Charlotte Mecklenburg Library celebrated Community Read the entire month of March 2019 with the hopes of bringing the community together to discuss the issues that are important to Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Close to 200 programs and events were scheduled by Library and community partner locations covering many topics including wellness, culture and education, activism, and the arts. The entire community was all in from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to the Levine Museum of the New South and many more. 

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg community welcomed Community Read with great enthusiasm and support. We were pleased by the candor and passion people brought to the discussions and programs. There were diverse perspectives and the Library is hopeful that with this year’s Community Read, Charlotte-Mecklenburg is on the right track to becoming a stronger community. Together.

Open Books. Open Minds.

Community Read brought all races and ages together to initiate dialogues and affect change in the racial, generational and gender divide that exists in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community. During the monthly Lunch and Munch book club at Independence Regional Library, readers of all ages reached a better mutual understanding while bridging the racial and generation gap toward a more peaceful and just world.

Tackling the big issues.

Much of the dialogue during Community Read programs centered around the heavily-weighted issues in Charlotte-Mecklenburg such as police involvement and racism. The Library offered programs in collaboration with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. One program focused on “How to Talk About Race,” where attendees gained a deeper understanding of moderating conversations about race.

Another program at the Levine Museum of the New South offered a powerful and moving experience where participants toured the K(NO)W Justice K(NO)W Peace exhibit and held a discussion. The program is a community-created exhibit about police-involved shootings throughout the nation and in Charlotte, and was co-created with activists and law enforcement, the media, students, clergy and civic leaders.

At Johnson C. Smith University, trial attorney, Civil Rights Activist and community organizer Toussaint C. Romain tackled the topic of racial injustice as he delivered a passionate and honest discussion on The Hate U Give after a viewing of the movie.

Activism and making a difference.

Community Read delivered a message of getting involved and using one’s voice to make a difference in the community. In a College and Career Connections program at Hickory Grove Library, photographer Alvin C. Jacobs Jr. and Councilman Braxton Winston stressed the importance of using the tools at your disposal to affect change.

During Angie Thomas’ appearance on March 19, 2019, she spoke to a crowded theater at Central Piedmont Community College and said, “I did the only thing I knew how to do – I wrote. I shed light on the darkness. I made the political personal.”

At various Library locations, members of the community made a difference by sharing their time with the community they serve. At locations like Scaleybark Library and Independence Regional Library, police officers, firefighters and librarians shared stories, songs and other fun activities while engaging with families in the community.

Then came the authors.

Community Read provided an extra bonus for participants to meet and interact with their favorite Community Read authors. On March 19, Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give presented to a full house with her honest and personable talk. She left the entire auditorium at the Halton Theater at Central Piedmont Community College in awe and inspired to not only find their voice but to use their voice to change the world. 

Then at the end of the month, Matt de la Peña, author of Love, mesmerized young Community Read participants with his message of love. He spent the morning of March 28 at Seversville Park for StoryWalk® featuring his picture book, Love. There he shared personal behind the scenes stories about the book and illustration process. During the day he visited several Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Later that evening, de la Peña wowed the audience at ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center where he discussed his picture books with educators and families. He shared that for him writing children’s books is his form of activism. “My job is to facilitate the story and leave space for the reader to add their own context to the margins. Once a book is out in the world and in the library, it’s a collaboration between the writer and the reader.”

Community Read 2019 may be over for this year but remember what happened here in Charlotte-Mecklenburg: the discussions, the messages and the coming together of our community. Keep the spirit of Community Read alive all year long in your heart, your household and your overall community. Continue reading and looking for opportunities for open dialogues and being a force in your community.

We’ll see you next year for Community Read 2020.

Angie Thomas makes the political personal, and that’s what she believes makes her an activist.

The author of the New York Times best-selling novel and Community Read 2019 featured title The Hate U Give spoke at Central Piedmont Community College’s Halton Theater on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 about finding her voice. She also encouraged the audience – especially young people – to find and use theirs.  She spoke of growing up in segregated Mississippi in the shadow of the KKK and discovering the story of Emmett Till in an  issue of Jet magazine when she was six years old. “He could have been my brother,” she remembers.

Even as a child, Thomas connected political landscape with her personal reality – and she saw the same quality in the outspoken activists she admired. Musicians used their art as activism, and much of it spoke to her. “As a teen, I connected with hip hop. Tupac [Shukar] cared about me, even when nobody else did – I heard it in his lyrics.”

Like the main character of Starr in The Hate U Give, Thomas attended a mostly white, suburban college. It was only a few miles from the house she grew up in, but it was worlds away. There, she developed a second persona. “Code-switching” became her defense mechanism, and it also made her angry. “I was often the only black student in my classes, and I was so careful to fit in. When Oscar Grant was killed by California police in 2009, my classmates saw what the media presented – that maybe he deserved it, he was an ex-con, he may have been selling drugs, all of it. They didn’t see his value, and I took that personally. He could have been my brother too.”

