3/5/2010
What do used restaurant fry oil and Stoneyfield Farm yogurt have in common? Unlikely as it may seem, they’re both connected to green technology authors who will speak in Wilmington at two separate March events.
Greg Melville is the first person known to have driven a car across the United States on used cooking grease instead of gasoline or diesel. He turned his experience into a book called Greasy Rider, casually tossing in side trips to sites making cutting-edge use of wind power, solar power, geothermal power, and the like as extra features. He makes horrible puns and treats himself like his own blond joke, but you can learn a lot about new green technology by reading this lighthearted road book. Greg’s speaking at Cape Fear Community College’s North Campus at 1 pm on Saturday, March 20, and he’s driving himself here in the 1985 fry oil burning-Mercedes he drove to California. Other alternative energy vehicles will be on display from 11 am to 3 pm that day.
Gary Hirshberg will speak on March 22 at UNCW on “Green Business: The Next Frontier.” He’s the author of Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World, and oh, yes, one of the co-founders of Stoneyfield Farm, the biggest organic yogurt company in the world. Call Kenan Auditorium box office now and reserve your tickets—this one is going to sell out.
Your public library owns copies of both Greasy Rider (this year’s One Book, One Community pick) and Stirring it Up. Go online now to www.nhclibrary.org, do a quick catalog search, and request a copy delivered to the branch library most convenient to you. And don’t miss the Local Food & Gardening Expo at the Main Library, Saturday, April 17, 10 am to 3 pm! 2/22/2010
Greasy Rider is 2010's selection for our area-wide One Book One Community discussions, and your first opportunity to talk about the book takes place on Tuesday, Feb 23, 6 pm, at Myrtle Grove Library, Matthew Collogan, a board member for Cape Fear Biofuels and Environmental Education Program Manager for Airlie Gardens, will help lead the discussion and explain local options for living greener. Greasy Rider is a romp across the United States in search of cutting edge green technology. Author Greg Melville converted his beat-up 1985 Mercedes diesel station wagon to burn used vegetable oil, and set off with a friend to see if he could make it from Vermont to California by raiding restaurant grease dumpsters (mostly with permission). Along the way he threw in a number of side trips to explore other green energy sources, including geothermal, wind, solar, and more. It's an informative and entertaining read--check it out at your nearest library! A second book discussion is scheduled for 6 pm on March 2 at Northeast Library if you can't make it on Feb 23. The author himself will speak on Saturday, March 20 at CFCC's North Campus. Check out the full schedule of One Book One Community events, and look for more details in next month's News @ NHCPL. 2/8/2010
Thank you to all the families who participated in celebrating National Yoga Day on January 23rd! The day was a huge success, so we are going to offer family yoga again. You're invited to a half hour of free family yoga led by Librarian Susan Wood, That's Saturday, March 13, at 11 am, at the Main Library, 201 Chestnut Street. Yoga will be on third floor in the New Hanover Room. Free parking is available in the library parking deck, accessible from 2nd street.
Dress the family in comfortable clothes, bring mats or beach towels, and have fun stretching and learning basic yoga postures together. The session will work for parents with children 6 months and up. It won't work for children without an adult present!
Family Yoga is free but preregistration is requested.
2/2/2010
Finding Financial Aid for College @ Your Library Tues, Feb 9, 6-7:30 pm, Harnett Room, Main Library
Are you stressing over filling out that intimidating FAFSA form to apply for financial aid for college? Confused about how it all works? Come hear April Morey with College Foundation of North Carolina explain the process. High school students and their parents are encouraged to bring their questions to this free information session.
College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC) is a free service of the State of North Carolina that helps students plan, apply, and pay for college. CFNC is a partnership of Pathways, the N.C. State Education Assistance Authority, and College Foundation, Inc. You can trust them to give you solid information and not hit you with hidden fees!
At www.cfnc.org students can apply online to North Carolina colleges, submit their transcripts electronically, complete the FAFSA form, search for scholarships, prepare for tests like the SAT and the ACT, explore careers, and much more. By creating an account at www.cfnc.org students can track their academic careers and keep all the information they'll need about their accomplishments for all their applications in one safe place.
1/19/2010
Looking for something to do with the small fry this weekend? Grow a reader by bringing them to the Library! We've got two extra special programs going on, in case you really need an excuse to visit us besides picking up more books for bedtime reading or homework.
Our first special event is on Friday, January 22, at 1 pm at the Main Library, when the Yurtfolk will present Around the World in Eight Songs and Dances.
What on earth are Yurtfolk?
Well, that's what LuAnne and Brian Harley call themselves and their children. They live in a yurt in Indiana, and they'll lead a lively session of folk music and dancing from around the world. The free family program is made possible by the Friends of the Library, and you don't need reservations.
(Yes, you're remembering correctly, a yurt is a circular, domed dwelling typical of the nomadic peoples of Mongolia. You'll have to attend the program to learn why the Harleys decided to live in a yurt and how it's working for them.)
On Saturday, you're invited to celebrate National Yoga Day with a half hour of free family yoga led by Librarian Susan Wood, That's Saturday, January 23, at 11 am, at the Northeast Regional Library, 1241 Military Cutoff Rd.
Dress the family in comfortable clothes, bring mats or beach towels, and have fun stretching and learning basic yoga postures together. The session will work for parents with children 6 months and up. It won't work for children without an adult present!
