Friends Newsletter, March 2014

Above: The new FOCPL Board were in attendance at the 2013 Annual Friends Meeting in December.

Meet the New Friends Board by Erin Hils Shepherd, FOCPL Chair, Nominating Committee

On Saturday, December 7, four new members were voted onto the FOCPL Board of Directors to serve in 2014 and 2015. The Board also elected officers for 2014.

We would like to welcome Linda DiGangi, Tommy McNeill and Tori Williams Reid to the Board! (Their biographies are continued on page two.)

OCPL Offers Online Fine Payment option and Seeks Volunteers by Lucinda Munger, OCPL Director Though the year is still young, a lot has already been happening at OCPL!

In early February,

OCPL

began offering an online fine payment option to our customers at the Main Library and the Cybrary.

This new feature is accessed through your online library account (where you can also place hold requests, renew items, and manage reading lists through the library’s catalog) at https://library.orangecountync.gov/ iii/encore/myaccount. Just login to your online account and visit the Fines/Fees section.

The online payment system is handled by PayPal and the library does not retain the credit/debit card information you provide.

Though debit or credit cards can be used to

By the way, the Friends are still looking for someone to fill the Secretary position. Vanessa Shortly joined the board as secretary but, unfortunately, she won’t be able to remain due to a job change. So, if you want to learn more about the Friends’ secretary position, let them know at the checkout desk and someone will contact you. It’s a great way to volunteer a little bit of your time to help your library!

Our 2014 Board is as follows:

 Tommy McNeill – President  Laura Simmons – Vice President  Mark Smith – Treasurer  Linda Di Gangi – Treasurer-Elect  Bill Barrows – Coordinator, Spring & Fall Book Sales Continued on Page 2…

pay fines online, all transactions will be processed as credit card payments.

Mobile users of the library website will need to switch to Full Site mode to pay fines online.

If visiting the library in person to pay a fine, cash and check payments are accepted.

Credit/debit cards payments are for use with the online payment option at this time.

Because the Carrboro Branch operates on a different computer system than the Main Library and Cybrary, online payment is not currently available through the Carrboro Branch catalog at this time.

For additional information about your online account or paying fines online, please visit the library or contact us at 919-245-2525.

Continued on Page 2…

NEW BOARD MEMBERS

Continued from front page  Marcia Cameron – Coordinator, Ongoing Book Sale  Chris Holaday – Coordinator, Spring & Fall Book Sales  Tori Williams Reid – Member New Board Member Biographies

Linda Di Gangi: Linda is a professional organizer who originally hails from Pittsburgh, PA. She and her family moved to Hillsborough just over a year ago. She previously worked as a business manager/treasurer for her son’s youth hockey team for several years she looks forward to joining FOCPL.

Tommy McNeill: Tommy is the owner of Mid-South Medical LLC, a medical devices company. He retired from the military after serving 20 years in the United States Air Force Reserves. Born into a third generation farming family, Tommy grew up in Raeford, NC, and is a graduate of North Carolina Central University

ONLINE FINE PAYMENT/

VOLUNTEER

Continued from front page Volunteer Opportunities at OCPL Dedicated Friends members like Bill Barrows and Penny van de Water not only support OCPL through the Friends of the Orange County Public Library, but they also share their time by volunteering in the library’s Technical Services department.

Volunteers are essential to the continued success of the public library system and we recognize the rich diversity in skill, experience and talent volunteers like Bill and Penny contribute. That’s why earlier this year the library was so pleased to unveil an expanded volunteer program for teens and adults at all three OCPL locations.

We want to engage more folks in the Orange County community through this volunteer program.

Volunteers at OCPL enjoy meeting people, gaining meaningful work experience, providing valuable assistance to the librarians, enhancing library services and giving back to the community at large. Teen volunteers can even earn service learning hours through their high schools for time spent volunteering at the library.

Interested in volunteering at OCPL?

