Meet Libby!

by Amanda Bosch  Rowan Public Library

                Do you love your iPad, kindle, tablet or smartphone?  Would you love to have access to thousands of great books, movies or audiobooks for FREE, anytime and anywhere?  Meet Libby, a new app that is a streamlined way to borrow digital books and audiobooks from the North Carolina Digital Library, an ebranch resource.

            Make the most of your morning and evening commute with free audiobooks from the North Carolina Digital Library, whip out your tablet the next time you are stuck waiting and read a few chapters of the latest best seller or skip the video kiosk on your next movie night and check out one of the online videos. If you have a library card, then you DO have access to the North Carolina Digital Library and its many thousands of resources available at our E-branch and they are all FREE.

 There are many ways to access these digital sources:

            Download the Libby app from your device’s app store. After installing the app on your device, open it and search for your library. You can search by name, city or zip code. Browse the collection and borrow a title. You will need a valid library card for this step.  Your titles will appear on your shelf and download automatically so you can read them even when you are offline.  You can also tap the cover image and select sent to device to send the title to Kindle.

            If using an app is not our thing, you can visit the North Carolina Digital Library online at https://ncdigital.overdrive.com/ and sign in. You must select your library system and then enter your library card number and the PIN you set up to access your library account online.  If you have not set up a PIN, simply stop by the Circulation desk at any of the Rowan County Library branches and ask for help to create one. Once you have signed into the digital library with your library card and PIN, you can choose from new titles, create a wish list, get recommended reads and put items on hold.  You will simply receive an email when your digital resources have arrived! 

                        Other e-branch resources are available via the Rowan Public Library homepage. Simply click on Services & Support and select the ebranch link. To access ebooks and audiobooks, just follow the link. You will find a wide variety of other ebranch resources on this page as well including NCLIVE databases, the African-American Heritage database from ProQuest, Ancestry.com, (only available in house) Gale courses, and Tumblebooks among other online tools.  Remember, the ebranch is always open, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year - and it’s always FREE!

Crime and Cats

A librarian in a movie theater notices what looks like a bear sitting next to him. "Are you a
bear?" asked the librarian, surprised. "Yes." "What are you doing at the movies?" The bear replied, "Well, I liked the book.”

When you think about librarians you think about a comfy sweater, glasses, tea and almost always a cat, never a dog, a bird, and certainly not a bear.  Why a cat? Maybe the stereotype has been around so long that is the first thing you think about.

There have been many books written about crime and cats. Lilian Jackson Braun, Koko and YumYum, is the first one readers think about. Many other books before her featured cats.  Can you think of a fiction book featuring a dog?

There have been several. Little Yellow Dog by Walter Mosley, Robert Parker’s Spencer and his faithful dog Pearl, Dashiell Hamlett’s Asta.  Most are just dogs. They are not crime fighters or murder solvers. That is until Chet.

Bernie runs the Little Detective Agency, sometimes breaks even, but mostly is just hanging on.
Created by Spencer Quinn the stories are told through the eyes of Chet. Chet narrates the entire book and brings his innocent way of looking at the world to the story.  Some events bring back memories of past adventures.  Chet always says “more about that later.”   

Chet is a dropout from the police academy's K9 program. A 100-pound mutt, with his one white ear and his one black one, is clever and loyal to a fault, and says he's seen it all, but he just doesn't understand humans. You ought to see him sniff out clues. The exception being when a squirrel crosses his path.

The books are a joy to read and give a dog a chance to be the hero. Chet and Bernie books are available at RPL.
Dog on It, Thereby Hangs a Tail, To Fetch a Thief, The Dog Who Knew Too Much, A Fistful of Collars, Scents and sensibility, The Sound and the Furry, Paw and Order. 

Also try Spencer Quinn’s latest novel the Right Side. It is about a deeply damaged female soldier home from the war in Afghanistan who becomes obsessed with finding a missing girl, gains an unlikely ally in a stray dog, and encounters new perils beyond the combat zone. Also available at RPL.

Unleash Your Story

by Hope Loman  Rowan Public Library

Each year in October, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) sponsors Teen Read Week, a national literacy initiative that encourages teenagers to be regular readers and library users.  This year, the Teen Read Week theme is “Unleash Your Story,” and all participating libraries are encouraged to share stories in their collection and help teens write and tell their own stories.  Starting Monday, October 9th, Rowan Public Library will offer passive and active programs for each day of Teen Read Week at all three branches, culminating in a final Young Adult Reader’s Advisory Event on Saturday, October 14th at the RPL Headquarters. 

On Monday at 6:30 pm, the East Branch  in Rockwell will host an evening of YA Book Trivia, quizzing teens on categories such as young adult dystopian novels and famous love triangles in popular YA series.  Teens are encouraged to bring their own smartphone, tablet, or any device that can access the Internet; the library will also have a limited number of iPads on hand for patrons to borrow.  Winners will receive gift card prizes.

Tuesday, October 10th, the Rowan Public Library Headquarters in Salisbury will have a YA Book-to-Movie Marathon, featuring three movies that have been adapted from young adult books.  Beginning at 3:00 pm, there will be a viewing of Everything, Everything, based on Nicola Yoon’s book;  at 4:45 pm, there will be a showing of Before I Fall, originally a story by Lauren Oliver; and finally, at 6:30 pm there will be a screening of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, based on Ransom Riggs’s popular series.

Wednesday, October 11th will be the first passive program, which will allow teens to drop by RPL HQ at any point during the day and enter the bookmark contest, with the official entry form and all art supplies needed to draw their bookmark idea available in the young adult area.  Some entries will be chosen to be turned into actual bookmarks, which will be available for other patrons to use and featured in a future display in the YA section. 

Thursday, October 12th, the South Branch in China Grove will host a live stream event in partnership with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, the first in their Teen Science Café series.  This Teen Science Café will focus on rescuing rare butterflies and the efforts that are underway to restore high quality butterfly habitats, especially the St. Francis’ satyr, a butterfly only found in North Carolina.  There is no registration required, and refreshments will be provided during the event, which will begin at 4:00 pm.

On Friday, October 13th, the East branch will have its own all-day passive program with a book cover contest.  Similar to the bookmark contest, entry forms and materials will be provided in the young adult area. Contestants are encouraged to think creatively, either by drawing their own interpretation of a novel that they have read, or a book cover inspired by the Teen Read Week theme. Entries will be featured in a future display in the young adult area.

Finally, on Saturday, October 14th, both the RPL Headquarters and South Branch will have their own programs.  At 2:00 pm, RPL HQ will host a YA Reader’s Advisory Event, which will allow patrons to socialize with fellow readers, enjoy refreshments, and have a chance at winning various prizes.  The South Branch will host a read-in for its teens during its Saturday operating hours, and some teens that “get caught” reading will be awarded gift card prizes.

For more information, please contact Hope at hope.loman@rowancountync.gov, and be prepared to “unleash your story” this October!