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This blog post was written by Sally Deason, Librarian for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

The Mint Hill Branch Library is in the heart of Mint Hill and has been the home away from home for Mint Hill residents for over 60 years.  As the first town founded in Mecklenburg County, Mint Hill took shape in 1750 and built a solid community foundation. Mint Hill’s growing population now boasts over 26,000 diverse residents. Once a hub of farming and dairy production, Mint Hill is still surrounded by farmland and heavily wooded neighborhoods. It offers homegrown entertainment in a quiet community.  

Part of the Charlotte metropolitan, the hopping suburb of Mint Hill is settled just outside of the city in the southeastern portion of Mecklenburg County.  Popular town activities include the annual Mint Hill Madness festival, Scarecrow contest, weekly farmers market, Christmas parade and more.  The Mint Hill Chamber of Commerce supports new businesses and promotes all commerce in the area as well as highlights nonprofit organizations. The Town Hall sits just down the road from the library in a recently constructed facility. Adjacent to that, is the new police station. All of these are within walking distance to neighborhoods, banks, shops, restaurants (including the Carolina Creamery- yum) and your local library! Don’t forget to dig up some old-time fun with the Mint Hill Historical Society.  

Just outside of the main intersection of Lawyers Road and Matthews-Mint Hill Rd, you will find several wonderful parks. Both the Mint Hill Park on Wilgrove as well as the Mint Hill Veterans Memorial Parks are maintained by the town of Mint Hill. The new Stevens Creek Nature Preserve is part of the Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation division. All offer wonderful outdoor options for the family. Further towards Albemarle Road you will find the Simmons YMCA with the New Americans Welcome Center. The closest US Post Office is near the intersection of Lawyers Road and Wilson Grove Road, but there is a blue mailbox in front of the Mint Hill Barber Shop.  

New to Charlotte? Explore other neighborhoods through the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library blog and WelcomeCLT, a digital space created for newcomers to Charlotte.

Resources:

Mint Hill Branch Library | 6840 Matthews-Mint Hill Rd, Mint Hill, NC 28227 | 704-416-5200

Chamber of Commerce | 7900 Matthews-Mint Hill Rd bldg 2 ste b, Mint Hill, NC 28227 |704-573-8282

Mint Hill Parks & Recreation | 4430 Mint Hill Village Lane, Mint Hill, NC 28227 | 704-545-9726

Mint Hill Police Department | 7151 Matthews-Mint Hill Rd. Mint Hill, NC 28227 | 704-545-1085

Mint Hill Women’s Club | MHWC at 14601 Barney Dr, Mint Hill NC 28227

Mint Hill Historical Society | 7601 Matthews-Mint Hill Rd, Mint Hill, NC 28227 | 704-583-0726

Servant’s Heart | N 9229, Lawyers Rd, Mint Hill, NC 28227 | 704-680-6533

Simmons YMCA | 6824 Democracy Dr, Charlotte, NC 28212 | 704-716-6600

Town of Mint Hill | 4430 Mint Hill Village Lane, Mint Hill, NC 28227 | 704-545-9726

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It’s Spooky Season at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library! Let us help you build a spooky collection of e-books, audiobooks music and more with our digital resource, hoopla. Ready to have a spooktacular time? Check out these curated playlists and booklists below:

 

Paranormal Romance: Access here
  Best of hoopla: Horror: Access Here

Halloween Party Playlists: Access here

Halloween for Kids: Access here

Supernatural Scares: Access here

 

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This blog post was written by Jennifer Williams-Cannon, Librarian for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

Spreading awareness about Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and how it affects children and adults can bring answers and solutions to those that have difficulty processing sensory input. Charlotte Mecklenburg Library offers an impressive collection of resources for those living with SPD, their parents, educators, and professionals. There are numerous tools in a variety of formats which include books, eBooks, audiobooks, and DVDs. Click on the link to view our recommendations for National Sensory Awareness Month.

Sensory Awareness Books for Children

Sensory Awareness Resources for Parents

What is Sensory Processing?

