Need to fix your bicycle? Library has lots of manuals

By Edward Hirst Rowan Public Library

Recently I needed to do some repairs on my bicycles and so I thought it might be wise to see what the library offered in the way of repair manuals. I knew I could save some money if I could do the repairs myself. I was able to find a number of good repair manuals to help with my endeavors.

“The Bicycle Repair Manual” by Chris Sidwell (628.2877 SID) is a well designed manual that will help everyone from the novice mechanic to the seasoned veteran repair their own bicycles. Illustrated with highly detailed color photographs to guide your efforts, this book breaks repairs down in easy-to-follow steps.

“The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance & Repair for Road and Mountain Bikes” by Todd Downs (629.2877 DOW) is illustrated with black and white photos and line drawings. Each part of a bicycle has its own section that explains that part in detail, which is then followed by a troubleshooting list of common issues related to that part and what steps to take to fix it. Finally, there are detailed photos and steps that go into further detail about the part in question.

Leonard Zinn has written two books about bicycle maintenance that the library owns: “Zinn and The Art of Road Bike Maintenance” (629.2877 ZIN) and “Zinn and The Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance” (629.2877 ZIN). Both books have clear instructions with line drawings to help guide your work, and it covers many of the repairs you would need to do to maintain or fix most types of bicycles.

Are you ready for the Aug. 21 solar eclipse?

by Amy Notarius   Rowan Public Library

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), an estimated 500 million people will be able to observe the solar eclipse occurring Monday, Aug. 21 in partial or total form: 391 million in the U.S., 35 million in Canada, and 119 million in Mexico (plus Central America and parts of South America and northwestern Europe).

For those who want to witness the eclipse firsthand, all branches of Rowan Public Library are hosting viewing parties beginning at 1 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 21. Headquarters (Salisbury), East Branch (Rockwell), and South Rowan Regional (China Grove) will distribute viewing glasses while supplies last.  Prior to the eclipse viewing, each branch will also host a special storytime for children at 10:30 a.m.

If you’re staying home that day, check out these tips on using a shoebox and other common materials to create a pinhole viewer, another safe way to view the eclipse, at http://static.nsta.org/extras/solarscience/chapter3/3.10PinholeProjectionInABox.pdf.

You can learn all about eclipses before the actual event by visiting NASA’s Eclipse 101 resource at https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-101.  This website has many suggestions for safe eclipse viewing, eclipse parties, activities, and experiments you can do.

Use the total solar eclipse interactive map to view the start, maximum, and end times for the eclipse in your area.  Click on “how eclipses work” for video and diagrams that explain the positions of the sun, moon, and earth during different types of eclipses.

In addition, NASA will offer an eclipse live streaming video at https://www.nasa.gov/eclipselive.  Here, NASA will provide images captured before, during, and after the eclipse by spacecraft, NASA aircraft, high-altitude balloons, and the astronauts aboard the International Space Station – each offering a unique vantage point for the celestial event.

Throughout history total solar eclipses were regarded with fear and dread before science made it possible to predict their occurrence. You can view the Babylonian clay tablets that recorded instances of ancient eclipses by visiting the history of eclipses page at https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-history.  You’ll also find a list of many of the important scientific discoveries that took place during solar eclipses, including the verification of the theory of General Relativity.

Are you planning on taking photos with your smartphone during the eclipse? Get some tips at this NASA site: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/smartphone-photography-eclipse.  Advice includes using protective eyewear, taking practice shots of the moon before the eclipse, and taking a series of time-lapse photos of the scenery as the light dims during the eclipse. And maybe the most important tip of all—don’t forget to stop taking photos long enough to view the eclipse with your own eyes! 
Explore the science, history, and wonder of eclipses with these great resources.  Then, join us Aug. 21 at your nearest RPL location for eclipse storytimes and viewing parties.

For more information, visit http://www.RowanPublicLibrary.org or call 704-216-8228.

The Library: The Superhero of the Your Community

 by Abigail Hardison  Rowan Public Library

    Once a year, the American Library Association and libraries across the country make a concerted effort to encourage everyone to visit their local libraries and get a card. The benefits and joys of a library card are innumerable:

 Access to freely enjoy the latest bestselling book all your friends are talking about? Awesome!
How about those free online classes in PowerPoint that could get you the skills to impress your boss and get a raise? Amazing!

