Did you know? Of the top 100 grossing films of 2018, women represented only:

• 4% of directors
• 15% of writers
• 3% of cinematographers
• 18% of producers
• 18% of executive producers
• 14% of editors

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library recently formed a partnership with Girls Rock Charlotte (GRC), a non-profit organization that has been working to change the statistics of women's roles in film. GRC’s mission is to amplify the confidence of girls and gender diverse youth through the power of music and film. Last year was their first summer to host a film camp, giving youth ages 11-18 the opportunity to learn a new career and become the voice of the next generation in filmmaking. This year, the camp was hosted by Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

The partnership began at Independence Regional Library branch with a series of Screen Writing 101 workshops.  The scripts for the films were chosen by camp leadership such as GRC Executive Director, Kelly Finley,  and a Women’s and Gender Studies professor at UNCC. Finley met with Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's Chief Innovation Officer, Seth Ervin, to discuss the camps innovative approach to creating job opportunities for young people and making a positive change in the film industry. Ervin has also brought other film making opportunities to the library for teens and adults, including a partnership with the Unconventional Film School.

Finley’s vision for the camp is to create a curriculum that can be shared to other Girls Rock organizations across the country. Finley said about the library partnership, “It was inspiring to see our young filmmakers not only discover the art and skills of filmmaking but also to discover how the library has the resources and staff to help them pursue their projects and aspirations."

During the week of July 28 – August 3, girls and female filmmaker volunteers gathered in meeting spaces at Main Library and ImaginOn to learn the roles of director, camera, editor, art director, lighting, sound and more. Staffing the camp with all women filmmakers was especially difficult. Jolly Dale, a producer for "The Walking Dead" and the GRC Film Camp Director said, “Finding female film professionals is difficult in general because there just aren’t that many of them. Finding female film professionals to also give up their time and employment for a day or more to volunteer with GRC Film Camp is even more challenging - because those few are in high demand in the industry. With Film Camp, we’re trying to grow the percentage of women working in media, and in the process, effect change in how women and women’s issues are represented on screen.”

In addition to the filmmakers who helped lead the camp, campers had the opportunity during lunch each day to meet local women in media such as news anchors Michelle Boudin, Ruby Durhan and Lisha Scott from WCBC, and Christine Moore, a director who has worked on projects such as The Wire, CSI, and Treme.

In just the span of one short week, thirty-two campers filmed, edited and premiered four three-minute short films. The screening took place at Spirit Square just six short days after the camp began. To learn more about Girls Rock Charlotte, please visit their website, or to learn more about filmmaking programs happening at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, please visit our online calendar. Below are the completed films:

 

Ria

"RIA" was written by Alice Loder, who attended the library Screen Writing 101 Workshop at the library last May. A sophisticated script about a young woman who has chosen to go “off the grid” by getting rid of all her worldly possessions. This script utilized spaces through out Main Library, including The Mecklenburg Room inside the Carolina Room.

Shush

Written by Jillian Ruvalcaba, "Shush," was filmed entirely in The Loft at ImaginOn. The script highlighted themes of bullying and being open to new people. 

The Burning Haunt

"The Burning Haunt," written by Holly Walker, was the most difficult film to shoot in terms of location as it utilized locations at Main Library, The Loft and the Children’s Theater in ImaginOn. The main character in this script encounters a ghost who died in a fire after being locked in a bathroom at school.



The Perfect Girl

The final film titled "The Perfect Girl," written by Jada Bennett, was filmed entirely at Main Library. This crew was made up entirely of campers who attended last year’s film camp. The campers on this crew all aspire to attend film school and have a career in film. The script is about a young girl who struggles with body dysmorphia.  

Resources:

https://womenandhollywood.com/

https://www.girlsrockclt.org/

https://vimeo.com/channels/1291690

This blog was written by Lonna Vines. Vines is a Children’s Librarian at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and a member of leadership for Girls Rock Charlotte. She performed as the Assistant Camp Director, Cast Coordinator and Library Liason during the week of camp. 

