It’s now easier to manage your holds on OverDrive/Libby.

Are you someone whose digital holds come in all at once and you can’t possibly read them all before they expire? It happens more often than you think – and up until now there wasn’t a way to manage your holds without losing your place in line and missing out on a great story. Now we have great news for you.

Through the years, OverDrive/Libby customers have asked for more flexibility in managing holds. OverDrive/Libby is introducing a new feature to help manage your digital items more efficiently. This new feature is called “Hold Redelivery” and it replaces auto-checkout.

What is Hold Redelivery?

Hold redelivery allows you to suspend a hold even after it’s made available to you, while maintaining your place on the wait list. By enabling you to pass books you don’t have time to read on to the next person in line, hold redelivery helps connect more readers to the right book, at the right time.

How does Hold Redelivery work?

If you use the Libby app, notifications will alert you when your holds become available. If you use OverDrive, there will be a new “Notifications” section on the OverDrive website.  After receiving notification that a hold is available, you can:

1. Borrow the title within 3 (three) days.
2. Suspend the hold by selecting “deliver later” and pass the book to the next person in line.  This will maintain your place on the wait list.  After the suspension period (set by you) ends, the hold will be redelivered to you when the next copy is available.
3. Cancel the hold.

If you take no action, your hold will automatically be suspended one time for 7 (seven) days. If no action is taken a second time, the hold will be cancelled automatically.

Remember: auto-checkout is no longer available, so you’ll need to go into your account to check out your materials (they will no longer automatically be checked out).

Watch this video to see how to adjust your holds.

What are some expected benefits of hold redelivery?

• You will be empowered to borrow books when you’re ready, not a week or more before you can start reading.
• Wait lists will move more efficiently as customers pass books they aren’t ready for to the next person in line.
• The next customer in line will be delighted when the customer ahead says, “not now.”

Read more FAQs about holds on Libby Help (for Libby) or on OverDrive Help (for the OverDrive website).

Suspending a Hold

Did you know you can suspend a hold at any time?  Suspending a hold lets you continue moving up on a title’s wait list without the title becoming available for you. If you reach #1 on the wait list, you’ll be in the first position to get the book once your suspended hold period ends.

For example, you might want to suspend a hold for a popular e-book if you're on a long wait list for it, but know you'll be unable to read it because you're in the middle of another title.

Use the steps below to suspend a hold.

OverDrive website

1.  In your library's digital collection, click or tap the books icon, then select Holds. You'll need to be signed into your library account to get to this page.
2. Select Suspend hold beneath the hold you’d like to suspend.

1. Choose the number of days you’d like to suspend your hold, then select Suspend.

4. Once you suspend a hold, you’ll see a “Suspended until” notification next to the hold.

5. You can change or remove your suspension by selecting Edit hold.

Libby app

1. Go to Shelf > Holds > Actions > Suspend All Holds.
2. Use the slider to choose how long you'd like to suspend your holds.
   
   Tip: When you drag the slider to the right edge, tap the underlined 180 days for more options.
3. Tap Update Holds.

To suspend a single hold:

1. Go to Shelf > Holds.
2. Tap Manage Hold, then Suspend Hold.
3. Use the slider to choose how long you'd like to suspend your hold.
   
   Tip: When you drag the slider to the right edge, tap the underlined 180 days for more options.
4. Tap Update Hold.

Looking for a romance novel with a bit of suspense? That’s easy. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library has books that fit the bill in our Library catalog. Type in "romantic suspense" as a search in the Library catalog and nearly 3,500 matches will appear!

Don’t be fooled by the occasional book cover with someone brandishing a handgun because you’re in the right place. These books are more than traditional romance novels with couples dealing with domestic hardships and bliss.   

Romantic suspense is fiction, defined by the Romance Writers of America, where “…suspense, mystery, or thriller elements constitute an integral part of the plot.” With a love stories as the basis, these novels may feature many additional themes. The most prolific authors in the genre include authors such as Heather Graham, Kat Martin, Nora Roberts and B.J. Daniels.

