Fontana Flyer

The Jackson County Public Library received a bequest of 450 books of poetry from the estate of the late Kathryn Stripling Byer. Byer, formerly the poet laureate of North Carolina, passed away on June 5th, 2017.

Jackson County Public Library patron Sara Freeman participated in the Recorded Books Literary Classics Online Book Club and won the Library $1,000 worth of audiobooks. Thank you Sara!

From June 23rd until July 31st, the Jackson County Public Library hosted the national exhibit Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness.

Children and teens throughout the region built a better world this summer at their local library. Over 7000 people attended summer learning events held in the community and Fontana Regional Libraries! Children and teens attended over 200 events and participated in science and engineering experiments, hands-on art and design, planetarium shows and more. All summer, children and teens filled the library to search for the special book to spark their imagination, answer their curiosity, or to read just for the fun of it.

The Nantahala Community Library will host an open house on Saturday, June 3rd. If you’re curious about Fontana Regional Library’s smallest branch, please drop by for the open house. This library may be small in size, but it’s a big part of the community! You’ll have a chance to meet our new library staff and see some of the changes they’ve got underway. Sharon Crosby is the Branch Supervisor and Rachelle Clark is the Library Assistant. Both began working at the library in April.

Have you ever wondered what kind of animals lurk in the woods near your house? Are you a hiker who yearns to know what prowls your trails when you’re not there? Do you like citizen science and learning about the creatures we share these beautiful mountains with? Then the Library has a treat for you!

MCPL and JCPL both held Family Science Nights in April to celebrate National Science Month.  The planetarium was enjoyed by many as were the various hands-on activities such as earthquake makers, geoboards, circuit boards, & 3-D pens to name a few. These planetarium programs are supported by grant funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Federal Library Services and Technology Act as administered  by the State Library of NC, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources.

Rainbow cookies, a rainbow cape, rainbow bracelets and Young Adult books were seen at the Macon County Public Library recently.  What do they have in common?  A proud group of LGBT Teens coming together for support and social activities.  Macon County Youth OUTright has been meeting at the library for the past few months.  Jennifer Harr, jenharr@youthoutright.org, from the Asheville Youth OUTright group, travels to Macon to meet with teens to talk about LGBT issues and to plan activities.

In continuation of our previous article, several updates have happened or will be happening across our region.

The County Community Clubs of Macon County are conducting a survey to help assess the Internet needs of the county. "The goal of the initiative is to identify underserved areas and work to attract Internet service providers offering expanded service and higher speed options." This survey will run until June 1, 2017 and copies of the survey are being distributed by the Macon County Public Library.

NASA resources are coming to western North Carolina, thanks to a new nationwide outreach program. Fontana Regional Library has been selected as one of only seventy-five libraries in the country to participate in the NASA@ My Library initiative. The program is designed to increase and enhance science, technology, engineering, and math learning opportunities around the country, especially for geographic areas and populations currently underserved in STEM education.