Libraries Lead

This past week, April 8th to 14th, was National Library Week! Hooray! We hope everyone celebrated appropriately with books and movies borrowed from your library. If not, don’t worry, Governor Cooper has declared this month as Library Appreciation Month!  National Library Week was first officially sponsored in 1958, making this the 60th anniversary! This week …

“I’ve been to the mountaintop!”

Today (April 4, 2018) is the fifty year anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a march with striking city garbage workers.  The march had originally been scheduled for March 22,1968, but Mother Nature had dumped eighteen inches of snow on the city, so …

Rollicking Reads of 2017

While it might be a bit late for a “last year recap” (it is already spring by the calendar, even if the snow last week belied that), I thought I might as well do one for those folks hoping to get some recommendations for good reading.  I did find some “gems” out of the 94 …

Women’s Rights: from A Vindication of the Women’s Rights, to the Women’s March and #metoo Movement

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex. “Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”   19th Amendment to the Constitution, passed on May 21st, 1919 and ratified on August 18th, 1920. …

Ice cream for breakfast, basically.

Did you know that February 6 was Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day? Neither did I. Luckily, we don’t really need an excuse to eat ice cream for breakfast, or any meal really – do we? If you do find yourself needing permission, check out Leslie Levine’s Ice Cream for Breakfast: If You Follow All …

“Riders on the Storm,” Vietnam, Pt. 4

When Richard Nixon was elected as President of the United States in November 1968, Lyndon Johnson's administration had started talks with representatives of the Communist government of North Vietnam six months before, but when they attempted to get the South Vietnamese and the Viet Cong to join the discussions, the talks broke down.   The Tét …

“When thou haply seest Some rare noteworthy object in thy travel”

My life here in the frigid middle of January feels like I've been binge-watching an Adam Sandler marathon while trying to stomach a Banquet Microwavable Chicken Pot Pie that was taken out of the oven after just over a minute-and-a-half -- addlepated with an unshakable feeling of general disappointment. (As an aside, how hungry do …

Migration: From Southern Appalachia to Northern Cascades Part 2

Skagit County Circa 1906, Darrington is just over the southern county line Welcome back for part two of our series on the migration of people from Western North Carolina (WNC) to the Pacific Northwest (PNW). In the first blog we covered the national moment, laying historical context for what would become the westward migration of …

Migration: From Southern Appalachia to Northern Cascades Part 1

Jackson County North Carolina Randle Washington, Lewis County Humans have an innate ability to move locations; from the very early days of humanoid existence, we have been wanderers. Our early survival depended on being nomadic; following our food source, hunting and gathering along the way. Domestication and city building did not stop our wandering ways. …

Red Tailed Hawk vs Red Shouldered Hawk

Hello to all the readers of the Shelf Life in the Mountains Blog! My name is Annie and I have been working at the beautiful Jackson County Public Library in Sylva for almost two months now. I have also been an avid bird watcher for about four years. It all started when I moved from …