Bookbag
October November December 1998
| What's New | Library Information | Community Information | Internet Resources |Index
October
COMPUTER LEARNING MONTH
A month-long focus of events and activities for learning new uses of computers and software, sharing ideas and helping others gain the benefits of computers and software.
LUPUS AWARENESS MONTH
To promote public awareness of lupus symptoms to aid in early diagnosis and treatment of this disease.
Friday October 30 - Staff Development Day. The Library will be closed so the staff can learn how to operate fire extinguishers, do reference interviews and brainstorm on how we can make the library a better place. If you have ideas, please let us know!
Saturday October 31 - Halloween Carnival - for kids 2-12. Junior Friends of the Library and other 4-H Clubs will entertain the younger set from 6:00 pm. To 8:00 pm
November
Nov 8, 1900 MITCHELL, MARGARET: BIRTHDAY
American NoveList who won a Pulitzer Prize (1937) for her only book, Gone with the Wind, a romantic novel about the Civil War and Reconstruction. Gone with the Wind sold about 10,000,000 copies and was translated into 30 languages. Born at Atlanta, GA, Mitchell died there after being struck by an automobile on Aug 16, 1949
Wednesday November 11- Veteran’s Day - Library Closed
Children’s Book Week. November 16 - 22
Thursday, Friday November 26 & 27 Thanksgiving - Library Closed
Back to TopThe Junior Friends of the Library will be collecting canned goods and nonperishable food for the holiday season.
If you have overdue fines that you want to clean from your record, bring something good to eat to the library. The Junior Friends will donate these proceeds to the Food Closet and you will have a clean conscience for a good deed well done.
This offer is good November 16 - 25, 1998 only.
December
BINGO'S BIRTHDAY MONTH
Let’s celebrate the innovation and manufacture of the game of Bingo in 1929 by Edwin S. Lowe—at the annual New Year’s Eve Bingo Bash!
Thursday - Saturday December 24-26 Christmas Holiday - Library Closed
Thursday - December 31 New Year’s Eve Party 9 - Midnight. Bingo, games, entertainment, prizes, etc. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
News from Around the County Libraries
A new familiar face will greet you on your next visit to the Angier Public Library. Terri Brooks, former Angier Independent editor, is the librarian. She is very excited about her new adventure, so stop by the library and say "hello" to an old friend.
Reminder: Story hour in Angier is on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Bring the little ones to a wonderful half hour filled with stories, songs, and so much more!
--Georgette Dempster
Anderson Creek Public Library is now in full swing for our winter hours. We are now open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings from 4:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Saturday mornings from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
We have scheduled Mr. Paul McKenzie, from the Harnett County Cooperative Extension Service, to do several adult classes and a children’s class on horticulture topics. Mr. McKenzie will have an adult class on November 3, 7:00 p.m. on Trees and Shrubs in the Anderson Creek Media Center.
We are having Saturday morning craft programs. They are held in the Anderson Creek Media Center. We will have one on October 17th, at 10:30 a.m. with Ms. Williams, The theme is "Macaroni Pumpkins." On November 7th, Craft Time will be "Tissue-Strip Window Designs." On December 5th, at 10:30 we will celebrate the holiday season with a Christmas party.
For more information regarding the programs at the Anderson Creek Branch Library, please call 910-893-9440
Just a reminder: the Coats Library is open on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings for your reading convenience. We also have the Internet for you here at the Coats library. When it is time for writing research papers and science projects, stop by the library to see what we have. And if we don’t have it we can borrow it from another library in our county.
--Jill Bowen
Dunn Public Library moved into its beautiful new Children's Room on October 8-10. The staff and other volunteers, including James Johnson, Johnny Tart, David Byrd, several members of Deborah Melvin's family, Reta Strickland, and Mike Bowen all participated in the move. The existing children's area was moved into the new room, and the periodical room was moved into the old children's area, The former periodical area was transformed into a meeting room.
Spirits and excitement ran high during the move. The new Children's Room is very spacious and attractive. Come by the Dunn Library and check us out! Our hours are Monday-Thursday 9-6, Friday 9-5, and Saturday 10-2.
--Gigi Hughes
The Erwin Library helped in many ways with our annual Denim Days. We co-sponsored an art contest and displayed art work from the area school children. We also helped as citizens with various activities.
