Kids to get hands-on with science at Asheboro library

Children can make the link between reading and science through free, hands-on after-school science programs at the Asheboro library.

The series, “Hands-On Science,” will kick-off at 3 p.m. Thursday, November 26,  with “Windmills!” Participants will learn about windmills and make one to take home.

Anyone in grades 2-6 is invited to join in. Call the Asheboro library Children’s Room at 318-6804 to register.

“Hands-On Science” will continue on the last Thursday of each month. Librarians will guide kids through a series of experiments, teach them scientific vocabulary, and lead them to the proper conclusions by asking them questions during each science experiment.

Each child will be given all supplies necessary to complete a take home project and will be guided step-by-step.

“Reading and books are directly connected to science and math, and it can all be a lot of fun when we put it all together,” says children’s librarian Melina Simpson.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street in Asheboro.

Teens, tweens: draw monsters with illustrator Rich Powell at library

Illustrator Rich Powell will show teens and tweens how to draw monsters of all varieties at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 19 at the Asheboro Public Library.

The drawing session, part of “Own the Night,” the library’s Teen Summer Reading Program, is free and open to anyone age 10-18.

In addition to demonstrating drawing techniques, Powell will focus on finding inspiration for monsters; developing them from creatures you see every day; and what makes them scary.

He also will talk about classic monsters – vampires, werewolves and the like – versus science fiction monsters.

Powell has been illustrating for the past sixteen years while occasionally art directing for the world of computer gaming. His work appears in MAD Magazine, Our State, on greeting cards, t-shirts, posters, book jackets, magazine covers, children’s books, and in national advertising campaigns.

For more information about the library’s Summer Reading Programs and complete schedules, visit www.randolphlibrary.org/summerreading.html

Magical Storyteller Mark Daniel returns to Randolph libraries

Magical Storyteller Mark Daniel will return to Randolph County’s public libraries this summer with his unique blend of magic, puppetry and stories.

He will appear at all seven libraries as follows:

• Archdale, 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 25;
• Asheboro, 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 25;
• Franklinville, 2 p.m. Thursday, July 26;
• Liberty: 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 24;
• Ramseur, 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 26;
• Randleman, 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 19;
• Seagrove, 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 24.

Daniel’s performances, part of “Dream Big: Read!”, the Randolph County Public Library’s Summer Reading Program, are free and the public is invited.

Daniel has been a mainstay of summer reading programs for more than 20 years. His performances have inspired over three million children in thousands of schools and libraries, celebrating the joy of reading and great books. For more information about Daniel, visit www.magicalstoryteller.com.

For a complete schedule of summer events at the libraries, visit www.randolphlibrary.org/summerreading.html or contact your local library.

Poet Bill Griffin to visit Asheboro library as Poetry of Conservation continues

Poet Bill Griffin, a family doctor and geriatrician from Elkin, will keynote a poetry reading and open mic at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 12, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Griffin’s appearance is part of the Poetry of Conservation project sponsored by the NC Zoo, the Randolph County Public Library and the Randolph Arts Guild. He is poet-in-residence at the zoo during the week of July 8.

Local poets are invited to join Griffin and read their work – especially nature themed work – during the open mic, which is free and open to the public. The library is located at 201 Worth Street.

Griffin is author of four poetry chapbooks, including Snake Den Ridge, a Bestiary,  in which each poem takes the voice of a creature from the Great Smoky Mountains. In 2009, he received the North Carolina Poetry Society’s Poet Laureate Award.

His most recent book is little mouse, a collection of 32 poems, each 20 lines and each with the title “little mouse.” His work has appeared in regional and national journals, including Southern Poetry Review, Tar River Poetry, POEM, NC Literary Review and Pembroke Magazine.

Griffin also will be featured at a free Lunch and Learn at noon Wednesday, July 11, at the Randolph Arts Guild, and  will conduct workshops at the zoo. For more information, visit nczoo.org.

The Poetry of Conservation is a program that brings three poets to the Zoo through September for week-long residencies to explore nature and conservation in verse, conduct readings and workshops at the zoo and in the community, and select lines of nature-related verse to be sculpturally installed in public areas of the zoo.

Griffin’s library visit also is part of “Between the Covers,” the Summer Reading Program for adults. For more information and complete Summer Reading schedules for children, teens and adults, visit www.randolphlibrary.org/summerreading.html.

'Fish the Magish' to thrill Asheboro audiences with magic

Asheboro magician and educational entertainer “Fish the Magish” will bedazzle children and families with wonderful storytelling and mind-bending magic during a performance at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 12, at the Asheboro Public Library.

The show is free and everyone is invited.