For all fans, the famous Harlequin brand of romance books steps into this genre too with its Harlequin Romantic Suspense series. The Library owns more than 100 titles from this brand, mostly e-books. Library customers can find titles available in multiple formats to enjoy, but e-books are most prominent.

Find a title to read from our list of New Romantic Suspense Fiction here.

If you're hungry for poetry, bring your appetite to Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's Main  Library for 12:15 at Main: Poetry Exploration on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. This meetup is the first in a series of monthly to bi-monthly meetings where poets of all levels can  create or recite poetry at lunchtime. Listening ears are welcome to participate as well.

 

The 12:15 at Main program will run until Main Library closes its doors for renovation in early 2021. Meetings, held the first and third Wednesday of each month, will vary in topics topics based on presenters. Attendees will also enjoy short video screenings and new discussion prompts.

The goal of the program is to build an anthology for continuing attendees so that they have a variety of personal work that spans different topics and styles. 12:15 at Main: Poetry Exploration is a program for everyone and there is no skill requirement.

Patrons who know little about poetry will have the opportunity to learn new styles and writing mechanisms along the way. To see the complete schedule of 12:15 at Main: Poetry Exploration, click here.

For more information about 12:15 at Main: Poetry Exploration, please contact  Rob Smith at [email protected].

Written by: Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Historian-in-Residence, Dr. Tom Hanchett.

For decades in Charlotte, Attorney J. Charles Jones was a buoyant, familiar community presence on the city’s mostly African American west side. History-seekers and city leaders often invited him to speak about his role in Charlotte’s 1960 sit-ins. He advocated enthusiastically for civic projects and strove to help neighbors join together for change. His cheery greeting, “Gracious good day!” was usually followed by reference to The Elders, the previous generations who had gotten us here and demanded that we keep moving forward. He wanted you to know the Civil Rights history that his generation had made — so that you would pick up the torch, in turn, and make history yourself.

Charles Jones’ role in the Civil Rights movement ran deeper and reached even further than his listeners often realized. Not only did he co-lead Charlotte’s successful 1960s sit-ins, the largest such action in the early days of that student movement, he went on to:

• Take part in the meetings in 1960s that created the nationally important Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee
• Do jail-time in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on SNCC’s behalf in 1961 – a “jail, no bail” protest that foreshadowed Rev. Martin Luther King’s later stay in the Birmingham jail.
• Join the 1961 Freedom Ride in Mississippi and again go to prison at the legendarily harsh Parchman Farm Penitentiary
• Take part in tumultuous SNCC campaigns for voting rights in McComb, Mississippi (1961) and Albany, Georgia (1961 – 62) – where he helped launch the SNCC Freedom Singers with Bernice Johnson Reagon and others.
• Initiate a high-profile 1966 march around Washington DC’s beltway that is credited with opening housing to all in the DC area.

In the late 1960s he returned to Charlotte, earned a law degree and began a career as Attorney J. Charles Jones, spending half a century representing mostly poor, mostly African American clients.

When Jones passed away at the end of 2019, the national media took notice. This essay pulls together those sources along with other essays and research materials that give a sense of his work and his personality. It starts with the funeral program distributed to mourners at the Chapel on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University on January 4, 2020. Then come links to obituaries and profiles in national and local news media. Finally, there are links to oral histories and photo collections in Charlotte and elsewhere. This list is by no means complete, but rather a starting point for those interested in Jones and his legacy.

Neil Genzlinger, “J. Charles Jones, Civil Rights Activist, Is Dead at 82,” New York Times, January 10, 2020.



Matt Schudel, “J. Charles Jones, Civil Rights Activist Who Led Protest Walk Around Beltway, Dies at 82,” Washington Post, January 18, 2020.

“Life Well-Lived: J. Charles Jones -- American Civil Rights Leader Dies at 82,” NBC Today Show, January 19, 2020.  