Story hour reminder: On Tuesday October 27, the library staff will host a Halloween Party after story hour. Bring your little friends and come to the Halloween story hour dressed in your favorite Halloween costume.
The Erwin Library staff is also planning an Open House in December to show off all their new services—NC LIVE and the Internet, especially.
HELP is Harnett County Public Library’s Information and Referral Database. This is a public service provided by the library to keep you informed about community services and organizations. This project was partially funded by a Federal Library Services and Construction Act Title I grant administered by the State Library of North Carolina.
Several categories of HELP are included: Public Services, Public Officials, Schools, Churches, Child Care, Businesses Local Clubs and Organizations.
HELP contains services which are available to the people of Harnett County. Most of these agencies are located in the County, but some state and national services are included as well. The HELP information provided on each record for an agency or organization depends on the kind of service provided. Some examples include:
Description of Services, Hours, Contact Persons, Phone Numbers, Addresses and other pertinent information.
Because this is a new service, we plan to update this information annually by sending each entry an update questionnaire. Other information comes from many places: newspapers and reference sources, County Government, Board of Education, and many other sources. Every record contains a date for currency.
To access the database, you can simply call a branch of the Harnett County Public Library. The phone number is 910-893-3446. Our staff will answer database inquiries and any other questions you may have. Or you can use your personal computer at work or home to dial into our databases at the library. Dial Access Line number is 910-893-2401 and the hardware requirements include a personal computer and modem, communications software (settings VT100, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity).
When you are connected you will see a login prompt and directions. Type guest and press <enter/ return> . The password is ..guest press <enter/ return> and you will be logged on to the library catalog. Please note how to log off from the menu.
Soon this information will also be available through our web page.
Searching this database is much like searching our Public Access Catalog for books and other library materials. Highlight Community Information Database and the menu will lead you through a search.
Remember this is a relatively small database, so everything may not be here. That’s why it is important to follow up with a library staff member if your question is not completely answered.
Send any correspondence to:
HELP
Harnett County Public Library
POB 1149 / 601 N. Main St.
Lillington, NC 27546
For database inquiries, technical assistance, or if you notice an error in the database, please call 910-893-3446 and let us know. You can also let us know in person, or write or fax us the correct information.
NC LIVE Database Spotlight - NoveList
Explore Fiction for Young Adults, Children and Easy Readers! Best Stories (awards) for Young Adults, Children and Easy Readers!Booklist Articles (with links to the database) now online! Web References (live links) dynamically attached to title records!
NoveList can help readers of all ages explore and discover the world of fiction. If you want to find new books to read, search for new books similar to other books you have enjoyed, look for a book about a particular subject, relationship, geographic area or period of time, or review award winning books, you will love using NoveList.
NoveList is a database tool especially designed to allow you to systematically browse through thousands of fiction titles. Although there are a number of searching strategies (based on your own preferences for browsing), the overall structure of NoveList is easy to use.
NoveList provides different searching strategies dependent on what you are looking for and your personal preference. You choose which strategy is appropriate for you. You can match a favorite author, similar titles, or by genre (romance, western, mystery, horror, for example).
NoveList provides enhanced subject access to over 60,000 fiction titles; in addition, more than 29,000 full text book reviews or annotations are included in the NoveList database.
NoveList subject headings are provided by the Hennepin County Public Library, and its book reviews are provided by the American Library Association's reviewing journal Booklist. In addition, NoveList contains a database of fiction types from the fourth edition of Genreflecting by Diana Tixier Herald, as well as series titles from To Be Continued: An Annotated Guide to Sequels, and science fiction titles from Anatomy of Wonder 4, both of which include narrative descriptions and subject headings for each title.
