Author Charlie Lovett to delve into Holy Grail mystery at Friends of the Library dessert event

Charlie Lovett

ASHEBORO -- New York Times bestselling author Charlie Lovett will spill secrets of the Holy Grail during a Friends of the Randolph County Public Library dessert reception at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 20, at The Table Farmhouse Bakery in Asheboro.

Seating for the event is limited; tickets are $6 and must be purchased in advance at the Asheboro Public Library, 201 Worth Street.

In his 2017 novel The Lost Book of the Grail, now being released in paperback, Lovett follows British bibliophile Arthur Prescott and  American researcher Bethany Davis as they uncover tantalizing clues to the location — and nature — of the Grail in a small cathedral town in the English countryside.

Lovett is also author of the novels The Bookman’s Tale, about an investigation spurred by a photo discovered in a book found in a used and rare bookshop, and First Impressions, a mystery involving writer Jane Austen.

He has penned five books on Lewis Carroll, and has lectured internationally on the author. For the 150th anniversary in 2015 of the publication of Alice in Wonderland, he wrote the introduction to a new Penguin Books edition of the work and curated a major exhibition of Carroll artifacts and memorabilia — many of them from his own collection — at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.

Lovett is also author of plays for children and a novel for  teens. A Winston-Salem native, he is a graduate of Davidson College and the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

He and his family divide their time between Winston-Salem and the village of Kingham in Oxfordshire, England.

For further information, call 336-318-6801.

Meet Llama Llama at Asheboro library

ASHEBORO – Llama Llama, the character from the popular series of children books by Anna Dewdney, will visit the Asheboro Public Library at 4 p.m. Friday, March 2, to help celebrate Read Across America Day.

The event will feature Llama Llama stories, related games and crafts, and a photo opportunity with Llama Llama. It’s free; children and their families are invited.

Read Across America, sponsored by the National Education Association, is an annual event to celebrate reading on the March 2 birthday of Dr. Seuss.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street. Call 336-318-6804 for further information.

New Asheboro library genealogy classes to cover census, Ancestry.com

ASHEBORO – A new round of workshops for family researchers with librarian and genealogist Ann Palmer will take place in March at the Asheboro Public Library.

The classes, covering census records and Ancestry.com, are free and the public is invited (some of the workshops require registration). The classes are:

              

Making Sense of the Census, 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, March 8. Census records contain important information about individuals and families.  No other source can place people in a certain place at a certain time or provide details over many decades.

Each census record from 1790-1940 is different.  Learn what is unique about the census records from 1790-1940 and how it will benefit your search for ancestors. No registration is required.

Using Ancestry.com Library Edition, 2-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 13. Learn the basics of using Ancestry.com, the world’s leading database for researching family history. The workshop will explore the major features of Ancestry, plus provide tips on how to search more effectively. Ancestry Library Edition is available to use free of charge at any Randolph County Library.

The class also will cover differences between Ancestry Library Edition and the subscription version, and how to send your discoveries to your email account. Because a limited number of laptops is available for the class, registration is required; call 336-318-6803 to sign up. You may also bring your own laptop.

Finding Census Records On-line, 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, March 22. Learn how to use computers to search Ancestry Library Edition and Heritage Quest to view actual census images to find information about your ancestors. Explore effective search methods for both federal and state census records and learn how to read between the lines for additional information.

Because a limited number of laptops is available for the class, registration is required; call 336-318-6803 to sign up. You may also bring your own laptop.

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

Historian to explore NC slave narratives in Asheboro library talk

ASHEBORO – Three courageous African American North Carolinians who escaped slavery put pen to paper to describe their experiences.

Researcher Laurel C. Sneed will share their stories in “Beyond 12 Years A Slave: The Influential Slave Narratives of Tar Heels Moses Roper, Harriet Jacobs, and William H. Singleton” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 5, at the Asheboro Public Library.

The talk, part of the North Carolina Humanities Council’s Road Scholar program, is free and the public is invited.

Sneed will examine how the three authors — Roper from Caswell County, Jacobs from Edenton and Singleton from New Bern — left their mark on the slave narrative literary tradition. The mission of slave narratives was to persuade readers to support the anti-slavery agenda.  She also will discuss the veracity of the narratives, which often are dismissed as propaganda, and compare the North Carolina writings to Solomon Northrop’s  12 Years A Slave.

Based in Durham, Sneed is an educator, researcher and filmmaker. In 1995, her research helped uncover the origins of famed Caswell County cabinetmaker Thomas Day. Since then she has produced a broad range of materials on Day as well as on other African American historical topics.

Her visit 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.

‘Candid Critters’ cameras return to Randolph library

A deer captured with a Candid Critters camera in Randolph County in May.
(This work is licensed under a
  CreativeCommons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 InternationalLicense.)

ASHEBORO – Wildlife cameras from the “North Carolina’s Candid Critters” initiative have returned to the Randolph County Public Library and are again available for check out.

Candid Critters, a state sponsored wildlife study, makes cameras available through public libraries. Participants check out the camera to mount on their property or on public land, and weeks later retrieve the images for viewing and uploading.

Cameras were available at the library from January-August, but were moved to other areas of the state in the fall for deer tracking.

Anyone interested in checking out a camera must first register at NCCandidCritters.org. Participants will receive an invitation to complete an online training course.

Library staff will be notified by the Candid Critters organization when a person is approved, and will contact the person to arrange checkout of a camera.

Those who completed the sign-up process previously can check out or reserve a camera by calling 338-318-6803 or by visiting the library. Library staff is available to assist with uploading images to the Candid Critters website.

Data will be used to map trends in animal populations across the state. See images from around the state, including Randolph County cameras, at www.tinyurl.com/candcrit.

Candid Critters is a partnership among NC State University, the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, the State Library of NC, NC Cardinal, the state’s public libraries and the Smithsonian Institution.

For more information, call the library at 336-318-6803.