Staff Pick Round-Up, 4!

Hello, readers! We’re back with another Staff Pick Round-Up! With 2024 off to a flying start, it’s sometimes hard to find that extra bit of reading time, but I recommend making it a priority. Let’s discover what my coworkers are reading in their downtime, and you may find a title or two for inspiration!  Jason, …

Holiday Movie? Holiday Book? Both!

Hello, readers! Are you getting ready for the quickly approaching holiday season? For me, this means decorating the house, thinking of last minute gifts, and planning my reading for the month of December (Christmas-themed books only). But another important part of enjoying the festivities is my family’s tradition of seasonal TV viewing. There are Christmas …

Staff Pick Round-Up, 3!

Hello, readers! It has been a while since we did a staff pick round-up; if you missed the first or second, be sure to take a look at them. It is always fun to see what others are reading! Now let’s see what your library staff have been perusing in their spare time: Romona enjoyed …

Staff Pick Round-Up, 2!

Hello Readers! We are back with another round of Virtual Staff Picks. (If you missed the first round, check it out here). Read on to let our staff help you discover your next favorite thing! Savannah: "I just finished How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.  We had a bookclub for SCC employees.  …

Staff Pick Round-Up!

Hello Readers. Perhaps it's been a while since you’ve physically set foot in our libraries, so today, we are bringing the staff picks to you! Many of us have had a little extra time to read this year, and you may have even burned through your bookshelf. If you are not sure what to read …

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 …

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 …

Scandinavian Noir: Bleakness and Joy

The most famous work of Scandinavian Noir is Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Of course the artistic genre we now call Noir was not called such in Shakespeare's day, but Hamlet shares many Noir characteristics. I, personally, enjoy Wikipedia's definition of Scandinavian Noir: "a genre of crime fiction written from a police point of view. The language is plain …

Georgiana, Maisie, and Amory: Detectives All, Part 2

SPOILER ALERT! Sometime ago I introduced the readers of this blog to three of my favorite mystery authors:  Jacqueline Winspear, Rhys Bowen, and a librarian turned author, Ashley Weaver (the first two authors are native Brits who live  in the  United States). All three have women as their main characters.  Winspear's Masie Dobbs started out in …