Thomas took action. “I did the only thing I knew how to do - I wrote. I shed light on the darkness. I made the political personal.” She wrote a short story for her creative writing class, and her professor suggested she expand it to a novel – which became The Hate U Give.

“Empathy is far more powerful than sympathy,” Thomas explained, “and books are one of the best ways to create empathy. If you spend 300 pages in the shoes of a character, you WILL feel empathy.” She challenged the diverse audience to ask themselves whether they know what it’s like to be someone different, and further challenged them to go find out.

That’s what Community Read 2019 is all about, and what libraries have the power to do – to be a platform for learning about one another, about issues important to our shared community, and about the world. Libraries bring us together around books, ideas, curiosity, and around the shared goal of building a stronger community.

Angie Thomas left an inspired audience with a final thought: “If you change the world around you, you will find yourself changing the world. There are issues you can change. Care enough to change them.”
 

Community Read 2019 was made possible with the generosity of presenting sponsor Bank of America and additional support from Foundation For The Carolinas and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation.

There's still time to participate by donating books during the 9 Books For Kids book drive. If you would like to help as an individual, you can drop off new and gently used children’s and teen books at any of the donation locations – including all 20 Charlotte Mecklenburg Library locations.

9 Books for Kids is an easy way to have a huge impact on students and their learning experience. Help improve student learning and achieving by the simple act of donating books.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

You can drop off your book donation at any Charlotte Mecklenburg Library location or partner location through April 12, 2019. 

Collect books for kids! Feel great about ensuring that children can enjoy their own library - at home. Donate books!

The week of April 7- 13, 2019 is National Library Week, a time to celebrate the valuable role libraries, librarians, and library workers play in transforming lives and strengthening our communities. Charlotte Mecklenburg Library will participate by highlighting different services and programs on social media each day beginning April 7, using the theme “Libraries = Strong Communities.”

This year's theme truly aligns with our mission of improving lives and building a stronger community. It illustrates how today’s libraries are at the heart of our cities, towns, schools and campuses, providing critical resources, programs and expertise. Libraries also provide a public space where all community members, regardless of age, culture or income level, can come together to connect and learn. National Library Week is an opportunity to highlight the changing role of public libraries in our society. Libraries are about more than just the services they offer, they are about the people they serve. 

Library programs are designed to encourage community members to meet and discuss civic issues, work together using new technologies like 3D printing or learn alongside one another in English language or technology classes. Library staff also partner with other civic and service organizations to actively engage the people they serve, always striving to make sure their community’s needs are being met.

Celebrate National Library Week by sharing your library story—how do you library?

We invite our community to follow along, share and comment on social media at twitter.com/cmlibrary, facebook.com/cmlibrary and instagram.com/cmlibrary using the hashtags #NationalLibraryWeek and #LibrariesTransform.

Melinda Gates Serves as Honorary Chair

Melinda Gates has dedicated her life to achieving transformational improvements in the health and prosperity of families, communities and societies. Now she will lend her support to advocate for our nation’s libraries as honorary chair of National Library Week. Over the last 20 years, Gates has invested more than $1 billion through her foundation’s Global Libraries initiative to enhance the power of libraries to improve lives. As co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she sets the direction and priorities of the world’s largest philanthropy. She is also the founder of Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company working to drive social progress for women and families in the United States.

Celebrations during National Library Week include:

• Monday, April 8: State of America's Libraries Report released, including Top Ten Frequently Challenged Books of 2018.
• Tuesday, April 9: National Library Workers Day, a day for library staff, administrators, and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers. #nlwd19
• Wednesday, April 10: National Bookmobile Day, a day to recognize the contributions of our nation's bookmobiles and the dedicated professionals who make high-quality bookmobile outreach possible in their communities. #BookmobileDay2019
• Wednesday, April 10: Library Giving Day is a one-day fundraising event with the goal of encouraging people who depend on and enjoy public libraries to donate to their individual library system. #LibraryGivingDay

Make a gift to your Library

• Thursday, April 11: Take Action for Libraries Day, a day to speak up for libraries and share your library story. #MyLibraryMyStory

We also invite you to support the Library - not only on April 10 but every day of the year! - by making a donation to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation. 

DONATE NOW

“Libraries = Strong Communities” is a national campaign sponsored by the American Library Association. 

On Wednesday, March 20, 2019, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s Job Help Center hosted its semi-annual job fairfr the community. The turnout from both employers and job seekers was tremendous with more than 400 prospective employees attending, to meet with 39 employers who were on hand to collect resumes and set interviews. Traffic and interaction were non-stop for nearly the entire event. One success story included Mecklenburg County ABC who interviewed four prospective employees on the spot during the Job Fair.

