Watauga County Public Library January 2021 Happy New Year! Holiday Closings We will close at 5 pm on Thursday, December 31 ~ New Year's Eve Friday, January 1 ~ New Year's Day Monday, January 18 ~ Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Dear Readers: As I write this, we are officially approaching winter and Covid cases have been increasing. The Appalachian Regional Library is conducting a campaign to reemphasize the importance of mask wearing while visiting the library: "Wear It Like You Mean It." We expect library visitors to keep the mask on correctly during the duration of the visit. If you forget your mask, we have disposable ones here and sometimes free cloth masks, thanks to the generosity of Ala Sue Moritz and Della Jones Pruitt. Let's all "mask up" and get through this together safely. On a side note, read below about one of the original Rosie the Riveters... Read here and watch video with Mae Krier, one of the original Rosie the Riveters who is now making masks. Wishing all of our readers a safe, peaceful and joyful year! Monica Caruso, County Librarian

Virtual Children's Programs  Each Monday, look for a new Alphabet Ready video on Facebook. Take It and Make It kits are available each Wednesday. Tinkering Thursday take home STEM Kits available while supplies last. Winter Decoding Scavenger Hunt located outside around the Library. Western Watauga Branch  Curbside services only. Monday & Wednesday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Tuesday & Thursday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.  828-297-5515 Place Holds online or call! Call before bringing donations. Friends of the Western Watauga Library are having outside book sales during library curbside hours. Provoking Thoughts Book Club Wednesday, January 20 7:00 pm Watauga County Public Library and Caldwell Hospice are partnering to offer the “Provoking Thoughts” Book Club. We'll have a discussion via Zoom about “The Timekeeper” by Mitch Albom. Please RSVP with Monica at mcaruso@arlibrary.org We have placed holds for the book club so just ask us for a copy to check out. AARP in the Mountain Region and Asheville Buncombe Institute of Parity Achievement: Powerful Tools for Family Caregivers Fridays, January 22nd - February 26th, 2:30 - 4:00 PM To register, click here.  This interactive workshop is designed to empower family caregivers to take care of themselves while caring for a relative or friend. You will benefit from this class if you need to find more time for yourself while caring for someone who lives at home, in a nursing home, or across the country. Participants must register by January 18 and must commit to attending a minimum of 4 out of the 6 sessions.  Pine Cone Literary Character Contest Submit a pine cone you transformed into your favorite literary character for a chance to win a $50.00 gift card to Beech Mountain Resort. Submissions due by Saturday, January 16 New Nonfiction Available Thank you to Dr. Cheryl Claassen for donating nonfiction books published by Rowman & Littlefield to the library. Cheryl is a long time member of Cook The Books book club and was instrumental in the success of the 8-Word Mystery Contest.   High Country Writers High Country Headwaters III is available now. The third edition of Headwaters was compiled and published at a unique time. This edition of the anthology contains submissions from local high school students as well as High Country Writers members. All submissions were vetted and edited by organization members. HCW hopes readers find a connection in this work, or perhaps inspiration, or just a pleasant interlude in their own busy lives. Listen to the podcast about this latest work with some of the members here. Monday, January 14 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Jeff Lindsay High Country Writers welcome author Jeff Lindsay. All HCW meetings currently are being conducted virtually. To inquire about a meeting, contact Ree Strawser, Membership Chair at reestrawser@bellsouth.net Next Chapter Book Club The Next Chapter Book Club is for adults and young adults with developmental disabilities. The discussion group allows them to enjoy books, friends, and their communities. The book we are using is titled "New Love, Spilt Milk, and Potbellied Pigs" by Jillian Ober and Thomas Fish. To attend via Zoom, please contact Adult Services at (828) 264-8784 ext. 2. The group meets at 2 pm on Wednesdays. Wednesday, January 6 Wednesday, January 13 Wednesday, January 20 Cook the Books and Book Bunch Book Clubs Create a free account with Goodreads.com to participate. (If you already have a Goodreads account you can use your existing account.) Join in the discussion of City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert by clicking here for Book Bunch; you may participate until the end of February. Cook The Books will continue discussing Death Comes As The End by Agatha Christie until the end of January. A new book discussion begins in February for Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. This discussion will begin on Feb 1, 2021. READsquared for Youth Book recommendations, fun activities, literacy games, missions, and more! Youth Reading Mission Choose 25 reading challenges and earn a Lost Province pizza coupon. Log in by clicking here. VITA Volunteers Needed We are looking for volunteers to prepare income tax returns for the Volunteer for Income Tax Assistance service at the library. The service will run February - April of 2021 on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings; COVID precautions will be in place. Volunteers need to pass a certification test. Please contact Monica for more information at 264-8784, ext. 4 or mcaruso@arlibrary.org. Legal Aid of North Carolina Tuesday,January 5 Expungement Thursday, January 7 Social Security Tuesday, January 12 Custody Thursday, January 14 Employee Rights Thursday, January 21 Divorce Tuesday, January 26 HCPOA (Healthcare Power of Attorney) and Living Wills  Thursday, January 28 Tenant Rights To register to attend via Zoom, click here. NC Symphony's Virtual Music Discovery Program  Wednesday, January 20 11:00 am The North Carolina Symphony presents its Virtual Music Discovery Program, funded by PNC Grow Up Great. Geared for preschool and elementary age children and their families, this 30-minute program will feature a NC Symphony musician reading a book about music, talking about their instrument and how other instruments make their sounds, and leading kids in a sing-along – plus more surprises! Participants are invited to participate using toy instruments at home, such as maracas, bells, or tambourines. Register to attend at https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMuf-GrqDstHtdRz1tSVvqF-T7MQn4FBfzn Appalachian Theatre Holiday Entertainment Staff Picks We wanted to share some exciting news from the Appalachian Theatre. Recently, the Appalachian Theatre made national news in Broadway World as the recipient of a $100,000 challenge grant. Congratulations to them! Secondly, click HERE for a few online holiday entertainment staff picks, both free and paid. Enjoy!

