Randolph libraries suspend all services effective 5 p.m. Friday, March 27

ASHEBORO – Following the Shelter-in-Place order issued today by Gov. Roy Cooper, the Randolph County Public Library has suspended all functions, including curbside pickup and phone service, effective at 5 p.m. Friday, March 27, until further notice. This action affects the libraries in Asheboro, Archdale, Franklinville, Randleman, and Seagrove; the Ramseur library already is closed and the Liberty library will remain open until 4 p.m. on Monday, March 30.

Digital media and electronic resources still will be available at www.randolphlibrary.org.

Borrowers who have library material checked out are asked to hold onto it until the library reopens. Book return boxes outside the libraries are closed and will not be emptied by staff.

All due dates have been extended until after the library reopens, and late fees have been suspended.

Anyone who is on the waiting list for an item will be in the same place on the list when the library reopens.

The library will remain closed for the duration of the governor’s order.

Randolph libraries offer curbside pick-up, service by phone

ASHEBORO – The Randolph County Public Library system may be closed to the public due to the threat of Coronavirus/COVID-19, but readers, viewers and listeners can still get books, DVDs and audiobooks as the library moves to curbside pick-up of items requested online or by phone.

To request items, search the library catalog at  www.randolphlibrary.org and place holds with your library card or REAL2 student ID, or call your local library. You don’t have to have a specific title in mind – for example, if you need books for your children, call the library and a staff member can select some for you.

Deliveries among the libraries continue, so you can still receive an item even if it’s not located at your local branch.

When your requested material is retrieved, a library staff member will call you to arrange pick-up in pre-packaged bags already checked out to you. Pick-up procedures may vary from library to library.

Library staff also are available to respond to inquiries by phone, including general questions, assistance accessing library electronic resources such as ebooks and downloadable audiobooks, and research assistance including history/genealogy requests.

Reach the participating libraries as follows:

•         Asheboro, 336-318-6801, 9a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday
•         Archdale, 336-431-3811, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday
•         Franklinville, 336-824-4020, Noon-6 p.m. Monday and Thursday; 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday
•         Liberty, 336-622-4605, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday
•         Randleman, 336-498-3141, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday
•         Seagrove, 336-873-7521, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday.

And don’t forget the library’s array of digital resources, including ebooks, downloadable audiobooks, and e-magazines, and children’s resources such as the NC KIDS Digital Library and the Tumble Book Library, available at www.randolphlibrary.org/digitalmedia.html. Research resources, including genealogy/history databases Heritage Quest and North Carolina Historical Newspapers, are available at www.randquest.org.

If you don’t have a library card or REAL2 student ID, you can register for a card by phone to access digital resources.

Look for more service innovations from the library in the coming days.

Randolph County libraries close in response to Coronavirus/COVOID-19 threat; some services continue

ASHEBORO – In view of the threat presented by Coronavirus/COVOID-19, and to help ensure the safety of the community, the Randolph County Public Library is closed till further notice – but plenty of resources are still available to readers and researchers.

All seven library locations are closed, including Archdale, Asheboro, Franklinville, Liberty, Randleman, Ramseur and Seagrove. Outreach and mobile library services also have been halted.

“Libraries bring people together, but now the imperative for public health is to keep people apart,” said Library Director Ross Holt.

While patrons can’t visit the libraries, they can take advantage of the panoply of online and downloadable resources, including ebooks, e-audiobooks, e-magazines, genealogy databases like Heritage Quest and Historical North Carolina Newspapers, and more. The NC KIDS Digital Library and Tumble Book Library will keep children in ebooks and online reading activities.

Those offerings are available at www.randolphlibrary.org/digitalmedia.html, and www.randquest.org.

Library phones will be staffed from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; call 336-318-6800 for general questions, help downloading ebooks and other online resources, and research assistance.

People who don’t have a library card can register for one by phone in order to access online resources.

The library may add other services, such as curbside pickup of requested items and storytimes via social media, in coming days.

“We will do every bit as much as we can to support our patrons, while doing all that is necessary to safeguard the health and safety of public and staff,” Holt said. “This difficult situation one day will end, and we will come back stronger than ever.”