Welcome (back) to North County Regional Library!

We missed you, too!

North County Regional Library will re-open on Monday, October 7, 2019 at 9 a.m.

The branch, which was closed in July 2018 for renovations, is an essential connector in the community. The Library will offer services, programs, Wi-Fi and computer use, along with a wide selection of books and audio visual materials including DVDs, CDs and audiobooks. Thank you for your patience during our renovation.

What's new at North County Regional Library? 

North County Regional Library (located at 16550 Holly Crest Lane, Huntersville, 28078) increased by 1,860 square feet to nearly 24,860 square feet and now includes redesigned spaces for children and teens, including a new Teen Loft, a makerspace room, an expanded community room, individual and group study rooms and collaborative spaces, a vending café, and a patio and terrace. Features include free Wi-Fi, audio-visual capabilities and a public computer lab. A new exterior book/materials drop is part of the new traffic flow in the parking lot. The North County Regional Library is also updated with an efficient checkout system using radio frequency identification (RFID) and an automated materials handling (AMH) unit.

We also welcome a new branch leader for North County Regional Library – Amanda Corbett. She is excited to meet all of you and welcome you (back) to our beautiful new facility.

Library Hours

Starting October 7, North County Regional Library will resume normal operating hours. The Library will be open Mondays through Thursdays 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; and Sundays 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Hours may vary in summer. 

Library Holds and Pick-ups

As of October 7, North County Regional will once again receive and distribute reserved items. When you’re in Bibliocommons reserving an item, you can choose a location from the drop-down list. Note: North County Regional will not be added back in until October 7, so if you try to add this location before that date, the location will not appear. 

Returning books and materials to North County book/materials-drop

One of North County Regional's newest features is an exterior drive-through book/materials drop with a new traffic flow in the parking lot to accommodate this improvement. (Book/materials drop open October 7.) Please watch for and follow the directional signs.

There were also major upgrades to the HVAC system to ensure efficient operations and user comfort. Public funding for the North County Regional project was approved in 2014 by Mecklenburg County and cost approximately $6.78 million. The project was managed by Mecklenburg County’s Asset and Facility Management Team, the architect was McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture and Optima Engineering, and the builder/contractor was Encompass Building Group. The North County Regional renovation is the second of several projects for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system; Morrison Regional Library was renovated and re-opened in 2017, and South County Regional Library is scheduled to close later this year for renovations.

When’s the celebration?

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library will host a Fall Fest and Grand Re-Opening at North County Regional Library with a ribbon cutting ceremony and lots of activities inside and outside the branch on Saturday, October 26, 2019, beginning at 10 a.m.

Click here for details!  

See you at North County Regional soon!

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library has been involved with the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative since its beginning in the summer of 2018. The Library’s Innovation department set out to see if a public library could leverage its staff, resources, and digital presence to make a difference in the local news ecosystem.  It turns out that yes, it can.

The Charlotte Journalism Collaborative (CJC) is made up of several key journalistic partners and institutions including: The Charlotte Observer, La Noticia, Queen City Metro, Qnotes, WCNC, WFAE, The Knight School of Communication at Queens University, Free Press, and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. This CJC is committed to delivering ‘solutions journalism’ to the local community around the affordable housing issues within our county. 

Solutions journalism is a discipline in journalism that seeks to cover a more comprehensive view of reality, not just covering the problems in the community, but taking it a step forward to showcase the solution, implementation, results and gained insights as communities rally to solve key issues in the community.  The data around this practice is impressive as seen in the reporting from the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin– readers of solutions journalism pieces usually find the quality of the article to be better, show greater engagement and increase interest in the topic, as well as boosting their positivity. It should also be noted that the CJC is an official part of the Solutions Journalism Network whose mission “is to spread the practice of solutions journalism and rebalance the news so that every day people are exposed to stories that help them understand problems and challenges and show potential ways to respond.”