--Cathey Clifton
The Harnett County Library acquires a number of books and other materials through tax-exempt gifts. Such gifts can be given as a memorial to someone who is deceased or as a tribute to a living person you wish to honor. These gifts are noted with a name plate, listing the person to be memorialized or honored and the person making the donation.
| In Memory of : | Donor : |
| Arnold B. Collins | Dee Collins family |
| Sharon Cooley | Liberty Extension Homemakers |
| Nathan Jernigan and Clara Smith | Michal and Jeffery Carroll |
Donations by the following patrons:
| Katie Tyre, Lillington | John Hairr, Lillington | Wise Reader Writers' Group, Lillington |
| Christine Nordan, Linden | Margaret Randall, Lillington | Harnett County Historical Society |
| GIFTSGIFTSGIFTSGIFTSGIFTS | Linda Bahai, Angier | GIFTSGIFTSGIFTSGIFTSGIFTS |
The library is continuing to receive many memorials in honor of family friends. When you donate to this fund in your pet's name, the money will be used to purchase a book about animals and their care. A bookplate will be placed in the book with your pet's name,
You can also contribute to this fund on behalf of a friend who has lost a pet. A card will be sent to the owner acknowledging that you have made this kind gesture.
Contact the Harnett County Library (910-893-3446) if you are interested in this program. The following memorials were placed in the Harnett County Public Library by Dr. Hagler & Staff of the Lillington Veterinary Clinic since the July, August, September 1998 issue of The Bookbag.
| "Bruno" Bibeau | "Missy" Jelinek | "Katie" Halstead |
| "Claude" Ferguson | "Snickers" Bain | "Bud" Reeves |
| "Rosebud" Blackburn | "Isaac" Reece | "Possum" Blackburn |
Catherine Coulter to the romance reader is a celebrity. Her best-selling novels have sold more than 17 million copies worldwide, captivating her audience with her endearing characters, sparkling wit and unique plots.
One of her trilogies begins with The Wyndham Legacy. This is a marvelous novel with intrigue, drama, deception and of course, romance.
At the age of nine, Josephina Cochran is dubbed the "Duchess" by her cousin Marcus Wyndham. Little does Marcus suspect that the Duchess will one day reign over his own future. For the Earl of Chase, the Duchess’s father and Marcus’s uncle, leaves a double-edged inheritance for both his heirs, a legacy that will bind their fates—for better or worse—certainly. You see, the Earl of Chase (Duchess’s father) dies quite suddenly without a male heir. Marcus, the nephew stands to inherit the family fortune and title. However, the former is a bitter old man who wishes that Marcus had not escaped the tragedy that befell his own two sons. But because he has, the old Earl has left his legacy with a number of strings attached.
Added to this muddle, is the rumor of another Wyndham legacy, a treasure from long ago that is shrouded in legend. The Duchess and Marcus have two mysteries to solve—one from the past and one from the present.
The second in this trilogy is Valentine Legacy in which James Wyndham (the American side of the family) is run roughshod by a mere girl. Not only is there romance in the air, there’s even a mystery on Okracoke Island.
The third title in this trilogy is Nightingale Legacy. If you’ve missed any of these, stop by the library and catch up! And while you’re here, you can check out Coulter’s website -- http://www.tlt.com/authors/ccoulter.htm
--Christiann Dykstra
Many young visitors from Belarus and their host families spent part of their summer reading books and listening to audiotapes in the Russian language…now available at the Harnett County Public Library as a part of the permanent collection. More than thirty Belarussian children are hosted annually by families in Harnett and neighboring counties via the efforts of the American Belarussian Relief Organization. The Little River Baptist Church Association is especially active in this area with providing loving, caring, and nurturing homes for these children during their summer stay.
Belarus (an independent country since 1991) was the region of the former Soviet Union hardest hit by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power disaster. The children born just prior to that time and following the accident are at greatest risk for various cancers and autoimmune diseases. During their summer respite in the United States, they receive medical screenings and care. But they also enjoy a taste of American culture and social events, some travel, and regular trips to the Harnett County Public Library for a bit of home.
The library now has a small (but growing) collection of popular Russian literature and audiocassettes. The library has been assisted by the donations by a few concerned patrons in building this collection. The collection includes famous Russian folk tales, legends, and contemporary stories…as well as classic American titles such as Treasure Island and Winnie the Pooh. Stories on tape and pop music by Russian teen groups are now available for the first time to allow the children to hear their native tongue while so far from home.
Also part of the collection are Russian phrase books, Russian-English dictionaries, and "Learn to Speak Russian" books and tapes to assist the host families in communicating with their child and his/her family. (Letters and phone calls home to Belarus are all a part of the summer routine and many of the families stay in contact with the child even after he/she has returned home). In addition, the library supplies a number of resources on Belarus (its culture, economy, politics, etc.) to assist the host families familiarize themselves with this country and its people.