Asheboro Sunset Series event with speed painter Tim Decker canceled

Asheboro – Based on the recommendation of Gov. Roy Cooper and new guidance from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in regard to COVID-19, the Friends of the Library Sunset Signature Series event scheduled for Saturday, March 14, featuring performance speed painter Tim Decker has been canceled.

The performance may be rescheduled for a later date.

Historian Mandy Cooper to examine women’s suffrage in Asheboro library talk

Dr. Mandy Cooper

ASHEBORO – On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, and women achieved the long-fought-for right to vote.

For the amendment’s 100th anniversary, UNC-Greensboro lecturer Dr. Mandy L. Cooper will re-examine the fight for women’s suffrage in “Votes for Women: The Nineteenth  Amendment at 100,” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Her talk, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, is free and the public is invited.

Although she firmly places the amendment at the center of American’s long and continued fight for suffrage, she also notes that some women in the United States already had the right to vote — and others would continue fighting for it for decades.

Cooper is a Lecturer of Women’s and Gender History at UNCG. She earned her Ph.D. in history from Duke University.

She is currently at work on a book project, Bonds of Affection: Business and Politics in the National Family, which explores the relationship between emotional family bonds and the development of the U.S. economy and governing institutions from the Revolution to Reconstruction.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street. Call 336-318-6803 for further information.

Speed painter Decker's artwork to be given away in drawing during Asheboro Sunset Series event

Tim Decker

ASHEBORO – Artwork that performance speed painter Tim Decker creates during his Friends of the Library Sunset Signature Series appearance will be given away to audience members in a series of drawings.

The event takes place at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at the historic Sunset Theatre, 234 Sunset Ave. It is free and the public is invited.

Decker is a nationally-known touring artist who creates celebrity and patriotic portraits in front of a live audience. Each painting takes 4-7 minutes to complete and the whole experience is set to music.

The Sunset Series is sponsored by the Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau, the City of Asheboro and the Friends of the Randolph County Public Library.

For further information, call 336-318-6803.

Get 'Backyard Gardening' tips in Asheboro library talk

Ben Grandon

Calling all gardeners!

North Carolina’s long growing season is almost here and Ben Grandon, Agriculture-Horticulture agent with Randolph County Cooperative Extension, can help you.

In “Backyard Gardening” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 19, at the Asheboro Public library, he’ll offer an overview of supplies and equipment, and answer your gardening questions.

He also will provide an update about what services are available through Cooperative Extension to ensure that you produce a bounty of fruits and veggies.

His talk is free and the public is invited.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street. For further information, call 336-318-6803

Historical researcher Kevin Duffus to focus on NC lighthouses in Asheboro library talk

Kevin Duffus

ASHEBORO – North Carolina historical researcher Kevin Duffus will return to the Asheboro Public Library for “From a Fire on the Beach to a Diamond in the Sky: The Evolution of Lighthouses and Light-keeping in North Carolina,” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 23.

His talk is free and the public is invited.

Duffus will use historical drawings and maps to present a wide-ranging discussion of North Carolina’s colorful, five-century heritage of guiding mariners along its coast. He will shed light on the earliest attempts to guide a ship ashore, and the first known Carolina shipwreck.

He also will outline the development of lighthouse technology and architecture, and talk about times when the lighthouses were burned, blown up or battered, and when lightships were sunk during wars and storms.

He’ll share stories about roguish lighthouse keepers — including one accused of purposely wrecking ships, and others who helped steal their own lenses.

Duffus, who lives in Waynesville, is an award-winning author, researcher and filmmaker who has made significant discoveries about North Carolina’s coastal history. He has received a Peabody Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award among other honors.

His research has led to the re-discovery of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse’s Fresnel lens and to new understandings of the pirate Blackbeard, his crew, and the nature of his treasure.

His books include War Zone, World War II off the North Carolina Coast;  The Last Days of Blackbeard the Pirate: Within Every Legend Lies a Grain of Truth;  and The Lost Light: A Civil  War Mystery — The True Story of the Extraordinary Odyssey of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse 1854 Fresnel Lens.

Duffus’s appearance is made possible by funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide non-profit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Friends of the Library.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street. For further information, call 336-318-6803.