“Fish” – a.k.a. Mike Fisher – will get audience members participating in the magic in a funny, educational performance built around the “Dream Big: Read!” library Summer Reading Program theme.

A graduate of Clemson University, Fisher has been entertaining children in libraries, schools and churches since 1992.

For more information about the library’s Summer Reading Program and complete schedules, visit www.randolphlibrary.org/summerreading.html.

'Poetry of Conservation' poet Pat Riviere-Seel to conduct children's writing workhop, keynote open mic

Acclaimed poet Pat Riviere-Seel will visit the Asheboro Public Library during the week of June 25 to conduct a writing workshop for children and headline a poetry “open mic.”

Her appearances are part of The Poetry of Conservation, a partnership among the North Carolina Zoo, the Randolph County Public Library and the Randolph Arts Guilds that places poets in residence at the zoo to celebrate the beauty and wonder of nature in verse.

School-age children are invited to “Tiger, Where Did You Get Those Stripes?”, a free poetry writing workshop at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 27 at the Asheboro library.

“Wild animals (domestic ones too!) and places are full of mystery and magic. Have you ever wondered how something got to be the way it is? What would you ask the tiger? Or the bear?  In this workshop we’ll use poetry to talk to the animals and explore their mystery,” Riviere-Seel says.

Local poets are invited to join Riviere-Seel and read their work – especially nature themed work –during an open mic at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 28, at the Asheboro library. Following the open mic, Riviere-Seel will share her work and answer questions.

The open mic is free and the public is invited.

Riviere-Seel teaches in UNC-Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program and is the author of two poetry collections, The Serial Killer’s Daughter (2009) which won the NC Literary and Historical Society’s Roanoke Chowan Award for Poetry and No Turning Back Now (2004) which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She earned her MFA in Poetry from Queens University of Charlotte and is a past president of the North Carolina Poetry Society.

The Poetry of Conservation is a program that will bring three poets to the Zoo through September for week-long residencies to explore nature and conservation in verse, conduct readings and workshops at the zoo and in the community, and to select lines of nature-related verse to be sculpturally installed in public areas of the zoo.

Riviere Seel’s library visits also are part of “Dream Big: Read!”, the library’s Summer Reading Program for children, and “Between the Covers,” the Summer Reading Program for adults. For more information and complete schedules, visit www.randolphlibrary.org/summerreading.html

Teen events begin, more during Randolph library Summer Reading Program week of June 18

Teen events kick off, and adults can learn about container gardening and ebooks, as “Dream Big: Read!”, the Randolph County Public Library Summer Reading Program, continues during the week of June 18. Meanwhile, storytimes and other activities for children continue, as Ronald McDonald visits two libraries and two libraries host family films.

As part of “Own the Night,” the Teen Summer Reading Program, teens are invited to make zombie felties and monster masks at 2 p.m. Thursday, June 21, at the Asheboro library. At the Randleman library, the Mad Science for Teens series gets underway with Random Science at 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 20.

"Between the Covers,” the Adult Summer Reading Program, offers Container Gardening with Master Gardeners Peggy Heath and Barbara Luther at 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 19, at the Randleman library. The Asheboro library will provide ebook and e-reader basics with “Ebooks – On the Go!” at 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 19.

Children’s programs continue at all libraries. Ronald McDonald will promote reading at the Liberty library at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 19 and at Seagrove at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 19.  The Asheboro school-age program will feature author Midge Noble at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and Randleman will host Cold Blooded Animal Encounters at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, June 21.

The Archdale library will encounter Nocturnal Animals at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 21, and host Kindermusic at 10:30 a.m. the same day.

Movies include A Bug’s Life at 7 p.m. Friday, June 22, at the Asheboro library and Puss in Boots at 4 p.m. Thursday, June 21, at the Randleman library.

A complete schedule for all libraries and all age groups can be found at www.randolphlibrary.org/summerreading.html, visit your local library or call 318-6804.

The Summer Reading Program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library supported in part by a North Carolina Arts Council Grassroots Grant via the Randolph Arts Guild. Local sponsors also include Kiwanis International, Weston’s Feed and Seed, Something Different Restaurant and Advisors Financial Center.

Prizes, reading awards, programs or program support are provided as of this writing by Asheboro Copperheads, Big Daddy’s Pizza of Ramseur, Chick-fil-A, CommunityOne Bank, Domino’s Pizza of Ramseur, Greensboro Children’s Museum, Hardees, Energizer, First Bank of Archdale, Lowes Foods,  North Carolina Aviation Museum, McDonalds, North Carolina Zoological Park, PNC Bank of Ramseur, SciWorks, Sheetz, Walmart and Wendy’s.