How do you teach a child to read for the pure enjoyment of reading?

by Pam Everhardt Bloom  Rowan Public Library

How do you teach a child to read for the pure enjoyment of reading? Research abounds and Rowan Public Library definitely provides books and articles addressing this question.  That said; don’t overlook the power of conversation and observation during your next visit to your local library. Whether chatting with staff or fellow patrons for suggestions, anecdotal evidence is plentiful and willingly shared. A random sampling of library staff, adults who tend to be active adult readers, invoked many common threads.  Their answers to, “Did you read as a child?” were revealing and may be helpful when encouraging a love of reading.

Of those who did not enjoy reading as a child, being outside and playing often took preference over books. Upon further reflection, some mentioned that there weren’t books at home, that they weren’t taken to a library, or that reading was just hard and not fun. When asked what changed them into readers, it was often discovering and reading a book they picked out on their own. For some it happened as early as 3^rd grade, for others it came with the freedom to make their own choices outside of school as adult readers.

That brings us to a common thread among staff - the ability to choose a book to delight and enjoy based on no needs other than personal ones, no matter the age. Interestingly, many of those who were voracious readers as children grew up in houses with many books to choose from, had family subscriptions to book clubs/magazines/newspapers that arrived regularly or visited a library frequently. Choice was easily available.   

Award winning author Kwame Alexander (Newbery Medal, The Crossover) has a philosophy about the need for children to select the books they want to read. In a recent National Public Radio Here and Now podcast, June 28, 1917, Alexander stated, “Books are like amusement parks, and sometimes you’ve got to let kids choose the rides.”  Saying that, he also addressed the need to guide children, “You want kids to get excited and engage with books? Give them a book that they want to read. Give them a book that they think is going to be awesome. Allow the literature to be a bridge to get them to appreciate all the books that you want. But it has to start with their imagination, their excitement…”

 Those of us at Rowan Public Library often see that match between readers and books happen. Some recent book selections for older juveniles that are also enjoyable for adult reading include:  Armstrong and Charlie by Steven Frank, The Ethan I was Before by Ali Standish, As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds, Things Too Huge to Fix by Saying Sorry by Susan Vaught, The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones by Wendelin Van Draanen, and A Month of Mondays by Joelle Anthony. Two new mysteries, The Devlin Quick Mysteries - Into the Lion’s Den by Linda Fairstein and Walls within Walls by Maureen Sherry, may make your heart beat a bit faster; always a good recipe for a book.  Visit Rowan Public Library and experience the magic of choice for the child in your life and the kid in you. This gift of time to browse and select personal favorites may become the jumpstart to a lifelong love of reading.

Forgotten Wisdom

by Paul Birkhead  Rowan Public Library

      Do you know how to sew a button on a shirt?  Can you zest a lemon or fold a fitted sheet?  Are you willing and able to step up and change a flat tire for a stranger?  For some, these are skills that they’ve possessed since growing up.  For others, they’ve never been taught basic resourcefulness that will help them in their everyday lives.  Fortunately, Rowan Public Library has material that can impart some of this forgotten wisdom on those of us who need it.
      If you are of a certain age, you may remember taking ‘Home Ec’ or metal/wood shop classes in high school.  Regrettably, these classes were defunded over the past few decades once technology took hold.  While some viewed them as too costly or ‘old-fashioned’, these classes did manage to instill a lot of wisdom in our society that we now realize we no longer possess.  The Useful Book: 201 Life Skills They Used to Teach in Home Ec and Shop by Sharon and David Bowers is a good manual for picking up some neglected knowledge.  There are sections in the book on how to tackle cooking, sewing, domestic arts, life skills, as well as plumbing and electrical repair.  I found the pages that showed how to rewire a lamp interesting because I have discarded a few over the years that I’m now sure could have been saved quite easily.
      In the past, teaching handiness and know-how not only was the responsibility of public schools, it was a family affair as well.  Two books that the library has on its shelves describe the many skills that were passed down from one generation to the next.  How to Build a Fire: And Other Handy Things Your Grandfather Knew by Erin Bried shares over one hundred how-to tips.  These include how to break in a baseball mitt, bait a hook, and tie a perfect tie.  Of course, grandma knew a lot of things as well and these are detailed in Bried’s other book, How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew.  Reading how to make your own jam, roll out a piecrust, and clean without harsh chemicals might just make you nostalgic for days of yore.
      Speaking of nostalgia, The Foxfire Book of Simple Living: Celebrating Fifty Years of Listenin', Laughin', and Learnin' has just recently been published.  I’m sure many have heard of the Foxfire series, but for those who have not, Foxfire is an organization that preserves and promotes the Appalachian way of living.  Volumes have been published over the years that share mountain anecdotes and history and teach skills such as basket weaving and soap making.  If you enjoy learning about folk tales and folk art, then this book is for you.
      Another book series has an anniversary this year.  The Old Farmer’s Almanac is celebrating 225 years with the publication of its 2017 edition.  Inside the book, you’ll find a lot of interesting things including long-term weather forecasts.  The accuracy of those forecasts is debatable, but some farmers swear by them and plant their crops accordingly.  What might be more helpful and enjoyable to others are the short articles throughout the book that dispense humor, historical tidbits and practical wisdom.
      Whether you’re 9 or 99, it’s never too early or too late to learn things; especially skills that will assist you in day to day living.  Rowan Public Library is a strong advocate of lifelong learning and is proud to offer you tools to help you gain wisdom.
     