Sensory Processing Disorder affects the nervous system and interferes with the body's ability to receive messages from the senses. Sensory processing issues arise when these messages are misinterpreted, resulting in difficulties organizing and processing everyday environmental stimuli. This includes our traditional, five senses of sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smell. However, we also have proprioceptive (sensations from the muscle and joint movements within our bodies) and vestibular sensory systems (feeling of our bodies in relation to the space around us). Our bodies are constantly receiving sensory information, processing the input, and adjusting our responses, without us even realizing this is happening. Sensory Processing Disorder affects this series of events, causing difficulty responding to the incoming messages throughout the day.

How does Sensory Processing Disorder affect people?

Sensory Processing Disorder can disrupt a person’s everyday life, especially with motor and behavioral functions. Seemingly routine activities can be more difficult. Sensory overload can affect attention span, coordination, and impulsivity as an individual tries to regulate the sensations they feel. Symptoms of Sensory Processing Disorder, like those of most disorders, can occur within a broad spectrum. While most of us have occasional difficulties processing sensory information, for those with SPD, these difficulties could significantly unsettle a person’s everyday life. Listed below are some examples of behaviors:

Sensory-avoidant behaviors could include:

• Difficulty with haircuts, washing or brushing hair
• Difficulty with grooming, tolerating baths, washing face, trimming nails
• Uneasiness with brushing and flossing teeth
• Acute awareness of background noises
• Refusal to wear certain clothing, often pulling or tugging on the clothing
• Upset by unexpected touch
• Very cautious, not willing to take risks
• Difficulty tolerating a loud, crowded environment
• Prefer stationary activities – avoids running, climbing, jumping, etc.
• Picky eaters-food sensitivities
• Gagging to certain food smells or textures

Sensory-seeking behaviors could include:

• Standing too close to others when speaking (having a hard time understanding personal space)
• Difficulty with balancing, following a sequence of movements (ex. “Simon Says” game)
• Constantly chewing on non-food items (ex. clothes)
• Enjoying loud noise when it is inappropriate
• Stomping or dragging feet when walking (coordination challenges)
• Enjoying bumping or crashing into others (prefers lots of “rough play”)
• Unnecessary roughness with toys, ripping paper
• Poor fine motor skills, difficulty with handwriting
• Providing pressure or squeezing certain parts of the body

For more information about National Sensory Awareness Month, check out the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation by visiting https://www.spdfoundation.net/

Source: Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation https://www.spdfoundation.net

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This blog was written by Moriah Sharpe, a library assistant at the Matthews branch of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

The Matthews Library is located in the heart of downtown Matthews in southeastern Mecklenburg County. Matthews has had a public library since the 1920s, and the current location was opened in 2001. The branch shares a building with the Matthews Town Hall, with the library on the first floor and Town Hall on the second. Just outside the building is a red caboose and the old Train Depot (now the Matthews Visitor Center). Due to Matthews’s history as a railroad-centric town and the nearby Depot and railroad tracks, the branch features many train-themed decorations, including train lights overhead in the center of the library and a train-shaped desk in the children’s area. Trains still come through Matthews regularly, and the sound of the train whistle can be heard throughout the library!

The new adult fiction and nonfiction sections are the first things that greet patrons as they walk through the front doors, along with several themed displays. The children’s area is to the right, including a play area and plenty of seating. The community room, which hosts many of the branch’s programs, is located in the back right corner of the library. Several shelves between the community room and the reference desk are home to the world language collection, which includes books in Spanish, Chinese, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Telugu, Russian, German, and Vietnamese. Some of the Matthews staff are also able to communicate with patrons in Spanish, French, German, Hindi, Urdu, and American Sign Language.

On the left side of the branch are the adult and young adult sections. The Teen Corner is to the far left, tucked behind the books on disc and adult fiction sections. Across the branch, patrons can utilize the quiet study area, located behind adult nonfiction, to focus on their work in a quieter area of the library.

Seating can be found throughout the library, ranging from tall, café-style tables to comfortable armchairs. Public computers are also available for use in the computer lab in the back of the branch and throughout the building. The Matthews library is also known for its fireplace! In the winter, pick out a good book and curl up in a squashy armchair by the roaring fire.

