 2016, which means we’re now approaching the second quarter of the two years. How would you describe the status of your Board at this point?

McNeill:

I’d say we’re making progress and moving forward, though still very much in transition. As with any group, ours has to go through the normal organic four-step process of achieving identity and cohesion –those steps

being:

forming, storming, norming, and performing. We’re still defining our roles, even though our mission to support the Library is clear. The transition is two-fold, one arm being about Board policies, such as how we respond to our stakeholders and benefactors. In fact, we currently have a proposal on the table to plan a Friends Recognition event, which we’re really excited about. The other arm of this transition is about increasing our outreach to the external community, thereby allowing us to have greater influence on the community,

and, in turn, enriching the community’s impact on us. It’s a natural feedback loop that ultimately improves and enriches the services of the Library and its relationship with the community.

Shapiro: I’ve heard you referred to as a visionary and a problem-solver. What you’ve just described refers very much to a vision statement. How about your specific goals as President?

McNeill: I have several goals; the first is to increase new and renewing memberships by 25-35%. I think service to the community is very important, and it is my hope to inspire others to become more service and community-minded. For me, service starts at home. My wife and I are both small business owners, and are committed to supporting literacy outreach efforts; we work with various local community organizations, such as the Junior League of Orange County and the Durham Youthwork Internship Programs of the Durham City Office of Economic and Workforce Development. We have donated 10 Amazon Kindles to each of these organizations to support their literacy outreach efforts. My second goal is financial; I want to see us double the bottom line of FOCPL. Right now we have approximately $60,000; I hope to leave at the end of my term with a Budget in excess of $130,000.

Shapiro:

Those are certainly laudable goals. How do you hope to achieve your financial goal?

McNeill: I plan to do some major fundraising activities. It’s all about timing. For example, when the time is right I see us bringing to the Main Branch of the Orange County Library in Hillsborough the famed British author J. K. Rowling of the Harry Potter series.

Shapiro: Wow! You DO think big!

McNeill: I believe in starting small and local, but setting high expectations. I’m a history maker, and just because J.K. Rowling has never been to Hillsborough before, doesn’t mean she won’t come given the right invitation at the right time. As far as I know, I’m the first African American President of the Friends Board.

Shapiro: Well, I can’t think of a better note to end with “J.K. Rowling comes to Hillsborough!” I’ll certainly look forward to assisting you in making that the most successful event ever to come to Hillsborough, North Carolina! And, I’ll forever be able to say, I remember the day I sat with Tommy T. McNeill as he painted the picture of his lofty ambitions as President of the Friends of the Orange County Public Library!

Youth Services Wrap Up Summer Reading by Debbie Shreve, Head of Youth Services We look back with e n t h u s i a s m a n d encouragement on this year’s Summer Reading Program success. More than 850 children signed up for Summer Reading between June 1 and July 31, and enjoyed a Rags to R i c h e s T h e a t r e presentation, magic shows from Fish the Magish and Chris & Neal, science and craft activities, a game day, plus many storytimes.

kickoff and provide numerous weekly incentive prizes throughout the summer.

Another raffle prize for the kickoff was a donation of two tickets to Seussical the Musical f r o m t h e O r a n g e Community Players (http:// w w w . o c p n c . c o m ) .

Congratulations to our prizewinners Caedmon Sethapathy, Levi Corle and Rodney Torain.

This year we also changed the focus of the Summer Reading Program by partnering with Read Aloud 15 Minutes (http:// www.readaloud.org/15minu tes.html), a national campaign to make reading every day the new standard i n c h i l d c a r e .

W e encouraged families to read a minimum of 15 minutes every day and the library set a goal of 5,000 hours read by all participants by July 31.

Results were In 2014, we added several new components to the program, but perhaps the greatest addition was our Summer Reading P r o g r a m K i c k – o f f celebration on Saturday, June 14. This event brought more than 350 people to the library for games, face painting, raffles, magic and more.

Thanks to the Friends’ generous support, we were able to raffle off two science kits at the

ATS WINNERS

Continued from Page 1 Photoshop, among other topics.

customers using our website to quickly and easily get the answers they need by submitting their question through an online chat form. ATS librarians are available to respond to chats any time the library is open.

Looking forward to this fall, we are excited to host Piedmont Laureate Carrie Knowles. The Friends of the Library are cosponsoring this event on the evening of September 30. We hope to see all of you there!

For more in-depth needs, we launched Book a Librarian in July.

This service allows customers to b o o k a n h o u r – l o ng appointment for one-on-one assistance from an ATS librarian. An immediate hit, customers have used this program to learn about a new tablet or device, get started with genealogy r e s e a r c h , a n d u s e There will also be o n g o i n g p r o g r a m s throughout the fall, including a new Financial Literacy series and First Monday Classics – a book discussion led by local authors and featuring classic literature.

Of course, there are always new programs and fun events popping up throughout the year, so be

Reading—that hung in the Youth Services department.

Participants were so excited to see the bubbles rise as more hours were recorded each week! And on July 30, we hit our goal!

