Who's Afraid?

 by Amy Notarius Rowan Public Library

Do you know a child who’s afraid of the dark, spiders, storms, or other scary things, and wish you knew a way to help them to feel better? Several books at Rowan Public Library may help a child identify and cope with his or her fears. 

Actor, director, and educator LeVar Burton has written a book about learning to face your fears called “The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm.”  A storm outside is scaring Mica Mouse.  A year before, a powerful hurricane had destroyed her home. To help her feel better, Papa mouse tells her the story of Little Rhinoceros, who loses everything due to a terrible storm.  In his grief Rhino acts without thinking, and swallows the storm. He ends up at the bottom of a very deep hole.  With the help of spider, bee, kangaroo and more, Rhino manages to get out of the hole and find faith in himself again. 

This rhyming story and colorful illustrations should encourage young children by showing them that with the support of those around them they can get through difficult times.

In “Brave Squish Rabbit” Katherine Battersby writes about Squish the rabbit, who is very little but has some big fears. Squish is afraid of storms, chickens, and especially the dark. Playing with his friend Twitch helps Squish forget his fears, but one day he can’t find Twitch anywhere. Can he find the courage to face a storm in the dark in order to find his friend? The fun illustrations may encourage young children to face some of their own fears as they follow Squish on his adventure. 

In “Jibberwillies at Night” Rachel Vail writes about Katie Honors, a really happy kid who wakes up with a smile on her face.  Her days are filled with fun and laughter, but at night, after she curls up with her dog, the jibberwillies come.  These are odd-looking, loud creatures who fill Katie’s room. She tries to get them to leave but nothing works. Finally her mother comes up with the idea of catching the jibberwillies in a bucket. Yumi Heo’s brightly colored illustrations bring the jibberwillies to life and make it fun to watch them being drawn into the bucket. Vail presents a unique method for young children to face and possibly eliminate any nighttime fears. 

Don’t be afraid to check out these and other great books at Rowan Public Library today.

NC Kids Digital Library

by Edward Hirst  Rowan Public Library

Children in North Carolina now have access to a new digital resource for books through the NC Kids Digital Library that can be found at: https://nckids.overdrive.com/ . This new resource recently became available in January. It was created through a unique partnership between the NCPLDA, (North Carolina Public Library Directors Association), the State of North Carolina, and eBook platform provider Overdrive. The North Carolina General Assembly provided $200,000 to the North Carolina State Library to work with the NCPLDA to make this statewide consortium available to the 85 regional, county and municipal libraries in North Carolina.

NC Kids Digital Library opened with a collection of 3029 eBooks, 689 audiobooks, and 37 streaming videos. 300 of the titles are available as simultaneous access, with no waiting for the title to become available. The free Overdrive app is available for popular IOS, Android, Kindle Fire tablets, and Windows and Mac computers. The app can be downloaded from  https://nckids.overdrive.com/ or http://app.overdrive.com/. Books can also be read or listened to in a web browser.

Users can choose to check out up to 5 titles for a period of 7 to 21 days. Titles can be returned earlier then the loan period if needed.

To sign in and checkout items from the NC Kids Digital Library click Sign In on the upper right side of the page.  Select “Rowan County Public Library” from the list of Libraries and enter your Rowan Public Library card number or Rowan-Salisbury School Student ID number and PIN.  Users can choose to check out up to 5 titles for a period of 7 to 21 days. Holds are not allowed on NC Digital Kids Library items.

Titles are available for Beginning Readers, Picture books, Comic books and others.

New Paths

by Marissa Creamer Rowan Public Library

The year is still young; the slate is still clean enough to offer boundless possibilities. Hopefully, you are successfully implementing your resolutions as you seek to change yourself for the better. Sometimes, it’s good just to change your perspective.  I know someone who has the tradition of always buying a new pair of shoes to wear on New Year’s Day.  The new shoes symbolize not going down the same paths or making the same mistakes, and making sure the new year is filled with new journeys and new views. It’s a nice reminder that this really is your chance for a fresh start.

These books tell the story of individuals who have chosen to strike out on their own and forge a new path:

Sara has lived her entire young life in Sweden with her nose in a book, but she has decided it’s time to shake things up a bit. In “The Readers’ of Broken Wheel Recommend” by Katarina Bivald, Sara leaves her bookstore job and home country to track down her American pen pal in Broken Wheel, Iowa. Sara and Amy have been corresponding about life and their shared love of literature. When Sara arrives in the tiny, depressed town, however, she discovers that Amy has passed away. The town embraces this visitor, and next thing Sara knows, she is living in Amy’s house, where she is entranced by Amy’s light-filled bedroom full of books.  Sara makes it her mission to turn Broken Wheel on to reading. “Books are meant to be better than reality. Bigger, funnier, more beautiful, more tragic, more romantic.” She has an uncanny knack for matching the right book with the right reader, even George, the 50-something recovering alcoholic who discovers he loves reading “chick-lit.” The story is filled with references to a wide variety of books and authors, including Proust, Jane Austen, Harper Lee, Mark Twain, Christopher Paolini, and Sophie Kinsella, with a reading list provided at the end for further exploration.

