History prof to explore Vietnamese culture in Asheboro library talk

ASHEBORO – In the eyes of many Americans, there is little separation between the image of “Vietnam” and the tragic outcome of U.S. involvement in the war.

But Vietnam as a nation, and the Vietnamese people, have existed in the region for over 2,000 years.

UNC-Greensboro history professor Dr. James Anderson will talk about the country, its people and its traditions in “Vietnamese Culture: Beyond the War” at

6:30 p.m. Thursday, February 15, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Anderson will introduce various aspects of modern Vietnamese society and culture, with a focus on preserving traditions during the country’s emergence from its war-torn past.

His talk is free and the public is invited. It is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Anderson is head of the History Department at UNCG. He holds masters and Ph.D degrees from the University of Washington, and a B.A. from Harvard University. His fields of study include imperial and modern China, east Asia and Southeast Asia.

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

Learn about new online test prep resource in Asheboro library class

ASHEBORO – Taking a standardized test for school, work or citizenship?

Learn about the Randolph County Public Library’s new online test preparation resource, the Testing and Educational Reference Center, in “Getting to Know TERC,” 4  p.m. Thursday, February 15, at the Asheboro Public Library.

The TERC provides an interactive learning experience that includes full-length timed practice exams for academic tests such as the SAT, ACT, GED, GRE and others. It also includes professional tests such as the ASVAB (military), NCLEX (nursing), LSAT (law) and Praxis (teaching), as well as resources for college planning, financial aid and career development.

The free class will cover getting started, the tests covered, and the different kinds of help available via the TERC.

The class is focused on teens but all ages are invited.

The TERC is provided to cardholders in the state’s public, community college, university system and independent/private college libraries by NC LIVE, the state’s online library of electronic resources.

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

Backyard gardening with Ben Grandon returns to Asheboro library

ASHEBORO – North Carolina’s long growing season is almost here, and Ben Grandon of Randolph County Cooperative Extension will help you get ready in “Backyard Gardening,” 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 6, at the Asheboro Public Library.

The talk is free and the public is invited. It’s sponsored by Friends of the Library.

Grandon will provide an overview of supplies and equipment you will need, and answer gardening questions. He also will highlight services available through Cooperative Extension to ensure bountiful harvests of fruits and veggies.

Grandon is an agriculture-horticulture agent for Cooperative Extension.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street. Call 336-318-6806 for further information.

Randolph library offers free access to Consumer Reports, other powerful online resources

ASHEBORO – Need a new washing machine? Want to find out which digital camera is best? The best deal on a lawn mower?

The Randolph County Public Library can help as Consumer Reports, along with other new resources, become available online – for free – via the library’s research website, www.randquest.org. They join a host of existing resources that enable user to dive deep into research in almost any field.

All it takes to gain access is a computer ( or tablet or phone), an Internet connection, and a library card or REAL2 student ID.

“Google can answer immediate questions and give you quick answers,” says Library Director Ross Holt. “But the resources the library has to offer give you a depth of knowledge you can’t find on the Internet at large – or that you can find but would have to pay for.”

Students who need the full text of articles from current magazines and academic journals – or those going back many years into the past – can now search two sources, Masterfile  Premier and ProQuest Magazines and Journals. There also are resources covering specific topics – science, literature, biography and current issues – as well as general reference libraries.

A test-preparation and study resource, the Testing & Education Reference Center, is available for those getting ready for academic placement tests or career certification exams.

Mango Languages lets users learn any of 70 languages, or English as speakers of 17 languages.

For the job hunter, Cypress Resume is a handy tool for quickly creating resumes, and Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center profiles 3,400 jobs in 140 industries with information about educational requirements, necessary skills and typical job responsibilities.

History and genealogy researchers can take advantage of the power of Heritage Quest to seek census and other information, and Historical North Carolina Newspapers from Newspapers.com to delve into the events of the past.

Business users will find Reference USA, a massive database of companies along with white page listings for individuals, and Simply Analytics, a powerful demographic research tool. Investors can keep tabs on their portfolio with Morningstar Investment Research Center.

For shade tree mechanics and other car enthusiasts, there’s AutoMate, an auto service and repair resource.

Two streaming video services also are available: the NC LIVE Video Collection, which provides access to most PBS programming, and Films on Demand, which includes documentaries, educational films and instructional videos.

Most of the resources are provided by NC LIVE, the state’s online library, which is available to public library cardholders and those with university system, community college or independent/private college IDs.

Learn ‘Grocery Secrets’ in Asheboro library talk

ASHEBORO – Find out tips for effective and cost-conscious grocery shopping in “Grocery Secrets,” 6:30 p.m. Monday, January 22, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Jeannie Leonard, Family and Consumer Sciences agent with Randolph County Cooperative Extension, will show you how to use grocery store layout to your advantage, maximize your shopping dollars with coupons, and get out of the store faster by planning meals ahead of time.

Leonard’s talk is free and the public is invited.

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

Popular professor Elliot Engel to kick of new lecture series at Asheboro’s Sunset Theatre

Professor Elliot Engel

Literary lecturer Dr. Elliot Engel will inaugurate an eclectic new series of lectures and performances for 2018 as the Friends of the Library Sunset Signature Series gets underway.  

The series, which will take place in downtown Asheboro’s historic Sunset Theatre, is sponsored by the Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau, the City of Asheboro and the Friends of the Randolph County Public Library.

Engel will appear at 7 p.m. Tuesday, January 23, with a lively talk, “Our Slippery Mother Tongue: A Light History of English.” His appearance is free and the public is invited.

Using anecdotes, analysis and large doses of humor, Engel will bring to life the fascinating development of the English language from the Anglo-Saxons to the invading French, and beyond.

Engel has delivered his highly entertaining but historically detailed talks worldwide over his 30-year career. He is author of 10 books; his lecture series about Charles Dickens appeared on PBS stations around the country. Four of plays he has written have been produced in the past 10 years.

In 2009, he was inducted into the Royal Society of Arts in England for his academic work and his promotion of Dickens. Sales of his CDs and DVDs have raised funds for the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London, which Dickens helped found in 1852.

Engel lives in Raleigh and has taught at UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and Duke University. He holds a Ph.D. from UCLA , where he won the Outstanding Teaching Award.

Installments of the series following Engel will take place in March, May and September:

• Asheville busker and radio personality Abby the Spoon Lady will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 17. She will be accompanied by Chris Rodrigues, another Asheville street performer who is a one-man band.  Abby developed her talent while hitchhiking and hopping freight trains through 48 states. She’s a mainstay on the streets of Asheville and a radio personality who performs around the country, sharing her music and telling stories about her experiences.
• Asheboro native Holly George-Warren will take the stage at 7  p.m. Thursday, May 3. One of the country’s foremost music journalists, George-Warren is most recently penned the biographies A Man Called Destruction: The Life of Alex Chilton, from Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man, and Public Cowboy No. 1: The Life and Times of Gene Autry. She is currently working on a biography of Janis Joplin. Her husband, author and musician Robert Burke Warren, will play music as a soundtrack for her talk.
• Journalist Kevin Maurer, who has been embedded with various U.S. military forces since the beginning of the war in Iraq, will appear at 7 p.m. Thursday, September 13. He is author of No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden,  which was the top-selling hardcover book of 2012

The Sunset Theatre is located at 234 Sunset Ave. in Asheboro. For further information, call the Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau at 800-626-2672.