South County Regional Library celebrates its 25-year anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 24 from 1-4 p.m. The Library, located at 5801 Rea Road, at the intersection of Rea Road and Pineville-Matthews Road, opened its doors to the public on September 20, 1998.    

Since then, some things have changed. There are no aquariums on the second floor anymore, but there is a makerspace with 3D printers, a vinyl cutter, and a laser cutter. The water sculpture hanging above the stairs and the enormous teal eel have gone, but public art, created by North Carolina artist and sculptor Jim Gallucci, Open Book, Open Mind was installed during the 2021 renovation.   

Customers and community members are invited on Sunday to celebrate the Library and its presence in the community. Visit MoLi (CML’s mobile library) or the Detour Coffee truck, stop to watch a demonstration of the Bob Ross style of art, walk along the photo gallery of South County’s history, or look for the newly displayed artwork provided through a new partnership with the Charlotte Art League.  

There’s a bit of something for everyone this Sunday at South County Regional! Learn more at https://cmlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/64cbd4a9c102fe4100a2455f.

*Written by David Sniffin, Library Program Manager - Workforce Development*

Beginning in February of 2023, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, in partnership with Charlotte Works/NC Works, started hosting hiring events with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools at targeted regional locations. So far, hiring events have been hosted at Independence Regional Library, North County Regional Library, and South County Regional Library. 

These are not traditional job fairs but are designed and marketed as hiring events where job seekers can earn employment on the spot. These hiring events are the first time that CMS has offered joint instructional and non-instructional hiring opportunities to fill existing needs across multiple schools and departments. The Library looks forward to continuing this partnership as it continues to offer hiring events throughout 2023 and into late 2024.  

Hiring events will take place at the following locations through 2024:

• Allegra Westbrooks Regional on April 24
• Independence Regional on May 15
• Allegra Westbrooks Regional on June 25
• South County Regional on July 31

Early voting started October 21, 2021 through October 30, 2021. There are seven (7) early voting locations, which include these four Libraries:

• Davidson Library –  119 South Main Street, Davidson, NC 28036
• Matthews Library - 230 Matthews Station St., Matthews, NC 28105
• Mint Hill Library -  6840 Matthews - Mint Hill Road, Mint Hill, NC 28227
• North County Regional Library - 16500 Holly Crest Lane, Huntersville, NC 2807

Voting hours will vary. For all seven early voting locations and voting hours, please click here. 

For more information, please visit the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections website here.

This promotion has ended.

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the past year and focus on what you are thankful for. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is thankful for YOU, our customers!  And as a gift to our customers, we are selecting a small collection of e-books that will be available instantly with no waiting in our OverDrive/Libby resource.

This week only the below titles will be available to check out with no holds.  If you currently have one of these titles on hold, your hold will be immediately filled!  You can check out up to three of these titles.  Enjoy!

Dune by Frank Herbert (e-book)

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (e-book)

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne (e-book)

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi (audiobook)

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (audiobook)

New Kid by Jerry Craft (youth audiobook)

How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace (youth e-book)

Pete the Cat's 12 Groovy Days of Christmas (youth e-book)

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco (teen fiction)

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus (teen audiobook)

Promotion ends November 28, 2021 at 11:59 p.m.

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This blog was written by Amy Richard, library collections manager at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

This blog was written as part of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's Black Lives Matter program initiative. Learn  more about the program and corresponding events here.

Business executive Sheryl Sandberg takes a simple view of workplace diversity.  The billionaire and philanthropist said, “We are building products that people with very diverse backgrounds use, and I think we all want our company makeup to reflect the makeup of the people who use our products.”  And that’s enough said.

In keeping with Sandberg’s work philosophy, diversity and inclusion (“D&I”) in the workplace would be a company priority.  That follows in line as a response to the racial unrest in 2020 following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and others.  Street protests sprang up around the world as the events fueled the Black Lives Matter movement with growth and acceptance.  So, last September, when Glassdoor, a company review website, published its survey about D&I with adult employees and jobseekers, their findings were not surprising. It revealed many survey participants check how companies address D&I, and value those companies that do.     

Creating a diverse workplace is an understandable component to the process of a nation with growing multiracial populations.  To react otherwise is to deny talent, expertise, and profit-making opportunities.  And yet, the current efforts are lacking.

Diversity and Inclusion Strategist La’Wana Harris details several missteps when company management is not supportive of change.  In her book, Diversity Beyond Lip Service: a coaching guide for changing bias, Harris writes that these include company management giving a deaf ear to new voices, minority hiring for company “window dressing,” and employees attending an unbiased training workshop without follow-up to pursue the training.  Harris explains further in individual stories of failure and success for the cause of D&I, which she concludes needs strong and consistent support from committed company elites—typically, white men—to make the process work.  Until then, the path is rocky with an unsteady ride. 

An additional problem is the use of microaggressions in the workplace.  Microaggressions are identified as “indirect expressions of racism, sexism, ageism, or ableism,” according to a June 2020 article in the Business Insider newspaper.  Specifically, the article points out 14 troublesome comments and questions to minorities and others in marginalized groups.  For example, the question to an African American woman asking if her hair is “real” may imply her appearance is unprofessional.  As a response, the article recommends that question should not be asked and “natural hair, regardless of their ethnicity, should be accepted as professional and workplace-friendly.”

Repeated microaggressions can take a toll and cause stress such as racial trauma. In February 2019, the American Psychological Association published “Uncovering the Trauma of Racism” and identified workplace discrimination as a traumatizing act of racism, and thus, being a form of racial trauma. One book, with a featured booklist of this topic of workplace diversity, focuses on the possible hurt one can face in Right Within: how to heal from Racial Trauma in the Workplace by Minda Harts.  She shares from her experiences, and from others, to unpack and expose painful work situations while moving on to heal herself and encourage the reader.

The previously mentioned booklist is “Creating Workplace Diversity.” It features eight library books detailing the goal achieving diversity in the workplace with personal stories, research, challenges, and inspiration.         

Access the booklist here

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This blog was written by Lawrence Turner, adult services librarian at South County Regional Library.