Appalachian Self-Care

Hiking the Smokemont - Bradley Forks Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from https://www.flickr.com/photos/ugardener/10817704663/ 2020 has most of us on-edge.  So much loss, uncertainty, and stress with the COVID-19 pandemic has exhausted most people and pushed us to our limits. Those of us in Appalachia have seen hard times before. I recently learned …

Fontana Regional Library Celebrates 75 Years of Service

This year, the Fontana Regional Library turned 75 and we are celebrating by collecting stories from our wonderful patrons and supporters!  The Fontana Regional Library system is composed of public libraries in Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties (North Carolina).  Since we’re asking for your story, we thought that it’s only fair that we share ours …

Vegging Out

As you’ve heard, the Macon County Public Library is continuing its gardening tradition this summer!  While our Youth Services Department has had and continues to have a garden for folks 12 and younger, Adult Services, with the help of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, has been gardening in two 500 sq. ft. plots at the …

Root and STEM

It’s Savannah, again, from the Macon County Public Library.  On a serious note, our lives, our history, and our future are determined by Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math…for the most part.  Basically, anything the “developed” world (I apologize for the term and realize that it not the most appropriate) develops, discovers, builds, etc. influences others …

Crafting Mistakes

Hey y’all, this is Savannah from the Macon County Public Library.  You’ve seen some of my previous blogs which focus here and there on escapism.  Since March is National Craft Month, I get to talk about my most favorite “escapism” of all – craft time. In case you didn’t know, there’s a lot of truth …

Human Rights – From “Conception” to “Realization”

Hey y’all, this is Savannah from the Macon County Public Library.   You heard about several holidays in the last blog but for this blog, we are going to talk about human rights and Human Rights Day which was on December 10. Now, as a semi-trained history geek, my “historian” mind went all over the place …

Healthy Engagement 101: Theatre at the Library – A New Community Theatre Group in Franklin, NC

  Theatre is work.  No one knows that better than Roberta Pipitone, a retired drama teacher of 30 years, who has graciously volunteered her time to help the Macon County Public Library continue to build a theatre program.  Pipitone not only wrote this season’s suspenseful comedy: “Murder by the Book” – to take place at …

Guest Blog: Domestic Violence Awareness Month by R.E.A.C.H. of Macon County

Maya Angelou stated “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” - Letter to My Daughter As we enter Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we are confronted with the stark reality that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men experience some form …

Libraries On Tap

Did you know that the brewing industry is the fastest growing industry in western North Carolina?  Well, of course it is!  That’s why Fontana Regional Library system is stepping out of the stacks to bring: “Libraries on Tap: Brewing Scavenger Hunt” to Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. “Libraries on Tap” is a collaboration between Fontana …

Guest Blog: Local author, Tyler Cook, reflects on Macon County Public Library’s Read Local Book Fair

As I reflect on the fifth annual Read Local Book Fair in Franklin, I can’t help but feel excitement, as if I’m attending it for the first time.  Each year brings a new experience, and a new group of customers gets to experience a new book, whether they buy mine or someone else’s.  For us …