So who’s reading Russian in Lillington? The answer is your neighbors, both near and far. It’s becoming a summer tradition here in Harnett County. Consider joining them and maybe host a child next summer.
Everyone should always practice safe computing. Have backups of everything you don’t want to do over, and have it in more than one place. But sometimes no matter what you do, it is not enough.
The week of Hurricane Bonnie at the Harnett County Public Library was an example of things going wrong no matter how hard you try to prevent it. The day before the storm when everyone was trying to get things nailed down. I decided to update our web page to Robert Jordon’s sorrow. NCEyenet has been nice enough to host our web page for us since we started and what do they get for their kindness? I trash their web page. I copied our page over the top of theirs. Robert had to wipe the slate clean and start over. He got his page back up and I was planning on republishing ours after the storm was over. We’re still waiting for the updated version of the software we use.
Neil Emory our county manager was so nice he let all county offices close early on Wed before the storm. So Melanie and I got the bright idea to power everything down just in case we had some really bad weather. We even took the time to unplug everything, electrical, phone and network cables included. We left knowing our computers were safe unless the roof blew off.
County offices did not reopen until 12:00 on Thursday. Melanie and I came to the library in plenty of time to power up everything. We crawled around under the desks, over top of equipment and around everything that was in the way to get this accomplished with all the confidence in the world that we did the best thing.
The first problem we noticed was on the circulation system, it kept giving us this message about not communicating with the ups (uninterrupted power supply). Melanie booted a couple times but the message kept reappearing on all the terminals about every 2 minutes. Before Melanie could get our wonderful tech support folks in Canada on the phone we started having problems with our NT Server booting up. I headed to another phone to contact the county MIS department to find that they were out and about the county bringing up other computer systems. The next phone call went to Ed Holloway at Digital Solutions, who built the server, so he was the next in line to call. I really did not call him, I dinged him on AOL instant messenger ®. For those who have not used it, try it. I was able to type in the exact message the computer gave me and Ed went to work.
Our circ system was up in a few minutes. We kept getting the message but we kept on plugg’n along. The UPS recharged and we were back online without messages in a couple days. I wish I could say that about our NT Server. Ed came over armed with info from parts manufacturers to find out it was not a quick fix. He left with our trusty server under his arm to jiggle stuff and replace parts as needed to get us back up. We don’t mean to be a bunch of whiney babies with our toys broken but it really puts a cramp in our work ability. Without that server we cannot get to any of our documents that we assumed were safe on the server or the printers. What this meant to you, the public:
- The 4 computers in the PC lab had out-of-order signs on them
- The resume you started last week and need to turn in tomorrow is not available and may be lost forever unless you have it on floppy.
- The 3 Internet terminals had a no-printer sign on it.
- The Anderson Creek branch did not have access to the circulation system; this kept about 700 school kids from checking out books.
The problem was pretty bad; we had to replace the server. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention our web page was on the server that went to the shop. We are in the process of rebuilding the web page from bits and pieces but for now you get this message when you log on Web site is being repaired. Please check back soon. Please.
NORTH CAROLINA CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD
The North Carolina Association of School Librarians and Children's Services Section of the North Carolina Library Association are pleased to announce that the book ROSES ARE PINK, YOUR FEET REALLY STINK, written by Diane DeGroat, has won the seventh annual NC Children's Book Award, PICTURE BOOK AWARD, and the book, SHILOH SEASON, by Phyllis Naylor, has on the fourth annual JUNIOR BOOK AWARD.
The PICTURE BOOK AWARD honors a picture book, suitable for gradesK-3, and is selected by the children themselves. Over 122,000 children throughout the state of North Carolina voted during the month of March for their favorite book from a list of previously nominated titles. ROSES ARE PINK, YOUR FEET REALLY STINK received more than 22,600 of the votes cast. Many of North Carolina's public school systems participated, as well as public libraries and private schools.
This award, sponsored by the Children's Services and School Librarian sections of the North Carolina Library Association, is intended to broaden students' awareness of current literature, to promote reading aloud with students in the early grades as a means of introducing reading as a pleasure, and to give recognition and honor of children's favorite books and authors.
