Books and DVDs are wonderful companions for Labor Day weekend.    

Library customers may take library materials along, whether it’s a book for the beach, an audio book for the road or a video for evenings at the mountain getaway. Downloadable books are also available on-line to library cardholders.

Catawba County Library System will observe the holiday on Monday, Sept 7, but library materials may be picked up before or after that date, while materials may be dropped off at any time.

Sunday hours resume on Sept. 6 from 2-6 p.m. at Main Library, Conover, Southwest and St. Stephens branches. For more information about library services or programming, contact Lynne Bolick Reed at 465-8292.

Friends of Catawba County Library will reconvene after a summer break at 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 14 at the Main Library in Newton.

Leadership of the group will be discussed.

Friends recently donated $1,000 toward Summer Reading and slightly more than $1,000 to purchase new Playaway audio books for the library system which serves seven locations: Newton, Conover, Claremont, Maiden, Southwest, Sherrills Ford and St. Stephens. The group also conducts an ongoing book sale of both hardback and paperback books in the Main Library lobby.

For more information about Friends, call Lynne Bolick Reed, library services coordinator, at 465-8292. The Main Library is located at 115 West C Street in Newton.

The credit card ad poses the question, ‘What’s in your wallet?”

A prudent answer these days is a library card. It doesn’t cost you anything or accrue interest or service charges. Instead, it allows you to better yourself by checking out free books, music, videos and magazines, access the Internet and more.

Smart idea? You bet.

Catawba County Library System is once again joining libraries around the nation to encourage citizens to sign up for a library card, or “Smartest Card.”  With it, you can learn all about the world, past, present and future through books, magazines, journals, videos, recorded music available free at your public library. With it, you can become a well-read citizen.

            Catawba County Library cardholders may place holds on materials through the library website www.catawbacountync.gov/library. You can download books directly from the site for use on an MP3 player or personal computer. You can also access special research tools such as NCLive. The library’s subscription to this service allow free access to a host of data bases such as NoveList, HealthlinkPlus, LearningExpressLibrary and more .

            Once you have your library card, be sure to set up a PIN number. This number will allow you to place one-week holds on library materials. You library card number (plus PIN) allows you to check your library account from home to see what you’ve checked out and the status of your hold requests. This service also allows you to renew materials on-line.

            PINS must consist of four to eight characters. For security reasons, they cannot be assigned or changed over the phone. That’s why you must come to any branch with proper identification.

In addition to these benefits, Catawba County Library offers free computer classes, story times and literary events

Next month, author Daniel Barefoot will discuss his new book, Spirits of ‘76, a ghostly account of apparitions connected with the likes of George Washington and Benedict Arnold. He’ll be at the Main Library at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29. The program is free and open to the public.

For more information about library cards, services or programs, call 465-8292.

American Tall Tales will be shared with children at two locations of Catawba County Library System.

St. Stephens Branch will host a Tall Tales story time at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1. Maiden Branch will present a similar program at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17.

The special story times stem from a We the People Grant to enhance the children’s and young adult classics offered by the county library. Inspiration was drawn from one of the books, American tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne. The book is targeted for grades 4-6.

For the sixth year in a row, Catawba County Library System has enhanced its classic book titles for young people through the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “We the People” project, receiving copies each location: Main Library in Newton as well as Claremont, Conover, Maiden, Sherrills Ford, Southwest and St. Stephens branches. The collection includes a set of 19 classic titles for readers from ages 5-18.

Each year NEH identifies a theme important to the nation’s heritage and selects books that embody that theme. In addition to introducing young readers to good literature, the Bookshelf promotes understanding of abstract or general ideas through the power of particular stories.

Catawba County Library System, headquartered in Newton, circulates more than 247,000 items each year from a collection valued at more than $5.7 million.

Displays are scheduled to be rotated next month at Catawba County Library System. The displays are intended for information and education as well as entertainment.

Offerings will include:

Newton-It’s only rock & roll, banned books, Salute to author F. Scott Fitzgerald

            Genealogy-Depression glass

Claremont-Novels by North Carolina authors

Maiden-Shelby Brook’s cross stitch collection  

Sherrills Ford-Back to school books

Southwest-Family research

St. Stephens-Quilts and how-to-quilt books

The library system operates seven locations throughout the county and has more than 70,000 registered users.                              ¼/p>

Ten area residents recently completed an extended digital literacy course at Catawba County Library.