January Highlights

Friends of the Library Facebook

‌ The Friends of the Watauga County Public Library now have a Facebook page. Please follow them to stay up-to-date on upcoming used book sales, reading and literacy activities, ways to support the library, and donation dates for accepting used books, DVDs, CDs, CD audiobooks, puzzles, games, and recent magazines and textbooks. On Facebook, search for Friends of the Watauga County Public Library and like their posts and share them with others.

Strategic Planning Survey - deadline is January 15

Help the Library plan for your future needs by telling us what you think. If you complete and submit the survey, your name will be entered into a drawing for a Kindle Fire tablet. Please click here to fill out the survey. We especially need to hear from young people including teenagers and tweens as well as minority voices. The survey is also available in Spanish here. Ayude a la Biblioteca a planificar sus necesidades futuras diciéndonos lo que piensa. Si completa y envía la encuesta, su nombre se ingresará en un sorteo para una tableta Kindle Fire. Especialmente necesitamos escuchar a los jóvenes, incluidos los adolescentes y preadolescentes, así como las voces de las minorías. Haga clic aquí para completar la encuesta en español.

Educating Ourselves About Systemic Racism

You are invited to join a special Martin Luther King Jr. event on this topic from the library’s zoom service at 7 pm on Thursday, January 21.   Hosted by ASU’s Dr. Fred Hay of the Appalachian Studies Department, guest reviewers from Watauga and Ashe counties will speak about books recently published on this issue. A special guest, author/storyteller Nancy Hastings Sehested, will also relate stories from her book, Marked for Life, a Prison Chaplain’s Story (Orbis Books in 2019). Nancy spent thirteen years working as a prison chaplain in two high-security prisons in North Carolina. To access the zoom link, please send your email address by January 20th, to:WReference@arlibrary.org

AARP and Pen Pals

Western Watauga Branch Library is partnering with AARP to establish a Senior Pen Pal program. We are looking for senior citizens who would enjoy a pen pal because AARP has volunteers ready to pair with a senior! If you have a neighbor or family member, or know of a senior who would like to participate, please contact a staff member at Western Watauga Branch Library by calling 828-297-5515.

Thank you to the following donors:  Dr. Cheryl Claassen ~ nonfiction books through Rowman & Littlefield Downtown Boone Development Association ~ Funding for Sigmon Theatrical programming

WATAUGA COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 140 Queen Street Boone, NC 28607 (828) 264-8784 |https://www.arlibrary.org/watauga|

WESTERN WATAUGA BRANCH LIBRARY 1085 Old US Highway 421 Sugar Grove, NC 28679 828-297-5515 |https://www.arlibrary.org/wwatauga-branch/w-watauga-branch|

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