The possibility of bringing multiple generations of a family into one place and everybody finding something they are interested in? Unbelievable!

September is Library Card Sign-Up time month, a time that Rowan Public Library celebrates all the libraries have to offer, and the library celebrates its patrons, who make it all worthwhile. This year we are celebrating the hero in all of us!

RPL is providing entertainment for all ages at each branch (Headquarters in Salisbury, East Branch in Rockwell, and South Rowan Regional in China Grove) showcasing Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and more! Our “super” month will culminate Saturday, Sept. 30, at Headquarters, where we will show a double feature of “Batman vs. Superman” and the newly released “Wonder Woman.” We will also host a superhero costume contest that day: Homemade, store-bought, little kids, big kids, and adults who are kids at heart, capes, no capes, DC, Marvel – we want to see you get super!

Library Card Sign-Up month also features a contest to win a Kindle Fire. RPL, in conjunction with the Friends of Rowan Pubic Library, will be given out ten – that’s right, ten – Kindle Fire tablets. At each of our three branches, we will hold separate drawings for new adult library card holders, new teen library card holders, and existing patrons in good standing. We will also award a Kindle Fire to an Outreach patron. Each winner receives a free session with a librarian to set up the Kindle to access RPL’s digital resources. To enter, all you have to do is check out an item sometime during the month of September. That’s it!

For more information about RPL’s Library Card Sign-Up month celebrations, visit www.RowanPublicLibrary.org.
   

Voracious Reader from an Early Age

by  Marissa Creamer Rowan Public Library

                I have been a voracious reader from an early age, devouring picture books, the Nancy Drew series, horse stories, “Ranger Rick” magazine—pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I’m not sure why I developed this passion for reading, as my parents weren’t really readers. But they did read to my sister and me, and my father told the most wonderful bedtime stories. Unfortunately, since he made them up as he went along, he couldn’t remember them later, so, disappointingly, we never did get a repeat performance of the hilarious tale of “The Warts on the Warthog. “

             Even before I could read, I loved books, and I couldn’t wait to start school so that I could finally learn to read them on my own. I was expecting that I would learn this amazing secret on the very first day, and was very disappointed to discover that it would take more time.

                I can’t imagine how many books I have read over the years; it never occurred to me to keep a list of them anymore than I would keep a tally of breaths. But fifteen years ago I decided to start a reading log. I find it useful in helping me remember titles and authors that I have especially enjoyed, and where I am in a particular series. It’s also encouraging to see that each year I read more and more books, and reviewing the titles in the log is like visiting with old friends. I only wish that I had started it earlier in life.

                One of my favorite recent entries is The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe by Romain Puertolas.  This farcical tale follows the adventures of a professional con artist from India who travels to Paris in order to buy the latest top-of-the-line bed of nails from Ikea. Things go very wrong, however, when Ajatashatru is accidently trapped in a wardrobe and shipped to Britain. On the bright side, this should keep him out of the clutches of the Parisian taxi driver who has pledged to kill him. (Or will it?) This begins a madcap adventure across Europe and North Africa. As Ajatashatru begins to move in a world of refugees and illegal immigrants, the shallow fakir learns from the lives of others, and his own life is changed by the experience.  Written by a former French border guard, this comedic novel has become an international best-seller.

                Another recent entry in my reading log is the story of a detective with an unusual sidekick:  a baby elephant.  The first in the Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation series by Vaseem Khan is The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra. This book introduces Ashwin Chopra, who, on the eve of his retirement from the Mumbai police, finds that his late uncle has bequeathed to him a dispirited baby elephant.  In addition, his final case, a suspicious death no one seems to want solved, continues to trouble him. Concerned that the case will not be adequately investigated in his absence, he decides to take on the case as a civilian. Chopra is an honorable detective, his wife Poppy is delightfully strong-willed, and once he perks up, baby Ganesh turns out to be a very useful partner.  Readers of Alexander McCall Smith should enjoy this series, which continues with The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown, followed by the recent release, The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star.

                Come to Rowan Public Library for these books and other titles to add to your own reading log.