Mason to reprise popular elder law seminars at Asheboro library

Asheboro attorney and elder law expert Bob Mason will reprise his popular series of seminars on the many legal issues facing the elderly and their families. Sessions will take place on three consecutive Mondays in April at the Asheboro Public Library.

The seminars, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, are free and the public is invited.

The first session, at 2 p.m. April 8, covers essentials such as wills and trusts, powers of attorney, health care advance directives, insurance, second marriages, planning for a child with disabilities, and laying the ground work for long term care planning.

The next session, 2 p.m. April 15, addresses the costs of nursing home care (nearing $7,000 monthly in many facilities).

The third session, 2 p.m. April 22, covers the VA Aid and Attendance program, a great benefit for certain veterans or widows of veterans that most people either are unaware of or do not understand.

Mason is a Board Certified Specialist in Elder Law by the North Carolina Board of Legal Specialization, and both past and incoming chairman of the Elder Law Section of the North Carolina Bar. He also is an author and frequent lecturer on elder law/special needs law topics.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street in Asheboro.

Asheboro library to offer free credit report information session

Learn how safely to obtain the free credit report to which you are legally entitled in “Get Your Free Annual Credit Report Without Getting Scammed” at Noon Tuesday, April 9, or 5 p.m. Thursday, April 18, at the Asheboro Public Library.

The information sessions are free but space is limited. Call 318-6803 to sign up.

Computers will be available after the program for you to make a request and view your report online. You can also pick up an Annual Credit Report Request Form to have copies mailed to your home.

To request your credit history information, you will need your name, current address, previous addresses from the past two years, Social Security number and monthly mortgage payment.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street in Asheboro.

Asheboro library adds baby storytime, resumes bilingual storytimes

Children’s librarians at the Asheboro Public Library are offering an additional lapsit storytime for babies each week, and will resume bilingual storytimes in April.

A 9:30 a.m. lapsit storytime each Wednesday will join the existing one 10:30 a.m. Mondays. The 20-minute lapsit storytimes are for children age 0-18 months and their parents/caregivers, and incorporate age-appropriate books, music, rhymes and movement.

A bilingual English/Spanish storytime will be offered at 6 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month starting April 3.

Other storytimes during the week include  Family Storytime at 3:15 and 7 p.m. Tuesdays; Toddler Storytime at 10:10 a.m. Thursdays and Preschool Storytime at 10:30 a.m. Thursdays. All are free and open to the public.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street in Asheboro.

Asheboro library offers Spring Break activities for kids, families

School’s out soon for Spring Break, so visit the Asheboro Public Library for a week of special events for kids and families beginning April 1.

The activities are free and include poetry writing, gardening and making 2-liter tornadoes. Two movies also will be screened during the week.

• Monday, April 1 will feature a Family Afternoon Movie, Brave, at 2 p.m.
• At 2 p.m. April 2, former English teacher Sue Farlow will lead a Kids’ Poetry Workshop.
• On Wednesday, April 3, children’s librarians will ask, “How Does Your Garden Grow?” at 3 p.m. Participants can learn about spring plants and flowers, and take home a seed kit to start their own gardens.
•  “Extreme Weather" is the topic for Thursday, April 4. Kids can learn about extreme weather events, create weather-related projects and take home a 2-liter tornado.
• Another Family Afternoon Movie, Wreck it Ralph, will be shown at 2 p.m. Friday, April 5.

Space is limited for the poetry, gardening and weather programs; call 318-6804 to sign up or for further information.

The events are sponsored by the Friends of the Library. The library is located at 201 Worth Street in Asheboro.

Asheboro library invites children, families to “Hop to It!”

The Asheboro library Children’s Room invites children and families to  “Hop to It!” at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 27.

This special storytime will include springtime crafts, stories, a visit from the Easter bunny and an Easter egg hunt at the library. Participants will be divided into age-appropriate groups for the activities.

The program, for children ages 0-12, is free and families are encouraged to attend. It is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

For more information call 336-318-6804.