So what have we been working on? Through the Digital Branch platform, the Library is hosting the Collaborative’s website at www.charlottejournalism.org. There you will find a showcase of solutions journalism pieces around affordable housing, highlighting the solutions our community is working on to remedy this systemic problem. More stories will be posted and be sure to follow the library’s social media for more updates.

The CJC is also planning to host a community conversation about affordable housing on October 13, 2019 at ImaginOn: The Joe and Joan Martin Center to highlight local people who are making a difference in the affordable housing conversation, along with groundbreaking solutions.  If you know someone who is making a difference in this area, please consider nominating them as an Affordable Housing Hero during the month of September.  Nominated members of the community will be recognized and celebrated at the October 13 event.

i Prepárate para la Feria del Libro!

As part of its celebration of “El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros (Children’s Day/Book Day)," Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, in conjunction with the Artist Studio Project present the 2nd Annual "Cervantino Bilingual Book Fair" on Saturday, April 20, 2019. As part of the Artist Studio Project's Annual El Quixote Festival, the Library invites authors of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, satire and anthology (Spanish, English – bilingual) to read, promote, sell and sign their books at the Book Fair.

The purpose of the "Cervantino Bilingual Book Fair" is to provide authors an outlet to build a fan base, create social networks and establish contacts with other authors. The event is free, but participants who wish to exhibit, sell or share their work must register here by March 1, 2019. For more information about this program, visit iamquixote.com. 

“We're excited to bring our Cervantino Bilingual Book Fair to the Queen City,” says Rafael A. Osuba, artistic director of the Artist Studio Project. “We can't think of a better partner than Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, as this is exactly what libraries should be doing: opening and creating opportunities for members of the community while providing access to community resources. Our goal and hope is to bring the community together by a shared passion for books, storytelling and reading as we work together to make North Carolina a great place to live.”

“El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros (Children’s Day/Book Day)", also known as Día, emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds with events at select Library locations and community agencies throughout April.

The Library has promoted Día since 1998, and the celebration has experienced great growth and expansion throughout the years. What began as a storytelling celebration has now evolved into an impactful community cultural celebration.

For more information about the Día program from Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, visit here. 

It’s finally here, the holiday we’ve been waiting for all year: Soup-er Bowl Sunday!

Patriots and Rams aside, this soupy celebration is the real party during the cold, wintry months.

A great soup recipe makes the most out of basic ingredients like beans, lentils and fresh or frozen vegetables. Throw in a few spices in your pantry, and you have a wallet-friendly main dish that’s healthier than the ones from the can. Keep reading for creative recipes to ‘bowl’ you over! 

"Souper” selections

• A Southerner will tell you “Pot Likker Soup” isn't a misspelling but a delicious ham and greens soup. Try this recipe and more favorites in Nancie McDermott’s Southern Soups & Stews. 
• Chili just tastes better when it’s cooked in a cast iron pot. Try the recipe from The Best of Lodge cookbook by the makers of the beloved cast iron cookware. 
• Use your high-speed blender for more than just smoothies with soup recipes from Vanessa Simkins’ Power Blender Revolution. 
• The Hungarian “Night Owl” Soup featured in An Exaltation of Soups is great for hangovers (we hear) or any other ailments!
• Soup swaps are the new cookie swap!  Kathy Gunst’s Soup Swap is full of recipes like Sopa de Lima and Chorizo and Clam Stew to exchange with your neighbors and friends. 
• Keep with your new year’s resolutions by incorporating recipes from the American Heart Association’s Healthy Slow Cooker Cookbook or EatingWell Soups. 
• Try the coconut pumpkin curry soup from the latest issue of Rachel Ray Every Day. Read this and all your favorite magazines for free with your Library card on RBDigital!
• Mystery lovers, stir up trouble with Connie Archer’s cozy mysteries A Broth of Betrayal, A Clue In The Stew and Ladle To The Grave.