“Johnson C. Smith University Remembers J. Charles Jones,” Happenings page, JCSU website.  

“Interview with J. Charles Jones,” interviewer Kara Miles, June 16, 1993, Duke University Libraries. 

“Interview with J. Charles Jones,” interviewer Debbie Howard, May 18, 2005, Special Collections, J. Murrey Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte.

“Oral Histories with J. Charles Jones and Charles Sherrod,” June 23, 2005, Miami University of Ohio.  

Corey Inscoe, “Meet the Man Who Led Charlotte’s Lunch-Counter Sit-Ins and Went to Jail with Martin Luther King, Jr.,” Charlotte Observer, February 07, 2017.

David Aaron Moore, “Stumbling Across a Hero,” Charlotte Magazine, January 2, 2011. 

Frye Gaillard, “Days of Hope and Courage: Reunion Will Celebrate Local Civil Rights Sit-Ins,” Creative Loafing, January 29, 2003. 

A video interview with Jones about the Charlotte Sit-ins is part of the permanent exhibition Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers at Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte.

The Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library holds photographs and other materials related to Jones. This Facebook post from February 9, 2020, gives a glimpse.

--

The main photo on this blog is by Diedra Laird/The Charlotte Observer (2016).

The only thing that separates Southwest Middle School and Steele Creek Library is a narrow grass median. Though the two are near in proximity, they have never been relationally close. Inspired to change that dynamic and build a closer relationship with students at Southwest Middle, Steele Creek Librarian Sarah Story began attending open houses at Southwest Middle to make the Library more visible to students and parents. 

In August, Steele Creek and Outreach staff teamed up to attend three open houses at Southwest Middle where they were able to connect with students stopping by to pick up their schedules and meet their teachers.  

“This was a great way to increase Library visibility in the school community, advertise Teen programs and meet parents who we don’t often see during the school year,” Story said. 



In December 2019, another Librarian, Kara Hunter,joined Story on outreach visits to Southwest Middle’s sixth grade classes. 



“Kara and I visited almost every 6th grade class to show them online resources that they could use for upcoming research projects,” Story said. “In total, we visited 11 classes, 210 students and 13 teachers,” she added. 

Their visit resulted in students excitedly running up to Story when they noticed her in the Library just a few days later. They told her about the resources they remembered, how they used CultureGrams that day for a class assignment and introduced a new group of students to staff and what the Library has to offer. 

Story was also inspired to create positive change at Southwest Middle where she’d heard stories of vandalism, fights and noise occurring on campus. Story decided to create bi-weekly afterschool Teen programs where students could safely play board games, participate in cooking challenges, take Library tours, enjoy Lunch and Learn topics and more. Eventually, behavioral incidents at the school declined, prompting the school to get involved with the planning of afterschool programs. 

“We needed more involvement from the school, and I wanted it to be a positive relationship, not just passing on disciplinary requests,” Story said. “So, I started sending emails trying to get to know school staff and offering outreach ideas,” she added. 



Story believes anyone can be a hero and help teens through creative programming. She is especially grateful of the support from the Steele Creek staff and is excited about the positive progress they have made with Southwest Middle. 



 “Everyone has their own unique ways to Be A Hero (a Library culture principle) for these kids, whether it’s implementing new program ideas, helping them find a book or offering them a smile after a long day at school,” Story said. “Our relationship with Southwest Middle is still growing and evolving, requiring consistent and frequent communication with administration and teachers about ways we can support each other. It will probably always be a work in progress and creative and innovative approaches are the best way to move forward and continually improve.” 

Did you know that Charlotte Mecklenburg Library offers customers FREE access to lynda's expansive library of instructional videos?

Valued at more than $300 a year, this benefit is yours FREE just by logging in with your library card number or ONE Access account number and password.

Turn on. Log in. Get smart.