Asheboro library’s ‘Hands-On Science’ to feature water wheels

Kids can learn about water wheels during “Hands-On Science” at 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28, at the Asheboro Public Library.

All the materials for making a water wheel to take home will be provided.

The event is free, and children in grades 2-6 are invited. Registration is required; call 318-6804 to sign up for one of the two sessions.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street in Asheboro.

Asheboro to library offer online genealogy class

Learn how to a use powerful genealogy database to trace your family tree during two workshops in March at the Asheboro Public Library.

Choose a class at noon Wednesday, March 13, or 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 26, to explore Heritage Quest, an online genealogy resource available through the library from anywhere there’s a computer with Internet access.

The classes are free but space is limited so registration is required. Call 318-6803 to sign up.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street in Asheboro.

Heritage Quest, is available through NC LIVE at the library’s research website, Randquest (www.randquest.org). It includes Census records, local and family history books, indexes to genealogical journals, Revolutionary War pension claims and more.

                

Mustangs to rev up Teen Tech Week at Asheboro library

Put the pedal to the metal as Gil Goldstein, owner of G&G Automotive Enterprises, brings some Mustang muscle to the Asheboro Public Library for Teen Tech Week.

Goldstein will have three eras of souped-up Ford Mustangs, from the ‘60s, the ‘80s and the present, at the library from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, March 14.

The event, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, is free. It’s aimed at teens but open to the public.

After a tour of the cars, Goldstein will talk about the advent and progression of automotive technology.

Goldstein began his career in the automotive field at age 17 at one of New York’s premier speed shops, and became owner at age 23. He sold the shop after ten years and worked in a variety of jobs in the field until he and his wife Rosie decided to open a shop of their own.

Teen Tech Week, March 10-16, is a national event promoted by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street in Asheboro. For further information, call 318-6819.

Cat in the Hat returns to Asheboro library for Dr. Seuss birthday party

Celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday with a party at 4 p.m. Friday, March 1, at the Asheboro Public Library. It’s free, and children of all ages are invited.

There will be stories, games, other activities and prizes – and attendees can expect a visit again this year from the Cat in the Hat. Come dressed as your favorite Dr. Seuss character, if you like.

Refreshments will be served. The party is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Call 318-6804 for further information. The library is located at 201 Worth Street in Asheboro.

Asheboro library to host ‘Pottery Slam’ for teens

The Asheboro Public Library TeenZone’s first annual Pottery Slam will take place from noon-2 p.m. Saturday, February 16 in the library’s meeting room.

Join local potters Betsy Browne, Adam Wiley and Joseph Sand and learn to make pottery.

The potters are bringing their wheels and will give demonstrations and hands-on lessons so participants can create their own pots. Final pieces can be taken for firing and returned to the maker.

The program, sponsored by the Friends of the Library,  is free and all teens are invited.

Library to screen Greensboro sit-in documentary

In observance of Black History Month, the Asheboro Public Library will show the film February One: The Story of The Greensboro Four at 7 p.m. Tuesday, February 12.

Through the use of first-hand accounts, rare archival footage, photo stills and re-enactments, the documentary recounts the story of four young men whose sit-in demonstrations would have a profound impact on the Civil Rights movement. A discussion will follow.

The screening is free and the public is invited.  Call 318-6808 for details.  

Library invites kids to get creative with Valentine’s cards

Kids from preschool-age to teens are invited to make creative Valentine’s Day cards at 4 p.m. Tuesday, February 12, at the Asheboro library.

Children and teens can get creative with paper, markers, glitter and more! You supply the labor and creativity, and the library will provide all the supplies needed and instruction on how to make a variety of cards, and to decorate gift bags.

The program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library and is free.  Children under the age of 10 must be accompanied by an adult. For more information call 318-6804.

Celebrated novelist Wiley Cash to speak at Asheboro library

Meet Wiley Cash, author of the acclaimed novel A Land More Kind Than Home, at 1 p.m. Monday, February 11, at the Asheboro Public Library

Cash’s appearance is sponsored by the Friends of the Library, the Sorosis Book Club and the Thursday Study Club. It’s free and the public is invited.