David Sniffin, Leading on Opportunity Leader at the Job Help Center, said, “It’s exciting to see the enthusiasm and engagement between our employers and job seekers during the Job Help Center Job Fair at Main Library. This event is a successful, working example of how the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is contributing to the Leading on Opportunity initiative in our community by improving lives and building a stronger community.”

Among the companies in attendance were AAA Carolinas, Carowinds, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Snyder’s-Lance, Marriott City Center and many more. 

The Job Fair came after Job Readiness Week, where the Job Help Center offered classes and programs on resume writing, interviewing and other job-related topics.

Good luck in your job search and we hope to see you at our next job fair in the fall.

Although Women's History Month is in March, you can still vicariously experience that spirit though the work of fictional female detectives. To successfully solve mysteries and crimes is noteworthy for anyone and these women navigate down avenues traditionally held by men. Three current series fit the bill with women fulfilling this mission in New York City and Alabama in novels spanning more than half a decade from the turn of the century, the Great Depression and the early 1960s. 

Photo Caption: From l to r: the Darling Dahlias, Molly Murphy and Ellie Stone mystery series

The Molly Murphy Mysteries:  Writer Rhys Bowen introduced a young red-headed woman to New York City and delivered a series of 17 private detective novels with Molly Murphy.  Novelist Plus, the digital reader’s literacy advisory resource, writes of the series, she’s a “feisty yet resourceful Irish immigrant woman [who] investigates intricately plotted mysteries and deals with an ever-dramatic and complicated personal life in these charming and atmospheric historical mysteries set in early 20th-century New York City. The lushly rendered period settings, well-developed characters, and suspenseful, fast-paced plots will keep historical mystery fans hooked.”  The Library has 14 titles of this series in regular print, large print and e-book formats available.  

The Darling Dahlias Mysteries: Author Susan Wittig Albert has delved into small-town, rural South life during the 1930s with a 12-member women’s gardening club.  The women find their talents though are just as sharp for solving mysteries and Albert’s group jump into mysteries large and small.  Again, in Novelist Plus, the series is named “for the ladies of the garden club of Depression-era Darling, Alabama, this engaging, fast-paced series of cozy mysteries is rich in historical detail (including some of the less pleasant details of the era). Follow the ladies of the club as they investigate suspicious town newcomers, stolen money, and even murder amidst the flurry of small-town gossip surrounding each case.”  Charlotte Mecklenburg Library has seven of the eight books in this series available in regular print, large print and e-book formats.

The Ellie Stone Mysteries:  James Zuskin writes about a central character described as “flawed” by Novelist Plus in his amateur sleuth novels. It also says that the 1960s, New York City stories are "atmospheric mysteries [which] feature the adventures of reporter Ellie Stone, a self-professed ‘modern girl’ who sometimes sleeps with the men she meets and generally plays by her own rules. As a woman in a traditionally male job, Stone must work harder and smarter than her male counterparts if she is to succeed.”  The Library system has the six books in this series as regular print.

This April, Dana Eure, Library Branch Channel Leader and Interim Director of Libraries, made a guest appearance on WCNC's Charlotte Today and shared six titles to help you spring into an new book.

Click here to search for the titles

Adult fiction

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it's the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she's twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she's pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

Adult nonfiction

See You in the Piazza: New Places to Discover in Italy by Frances Mayes

The Roman Forum, the Leaning Tower, the Piazza San Marco: these are the sights synonymous with Italy. But such landmarks only scratch the surface of this magical country's offerings. In See You in the Piazza, Frances Mayes introduces us to the Italy only the locals know, as she and her husband, Ed, eat and drink their way through thirteen regions--from Friuli to Sicily. Along the way, she seeks out the cultural and historic gems not found in traditional guidebooks. Frances conjures the enchantment of the backstreets, the hubbub of the markets, the dreamlike wonder of that space between lunch and dinner when a city cracks open to those who would wander or when a mind is drawn into the pages of a delicious book--and discloses to us the secrets that only someone who is on intimate terms with a place could find.

Picture book

Duck, Duck, Dinosaur: Spring Smiles by K (Kallie). George, illustrated by Oriol Vidal

On a sunny springtime day, siblings Feather, Flap, and Spike set out to explore the many flowers, leaves, and seeds outside, but their day is complicated by Spike's dino-sized sneezes.

Youth fiction

A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramee

After attending a powerful protest, Shayla starts wearing an armband to school to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but when the school gives her an ultimatum, she is forced to choose between her education and her identity.

Youth nonfiction

Art for Spring by Rita Storey

Offers step-by-step instructions on how to create spring crafts, including a fish wind sock, mini greenhouse, and rain painting.

