WCC Library Blog

Every September, Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated across the nation. At the WCC Library, we celebrate the month with an exhibit celebrating the people and nations that make up this group.  Check out a biography on a Hispanic figure or country or a children’s book that is part English and part Spanish.  For more information on Hispanic Heritage and some interesting Hispanic personalities, visit the Library of Congress Hispanic Heritage website.

Each September also promises the beginning of many things: school, sports and fall.  Since many of the sports seasons start in the fall, the WCC Library is celebrating them on this month’s book exhibit in the newspaper area of the library.  From basketball to football to baseball, including all sports in between, you can find fictional stories as well as true stories on the exhibit. 

For more information on sports, you can visit a number of sports websites such as NBA.com (National Basketball Association), NCAA.com (National Collegiate Athletic Association) and NFL.com (National Football League).

This month both of the WCC library exhibit areas will celebrate North Carolina and all that our state offers. 

The bulletin board area showcases North Carolina history and some of the symbols of the state.  Books on exhibit and ready for you to check out  include North Carolina history from Mayberry to the Outer Banks and many points in between.  To learn more about the Old North State’s  vivid past visit the newly updated North Carolina Encyclopedia.

In the newspaper exhibit area, we are showcasing books on vacationing in North Carolina.  From the mountains to the piedmont to the coast, North Carolina provides so many interesting places to visit.  For more information about vacationing in North Carolina visit the official travel and tourism website of North Carolina, VisitNC.

The WCC Library features two book exhibits for July 2010.  The main exhibit area’s books focus on American History, particularly the founders of the American Revolution and, eventually, the United States.  For more information about American History and some great photographs and audio presentations about various periods and people in U.S. history, visit the American Memory site at the Library of Congress.

Books in the WCC Library newspaper exhibit area for July highlight Beach Reads, since July is a month when many people go to the beach and may need something new and exciting to read.  We have a variety of books from Nicholas Sparks novels to some great Young Adult fiction.  If you’re looking for a beach to visit, North Carolina has plenty of sand to lure you.  We’ll help you find a book to take with you; these websites will help you decide on a destination:

- The Outer Banks

- The Cape Fear Coast

- The Crystal Coast

- The Brunswick Islands

The WCC Library book exhibit for June anticipates the Dog Days of Summer.    This saying comes to us from astronomy and a star named Sirius (which means Dog Star).  The Dog Days start in early July and usually end in early September.  For more information about Dog Days visit this website from Cornell University.

Naturally our Dog Days of Summer exhibit highlights books about dogs: from children’s books, to books about special dogs, to books regarding care of your dog. To learn more information about dog breeds, or how to deal with your dog, visit the dog guide and the dog breed selector from the Animal Planet website.

The second WCC Library book exhibit for May 2010 commemorates Memorial Day.  Observed on various dates in the Spring at the local and state level since the 1860s in the United States, Decoration Day was originally a day devoted to placing flowers on graves of soldiers who died in the American Civil War.  Declared a national holiday in 1971, and by then expanded to honor the dead in all American wars, Memorial Day has traditionally been celebrated on May 30th, but recently it has been designated to occur on the last Monday of the month of May.  To find out more information about Memorial Day, visit the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.  This website gives you the history of Memorial Day and other pertinent information.

The first WCC Library book exhibit for May 2010 celebrates Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, with its theme of “Leadership to Meet the Challenge of a Changing World.”  Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month was first observed in May of 1990 when George H.W. Bush officially declared Asian-Pacific Heritage Week to be expanded to a month-long celebration.  To find out more about the Asian-Pacific cultures and their heritage, visit the Library of Congress’s Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month website, as well as Duke University’s Asian Pacific Studies Institute, providing links to both the Insitute’s library resources and the North Carolina Japan Center.

This month’s library exhibits highlight two important celebrations during April.

Every April National Poetry Month focuses on poetry and its place in American culture.  Poets.org from the Academy of American Poets offers many opportunities to help celebrate this month.  On April 29^th you can observe Poem in Your Pocket Day.  Also, you can sign up to receive a Poem-A-Day each day of the month that will be sent directly to your e-mail inbox.

National Library Week is commemorated from April 11th-17th, but at the WCC Library we will be celebrating all month long.  National Library Week is an annual recognition of the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians.  In addition to festivities for the week, the American Library Association has also set aside some of the days to celebrate other areas of librarianship.  Tuesday April 13^th commemorates National Library Workers Day.  Wednesday April 14^th will celebrate the first annual National Bookmobile Day.  Also, on that Wednesday, ALA will announce the “Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2009” on the Office for Intellectual Freedom’s website.  Finally on Thursday, April 15th, join with YALSA for Support Teen Literature day by reading a book that won an ALA award for 2010 or your favorite young adult book.