Help is needed in the following areas:

 Maintaining the shelves  Searching for missing items  Processing withdrawn items and preparing them for the Friends of the Library sales  Updating displays

in Durham, NC. Tommy is active in the community and either serves or has served with the Tuskegee Airmen, Boy Scouts of America, Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, and Toastmasters of America. He and his wife, Gail Woods McNeill, own Gail’s Hair Salon and Pampering Women in Durham, NC. They have one canine son, Bailey.

Tori Williams Reid: Tori Williams Reid, Ph.D., lives in Hillsborough with her family and owns Right at Home – Durham/ Chapel Hill, an in-home care and assistance company. Before becoming a small business owner, she spent 10 years with Accenture, a global company. She’s the former chair of the First Book Triangle local advisory board, which puts books in the hands of children that cannot afford them. She is either currently or was recently involved with the boards of Carol Woods Retirement Community and the Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce, and volunteers with the Alzheimer’s Association. She enjoys being a reading volunteer in her daughter’s class.

 Pulling holds for library customers  Assisting at library events and programs with set-up/clean-up and refreshments  Cleaning CDs and DVDs  Repairing books Volunteers also currently offer résumé review assistance and translation services. We would welcome hearing from individuals who have skills that could be of service to library customers.

The process to become a volunteer starts with the completion of an application.

Applications are available at all three OCPL l o c a t i o n s a n d o n l i n e a t w w w . o r a n g e c o u n t y n c . g o v / l i b r a r y / volunteer.asp Individuals’ interests are matched with jobs after an interview. Volunteers then work with staff to create their schedule, and receive training and supervision in the specific tasks to which they are assigned.

Consider sharing your time and talents with OCPL! Inquiries and questions about volunteering can be made directly to Nitya Fiorentino at nfiorentino@orangecountync.gov or 919-245-2538.

Here Comes Science to Youth Services by Debbie Shreve, Head of Youth Services TWEENS DISCOVER Our exciting winter programming series kicked off on January 6th and will run through March 27th. We have added a new Baby Lap Sit program, specially geared towards pre-walkers and their caregivers. We also added a 30-minute “Stay and Play” session to our Tiny Tots and Preschool story times. To expand our commitment to Every Child Ready to Read, these free-play sessions offer educational toys, building blocks, puppets and games to engage children in early literacy learning, as well as grow social skills.

3:30. In this free, fun-filled 45-minute program, 9 to 12 -year-olds explore LEGOs, art, science and literature through awesome activities Science in the Summer is coming to the OCPL Main Library! This hands-on science education program is sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and is free to a limited number of rising 2nd-8th graders. The programs will be held July 28-August for 2nd-5th graders and July 23-July 25 for 6th-8th graders.

Registration will begin March 17 at 9:00 a.m. on the Science in the Summer website.

Please visit www.scienceinthesummer.c om for more information and to register.

In January, Tweens Discover debuted on Thursday afternoons at New ATS Partnerships Available

DROP-IN

RESUME REVIEW A st The Adult and Teen Services Department has enjo yed t hree ne w partnerships this winter which have resulted in a great series of programs and services to the public.

by Anne Pusey, Head of Adult & Teen Services Together with the Compass Center for Women and Families, we have been fortunate to offer a free Financial Literacy Series, with sessions starting in February and continuing on the first Saturday of the month through April. Topics to date have included budgeting and managing credit; the conclusion of the series will focus on identify theft, and will coincide with the national Money Smart Week @ your library initiative.

Volunteer Randi Thompson came to us in December with a vision for a community-building program that would serve both English speakers hoping to learn Spanish and Spanish speakers hoping to learn English. The resulting 6-week Spanish/English Lunch & Learn series kicked off in January after tons of i n t e r e s t f r o m t h e community and a 10-person waitlist for attendance.

We’re so excited to be able to offer this wonderful program and hope to be able to continue it in the future.

F i n a l l y , a partnership with League of Women Voters of Orange- Durham-Chatham and Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina allowed us to assist customers in enrolling in health insurance.

We hosted Certified Application

Summer Reading is just around the corner!

Save the date for our kickoff celebration on Saturday, June 14th. The Summer Reading Program runs from June 1st – July 31st. Further details will be available in the next issue of Friends Matters.

Tweens ages 9-12!