The course, led by librarian Lynne Bolick Reed, was conducted over 15 weeks and included an in-depth study of word processing, spreadsheets, internet searching and more. Each received a certificate for their accomplishment.

And some were inspired to further their education.

Mark Robbins of Hickory credits the course with inspiring him to enroll at Catawba Valley Community College this fall. “Lynne (Reed) told me I could sit in on the class and see if I liked it.”

He did. Robbins stayed to achieve his certificate and is now enrolled at CVCC in the electronics program.

Robbins, who had not taken a class in 10 years, said his experience at the county library has already made a big difference.

“The class is definitely going to help me. I know what the (CVCC) instructor is talking about,” he said.

Another digital literacy class begins Sept. 1 at the Main Library in Newton. Intermediate Introduction to Computers will be offered for adults who wish to strengthen their computing skills at their own pace. Classes will be scheduled for two hours each week until students complete the course in about 15 weeks.

Catawba County Library System will keep patrons engaged in various ways next month.

September marks the annual library card drive. Readers of all ages are encouraged to visit their local library and apply for a card which allows check-out of materials as well as on-line audio downloads and use of public access computers, among other services.

Librarian Kim Wetmore will be offering two genealogy workshops at Southwest Branch. There will be a how-to genealogy session for beginners at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20 and a discussion of federal census records the following Sunday, Sept. 27. Both are free and open to the public.

New moms are invited to a parenting meeting on Sept. 15. You & Me Baby is held at 10 a.m. that Wednesday at Newton. The session is sponsored by the library, Smart Start, Parenting Network and Parents as Teachers.

Patrons can find out how to use a Blackberry communications device during a free session at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22 at Main Library. The program is one of several free classes offered next month for adults who want to know more about computing.

Free GED classes continue on Thursday evenings at Southwest.  Students should register by calling 327-7000 ext. 4268.

Barnes & Noble Booksellers will conduct a benefit for the county library system from Sept. 12-18. Customers should pick up a voucher at the store so that a portion of their purchases will be contributed.

A complete roster of events follows.

COMING EVENTS

Please pre-register for computer classes.

Library will be closed on Sept. 7, Labor Day.

Main Library, 465-8664

• Story time 10 a.m. Thursdays. Police dog visit Sept. 3; Curious George Sept. 17
• Family story time 6:30 p.m. Mondays
• Friends of Library, 11 a.m. Sept. 14
• You & Me Baby, 10 a.m. Sept. 16
• Curious George visit, 4:30 p.m. Sept. 16
• Teen Game Night, 3:30 p.m. Sept. 18
• Teen Advisory Board, 2 p.m. Sept. 19
• Blackberry Class, 4:30 p.m. Sept. 22
• Leaf Prints for kids, 4:30 p.m. Sept. 22
• Local history documentaries, 6 p.m. Sept. 25

Claremont Branch, 459-9311

• Friends of the Library, 6 p.m. Sept. 29

Conover Branch, 466-5108

• Job Searching, 6 p.m. Sept. 21
• Story time, 10 a.m. Sept. 2 and 9

Maiden Branch, 428-2712

• Story time Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. toddlers, 10 a.m. preschool
• Intro to Word, 10 a.m. Sept. 11
• Tall Tales, 3:30 p.m. Sept. 17

St. Stephens Branch, 256-3030

• Toddler/preschool story time 10 a.m. Thursdays. Themes: nursery rhymes 3; library card 10; music 17; fall, 24.
• Kids’ book swap, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 8
• Computer Forum, 10 a.m. Oct. 2
• Caring for Aging Parents, 4 p.m. Sept. 14
• Beginning Internet, 6 p.m. Sept. 15
• Music Makers 10 a.m. & 4:30 p.m. Sept. 17
• Job Searching, 6 p.m. Sept. 22
• Hooks with Books, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 29

Sherrills Ford Branch, 478-2729

• Toddler/preschool stories Wednesdays, 10 a.m.
• Job Searching 10 a.m. Sept. 11
• Friends of the Library, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 15
• Music for kids, 10 a.m. Sept. 24

Southwest Branch, 294-2343

• Toddler/preschool stories, Wednesdays, 10 a.m.
• Free GED classes, 6-8 p.m. Thursdays
• Knitting Up Fiction “13^th Tale,” 6:30 p.m. Sept. 15
• Excel, 10 a.m. Sept. 18
• Beginning Genealogy, 3 p.m. Sept. 20
• Intro to Computers, 10 a.m. Sept. 25
• Using Federal Census Records, 3 p.m. Sept. 27

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If you’re in a book club, now may be the time of year to collect ideas for the next few months of reading. But with so many books and so little time, how can you pick titles that your group will appreciate?