A ladle full of learning

There’s more to a good soup recipe than dumping ingredients in a pot and hoping for the best. Improve your cooking skills with these resources: 

• Get a free private chef lesson with step-by-step cooking instructions on Films on Demand.
• Through Universal Class, learn to make gazpacho in Spanish Cooking 101 or hearty Italian one-pot soup meals in Italian Cooking 101—all free with your Library card!

For younger readers

• Follow along with the video of the children’s classic Stone Soup in American Sign Language. If you want to learn more about signing, take our free sign language class at the Matthews Library, beginning Feb. 6, 2019. 
• Rescue Max the Duck in the children’s favorite Duck Soup. Adults can check out the Marx Brothers’ classic DVD, as well.
• Teach the entire family new languages with a bilingual picture book like Dādī Mām̐ Kā Śanivāra Kā Sūpa or La Soupe Du Samedi De Grand-mére, Hindi and French versions of Grandma’s Saturday Soup.   
• Our children’s librarians put together this list of their favorite books about soup. 
• Homeschool families can attend the rally at ImaginOn: The Joe and Joan Martin Center on March 6, 2019.  Listen to the classic Stone Soup and explore STEAM activities. 

Whether you’re making a touchdown-worthy steaming bowl of soup or reading the classic Stone Soup with your children, happy Soup-er Bowl Sunday from your friends at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library!

P.S. Remember to stay tuned for Community Read in March and check your local library calendars for events in your neighborhood. 

There’s bound to be a great pleasure in playing catch-up with the recommended “best books” of the previous year. That’s even more true when a handful of those books are mysteries. The trade magazine, Library Journal,  recently named its 2018 favorites in the December issue, and we’ve compiled three of our favorites here. Happy reading!

Big City Private Investigator:  Broken Places introduces Cass Raines, an African-American Chicago police officer turned private detective. She launches an investigation into the death of a local priest, who served as her surrogate father, when she finds him dead in his church next to the body of a young gang member. Earlier, the priest had asked Raines to investigate vandalism at his church. Now, she suspects the worse. What follows is a lively, realistic story with a relentless detective following the trail wherever it takes her. This book is written by Tracy P. Clark, and the next book in the series is scheduled for a May 2019 release.

Amateur Sleuth in Early Twentieth Century: A Death of No Importance features maid Jane Prescott intruding into the murder investigation of a high-society playboy. Set in 1910 Manhattan, Prescott joins the Benchley family to work as its new maid. The playboy, Norrie Newsome, is dating the family’s youngest daughter, Charlotte. That is, before Prescott finds him dead in the family’s library. The crime is big news for the New York City press. With the murder at a Christmas Eve ball, and multiple murder suspects revealed, the crime offers the opportunity for a long series of news stories. However, Prescott tries to solve the case before her employer continues to sink amid the scandal and gets help from one resourceful reporter. This is the first adult fiction novel by Mariah Fredericks, who had previously written young adult novels. The next book in the series is scheduled for an April 2019 release.

Depression-Era Mystery: Death of a Rainmaker takes place in Vermillion, Okla., during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, when much of the Plains suffered from an extreme, prolonged dry spell. No rain has fallen in Jackson County for 240 days. Though, luck may come with a stranger visiting town with the promise to make the skies rain…for a price. His attempts are fruitless, of course, and after a tremendous dust storm, the man is found in dead in an alley. The town’s sheriff, Temple Jennings, investigates with his deputy and they arrest a suspect who winds up with an unusual champion for his innocence -- Jennings' wife, Etha. This book is written by Laurie Loewenstein, who’s writing the novel's sequel set four months later with a new murder occurring days after a train wreck in the Oklahoma town.   

You’ll have to wait until 2020 for this sequel, though.