Another popular feature of our Summer Reading program is “Read to Give.” Each week, participants had the choice of receiving a prize or a book buck.

Those who opted for the book buck then redeemed it and chose a book that would be donated to a child in the co mm u nit y .

S umm e r Reading participants donated more than 200 books this year to the Fairview Child and Family Center in Hillsborough. The center made these books available for children to take home and keep. We want to continue to encourage families to read Photo above: One of the library’s Youth patrons shows us how proud he is of the library Youth Services department’s reading hours rising.

recorded on a beakershaped graph—a nod to the science theme of Summer Continued on Page 4 sure to check our online calendar for the latest information at www.bit.ly/ ocplcal.

Photo above: Patron and Teen Summer Reading participant Shayla Glynn receives a Kindle Fire as a grand prize for being a part of OCPL’s Summer Reading Program as well.

Meet Lori Shapiro, New Board Member!

In May 2014 the Board voted in its newest member, Lori-Anne Shapiro. Lori and her husband have lived in the county since March 1995. They now also have two male rescue dogs and two male guinea pigs who claim beds in their family’s home! In her former career, Lori worked as a Social Worker with the Orange County Public Health Department, outstationed at the UNC-Family Medicine Clinic in Chapel Hill. Among her various responsibilities, she helped parents learn about appropriate expectations for children of different ages and developmental stages. Promoting literacy was high on her list for children as early as infancy. Lori herself is never without a book in her hands. Her favorite genre is historical fiction. She also loves to travel, and wherever she goes, she enjoys visiting public libraries. She’s also forever been an avid volunteer, helping various types of community organizations and clubs. Now she can proudly add to her list “Secretary, 2014-2015 Board of the Friends of Orange County Public Library!” storytime called Read Together! It will be offered twice a month through November.

We are also introducing a new book club for ages 9-12 called What are you reading? This program will meet the first Thursday of each month through November. Please check our event calendar (http://bit.ly/OCPLcalendar) for information about these and other weekly scheduled programs.

YOUTH SERVICES

Continued from Page 3 Tuesday, September 30, 20146:30 PM Main Library Meeting RoomPi together, and the first way to achieve this is to make sure every home is filled with books.

Looking forward to the fall, we’re excited to continue the momentum from our Summer Reading Program and continue to encourage families to read together by offering a new Saturday morning family

At the Library:

Library offers new services this summer by Erin Hils Shepherd, Communications Specialist While summer often means vacation time and taking it easy for many, we’ve been busily introducing new services here at Orange County Public Library, or OCPL. In this column, we’ll share more about the new—and possibly unexpected—free offerings at the library.

eBooks available for three weeks at a time and can be requested through the library’s online c a t a l o g a t h t t p : / / library.orangecountync.gov.

Two other eBook options available at OCPL are NC LIVE eBooks and Open Library.

NC LIVE offers online fiction, reference and professional books on topics including art, language learning, literature, medical, health and history.

We’re excited to announce that eBooks from our OverDrive collection can now be checked out for three weeks.

Open Library offers d o w n l o a d a b l e e B o o k s contributed from libraries across the country. Create a username and password to borrow up to five books at a time.

New fiction and nonfiction titles are continually added to this growing and popular collection.

Simply download the eBook to your Kindle, NOOK, iPad, computer or mobile device and begin reading. You just need your library card number to log in to OverDrive.

V i d e o g a m e collection According to a 2012 Library Journal study, about 15 percent of libraries in the U.S.

offer video games.

Don’t have a device on which to read eBooks? You can borrow Kindles at the Main Library.

Kindles come preloaded with a long list of popular books.

They’re Far outpacing this statistic, a 2013 Entertainment Software Association

(ESA)

Continued on Page 5

Library offers an array of new services by Erin Hils Shepherd, Communications Specialist Neil Gaiman said, “Google can bring you back 100,000 answers; a librarian can bring you back the right one.” Sometimes what’s truly needed is the personal touch of a trained professional who can cheerfully guide and help you.

With the vast amount of information available online, it would seem a Google search is all that’s needed to find the information we seek today.

And oftentimes, these sorts of search engines are effective and convenient tools for self-guided searching.

That’s why we’re offering personalized library assistance with the following services.

By meeting or talking with a librarian, you will discover new resources, build new skills and perhaps even be surprised by what your library has available to help you.

Chat with a librarian But the flip side to accessing large volumes of information is that help can be needed to glean through and make sense of it all.

Can’t make it to the library to speak with a librarian?

That’s not a problem.

How do you know if the information you’ve found is reliable and the sources trustworthy? What if you need more in-depth answers than your search has yielded? What if you simply can’t find what you’re looking for?

Connect online directly with an

OCPL

librarian any time the library is open—and the OCPL Main Library is open seven days a week—no matter where you are. If we are busy or

NEW SERVICES

Continued from Page 4 Kinect and laptops. Board and card games were also available. It was a great way for gamers to meet and interact.

study reveals that percent of all Americans play video or computer games, and more than half of all U.S. households have at least one dedicated game console.

Though many don’t associate video games with libraries and learning, video games are more than just entertainment.