             

A literary thriller set in the mountains of Madison County, N.C., A Land More Kind Than Home has received all sorts of accolades since its publication in May 2012. It’s a New York Times Best Seller and Notable Book of 2012, and a Library Journal Best Book of 2012.

It was named among Best Fiction of 2012 by Kirkus Reviews  and Books-a-Million;  as the Debut of 2012 by the UK Crime Writers Association; as a Discover Great New Writers selection by Barnes and Noble; and as a Southern Bookseller’s Alliance Pick.

Cash, a North Carolina native, currently lives with his wife in West Virginia. He holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he studied fiction writing under Ernest J. Gaines and spent five years missing the mountains of North Carolina — a place Gaines encouraged him to write about.

Cash realized that in writing about home, he could recreate that place no matter where he lived.

In A Land More Kind Than Home, Jess Hall is a curious, adventurous boy growing up in a place where people tend to protect their own and keep old secrets buried. But when Jess’s autistic, mute brother sees something he shouldn’t, the brothers are separated and the world as Jess knows it is shattered.

The title is taken from the closing lines of Thomas Wolfe’s You Can’t Go Home Again.

Asheboro library’s ‘Hands-On Science’ to feature wind indicators

Kids can learn about weather vanes and other wind gauges in “Hands-On Science: Wind Speed and Direction Indicators” at 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Thursday, January 31, at the Asheboro Public Library.

All the materials for making a wind indicator to take home will be provided.

The event is free, and children in grades 2-6 are invited. Registration is required; call 318-6804 to sign up for one of the two sessions.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street in Asheboro.

Author Annette Dunlap to debut memoir at Asheboro library

Author Annette B. Dunlap will debut her memoir The Gambler’s Daughter: A Personal and Social History at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 7, at the Asheboro library.  

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

Her book chronicles her experiences growing up in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill Jewish community with a father who was a compulsive gambler and a mother who was determined to hold her family, and her marriage, together.

Dunlap was born in Pittsburgh and moved to North Carolina in 1977. She has been a freelance journalist for over 30 years whose articles have appeared in various regional newspapers including The Courier-Tribune.

Her first book, Frank: The Story of Frances Folsom Cleveland, America’s Youngest First Lady, was published by SUNY Press/Excelsior Editions in 2009 and in 2011 received the Ella Dickey Literacy Award. 

Library “Tails to Read” program has sessions available in February

February sessions are available for children to practice their reading with certified therapy dogs in the Randolph County Public Library’s popular “Tails to Read” program.

Children ages 6-12 are invited to improve their skill and confidence by reading to one of five certified therapy dogs at the Asheboro library.

Each child participating spends 15 minutes getting to know and reading to one of the dogs during an initial session, and can return to read each week. Dog owner-handlers are present during all visits between children and the dogs.

Sessions are available on the following days:

·        Saturday, February 2, 10-11 a.m.

·        Thursday, February 7, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

·        Saturday, February 9, 10-11 a.m.

·        Saturday, February 23, 10-11 a.m.

·        Thursday, February 28, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

The program is free, but registration is required. To sign up a child, visit the library’s Children’s Room or call 318-6804.

              

Studies show that reading aloud to dogs has positive effects on children’s desire and ability to read. The loving, non-judgmental canine audience-of-one increases a child’s engagement with reading and helps build confidence.

              

Each child participating will receive a “PAW-some Reader” dog tag or wristband after the first session. Those who continue for five sessions will receive a free book.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street in Asheboro.

Asheboro library’s ‘Hands-On Science’ to feature boats

Kids can learn how things float, and how they sink, in “Hands-On Science: Plastic Bottle Boats” at 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Thursday, December 27, at the Asheboro Public Library

All the materials for making plastic bottle boats to take home will be provided.

The event is free, and children in grades 2-6 are invited. Registration is required; call 318-6804 to sign up for one of the two sessions.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street in Asheboro.