There once was a time when online dating was considered taboo and carried a stigma (it was only something  socially-awkward people might do). The good news is times have changed and options are available. According to a recent Eharmony.com article “10 Online Dating Statistics You Should Know,” 40 percent of Americans use online dating. Online dating can be convenient, budget-friendly and done in the convenience of your pajamas at home while watching Hoopla. Here are some resources to help you get started or simply be entertained.

Movies

One of the first movies about online dating is the classic You’ve Got Mail starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, available on DVD at the Library. The Sleepless in Seattle couple is back again in this frenemies-turn-lovers comedy. Other online dating movies available on DVD include A Case of You , Book Club , This Means War , Midnight Sun , Goodbye to All of That and Catfish. If you can’t find your DVD player, try Hoopla where you can stream movies like Two Night Stand  and Wrong Swipe.

If you are more in the mood for a page turner, check out these titles that feature online dating in the backdrop. My Favorite Half-night Stand by Christina Lauren, Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins, Love Rules by Joanna Coles, and The Devil You Know by Mary Monroe - all available in print. You can download Not Your Mother’s Rules by Ellen Fein, which is an updated version of the best seller The Rules by the same author that includes a section on online dating.

Before you decide to swipe right, there are plenty of how-to guides available on maneuvering the streets of online dating. Find out how to write a profile, stay safe and get the truth about the experience from many resources found in this Bibliocommons list here.  Good luck and happy dating!

Dear Library cardholders, customers and supporters,

Please be advised that due to a major computer system upgrade, a system-wide service interruption will occur on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 25 and 26, 2019.

Due to this upgrade, unfortunately all online and some money-related services will be affected. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by this interruption - it is unavoidable in this type of major system upgrade. Systems are expected to return online Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019.

During this time, all items and holds will be placed on a ‘holiday’ calendar, which means no items will be due nor will expire during this time. All affected dates will be extended to Feb. 28, 2019.

Services that will be offline or unavailable:

• Most online resources will not be able to authenticate users because of the connection to our system. This includes e-books, audiobooks, journals, magazines, streaming music and videos. Affected vendors include, but are not limited to: CultureGrams, Freegal Music, Lynda.com, RBDigital, OverDrive, NCKids, NCLive, Mango Languages. (Only hoopla will be unaffected during this time.)
  
  • Note: Items or holds downloaded through one of these systems on or before Sunday, Feb. 24, will not be affected. However, online access to materials will not be available during this time.
• Bibliocommons will have limited functionality only for item search (https://cmlibrary.bibliocommons.com)
• Mobile app
• Online/self-checkout
• Online and in-person fees and fine payment
• Interlibrary loans
• Laptop checkout kiosks (at Morrison Regional and West Boulevard locations)
• Card lookup
• Book club kit system
• TeleCirc

Services unaffected:

• hoopla
• Computer use in Library locations
• Wi-Fi
• Materials checked out by circulation staff
• Payments for book sale items and room reserve

Also, as of Feb. 25, 2019, the classic catalog option will no longer be available (hip.cmlibrary.org). After that date, you should use the Bibliocommons link for account information.

Again, thank you for your patience during this system upgrade as we return to providing high-quality services to you. We expect all processes to return online on Feb. 27, 2019.

Community Read 2019 is bigger, bolder and better than ever before. There's a lot to discuss, a lot of partners and so many ways for readers of all ages to participate. Read on for answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about our community's biggest book club.

Main Community Read website

What is Community Read?

Each year, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library hosts a community-wide book club known as Community Read. This year's Community Read program will take place throughout March 2019.  

The Library chooses a main title, and companion titles with related themes for younger readers. Everyone in the community is invited to participate in Community Read by reading the books, talking about them, attending library programs, engaging with the Library on social media and celebrating a love of reading together.

This year’s goal is to engage 10% of our community – 100,000 people – with Community Read in some way, through the Library and with partner organizations.

Why is Community Read important? What is new this year?