Family Yoga is free but preregistration is requested.
1/14/2010
Happy New Year! Did you take time to make any resolutions? Are you making progress on them or have you dropped them already?
Personal Life Coach Alice Canup, MSW, has offered to help by giving a free talk about visualizing change and setting personal goals, making changes that last, and leading a more satisfying life. Yes, that's right, it's free. Public libraries give away information for a living, and we're grateful to have a knowledgeable speaker bring that to life for us.
(Actually Alice is giving this talk twice, but the downtown session filled up immediately. Register quickly for the session that still had space when I wrote this. It's happening at 6:30 pm on Tues, Jan 19 at Myrtle Grove Library, 5155 S College Rd.)
If you don't make it to hear Alice's talk, you may still want to check out some of the books she recommends from the Library. Some of them are listed in the Library's latest enewsletter.
I don't know what advice Alice is going to give, but just planning to visualize a better life led me to resolve to clean off the top of my desk by the end of this month. So far I've got some encouragingly clear patches. I'll post a photo on Feb 1 so you can see how well I do. I'd post the "before" picture, but I can quite find it in my computer . . .
12/17/2009
It's four days until Christmas and a Teacher Workday and moms are going a little nuts. Pack the kids down to the Main Library to play Wii, and enjoy a few minutes peace to pick out a pile of books and DVDs or audiobooks to get you through the long holiday weekend. 2:00-4:00 p.m. in the New Hanover Room, for all age kids. Light refreshments will be served. 12/10/2009
Books make excellent gifts! Take a look at the suggestions below. Please share your gift book recommendations as well.
Have a Little Faith: A True Story by Mitch Albom
Pub Date: 09/29/2009 The best-selling author relates his efforts to eulogize a beloved rabbi who is near death, in a book where the author sits with and cares for the dying man, discovers and learns to admire an impoverished congregation, and rekindles his faith as he searches for the right words to honor the dying cleric.
Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip--Confessions of a Cynical Waiter by Steve Dublanica
Pub Date: 08/01/2009 A whimsical best-selling account of a waiter's life at an upscale New York restaurant, based on the award-winning WaiterRant.net blog, describes his daily experiences with a series of outrageous customers and shares tips on such topics as getting good service and proper tipping etiquette.
I'll Never be French (No Matter What I Do): Living in a Small Village In Brittany by Mark Greenside
Pub Date: 06/02/2009 The author recounts how he was dragged by his girlfriend to a tiny region in western France, where in spite of the failure of their relationship and his complete inexperience with French culture, he fell in love with the area and made it a second home.
The Longest Trip Home: A Memoir by John Grogan
Pub Date: 10/13/2009 The Longest Trip Home is a book for any son or daughter who has sought to forge an identity at odds with their parents', and for every parent who has struggled to understand the values of their children. It is a book about mortality and grace, spirit and faith, and the powerful love of family. With his trademark blend of humor and pathos that made Marley & Me beloved by millions, John Grogan traces the universal journey each of us must take to find our unique place in the world.
Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer by Tim Stark
Pub Date: 07/14/2009 A government consultant-turned-Union Square Greenmarket produce farmer describes his decision to resuscitate his family farm in Pennsylvania, efforts to grow heirloom tomatoes and obscure chili peppers, and successes as an in-demand provider for some of New York City's most exacting chefs.
The Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival, and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming by Shreve Stockton
Pub Date: 11/03/2009 When photographer and writer Shreve Stockton decided to move back to her beloved New York from San Francisco, she decided to take her time and make the trip on her Vespa. When she reached Wyoming, Shreve was captivated by the red dirt, the Bighorn Mountains, and the wide-open spaces. Unable to shake the spell of the "cowboy state," she soon found herself trading her New York City apartment for a house in Ten Sleep, Wyoming -- population 300. Shreve threw away her cell phone and took to the rules of the land, adjusting to a lifestyle that was a near antithesis to that of the urban jungle. Time is of a different essence, nature is both livelihood and enemy, deer and coyote mark the dawn and dusk. When Shreve was unexpectedly presented with a ten-day-old coyote pup whose parents had been shot for killing sheep, she had a choice to make. Despite her reservations and the terror of her tomcat Eli, Shreve decided to do the unthinkable -- to raise the coyote pup she came to call Charlie in her 12 12-foot log cabin.
In arresting prose and illuminated with Shreve's breathtaking photography, The Daily Coyote is at once Shreve's month-by-month exploration of Charlie's first year and a meditation on the nature of wildness versus domestication, of nature versus nurture, and of forgiveness, loyalty, and love in all its forms.
Hands Of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love – Myron Uhlberg
Pub Date: 02/03/2009 A heartwarming memoir describes growing up as the hearing son of two deaf parents during the Depression, the challenges of straddling the world of the deaf and the hearing world beyond the family's silent apartment, and his occasional resentment of the heavy burdens of his role as an interpreter despite his love for his family.
11/20/2009A special way to spend part of your Thanksgiving holiday could be to sit down with a loved one and record a conversation with them. National Public Radio collects such conversations and airs them regularly through their StoryCorps project. They've put easy to follow suggestions about starting a National Day of Listening tradition on line for you, regardless of whether you choose to take your story public or not.
The Library will be closed for Thanksgiving on Nov 26 and 27. All the staff wish you a safe and happy holiday!
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