WCPL News

The Warren County Public Library will host popular local authors for the speaker series during February.  Authors Dawn Scruggs, Donna Wilkerson, Gary West, Robert Dickey and David Bell are featured.

Dawn and Donna will be discussing their novel The Deliberation.  Their book is about an “open and shut” case, but for one juror, the truth about the case is a shocking discovery.  This is their first book.  Dawn has served as a court reporter and Donna is a former trial attorney. They will speak at the Main Library on Thursday, February 2 at 6:00 p.m.

Gary wrote Eating Your Way Across Kentucky and Shopping Your Way Across Kentucky. He also wrote King Kelly Coleman the authorized biography of a Kentucky basketball legend.  His latest book is about another basketball legend, the Kentucky Colonels professional basketball team. He will speak at the Main Library on Thursday, February 9 at 6:00 p.m. 

On Thursday, February 16 at 6:00 p.m., David Bell will discuss his latest book Cemetery Girl.  David Bell is currently an Assistant Professor of English at Western Kentucky University. His previous novels are The Condemned and The Girl in the Woods.

Robert Dickey practiced law in Kentucky for 40 years.  He has written three nonfiction books all featuring Kentucky places and personalities. Dickey's latest book is Greyhound to Vegas: The Odyssey of Hilda Reynolds Krause. He will speak at the library on Tuesday, February 21 at 6:00 p.m.

All events are free and open to the public.  For more information, call 781-4882.

After the event presented by Mary Lucas at the library last fall, several community members had expressed an interest in creating an oral history of Pauline Tabor. This controversial individual touched many lives during her time in Bowling Green.  If anyone has a story, anecdote or other memorabilia  to share, the library will be doing one-on-one interviews February 14 and 28 from 4:00-8:00p.m. at the Bob Kirby Branch Library.

Please call 781-4882 (ext 215) or email marilynm@warrenpl.org to set up an appointment.

It’s time to land that job! Your Public Library Workforce Center can help. The Warren County Public Library has expanded its computer class workshop schedule. Workshops are now offered at three locations; the Main Library, the Bob Kirby branch, and the Smiths Grove branch. As part of the Public Library Workforce Center program, workshops include basic computer skills, online job hunting, setting up an email account, writing an effective resume, and filling out online job applications.

“The new centers will help Kentuckians who do not have access to computers and broadband service to use 21st century technology to access training, jobs and economic opportunities,” said Gov. Steve Beshear. “Our local public libraries have become an important community access point for people to search for jobs, write resumes and learn computer skills. These centers will provide a direct link to help for people in areas with high unemployment levels.”

The centers are made possible by a $1.3 million American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant provided through the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The project is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and administered by the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA).

Staff are on hand at all WCPL locations to assist patrons and provide training in a formal workshop setting to Warren County residents seeking employment opportunities. For more information or a schedule of workshops, call 270-781-4882. A schedule of workshops can also be downloaded here.

Delaire Rowe will exhibit her art in the Porter Café gallery at the Main Library. 

Delaire is the Executive Director of VSA Kentucky, The State Organization on Arts and Disability, a member of the international network of VSA , an affiliate of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.   Her artwork has been exhibited throughout the state, nationally and internationally for the past 30 years. 

Delaire earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Indiana University and a Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College, City University of New York.  She has worked as an Artist-in-Residence for the Kentucky Arts Council and taught art courses in the Department of Art at Western Kentucky University.

Tony Wycihowski will show his photography at the Bob Kirby Branch. “Views from Adventures” will be a collection of work that covers landscapes, abstracts, portrait, and still life. There will be a mix of new art for 2012 and some classics. This collection will also celebrate the winter seasons and south Kentucky landscapes.

Both exhibits open February 1 and run through February 28.  For more information about these exhibits or to exhibit your art at the library, please contact Jayne Pelaski at jaynep@warrenpl.org

Warren County Public Library is excited to announce that its eBook collection is now compatible with the world’s best-selling eBook reader, the Amazon® Kindle. Patrons can now download popular and classic eBooks to a Kindle device or any mobile device running the free Kindle app, such as iPhone®, iPad®, Android™, and more. To get started, visit warrenpl.lib.overdrive.com.

Warren County Public Library also offers eBooks and audiobooks for use on a PC or Mac computer and popular mobile devices such as a Smartphone, MP3 player, and eBook reader like the Barnes & Noble® Nook™ and Sony® Reader.