Britt-Marie has left her cheating husband behind and has set out to find her place in the world. But is the world ready for Britt-Marie?  Fredrik Backman, author of “A Man Called Ove” first introduced us to Britt-Marie in “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry.”  She takes center stage in “Britt-Marie Was Here,” the story of a curmudgeon you can’t help but grow to love. You might say she’s passive-aggressive, but she’s just trying to be helpful…. And of course she’s not suffering from OCD; she’s just very concerned about proper organization and decorum. After all, there’s only one way to organize a cutlery drawer, any other way would simply be uncivilized. Britt-Marie becomes the temporary caretaker of a recreation center in the dying town of Borg, where soccer provides the one spark of life. By default, Britt-Marie becomes the “coach” of the youth soccer team, and everyone is in for some big changes. The story is by turns hilarious and  heartbreaking, and you’ll find yourself cheering for Britt-Marie!

Deborah Install’s “A Robot in the Garden” takes place in a technologically advanced future that is otherwise familiar. Ben is at a low point in his life when he discovers a broken down robot in his garden. Tang “looks like a school project, a fusion of some sort of Japanese fine art and materials from a scrapyard.” Ben finds purpose in trying to fix the ailing robot, and soon the two embark on a globe-trotting journey to find Tang’s inventor. Tang has the mindset and irrepressible joy of a toddler and the pair develop a close bond. This is a humorous, feel-good story that still poses some deeper questions, such as: How should we treat forms of artificial intelligence? Can robots have feelings? Can they serve as a substitute for human interaction?

Embark on your own journey with these books from Rowan Public Library.

Readers Connect at RPL

by Abigail Hardison Rowan Public Library                                               

This spring RPL has two very special events planned for readers.  On February 16^th from 3 to 5 pm we are hosting a tea party called Love in the Afternoon for patrons who love romance novels.  And our following event, On a Dark and Stormy Night, is for those who love thrillers and mysteries. It will be held March 22^nd from six to eight pm. The purpose of these events may seem quaint to some in the day and age of Goodreads and other popular reader’s advisory publications, but they address a fundamental question that is still posed to librarians every day: “What should I read next?”

Bestseller lists and high-brow literary reviews are not terribly helpful for many casual readers, and Rowan county has a demographic and readership that is all its own. People select books for a wide variety of reasons, such as the recommendation of a friend or family member, or they saw an advertisement for an adaptation into a TV series or movie, or they know and love the author already.  Many of our most voracious readers are very devoted to certain authors or subgenres, and when there is not a new release that looks familiar, the dreaded unease of having nothing to read sets in.

Nowadays fan conventions are fairly commonplace. The most common, the science fiction/comic conventions, bring big crowds to visit vendors and purchase memorabilia, collector’s edition comics and all sorts of merchandise, but much of the enjoyment among attendees is just being around people who like the same things. This is the spirit with which our Readers Connect events were created.  These are places where people who love the same things can come together and find kindred spirits in their very own community.

Sure, games, prizes and refreshments are part of the event, but the true magic is in the interactions that start with “Hey, you love (insert author)? Me too!”, and lead to “Have you tried (different author)?” These conversations are the ones that tickle the hearts of librarians, because we very much want people to read and read the books they love, but we can’t be experts in every genre and subgenre. So the very best way for us to foster those conversations is to provide the place and time for people to share their own experiences.

Our Love in the Afternoon event will feature refreshments, decorations and prizes provided by local businesses such as Better Loafing Artisan Bread Company, Abigail’s Bakery, Mean Mug Coffee Company, Sweet Meadow Café, South Main Book Company, S & D Coffee and Tea, and Harris Teeter.  Prizes include literary themed gifts, books, and DVD adaptations of popular romances by Nicholas Sparks and Debbie Macomber. On A Dark and Stormy Night will provide participants with the case files and clues to solve the mystery of what they’ll read next.  We will have coffee and donuts graciously provided by Dunkin Donuts to sustain our amateur sleuths as they investigate. Hopefully our patrons will have as much fun attending these events as we have had planning them. We hope to see you there!