Discovering Gems

by Gretchen Beilfuss Witt


    Genealogical research often consists of looking at many types of records:  marriage, land, court, will and probate. While searching records in the History Room can yield ample information about a family’s vital statistics, sometimes a story or two helps fill in the gaps and gives a greater understanding and more in-depth picture of the family history.  Newspaper articles are a great resource for finding those stories and RPL has just the place to start.  Recently, “Newspapers.com North Carolina Collection” was added to the databases available for genealogical and general research.    This collection includes portions of the Salisbury Evening Post and The Carolina Watchman as well as newspapers from nearby towns like Mocksville, Mooresville, Lexington, Cooleemee, and Statesville and across the entire state. 
    The database can be accessed from several points.   From the library’s main webpage select History and Genealogy, once on the History Room page look to the right hand side where the Online Genealogy Resources are listed, scroll to the bottom of the list and select “Historic North Carolina Digital Newspaper Collection.”  This link goes through NCLIVE directly to the Newspaper.com collection.  Alternately, selecting NCLIVE through the ebranch link and then choosing “Genealogy and Historical Maps” or “Journals” will also provide access to the newspaper collection. 
    Once in the collection, searching can be accomplished in a variety of ways.   Selecting the “Search” tab pulls up a search box where specific terms can be entered.   The results can often be quite broad; a search can then be narrowed by changing the date parameters or choosing specific titles.  Opting for the “Browse” tab yields a list of North Carolina cities and then a listing of titles.  “Clippings” tab provides a location in which searches and articles can be saved to an account and accessed later.  This account is free to set up and is associated with an email address.   Selecting the “papers by location” link will pull up a map showing the cities and towns in North Carolina that have newspapers in the collection.  A “location pin” marking each city will also indicate the number of newspapers available.  Clicking on the pin will give a list of the newspapers as well.   Make the selections and begin to search.  
Choosing “The Spencer Crescent” and then searching on “fire company” yielded a plethora of articles concerning the fire department of Spencer and firemen working for the Southern Railroad, including an article August 19, 1909 in which a large meeting was held to approve the purchase of a horse driven hose truck for the Spencer fire department.  Selecting just a specific name in the search box, Leonard Lee Readling, produced 111 options, one of which was an article in the “Yadkin Valley Herald” in September of 1917 presenting a list of men exempted from the army.   Once an article is found, it can be printed, emailed, clipped and saved, or shared to Ancestry.  Choosing the print icon allows printing of the entire page or just a portion of the page; items can also be saved as JPGs or PDFs.  The envelope icon indicates the article can be downloaded, shared via Facebook, Twitter, embedded or just emailed.   The website also offers some short tutorials on how to best utilize the site.   As with all databases provided through NCLIVE, the database can be accessed from home with a library card and pin number or at one of the library branches.   Dive in and explore the historic newspapers of North Carolina and find those stories.

Make it at a Makerspace!

