Community writing, reading workshop ‘Writing to Heal’ to address violence against women

ASHEBORO – Join poets Melissa Hassard and Debra Kaufman for “Writing to Heal,” a community writing and reading workshop addressing violence against women, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, November 17, at the Asheboro Public Library.

The workshop, supported by the North Carolina Arts Council and the Regional Artist Project Grant program, is free and the public is invited.

Hassard and Kaufman will use selected poems from the anthology Red Sky: Poetry on the Global Epidemic of Violence Against Women (Sable Books 2018) to explore ways to talk about abuse, how families and communities are affected, and how breaking the silence is the first step toward healing. Participants will have time to reflect and write.

Representatives from local family services organizations also are invited to share information and resources. 

The two poets received a 2018 Regional Artist Project Grant to co-facilitate workshops in each of the region’s five counties, including Randolph. Hassard is managing editor of  Red Sky, a poetry collection that includes work by internationally recognized poets such as Naomi Shihab Nye, Fady Joudah and North Carolina Poet Laureate Jackie Shelton Green, as well as new and emerging voices.

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

Asheboro library launches new slate of weekly children’s activities

ASHEBORO – Kids and their families who visit the Asheboro Public Library can learn and have fun in weekly events on Mondays and Wednesdays as the Children’s Room revamps its schedule of storytimes and other activities beginning in November.

Additional special events also will take during each month.

Monday mornings will focus on children age 3-5, with “Kinder Prep” and “Music and Movement” alternating weekly at 10 a.m. Kinder Prep will focus on early learning concepts to help children get ready for kindergarten. Music and Movement encourages kids to stretch, sings, dance and explore music with rhythm instruments.

Monday afternoons will offer activities for children age 0-5 with “Learn and Play” at 4 p.m., featuring stories, songs and play time. The last Learn and Play day of each month will include an interactive group time for parents and caregivers, with refreshments.

Wednesday afternoons will feature a different type of activity each week at 3 p.m. for school-age children 6 and over, with “Crafternoons” on the first week; a movie on the second week; “LEGO Day” on the third week; and a hands-on STEM activity involving science, technology, engineering and mathematics on the fourth week.

Also getting underway is the Junior Book Club for children age 8 and up at 3 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. The monthly meeting and activity event for homeschoolers and their parents will continue.

The new schedule replaces the entire previous schedule of storytimes.

For more information and complete schedules, visit the Children’s Room or call 336-318-6804.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street.

Asheboro library to get automatic sliding doors

ASHEBORO – Installation of automatic sliding doors at the Asheboro Public Library is scheduled for Wednesday, October 31.

Installation is likely to take one and one-half days. The main entrance is expected to be closed for part of the day on Wednesday.

When the entrance is closed, library visitors can use the emergency doors on the Cox Street side of the library. Those with mobility impairments can enter through the Extension Services Department via the short driveway on the east side of the building; library staff and volunteers will be on hand to assist.

Funding for the new doors was provided by the City of Asheboro in its 2018-2019 library budget.

For more information, call the library at 336-318-6801.

Liberty Library wants your opinion

LIBERTY – What would you like to see happening at the Liberty library?

How can the library help the community? How can you help the library?

The Liberty Public Library will host a drop-in session from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 6, to seek feedback form community members about library services. Visit and share with library manager Charity Neave Johnson and other staff members your thoughts about the library.

It’s free and the public is invited.

The library is located at 239 S. Fayetteville St. in Liberty. For more information, call 336-622-4605.

Learn about the contributions of N.C. women during World War I in Asheboro library talk

ASHEBORO – When World War I broke out in 1914, North Carolina’s women were poised to support war-torn Europe because they already were organized to help the needy and vulnerable at home.

Learn about their unique  contributions in “North Carolina’s Women ’Do Their Bit’ During WWI,” a talk by historian and educator Dr. Angela Robbins at 6:30 p.m. Monday, November 5, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Robbins’ talk, a North Carolina Humanities Council Road Scholar event, is free and the public is invited.

When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, women encouraged one another to “do their bit,” coordinating  local groups with newly-formed state and national organizations to provide care packages for soldiers, grow and preserve food during shortages, conduct Liberty Bond drives, and collect supplies for the Red Cross.

After the war, their activism helped empower them to claim the right to vote and shape their own destinies.

Robbins, an assistant history professor at Meredith College, holds a Ph.D. in history from UNC-Greensboro.

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 more information, call 336-318-6803.

UNCG professor O’Brien to discuss Lakota Sioux history in Asheboro library talk

ASHEBORO – Learn about the history of the Lakota Sioux in a talk by UNC-Greensboro history professor Dr. Greg O’Brien at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 23, at the Asheboro Public Library.

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

O’Brien will delve into the Lakota story from the era of Custer and the Little Bighorn to modern-day protests against construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (#NoDAPL), which passes through the Standing Rock Reservation and ancestral territory of the Lakota Nation.

O’Brien is an associate professor in the Department of History at UNCG, and currently serves as associate head of the department.

He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky, a masters degree from James Madison University and a B.A. from Randolph-Macon College. His areas of research include American Indians of the southeast, American environmental history, and the American revolutionary era.

He is author of The Native South: New Histories and Enduring Legacies, and numerous other books, chapters and articles.

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

Is your house haunted? Meet paranormal investigators at Asheboro library

ASHEBORO – Are you hearing things that go bump in the night?

Piedmont Triad Paranormal Investigations founder Rick Aiken will visit the Asheboro Public Library at 6:30 p.m. Monday, October 15, to talk about what it takes to be a paranormal detective, and show off equipment he and his team use to suss out the otherworldly in haunted houses.

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

Aiken and colleague Brenda Laws will tell ghost stories if time permits.

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