The purpose of the JUNIOR BOOK AWARD is to encourage students in grades 4 through 6 to become better acquainted with noteworthy writers of contemporary books, to broaden their awareness of literature as a means of personal satisfaction and lifelong pursuit, and to give recognition and honor to their favorite books and authors. SHILOH SEASON received almost 4,300 of the 17,000 votes cast.
These awards were presented during the NCASL Conference in Winston Salem, in September.
--Georgette Dempster, Branch Librarian, Anderson Creek
I enjoy working in a library for numerous reasons. One great advantage is—you get you read all the new books first. Maybe that is a little selfish of me. Then again, I can recommend books to our patrons. Right now we are blessed with an abundance of new books.
How may of you stay up late and watch "Maher’s Politically Incorrect" television show? We have author, James Finn Gardner, who has written Politically Correct Holiday Stories for an enlightened Yuletide season. "‘Twas the Night Before Christmas," an old time family classic, turns into "‘Twas the night before Solstice." Mr. Finn gives a new meaning to our jolly old Santa Claus. Finn "legitimized the stereotype of the merry overweight patriarchal oppressor," puts in the correct language of today’s modern terminology, which I found quite amusing. In "Rudolph, the Nasally Empowered Reindeer," (Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer), Finn gives the animals the power to get domesticated vengeance on man who has oppressed them so. Remember, people, this book is written tongue-in-cheek; it’s meant to be funny. I totally enjoyed it.
On a serious note, try the book "We are Our Mother’s Daughters" by Cokie Roberts. It wasn’t what I was expecting to read. Ms. Roberts gives an inside view of her family, and how she came to be what and who she is. Those of us who are women and trying to survive in a society that has undergone change after change leaves us with this question: "Where is the proper place for women?" The answer is short and simple: "woman’s proper place is everywhere. Individually it is where the particular woman is happiest and best-fitted—in the homes as wives and mothers, in organized civic, business, and professional groups, in industry and business, both management and labor, and in government and politics." Yes, ladies, we have come a long way, but we still ahvea long way to go.
Let’s go to a different genre. How about an adventure story? Author Clive Cussler has a good one called Inca Gold. It has everything you could hope for: a treasure hunt, searching for lost civilizations, and of course, a ring of smugglers. It begins in 1532, a ship sails to a secret island in an inland sea. A magnificent treasure is hidden. People who left the treasure disappear, leaving "a great stone demon to guard it." In 1578, legendary Sir Francis Drake captures the Spanish galleon filled with Inca Gold and the "key" to the lost treasure. As Drake’s crew leaves, an underwater earthquake causes a massive tidal wave that sweeps the ship and the crew to their deaths and what remains gets swept into the jungle. Only one man remained alive to tell the story.
In 1998, a group of archaeologists nearly drown while diving into the depths of a sacrificial pool high in the Andes of Peru. They are saved by Dirk Pitt, who is on a marine expedition. Dirk is paired up with his little Italian buddy Al Giordino who helps him and goes with him on this adventure.
You’ll learn about the family of smugglers, explore the underground rivers and caves. Then you will come to the secret chamber that holds the treasure. Yes, folks, this one has everything—including romance (just a little, it doesn’t ruin the book). Do they get out? Does Dirk get the girl? Will they live to see America? Read and find out. And remember, you can always find it at the library.
There Are More Holidays Coming Up Than You May Know About…
--Laurel Jones, Children’s Librarian
The season of autumn is now upon us, and many of us have started preparing for the upcoming national holidays. But there is another, lesser-known holiday that is also on its way; that of Children’s Book Week. It will be celebrated the week of November 16th through the 22nd this year, and the Harnett County Public Library is pleased to announce the following three special events to celebrate the occasion:
Bedtime Story Hour 7:00 pm Nov 17.
A special one-hour storytime with books, songs,and fingerplays to help youngsters curl up with books at bedtime.
Popcorn Creations 3:30 pm Nov 19.
Listen to stories involving popcorn, and design your own collage creations from the delicacy.
Puppet Make and Show 10:30 am Nov 20.
Children of all ages are invited to create their own hand puppets, and star them in a Puppet Show.
We will also have exhibits of books from many popular authors on display in the Children’s Department. Hope to see all of you at the library!
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