For 20 years, lynda.com has helped students, leaders, IT and design pros, project managers – anyone in any role – develop software, creative and business skills.

Become an expert in that thing you've always wanted to know more about by creating your own tutorial playlists or browsing lynda.com's "Learning Paths"—bundled tutorials designed to provide a crash course for a particular topic.

Lynda.com courses are taught by industry professionals with real-world experience and can be filtered by category, length, skill level and more to provide a personalized, reliable learning experience. Lynda.com also offers courses in five languages!

Learning on lynda.com can happen anywhere with apps for your computer, mobile device and TV, featuring enhanced navigation and faster streaming. And now that lynda.com is owned by LinkedIn, you can easily post the training you complete to your profile.

So, what's available with lynda.com?

More than 3,000 courses (and more than 130,000 videos) in popular fields like web design, web development, IT, education/instruction, media production and business. Most tutorials last several hours but are broken into multiple chapters.

• Photography: how to shoot photos that tell a story, choose the right gear, edit photos and more.
• Software: Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint; Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and more.
• Web design: Web graphics, Interactive Design, Prototyping and more.
• Social media and web publishing tools like Facebook, Twitter and Wordpress.
• Business and career skills: productivity, marketing, time management and more.
• Job Search Tools: Resume design, Searching for Positions, Working with Recruiters and more.

Course offerings on lynda.com are always being updated, so check back often for even more learning opportunities.

Don't know where to start?

Those who aren't sure what they need can browse curated playlists to get started in any subject. These playlists are like a mix tape—they're a great way to discover new topics you never knew you wanted to learn.

You can access lynda.com using your Charlotte Mecklenburg Library card or ONE Access account (CMS student or staff ID number). If you don't have a library card yet, you can apply below.

If you do have a library card, start using lynda.com today! Once you are logged in, the next step is to create a personalized account by entering a name and email address. This account can help manage your course history, playlists, bookmarks and Certificates of Completion.

What are you waiting for?

Take a closer look at lynda.com today and discover a new skill you'd like to learn—on your time!

Originally coined Black Music Month, the commemoration was conceived by black music moguls Kenny Gamble, Dyana Williams and Ed Wright in the 1970s and initiated by President Jimmy Carter on June 7, 1979. The holiday was later renamed African American Music Appreciation Month by President Barack Obama in 2009.  

This month, we celebrate African American musicians, their songs and their lasting cultural and historical impacts. Join the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room as we celebrate this month – our music archive is a treasure trove of music produced by notable African American artists from North Carolina. 

Music created by African Americans has played a significant role in the Long Civil Rights Movement, serving as the rallying cries of protests and the beat to which activists march. Songs used during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s were often pre-existing songs that were modified to reflect the aims of the movement, such as We Shall Overcome and This Little Light of Mine, but there were also many new songs written specifically as protest songs, such as You’d Better Leave Segregation Alone and Dog, Dog by James Bevel and Bernard Lafayette. Some of the most popular tunes were captured in Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through its Songs, compiled by Guy Carawan in 1990. In addition to providing the lyrics and sheet music for songs used in the Civil Rights Movement, Carawan provides historical context, including events in North Carolina and the city of Charlotte, and includes interviews from the movement’s participants detailing the significance of music to their activities. 

Charlotte has been home to notable rappers, jazz musicians and R&B artists. Some of these Charlotteans include Fantasia, Arsena Schroeder, DaBaby, Deniro Farrar, K-Ci & Jojo, Bettie Grind, Ruga, Anthony Hamilton, Elevator Jay, Lute, Harvey Cummings, Jason Jet, D’Yenna Dukes and Jodeci.  

The city has celebrated the month in several ways – the Harvey B. Gantt Center has held free events in honor of the month, and Charlotte radio station Power 98 FM has dedicated the month of June to honoring African American musicians. The #BeONE Music Experience was also created to observe African American Music Appreciation Month in the Charlotte, bringing together live music, comedians, food and black culture in several celebrations throughout the city during the month of June.  

The Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room’s music archive features a multitude of albums produced by black North Carolinian artists of all genres such as John Coltrane, the Badgett Sisters, Clyde McPhatter, the Jordan River Boys and many others. Also available are albums featuring various artists, such as Big Mamas: Independent Women’s Blues (Ida Cox, Billie Holiday, Martha Copeland) and A Cappella Gospel Singing (Georgia Peach, Dixie Hummingbirds, The Spirit of Memphis Quartet).  

Want to listen to hits by prominent black artists? Check out this compilation of playlists from Freegal: 

• African-American Music Month Playlist 

• Unbreakable: A Juneteenth Playlist 

• Queens of Soul Playlist 

• Jazz Classics Playlist 

• 90's Hip Hop Classics Playlist 

• StayWoke: The Conscious Hip-Hop Collection 

Images: 

Charlotte’s Southland Jubilee Singers, performing for WSOC Radio in the 1940s. Photo donated by Virginia E. Keogh to the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. 

A live performance in Charlotte’s Excelsior Club, broadcast on WGIV radio in the mid-1940s. Photo donated by Carolyn Wyche to the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. 

Charlotte soul artist Arsena Schroder. Photo by Kevin Currie. 

Yanceyville folk and gospel group, the Badgett Sisters. Photo by Roger Manley. Albums available for listening in the music archive of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. 

The album cover of Rhythm and Soul by Durham R&B, soul, and rock artist Clyde McPhatter. Available for listening in the music archive of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. 

The album cover of Black Pearls by Hamlet jazz musician John Coltrane. Available for listening in the music archive of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. 

Welcome to Week 3 of Summer Break! Did you know that people of all ages can participate in Summer Break program? We hope that all the members of your family are having a great time participating and logging reading time and activities. Summer Break 2019 will run from June 1, 2019 until August 10, 2019. If you have any questions about Summer Break, check out how the program works and sign up here.

Digital Branch

Summer is a great time to enjoy the outdoors, but if you are ready to beat the heat, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library has you covered. Stay in the cool air conditioning and access our digital branch any time! Available 24/7 here, the Digital Branch has a variety of offerings for all ages. Find fabulous reads, literacy extension activities, and Active Reading tips on the Storytime Train. Tune in and try out one of our podcasts. Get to know our users by viewing videos in “Telling Our Story,” or watch the dialogue develop around local hot topics in Community Conversations.The Digital Branch has something for everyone to enjoy, no matter the time or location!

ImagiCON 2019

Summer is a great time for kids to explore their creativity! Pencil in Saturday, July 20, as a date for people ages 0-18 and their families to do just that at our 4^th annual ImagiCON. Visit ImaginOn: The Joe and Joan Martin Center for a fun day exploring comic books, graphic novels, cosplay, gaming, and more. Meet artists, gaming technology leaders, and attend panels between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Find out more at ImaginOn’s website here.

Celebrate Library Week at Carowinds!

In addition to offering free Carowinds tickets to eligible Summer Break participants, Carowinds also offers Library customers the opportunity to purchase discounted tickets and use them during Carowinds Library Week. This year Carowinds Library Week runs July 22-28. Purchase discounted tickets to be used during Library Week and help us celebrate Summer Break at Carowinds!

Click here to access the portal

User name: CM

Password: LIBRARY 

These are case sensitive.

Additional discounts may also be available through this portal throughout the summer.

Check Out Exciting Upcoming Programs! 

If you are looking for even more to do, all our branches have great programs throughout the summer. Did you know that attending a library event can count as a learning activity? Our libraries are hosting some wonderful programs this summer. Visit our online calendar to see a complete listing and register.

Remember: all libraries will be closed for July 4.

Comments? Questions?

Are you having problems with the Summer Break website or your account? Do you have questions about the program? Feel free to stop by your local library for assistance, give us a call at 704-416-0101 or email us at [email protected].