Gaming often requires developing strategies, predicting p o s s i b l e o u t c o m e s , managing resources, reading and deciphering maps, tracking complex statistics and adapting to increasingly difficult levels within the game.

Kids, teens and even adults who game learn a range of media literacies beyond basic reading that give As video games and gaming are very much part of our current culture, OCPL began lending video games in June. Nearly 100 games for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 2 and 3 can be checked out from the OCPL Main Library for three weeks at a time. On July 16, we even hosted a Game Day at the Main Library, during which we made available the Wii, Xbox

closed, a North Carolina librarian will step in to answer your questions.

OCPL Main Library and run from 30 minutes to an hour.

L e a r n a b o u t computers, how to use your tablet or smartphone, or the ins and outs of downloading eBooks; apply for jobs or improve your resume; search for ancestors; set up a Facebook or email account; receive research or homework assistance; and more.

To access the chat s e r v i c e , g o t o www.orangecountync.gov/ library. Look in the lower, right-hand corner of the screen for the button that says “Need Help? Chat with a librarian now!” Not online?

The OCPL Main Library is open seven days a week: Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. Call 919-245 -2525 to speak with a librarian.

Book-a-Librarian To reserve your time, complete and submit an online form at www.orangecountync.gov/ library/book.asp. Or pick up a paper form at the Information Desk located on the library’s second floor.

Your Next 5 For those questions that you want in-depth help with, you can schedule a one-on-one appointment with a librarian at a time that works for you. These sessions are held in the We’ve got your information searching needs covered at the library. What if you’re simply looking to Continued on Page 6 them models for navigating our information-rich world.

community generously donated many of the video games in our collection. If you have a video game you no longer play or want, please consider donating it to the library. Any questions about gaming at the library?

Jess Arnold manages the library’s video game collection and can be reached at 919-245-2537.

Gaming, sometimes perceived as a solitary activity, is also quite social.

Nielsen study showed that active teen gamers spent an average of seven hours weekly playing games with their friends. Of parents surveyed in the 2013 ESA study, 62 percent believed gaming helped their children connect with friends, and 59 percent reported gaming as an activity that brings their family together.

The Main Library is located at 137 W. Margaret Lane in Hillsborough. Free parking is available in the Eno River Parking Deck. For more information, go to www.orangecountync.gov/ library.

Not only can you check out video games at OCPL, but you can also game at the library.

F o l k s i n t h e

Coming up at the Evening Book Club by Sara Levinson, Newsletter Chair The meeting on September 9th will be one of our two annual reader’s choice meetings. This is when members share what they have been reading with each other. This is also where we get the list of books that we will use to vote on what books we will be reading in the coming m o n t h s .

S o m a n y interesting books are mentioned, members have often found that this meeting helps them choose some of their personal reading, aside from those books that we have chosen to read as a club.

On October 14th we will be reading The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin. The story takes place during the Progressive era and is told through the intense f r i e n d s h i p b e t w e e n Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. This relationship strengthens both of them until in 1912 they engage in a brutal fight for the presidential

ARRAY OF SERVICES

Continued from Page 5

Good Counsel:

Balancing health and life On this form, tell us about books you’ve both enjoyed and disliked. Share what formats —eBook, audiobook, large print, etc.— you prefer. And let us know some of your favorite genres.

discover a new book? That’s exactly what Your Next 5 is designed to do.

Complete and submit a n o n l i n e f o r m a t www.orangecountync.gov/ library/next5form.asp or pick up a paper form at the Information Desk.

Based on your preferences, a librarian will then select and send you five p e r s o n a l i z e d r e a d i n g suggestions within one week.

nomination that divides their families and close friends and cripples the progressive wing of the Republican Party, allowing the Democrat Woodrow Wilson to be elected. The book also focuses on the muckraking press, which created a spirit of reform.

This helped Roosevelt push the government toward more control of our natural resources and away from a laissez-faire attitude toward robber barons and corrupt politicians.* along with the following five months, after September’s meeting. The information will be available on the Orange County Public Library’s webpage.

The Book Club meets at 6:30 on the second Tuesday of each month. The meetings are open to all, and everyone is welcome to join the group at any time.

*Information about The Bully Pulpit taken from the review on Amazon.com website.

*Book cover photo provided by the Orange County Public Library’s online catalog.

N o v e m b e r ’ s selection will be chosen, Thursday, September 11, 2014

6:30 PM – 7:30 PM

Main Library – Meeting Room

DJ Pappas leads a series of discussions that get to the heart of some of the biggest issues that individuals, couples, and families face.

Everyone is invited to attend one or all of these free programs. DJ is a local Nationally Certified Counselor and a NC Licensed Professional Counselor, Individual and Family Counselor, and Therapeutic Coach. In the past twenty years she has counseled individuals, couples and families at Duke and UNC Medical Centers, in the school setting and in private practice. DJ specializes in counseling issues that impact the health of the family including: anxiety, depression, stress management, role adjustment, advocacy, navigating the health system, adapting to change and the unpredictability of health obstacles to an individual and family.