June 2023 in Lake Lure was amazing! The rain finally stopped, the sun came out, the visitors came, Books & Bites was so much fun, and the temperature is finally getting high enough to warm my pool water. Yay for June!!
July has started off with a bang (thanks to local fireworks!) and I’m sure it will end before we know it. We have lots of programs going on in July and August. Please visit http://www.rutherfordcountylibrary.org/events for a full listing of everything that is going on. We have something for everyone!!
7/27 @ 1:00 – On the Menu w/Maria (Baked Chicken Ricotta Meatballs) – NO registration required
7/28 @ 3:00 – Dance Party for Kids – NO registration required
7/29 @ 11:00 – TED Talk & Tea – NO registration required
8/3 @ 5:00 – Books & Bites – John Cribb – Registration required
8/4 @ 1:30 – On the Menu w/Maria – KIDS cooking program – NO registration required
8/16 @ 1:00 – Rock Art – Registration required
8/25 @ 1:00 – On the Menu w/Maria – Recipe to be announced – NO registration required
8/31 @ 11:00 – Books & Bites – Tracey Enerson Wood – Registration required
Did you know that we at Mountains Branch Library are a part of the Rutherford County Library System? That library system consists of County Library (255 Callahan Koon Rd., Spindale, NC), Haynes Branch Library (2669 US Hwy 221A, Mooresboro, NC), and us. Rutherford County Library System is a part of the Foothills Consortium which includes us and the 3 municipal libraries (Forest City, Spindale, and Rutherfordton). While we have some friendly rivalry amongst us, we all work closely together to ensure that the residents of Rutherford County have the items available that they may want. We are able to request items from these libraries and they will be shipped here all at no cost to you. Then, when you are ready to return your item, you can return it to any library in the county and they will get it back to us. The Foothills Consortium is a part of the Cardinal Consortium that expands your reach across North Carolina. We are able to offer so much more due to being a part of Cardinal!
Mountains Branch Library and Lake Lure recently lost a truly amazing woman recently – Tracy Lanham. Tracy was not only a Board of Trustee member of the Friends of the Mountain Branch Library, but it would appear that she volunteered all over Lake Lure! Tracy was one of the busiest women I know! We miss Tracy already and our hearts go out to her family!
The year was 1731 – where were you? What were you doing? What was Benjamin Franklin doing? Well, he was busy founding the first ever library, which was in Philadelphia. The Library Company of Philadelphia was a subscription library and supported by its paying members (ALA – 1731 | About ALA). It would be almost another hundred years before the first modern free public library in Peterborough, New Hampshire. This library was open to all classes of the community. Did you know that the University of South Carolina opened the first separate academic library building? They are host to the oldest continually operated library building in the country. That happened in 1840!!
You know, I’ve been thinking – always scary, I know. Maybe we should “get a group up (as people in these parts used to say)” and go on a field trip traveling around seeing different libraries. Might sound boring to some folks, but I think we could turn it in to a fantastic time. Got ideas of which libraries to visit? Come see Maria and let me know! I leave soon for a family vacation to Panama City Beach, FL. There will be 16 of us traveling together. I feel sure I am going to need some alone time and hope to hit one of the local libraries while I am there. I always like to see what others are doing!
I know I have been a bit long-winded in this episode, but sometimes I just have a lot to say. If you made it this far in your reading – come visit Mountains Branch Library. We miss you – even if you were just here last week!