Come to a 45 minute program where you will You may have noticed a new face in Youth Services! Heather Riegg, who plans and performs the weekly story times, joined our staff recently. Heather is currently enrolled in the

MLS

program at North Carolina Central University and though originally from Asheville, she now calls Durham home.

We’re pleased that Heather is a part of the YS team so please join us in welcoming her to OCPL!

discover more about LEGOS, Art, Science and Literature through awesome activities.

Thursdays at the Orange County Main Library from

3:30—4:15 PM.

Counselors on three different dates in February who were able to answer customer questions about the Affordable Care Act and help walk them through the enrollment process.

Partnerships such as these extend our connections to th e community and allow us to offer a broader and more diverse line-up of programs than we are able to offer on our own.

This spring, we will continue to host our weekly computer classes, the monthly Evening Book Club and A Darn Good Yarn knitting club, and a host of fun teen events. For more information on these programs and for our complete listing of events, see our calendar at http:// orangecountync.gov/library.

Spotlight on Service by Janet Flowers, Newsletter Contributor The PlayMaker’s Theater in Chapel Hill has a wonderful program, “Spotlight on Service” in which FOCPL participates.

opportunity to attend high quality, professional theater at no cost. It’s our way of saying thank you to the individuals and organizations that do so much for our community.

As stated on the Playmaker’s Website (2-1- 14), “The Spotlight on Service (SOS) program at PlayMakers was created in 2008 to offer volunteers and staff members at local service organizations the In the 2012-13 season, over 1400 tickets were given to volunteers and staff members from 66 organizations in the Triangle area.” To the Editor of Friends’ Matters,

Imagine my surprise when I was contacted about receiving two complimentary tickets to “Clybourne Park” at PlayMakers Theater through the Friends Spotlight on Service program. The process to obtain the tickets went very smoothly and my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the play. This is a wonderful program and yet another reason to belong to Friends of the Orange County Public Library!

Janie Morris Paver Sale Update Thank you for supporting

OCPL

by purchasing a brick via the Friends Paver Sale in 2013!

The sale is over and the order has been placed with the brick vendor.

in the front walkway of the OCPL Main Library in June.

Updates regarding a more specific installation date will be posted at www.orangecountync.gov/ library/pavers.asp when they are available.

Any questions?

Contact Paver Sale Coordinator Ed Flowers at pavers2013@gmail.com.

The pavers will arrive this spring and we anticipate their installation

To be eligible for a FOCPL award, one must be an active dues-paying member who has supported the organization through service in one or more of the following ways: served on the Board, served on a committee, helped with the book sale, or helped in some other specific way.

Donors who give at the $100 level are also included.

The notice from Playmakers is short so a quick response is needed when you learn that your name has been chosen. If you meet the criteria noted above, you could be receiving two free tickets to an upcoming performance.

What a delightful way to honor those who support our organization!

A Letter to the Friends November 21, 2013 Dear Friends of the Library,

My sincerest thanks for sending books to Orange County Schools. Literacy coaches will be using the books in various ways for outreach to families and students. Helping children love reading is one of the most rewarding efforts an adult can experience.

Thank you for your work in the community and your thoughtfulness to the school district.

Appreciatively,

Dr. Lisa Knapp Orange County Public Schools

2014 Community Read

MY BLACK FAMILY, MY WHITE PRIVILEGE: A WHITE MAN’S JOURNEY

THROUGH THE NATION’S RACIAL MINEFIELD

Co-Sponsored by:

Orange County Housing, Human Rights and Community Development Department and Orange County Public Library Evening Book Club

Monday, March 31, 2014 – 6:00 p.m.

Orange County Public Library

Margaret Lane, Hillsborough

Michael

Wenger, a white, Jewish man from a w o r k i n g – c l a s s neighborhood in New York City, has a unique perspective on race relations.

He was married to an African-American woman who grew up poor in a small, segregated town in North Carolina. As a result of their union, he has three c h i l d r e n , f o u r grandchildren, one greatgrandchild, and a host of stories about race in this country.

