Asheboro to host statewide library card campaign kickoff featuring NC poet laureate

North Carolina Poet Laureate Cathy Smith Bowers (pictured) will join local poets for a reading at the Asheboro Public Library to kick off the annual statewide “Smartest Card” library card sign-up campaign.

The reading by Bowers and an “open mike” organized by the Randolph Writers Group will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 8. It’s free and the public is invited.

The event also will include a press conference hosted by the State Library of North Carolina to promote the library card campaign, which takes place each September. During the campaign, libraries across the state spread the message that a library card is the “smartest card” and encourage state residents to visit their libraries and sign up for a card.

Along with Bowers and the other poets, the reading will feature a tribute to the campaign by Philip Shore III.

Bowers, this year’s statewide spokesperson for the Smartest Card campaign, is the state’s sixth poet laureate, a position from which she serves as an ambassador of North Carolina literature and seeks to raise the state’s consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry.

The Tryon resident encourages all North Carolinians to take time from their busy lives to explore the rich literature and many wonderful resources available at their libraries.

Over five million state residents are card-carrying library users and during the last fiscal year over 37 million visited their libraries. Nine million used library Internet computers.

North Carolina’s “Smartest Card” initiative is part of The Campaign for America’s Libraries, a multi-year public awareness and advocacy effort by the American Library Association. Begun in 2004, the campaign promotes the value of public libraries nationwide.

The Asheboro library is located at 201 Worth Street.