by Amanda Bosch  Rowan Public Library
           
    Makerspaces.com defines a makerspace as “a collaborative work space inside a school, library or separate public/private facility for making, learning, exploring and sharing that uses high tech to no tech tools.  These spaces are open to kids, adults, and entrepreneurs and have a variety of maker equipment including 3D printers, laser cutters, cnc machines, soldering irons and even sewing machines.  A makerspace however doesn’t need to include all of these machines or even any of them to be considered a makerspace.  If you have cardboard, legos and art supplies you’re in business.  It’s more of the maker mindset of creating something out of nothing and exploring your own interests that’s at the core of a makerspace.”
    Makerspaces are becoming popular in libraries and schools across the state, and here in Rowan County. The Rowan Public Library has a new makerspace, the COOP (CoOperative Lab)  that includes a 3D printer as well as other tech tools patrons can use to create and make their own projects. While there is a cost to print items on the 3D printer, patrons can begin learning how to design and customize their own 3D items with free online resources.  Thingiverse (www.thingiverse.com) is a good place to start. You can create a free account and search for any items that might be of interest. While some items have files you have to purchase before you can download and print them, many free resources are also available. A search for Wonder Woman brought back 52 items ranging from Wonder Woman bracelets, tiaras and even a 3D print of Wonder Woman herself!
    Rowan Public Library also has books that can also help you get started with 3D printing.  If you are searching for educational projects, you may want to check out 3D Printed Science Projects by Joan Horvath (507 HOR). If you would like to learn to create your own inventions and discover how 3D printers work, then take a look at Terence O’Neill’s 3D Printing (J 681 ONE). While it is written for juveniles, it is a great resource for those beginning to use makerspaces and 3D printers.  As you advance your 3D skills, another great resource is Make: 3D Printing Projects by Brook Drumm (621.9 DRU). In this book, you can access “illustrated instructions for assembling a variety of 3D printing projects, including a modular lamp, a battery-operated screwdriver, and a bubble-blowing robot.”
    For those who prefer to create and design practical items, a wonderful resource is The Zombie Apocalypse Guide to 3D printing: designing and printing practical objects by Clifford T. Smyth (621 SMY). This book teaches readers to design and print items that won’t break when they are needed, print replacement parts, make things fit and get the most from the printer.
    Makerspaces are not limited to being housed in a library or school and there is a maker movement to engage makers of all ages in Makerfaires that are held across the country. Make magazine has an online website that lists upcoming makerfaires across the country at www.makezine.com and they have launched an online community for makers at makerspace.com where you can sign up for an account and collaborate with other makers from across the world. If you are looking for makers closer to home, Makerspace Charlotte schedules meetups in the Charlotte area with those interested who want to “Make. Learn. Share.” at https://www.meetup.com/Makerspace-Charlotte/
    Come check out the COOP at Rowan Public Library to begin you Makerspace journey.  You never know where it will lead!

Wonder Women of History

By Laurie Robb Rowan Public Library

What do Wonder Woman, women’s suffrage, Margaret Sanger, and the lie detector all have in common? The answer is Wonder Woman’s creator, Dr. William Mouton Marston.
Marston, the topic of The Secret History of Wonder Woman, gets a thorough examination by Harvard historian Jill Lepore. In it, Lepore explores how feminism and women’s suffrage influenced Marston’s life from his early days, to his years of psychological studies that lead to the lie detector test, to his ideas that became Wonder Woman.  A well-written book with lots of photographs, quotes, and comic book frames, Lepore presents facts from hundreds of sources to give a complete picture of all of the elements that contributed to the iconic superhero.

     Throughout his life, Marston had a penchant for controversy. While trying to prove the lie detector test was legitimate, he was arrested for fraud. He couldn’t keep a job teaching psychology. With Wonder Woman he found success yet still sparked ire with many people who objected to her (lack of) clothing. Others found the often-used portrayal or plot line of evil villains placing Wonder Woman in bondage disturbing (Marston insisted the chains were symbols of suffrage – Wonder Woman always broke out of the chains); however, the most controversial aspect of Marston’s life was his nontraditional living arrangements, which were hidden from the public during his lifetime. Marston lived with his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston, and Olive Byrne, who was the niece of birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger.

Lepore also describes the cultural elements behind the hero that Marston felt the world needed in the early 1940s. With women gaining the right to vote and outspoken women’s rights leaders taking the podium, Marston wanted a different kind of hero, one that would be “a standard among children and young people of strong, free, courageous womanhood”. He was able to create the first female superhero with her own comic book that embodied strength, intelligence, and independence, and who forced honesty from her enemies with her Lasso of Truth (inspired by Marston’s own lie detector test). An additional goal was to educate his readers about important women through a “Wonder Women of History” section. Some of the women featured were Sojourner Truth, Clara Barton, Dorothea Dix, and Joan of Arc.

So, in the spirit of Wonder Woman and Marston who declared that “The only hope for civilization is the greater freedom, development and equality of women,” learn about those who fought for women’s rights. Titles at the Rowan Public Library include:
•    Not for Ourselves Alone: the Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony by Geoffrey C. Ward
•    Notorious RBG : the Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon
•    The Firebrand and the First Lady : Portrait of a Friendship : Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice by Patricia Bell-Scott
•    The Feminist Revolution : a Story of the Three Most Inspiring and Empowering Women in American History by Jules Archer, found in the juvenile book section