Your monthly news & updates
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“
He loved books, those undemanding but faithful friends.”
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News @ Lanier
Annual Fund Update
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We are pleased to announce that, thanks to your generosity, we have surpassed the library's $12,500 goal, with a total of nearly $15,000! This is the largest amount we have raised since the inception of the Annual Fund, with all donations supporting the daily operations and maintenance of the library.
In addition to operational support your donations enable Lanier Library to remain at the forefront of literary and cultural offerings in Polk County. Last year we offered 40
programs free of charge to our community, including bringing New York Times best selling authors such as Kristina McMorris to speak. This is our 129th year of continuous operation and with your support we ensure the library continues to be a vibrant part of your lives and that of the community for many years to come.
We would also like to thank again all who donated items to our Holiday Raffle, and all who purchased tickets--this year's raffle sales also set a new record of $1100!
Thank you for all you do to support Lanier Library!
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Be Part of the Legacy...
and let's welcome 130 New Members by the library's 130th Anniversary in 2020.
In 1890, five spirited Tryon ladies founded a (mobile) library in memory of “poet of the South” Sidney Lanier with the first volumes donated by his widow. With the help of William Gillette, world-famous for his stage & early film portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, and other Tryonites, the Lanier Library opened its doors in 1905.
From the beginning, the library has been a convivial meeting place for friends - old and new - to share books, the arts, news, lectures, and tidbits of gossip. It buzzed with all sorts of educational and social activities (as today), and was the début recital venue of as yet unknown Nina Simone!
Long before public libraries in America, thousands of membership libraries served as primary venues for the circulation of books. Formed and maintained by civic-minded people they became a symbol of local pride. They provided public access to new knowledge, and most importantly, a social forum. Thus, public programs and lectures became a staple of their existence.
Today, Lanier Library is one of 16 membership libraries established since 1747 still in operation in the United States. Tryon shares this legacy with the likes of Boston, New York, Newport, Charleston, Cincinnati, St. Louis, San Francisco and La Jolla. All are distinctive in their continued reliance on membership - a group of supporters, friends and users on whose active support the library depends - as essential to the purpose and existence of the library!
It is in this spirit that Lanier Library encourages members and friends to attract 130 new members by our 130th Anniversary in 2020.
Drop in to pick up a gift membership for a new neighbor. Bring a non-member to a program you think they will enjoy, or schedule a tour of the library for someone you think would enjoy becoming a member. And don't forget the Mystery Festival! For more ideas and information:
www.thelanierlibrary.org
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It was a full house for the twice-delayed Members' Holiday Party, but if anything, it seemed to be an even bigger hit a week after the beginning of the new year.
"People said they had so much going on around Christmas that it was almost too much," said Library Director Amber Keeran. "This was a nice post-holiday event that began the new year with friends in a favorite place, according to several people I spoke to."
Music was provided by the Stoney Knoll Gospel Quartet and one of our younger members, Wade Morgan
. The food, organized by Pam Herres, was courtesy of Board members as well as some of the most talented bakers in town! And, as usual, not a crumb was left....
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A Cozy New Chair by the Fire and More
Take a look around at the new decor in the periodical room the next time you are in, and have a seat in one of the new chairs. Several have been relocated from the downstairs LeDuc Room, but the lovely wingback chair by the fireplace is new, a gift from local antiques connoisseur and owner of Frog and Swan, Randy Grobe. We were thinking it would be lovely to have a second wingback chair to complement it. Should anyone be downsizing and have one to donate, we would greatly appreciate it. And thank you to Pat Gass, for allowing us to photograph her during her reading time!
Although not a gift, you will also notice a new fan in the library's New Book section to replace the one that gave up the ghost last summer. Another fan will be installed in the periodical room...the chandelier has not been stolen. Some examples of your donations at work! A new rug will also be installed in the Holmes Room in February thanks to a donation in Sandra's name.
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Here are the links to our lists of newest acquisitions and orders. Feel free to contact the library to put your name on the hold list for these books. You can call us, come in person, or log in through the catalogue on the website. And, as always, let us know if there is a book or DVD you think would enhance the collection.