This year’s main Community Read title is The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. This award-winning, New York Times best-selling novel deals with sometimes controversial issues that are important nationally and locally in our own community. Community Read will launch conversations in Library and partner locations that we hope will help us understand different perspectives, help our community heal in many ways, launch ongoing relationships, and ultimately help to build a stronger community.

This year’s Community Read is presented by the Library in collaboration with more than 30 community partners, including Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Community Building Initiative, and many more. A complete list can be found here.

What are this year’s titles?

• For adults and teens: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 
• For middle grades:  Wishtree by Katherine Applegate 
• For young children:  Love by Matt de la Peña 

How are the titles selected?

The Library conducted a staff survey in January 2018 to gather a list of potential Community Read signature titles. These suggestions were reviewed by the Community Read team and five titles were selected to be presented to the community through a public survey, conducted in February 2018.

Once the signature title was selected, Library staff identified companion titles appropriate for younger participants.

Where can I get a copy?

All three titles are available at Library branches in print and digital formats, and we’ve expanded our digital license to permit simultaneous downloads of audiobooks and ebooks during the month of March.

Additionally, generous investments from presenting sponsor Bank of America and from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation and Foundation For The Carolinas have allowed us to purchase more than 2,000 copies of the book for distribution at Library and partner locations while supplies last. 

Who is involved?

We all are! Everyone in the community is – or can be – part of Community Read 2019.

An inter-departmental team of Library staff have met for over a year to plan the scope and details of this event.

More than 30 community organizations have joined as partners, and they will expand our reach to their networks, distribute materials and books, and offer programs and book discussions at Library and partner locations.

Community partners include: Carolina Youth Coalition • Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations • Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department • Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools • Community Building Initiative • Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Inc. • Central Piedmont Community College • Fort Mill School District • Girl Talk Foundation • Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture • International House • James B. Duke Memorial Library at Johnson C. Smith University • Levine Museum of the New South • Mayor’s Mentoring Alliance • Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office-Library Services • ourBRIDGE • Pass the Peace Feasts • PBS Charlotte • The Possibility Project-Charlotte • Stan Greenspon Center for Peace and Social Justice • Swanky Pen • Teen Health Connection • Time Out Youth • Trinity Episcopal School • Union County Public Schools • UNC Charlotte Department of Theatre • WBAV-FM • YMCA of Greater Charlotte

How can I participate?

We encourage you to read one or more of the Community Read books. We also invite everyone in the community to participate in at least one program or discussion – current listings of Library-led and partner-led programs for all ages are linked to the main webpage. Additional ideas for participation are detailed in this blog post: http://bit.ly/2Si2nSO  

How can I get family and friends involved?

Community Read is for everyone. While The Hate U Give is intended for teens and adults, companion titles Love and Wishtree are suitable for younger readers, and we hope families will read them together and participate in programs designed for children. Please spread the word about Community Read to family and friends and invite them to participate.

Will the authors visit?

Yes!

Angie Thomas will speak at CPCC’s Halton Theatre on March 19. Tickets and information are here. To join the waiting list call the CPCC Box Office at 704-330-6534. If tickets become available we will notify people on this list via email.

Matt de la Pena will speak at ImaginOn on March 28. Ticket information will be on the Community Read website as it is available.

Who is funding Community Read?

There is an annual allocation for Community Read in the Library’s programming budget. Additionally, Bank of America has made a financial investment as this year’s presenting sponsor, and the program has received additional support from Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation and Foundation For The Carolinas.

How can I get my book club involved?

Yes! The Library has sets of The Hate U Give available for loan to book clubs and other groups. These kits include 10 copies of the book as well as discussion guides and other resources. Learn more here.

Once your group or book club has read the book, please tell us about it! Complete this form so we can include your group in our overall count of Community Read participants.

How can my organization get involved?

Organizations can get involved by participating in a library program, taking the pledge and recording their program information on our website at Community Read Partners