Kindle users can browse Warren County Public Library’s collection of best-selling and classic eBooks from a PC or Mac computer, check out titles using a library card, and select “Get for Kindle” to deliver eBooks to their Kindle device or any device running the free Kindle app. Users who enjoy eBooks on Kindle will benefit from Amazon’s Whispersync technology that synchronizes notes, highlights and last page read between their Kindle and free Kindle apps.

“We are pleased to offer this expansion of our eBook services to Kindle users,” says reference librarian Holly Hedden.  “Current Digital Catalog users love the service, and checking out eBooks and eAudiobooks from the library is a great value for our patrons. We add new digital titles every month.”

For more information, call 270-781-4882 or visit www.warrenpl.org.

Warren County Public Library has expanded its digital collection with the addition of Disney Digital Books at warrenpl.lib.overdrive.com. This new collection features nearly 700 Disney Online Books.

The Disney Online Books are browser based and can be enjoyed on a Windows or Mac computer. Titles offer interactive features to enhance the user experience such as a ‘magic pen’ that pronounces words with just one click, and the ability to look up word definitions. Users will recognize familiar Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Disney Princesses, Hannah Montana, and more.

Users can browse, check out, and enjoy titles on their computer. To check out Disney Digital Books, users need a valid library card, computer, and Internet connection.  At the end of the lending period, titles automatically expire and are returned to the collection.

Warren County Public Library partners with OverDrive, Inc., a global leader in digital media services, that offers the digital service.  E-books, audio e-books, and downloadable music titles for adults and children are also available to Warren County Public Library patrons.

“The public library already provides books, audiovisual materials, storytimes, and reading programs for children,” says reference librarian Holly Hedden.  “Disney Online Books are another way to encourage children to interact with books and develop basic literacy skills in a fun environment.”

The Warren County Public Library offers two Great Books discussion groups for adults at the Main Library at 1225 State Street.

The Great Books Foundation promotes reading, thinking, and the sharing of ideas for people of all ages. Since 1947, the Foundation has helped millions of people make the reading and discussion of literature a lifelong source of enjoyment, personal growth, and social engagement.

“We have a discussion leader for each group and everyone has a chance to express opinions of the month’s selection—there are no right or wrong answers and members are respectful of the opinions of others,” says Great Books Coordinator Marilyn Mattingly.  “We usually read short selections from the Great Books Foundation so each discussion is completed in an hour.”

The groups meet once a month: one at 6:00 on the 1st Tuesday of the Month, the other meets Thursday in the same week at 12:30.

“We also have a discussion group at the Bob Kirby Branch with a slightly different format. We read a full length book each month and the topics vary since we select titles based on the suggestions of the group,” says Mattingly. “We always welcome new people to the groups.”

The discussion group at the Kirby Branch meets on the 3^rd  Tuesday evening each month.

For more information, contact Marilyn Mattingly at marilynm@warrenpl.org or call 781-4882.

Three local artists are featured this month. Janet Armstrong at Main, Deborah Eaton at Kirby, with both exhibits beginning March 1, and Margaret Beverly at the new Smiths Grove Branch beginning March 17.

Janet Armstrong will exhibit her art in the Porter Café at the Main Library starting March 1.  Her show consists of large oil paintings of classic cars, old boats and animals.

Her interest in art began when she was a small girl and watched her grandfather draw pictures of horses. She studied art then worked for several years as a graphic artist designing and printing t-shirts.  She worked overseas in third world countries doing Christian Humanitarian work for 16 years.  She used her training teaching children’s art in Albania and Central America. After returning to the United States she participated in art classes and studied oil painting.

“I love painting with oils and seeing all the different ways a painting can develop,” says Armstrong. “It is a challenging medium and one in which I hope to grow in for years to come. Presently I have  works in various galleries in Kentucky and work on commission painting cars from photographs for classic car owners.”

Deborah Eaton will exhibit her photography at the Bob Kirby Branch starting March 1. From writing to painting to fine art photography, Deborah Eaton has a love for all things creative. Deborah worked at WKU for the Institute for Rural Health while pursuing her BA in Visual Studies. As part of her job at WKU, Deborah was required to take photographs of events. Once achieving her degree she took a position as a Graphic Artist for Fruit of the Loom working there until 2008. Now, she does freelance graphic design and is active with creative pursuits full-time.

“My inspiration comes from God’s beautiful handiwork evidenced in the natural world, in wildlife, and in the faces of the familiar and not so familiar people all around the world, says Eaton.  “The photographs in this exhibit were taken in beautiful, sunny Florida and around Lexington, Kentucky, at Keeneland Race Track and The Kentucky Horse Park."

To celebrate the grand opening of the Smiths Grove Branch, local artist Margaret Beverly will showcase her art at the new branch starting March 17.