My Black Family, My White Privilege shares the issues Wenger and his family faced, particularly in the South, and illuminates t h e p r i v i l e g e s h e experienced that his wife and bi-racial children were deprived.

Wenger is a Senior Fellow at the Joint Center for P o l i t i c a l a n d Economic Studies in Washington, DC, the nation’s pre-eminent research and policy analysis institution focused on issues of race. He also is an adjunct faculty member at The G e o r g e W a s h i n g t o n University and a consultant on race relations. Prior to coming to the Joint Center in 1998, Mr. Wenger was Deputy Director for Outreach and Program Development for President Clinton’s Initiative on Race.

Copies of My Black Family, My White Privilege are available for borrowing from the Orange County Public Library.

Above: Author of My Black Family, My White Privilege Michael R. Wenger.

Thank You, John Claude Bemis!

BY MICHAEL R. WENGER

Local children’s author John Claude Bemis was the special guest at the Friends of the Orange County Public Library 2013 Annual Meeting in December. Bemis gave a wonderful presentation on his journey as a writer.

These pictures are just a few of the many highlights from his speech.

Coming Up in Evening Book Club by Sara Levinson, Newsletter Chair The Orange County Public Library Book Club meets the second Tuesday of every month. The books that will be read and discussed are chosen every six months or so, and the whole membership both proposes the books and votes for them. Everyone is welcome. The meetings are held in the meeting room in the Orange County Public Library at 6:30 and generally last until 7:30 or even though the author won’t be coming to the library to speak on until March 31. (See page 5). We are looking forward to a l i v e l y discussion.

April’s book is People of the Book, by G e r a l d i n e Brooks.

The author’s website describes it in the following words: “an intricate, ambitious novel that traces the journey of a rare illuminated Hebrew m a n u s c r i p t from convivencia Spain to the ruins of Sarajevo, from the Silver Age of Venice to the sunburned rock faces of northern Australia. Inspired by the true story of a mysterious codex known as t h e S a r a j e v o Haggadah, People of the Book is a sweeping 7:45.

h e book for this March is My Black Family, M y W h i t e

Privilege:

White Man’s Journey Through the Nation’s Racial Minefield by Michael R.

Wenger. The book club will still be meeting on March 11th to discuss the book, Book Club Dined for the Holidays T h e O r a n g e County Book Club held a veritable feast to go along with our December 2013 meeting at which the selected book was Fannie F l a g g ’ s

R e d b i r d Christmas.

There were Southern favorites both from the book and brought to mind by the reading, including Bavarian chicken pot pie, pecan sweet potatoes, corn pudding (from Barbara Kingsolver’s A n i m a l , V e g e t a b l e , Mineral), squash casserole, mac and cheese, black eyed pea salad, banana cream pudding, persimmon pudding, and delicate cookies. We all ate very, very, well, and had a lovely time!

Right:

Members of the Evening Book Club begin their lovely feast to celebrate the holiday season together.

Above: Conversation, book discussion, and a delicious holiday meal was the perfect recipe for closing out another great year in great reading.

adventure through five centuries of history. From its creation in Muslim-ruled, medieval Spain, the illuminated manuscript makes a series of perilous

j o u r n e y s :

t h r o u g h Inquisition-era Venice, finde-siécle Vienna, and the Nazi sacking of Sarajevo.” Nonnatus House (a pseudonym for the Sisters of St John the Divine in Whitechapel, where Worth actually worked). The story is split between chapters describing individual mothers and their oftentraumatic deliveries, and more light-hearted incidents back at the convent. As well as the name of the convent, names of the other characters are generally pseudonymous, with the exception of Cynthia, who remained a close friend of Jennifer Worth in later life.

The book is based on Mrs.

Worth’s powerful memories of midwifery in the East End of the 1950s.”

* Book cover images provided by the Orange County Public Library online catalog.

In May, the Book Club will be reading Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth. It is a memoir, and the first in a trilogy of books describing the author’s work as a district nurse and midwife in the East End of London during the 1950s.

According to Wikipedia “The book is set in Poplar, in the East End of London, where “Jenny Lee” (Worth’s maiden name) works as a midwife and district nurse, attached to a convent,