Teen fiction

Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner

"Every Friday night, best friends Delia and Josie become Rayne Ravenscroft and Delilah Darkwood, hosts of the campy creature feature show Midnite Matinee on the local cable station TV Six. But with the end of senior year quickly approaching, the girls face tough decisions about their futures. Josie has been dreading graduation, as she tries to decide whether to leave for a big university and chase her dream career in mainstream TV. And Lawson, one of the show's guest performers, a talented MMA fighter with weaknesses for pancakes, fantasy novels, and Josie, is making her tough decision even harder. Scary movies are the last connection Delia has to her dad, who abandoned the family years ago. If Midnite Matinee becomes a hit, maybe he'll see it and want to be a part of her life again. And maybe Josie will stay with the show instead of leaving her behind, too. As the tug-of-war between growing up and growing apart tests the bonds of their friendship, Josie and Delia start to realize that an uncertain future can be both monstrous...and momentous."

Community Read 2019 is over – but the conversations and relationships it sparked continue. And that was the point.

Throughout March, our community came together around books. This year’s featured titles, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, Wishtree by Katherine Applegate, and Love by Matt de la Peña provided readers of all ages opportunities to discuss important themes of compassion, perspective and understanding.

With the support of presenting sponsor Bank of America and additional funding from Foundation For The Carolinas and your Library Foundation, over 2,500 copies of The Hate U Give were distributed throughout the community. More than 200 programs and events were offered at Library and partner locations - including book talks, film viewings and talkback panels, tree plantings, art projects, discussions with police, city and county officials, teenagers, educators, and much more.

Partners were key to the success of this year’s Community Read. Program director Meryle Leonard explains, “We knew we’d need to work with partners with different perspectives, experiences and expertise. This was a natural opportunity to position the Library system as a facilitator and resource for community programs and dialogue - to become a resource for organizations and individuals who want to have these important and sometimes uncomfortable conversations. We especially wanted to engage the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Their support and participation was essential to the programs reach and success.”

What are people saying about Community Read?

Thank you for all the work you have done with the Community Read program. The program was very successful at Johnson C. Smith University. It was good to have the community in collaboration with JCSU's students, faculty and staff engage in this conversation. I extend appreciation to Toussaint Romain for his outstanding and passionate   presentation that left all of us thinking about how we can do more in our communities.

- Monika Rhue (Nooma), HBCU Library Alliance Board Chair, Director of Library Services and Curation, James B. Duke Memorial Library, Johnson C. Smith University

Thank you. The event last night at JCSU was s blast. Full house too. 

- Toussaint Romain

Many thanks to CMPD and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library for allowing the Mayor’s Mentoring Alliance to join this community conversation. There were many familiar faces in the audience as we had a good deal of mentoring agency representatives attend. Hopefully, we laid the foundation for more of these types of conversations to take place! Glad to work with each of you! 

- Tiffany Johnson, Mayor's Mentoring Alliance & Out Of School Time Specialist

Thank you for inviting CPCC to be a part of the event last night.  It was a phenomenal  program.  My mentoring group would also like to thank CML for bringing this author and treating them with honor.  We read the book earlier this year as a group, so they could connect the dots.  Also allowing them to be seated before everyone else made them feel very special.  Thanks to everyone on your team who worked tireless to make this event a success.

- Gloria Kelley, Dean of Library Services, Central Piedmont Community College

Overheard:

“It is nice to know my thinking is similar to other citizens in the community.”

“Ability to have open and honest dialogue.”

“I learned how to improve my thinking and improve my community.”

“Hearing different perspectives form a diverse group of people.”

Highlights

There were many highlights to this year’s Community Read, including inspirational visits from authors Angie Thomas and Matt de la Peña. Both discussed writing as a form of activism – an opportunity to encourage empathy and start discussion.

Just like Community Read 2019.

Angie Thomas Recap

Matt de la Peña Recap

Did you participate in Community Read 2019?

Take our survey!

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Presented by Bank of America with additional support from Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation and Foundation For The Carolinas

THANKS TO OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS:

Carolina Youth Coalition • Central Piedmont Community College •  Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations • Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department • Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools • Community Building Initiative • Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Inc. • 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

Thank you to all of you who so generously donated to the 2019 9 Books for Kids book drive and made this year another success!  UPDATE: Because of you, the Library collected more than 11,200 books this year! Thank YOU!

Donating books is an easy way to have a huge impact on students and their learning experience. You are helping improve student learning and achieving by the simple act of donating new and gently used children’s and teen books.

Volunteers are now sorting and counting the books so we can distribute them into our community. These donations help increase the number of books in the homes of children through the Library's outreach efforts like the Community Bookshelf program, Summer Break Book Bucks, Little Free Libraries and partnerships with Read Charlotte and Promising Pages. 

Again, THANK YOU for your donations to the 9 Books for Kids book drive!