Also this month check out our February display,
Books We've Fallen In Love With, on your next trip into Lanier. Staff and volunteers are offering up their favorite reads, both old and new, for your reading enjoyment. Because we are so committed to and passionate about these sweetheart reads,we will include a short review to entice you even more! Please don't hesitate to tell us about your own loves so you can participate in the fun. Just bring a one or two sentence summary for others.
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The next meeting of Book Lovers is on
Saturday, February 2 at 10 am in the Holmes Room
. The meeting is open to all, the only requirements: a love of reading, discussing what you read and discovering new books!
We are fortunate this month to have a review from Media Selection Committee Chair Lee Cudlip. And, of course, here is the link to the books recommended by group members at the last meeting:
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Review
The Patch
John McPhee
By any measure, this Pulitzer winner is seated in the front row of whomever picks the members of the marquee class. Starting off as a staff writer at
Time, he migrated to the
New Yorker, where he’s been ever since. Somehow he has given us some 30 books to revel in, this one being his latest.
The book is in two parts. First off, he invites us into his private excursions to the world of fishing, football, golf and lacrosse. Not about how these games are played, but what they did for him and to him. Vignettes all, they are often humor-filled and are a trip to fascinating places.
Part II of this galaxy of insights is a full serving of other literary sugar by someone who knows how to pick his subjects and definitely how to write them. Herein, he delves into the plights and pinnacles of an array of humankind. It’s up close and and personal stuff and one marvels at what must have been a Sinbad-like voyage while McPhee collected all of his engaging material. On page after luscious page, there’s so much fodder to feed your funny bone. Poke your nose into this lark and get the stories inside the stories.
Lucky us! This writer is always on his A-game.
Lee Cudlip
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Saturday, February 9, 10 AM Needlework Arts Club
Spend a relaxing morning with like-minded lovers of needlework and share your own work. Bring any yarn or thread craft you are working on and enjoy each other’s company for a few hours the second Saturday of each month.
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Sunday, January 10 at 1:30 PM Nonfiction Book Club
For nonfiction lovers – another club for the library which meets the second Sunday of each month! The February book discussion will be on
The Library Book
by Susan Orlean, who weaves her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the 1986 Los Angeles Public Library fire and delivers a mesmerizing book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.
Next month the discussion will be about
The Last Castle
by Denise Kiernan.
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Tuesday, February 19 at 12 noon Live@Lanier
On Nina Simone with Crys Armbrust
A comprehensive look at Tryon’s own Eunice Waymon-Nina Simone by Crys Armbrust, the founder and Executive Director of the Eunice Waymon-Nina Simone Memorial Project (www.ninasimoneproject.org).
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Thursday, February 28 at 6 PM Live@Lanier
History in Song of Spirituals and Gospel Music with the Stony Knoll Gospel Quartet
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he Stony Knoll Gospel Quartet from the Stony Knoll Christian Methodist Episcopal Church joins us for an evening on the history of spirituals and gospel music. Betty Landrum, retired retail worker, Reverend Arbutus Hines, pastor, Barbara Cummings, retired school teacher, and her sister, Alinda Jackson, retired LPN, form the quartet who have been singing as a choir quartet for 7 years with Alinda Jackson as choir director and church pianist. The members of the Stony Knoll Gospel Quartet describe their music as a mix of traditional and contemporary, hymns and gospel songs. Musicologists write that a hymn is for praising God and gospel music is directed to the congregation warning of sin and promising salvation.
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It was standing room only for Wofford College President Nayef Samhat's fascinating and educational discussion of the history and politics of the Middle East. Complete with maps of geographical changes, Dr. Samhat astounded the worldly group with his knowledge of the area.
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Nurse anesthetist Bobby Silvers shared his experience as part of a UNC-CH medical team in Palestine, assisting in numerous craniofacial reconstructive surgeries on children.
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Crys Armbrust's Nina Simone Collection
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We are pleased this month to have on display a collection highlighting the life of Tryon native and international soul and jazz icon Nina Simone. The collection was organized by Crys Armbrust, founder and Executive Director of the Eunice Waymon-Nina Simone Memorial Project.
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Lanier Library | 828-859-9535| thelanierlibrary@gmail.com
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