A Good Day for Chocolate!

Hello, readers! Did you know that August 4th is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day? Or that September 12th is National Chocolate Milkshake Day? In fact, there are two (or more) chocolate holidays in every month of the year! You can see the whole list here. Now, I think every day is a good day for …

Titanic

 Hello, readers! This year, April 15th marks the 110th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. It is hard to believe it has been that long since the largest ship of its day struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic and sank, taking with her over 1500 lives.  The story of that …

A Break from “all this” with Bartram…

Hi, Kristina here at MCPL where we're making the best of this beautiful Water|Ways exhibit from the Smithsonian. We had originally planned for LOTS of programs, field trips, movies and more in conjunction with the display... no need to go into all the readjusting we've done! But we are hosting a few events, including a …

Powerful Lady Stories

Happy Women’s History month, patrons and readers! As we spend our time in March pondering powerful women (and hopefully every subsequent month to follow) I thought why not provide you all with books describing the lives of influential women- in their own words. So please enjoy this compiled list of memoirs, available throughout the Fontana …

47 years working for FRL

Fontana Regional Library is celebrating 75 years of providing service to Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties in Western North Carolina. Read the recent blog describing how the regional library was started, including fascinating histories of the region’s member libraries. However, here is a remarkable history of another sort: for nearly two-thirds of the existence of …

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 …

Prohibition, Suffrage, and Repeal

The early days of the 20th century have always fascinated me. If there were such things as past lives, then I have lived a life in that era. The end of the Gilded Age, the rise of the progressive era, into the Roaring 20’s and the Great Depression beyond industrialization had gripped our economy, bringing …

The Hudson Library of Highlands, N.C.

By Guest Contributor Randolph Shaffner Randolph Shaffner, a former president of the Hudson Library Board of Trustees, is the author of Good Reading Material, Mostly Bound and New: The Hudson Library 1884-1994, which is available for purchase at the library, all proceeds benefiting the library. He currently serves as archivist for the Highlands Historical Society, …

Art Out of Chaos: The Literature and Movies of World War II

Benjamin Baruch Woody June 6, 2019 was the 75th anniversary of D-Day. As most of you probably know, this is the day that the Allied forces began the offensive push to defeat the German Army. This anniversary got me thinking about sacrifice, heroism, a generation that is quickly fading away, and it got me thinking …

NC Women: The Quakers

One of the most satisfying parts about studying history is the perspective that it often shades on today’s world. While researching and writing this blog project about North Carolina Women I have come to several realizations, but researching Quakers may have offered the most profound thus far. Without the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) there …