Catawba County Library System can help. Trained staff can identify books that will appeal to your club, whether it’s for men, women, teens, seniors or a special interest group. It’s best to come prepared with a list of authors or books that your group has enjoyed in the past so you can easily find out if there are similar titles available.

Or, this may be the year your book club sets a goal to read about a particular subject, genre or perhaps delve into the award-winners. Again, your librarian can help you identify works that have won the National Book Award, Nobel, Pulitzer or Man Booker Prize, for example.

Regardless of your choices, borrowing books from the library can help your club members save a lot of cash. What’s more, notifying the library up front will help librarians be better able to have copies available when your group wants to read them. A request by one patron may trigger a need to purchase a book or to make other copies available, if that title is suitable for the library collection. In some cases, the library can obtain extra copies through the State Library’s Center for the Book.

Once you determine the books you wish to read, you may check the library website to see how many copies exist in the system. Simply log on to www.catawbacountync.gov/library and browse the collection. You may narrow your search by subject, author and so on.

Catawba County Library System will offer free classes in September for adults who wish to hone their computing skills.

Pre-registration is required for these free 90-minute sessions, which include:  

On-Line Job Searching-See how internet resources can help in your quest for employment. The class is scheduled at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 11 at Sherrills Ford; 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21 at Conover, and 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22 at St. Stephens.

Blackberry 101-Take this introduction to the basics of using Blackberry communications devices. Class held 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22 at Newton.

Beginning Internet-Find out how easy it is to navigate the World Wide Web. Class begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15 at St. Stephens.

Intro to Word-Get acquainted with this essential program to create, edit and store documents. Available at 9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 11 at Maiden.

Microsoft Excel- Learn this basic spreadsheet program to create interactive charts for bookkeeping and other purposes. Class starts at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 18 at Southwest.

Intro to Computers-Take the first steps toward computing with the Windows operating system. Offered 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 25, at Southwest.

In addition to the above 90-minute classes, an extended computer class will be offered on Tuesdays from 9-11 a.m. at Newton starting on Sept. 1. Intermediate Introduction to Computers will be offered for adults who wish to strengthen their computing skills at their own pace. Classes will be scheduled for two hours each week until students complete the course which should take about 15 weeks.

An orientation session is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25, in the Main Library auditorium for prospective students to ask questions and sign up.

Modules covered will cover such topics as word processing, spreadsheets, information searching and more. Students who complete the class will be eligible to take an assessment test to earn a certificate from Microsoft.

Lynne Bolick Reed, library services coordinator, will lead the sessions.

The class is a non-credit course. Requirements are agility with a computer mouse and familiarity with web site navigation. Students must commit to one 90-minute session weekly and have reading skills adequate to read a newspaper.

To register for any of the computer classes, call the Main library at 465-8665; Maiden, 428-2712, Conover, 466-5108; St. Stephens, 256-3030, Sherrills Ford, 478-2729 or Southwest, 294-2343. The Main Library is located at 115 West C Street in Newton. Catawba County Library System has 65 Internet work stations available to the public.

Making a career change?

Your library can help.

NC Live, a free service of Catawba County Library System, enables any library cardholder to browse the Career Library on the reference website to help you determine your strengths and talents and identify “cool jobs.” The website will show what  exams and licensures are needed, too.

NC Live’s Coin Career Community has a quick link to the NC Employment Security Commission’s Job Bank, to let you browse job options within the state.

The Learning Express Library link offers a host of practice tests and advice about taking SAT and GRE tests for college entrance as well as and exams for civil service, cosmetology, law enforcement, emergency services, nursing, plumbing, teaching and more. The on-line practice tests are free.

Reference USA lets you peruse business listings to research companies, health care providers and other organizations. The data base includes companies and agencies throughout the United States.

If you wish to further your education, the Coin Career center offers one-stop links to begin the process, from lists of majors available to application requirements and financial aid.

NC Live can be accessed from any computer at www.nclive.org  The website simplifies the search for materials by directing you immediately to reliable sources that may be hard to find or otherwise available to paid subscribers. Thanks to support by the N.C. General Assembly, NC Live’s many resources are available free to North Carolina residents and students. The required password is available from your library by calling 465-8663.