 

Matthews history is incorporated throughout the branch as well. The Matthews Heritage Museum maintains historical displays in the lobby and near the fireplace, highlighting various aspects of local life and history. At the back of the library, a large mural takes the viewer from the beginnings of the town (then called Stumptown) in 1805 to the opening of the Library/Town Hall building in 2001.

Matthews is home to approximately 30,000 people and counting, and the town offers plenty to do for residents and visitors alike. The Matthews Heritage Trail begins behind the library and extends through the historic Crestdale area before connecting to Four Mile Creek Greenway, a total distance of 3.5 miles. The Matthews post office is a short walk away from the library, just on the other side of the railroad tracks.

 Downtown Matthews is home to multiple restaurants, including Thai Taste, White Duck Taco, Grace O’Malley’s, and Pizza Peel, as well as Brakeman’s Coffee & Supply, Carolina Beer Temple, and Seaboard Taproom, which plays host to one of the library’s book clubs, Books on Tap. Renfrow Hardware has been serving Matthews since 1900, and every Saturday morning, the space next door fills up with the bustling Farmers’ Market. Catch a play at Matthews Playhouse, stop by Stumptown Park for concerts and special events, watch a game at the Sportsplex, or visit Squirrel Lake Park for Storytime in the Park with the Matthews children’s department.

Over Labor Day weekend, downtown Matthews is shut down for the annual Matthews Alive festival, featuring rides, games, concerts, local businesses, and plenty of fried food. Don’t miss the Matthews Alive parade on the Saturday before Labor Day. You may even spot some library staff in the parade!

New to Charlotte? Explore other neighborhoods through the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library blog and WelcomeCLT, a digital space created for newcomers to Charlotte.

Resources

• Matthews Library: 230 Matthews Station St. Matthews, NC 28105 | 704-416-5000
• Matthews Town Hall: 232 Matthews Station St. Matthews, NC 28105 | 704-847-4411
• Matthews Heritage Museum: 232 N Trade St. Matthews, NC 28105 | 704-708-4996
• Renfrow Hardware: 188 N Trade St. Matthews, NC 28105 | 704-847-4088
• Farmers’ Market: 188 N Trade St. Matthews, NC 28105 (next to Renfrow) | Saturdays
• Matthews Playhouse: 100 E McDowell St. Matthews, NC 28105 | 704-846-8343
• Sportsplex: 2425 Sports Pkwy. Matthews, NC 28105 | 980-314-7539

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Early Voting for the 2022 election starts Thursday, Oct. 20 at 8 a.m. and is open until Saturday, Nov. 5 at 3 p.m.. There are 24 early voting locations, which include these four Libraries:

• Allegra Westbrooks Regional (Beatties Ford Road) – 2412 Beatties Ford Road, Charlotte, NC 28216
• Independence Regional Library - 6000 Conference Dr, Charlotte, NC 28212
• Matthews Library - 230 Matthews Station St, Matthews, NC 28105
• Mint Hill Library - 6840 Matthews-Mint Hill Rd,  Charlotte, NC 28227
• Mountain Island Library - 4420 Hoyt Gavin Way, Charlotte, NC 28214
• North County Regional Library - 16500 Holly Crest Ln, Huntersville, NC 28078
• South Boulevard Library - 4429 South Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28209
• South County Regional Library - 5801 Rea Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277
• South Park Regional Library - 7015 Carnegie Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28211
• West Boulevard Library - 2157 West Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28208

Voting hours will vary. For all 24 early voting locations and voting hours, please click here. 

The deadline to register in-person to vote is Friday, October 9, 2020. After the regular voter registration deadline of Friday, October 14, 2022, you can same-day register and vote at any of the early voting locations during the early voting period. This process is known as same-day registration. Same-day registrants must attest to their eligibility and provide proof of residence.

Looking for voting resources? The Library’s Engage 2020 has put together information here.

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

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In March 2020, ProQuest & Ancestry graciously provided libraries with remote access to Ancestry Library Edition at no extra cost so that library customers could continue with their genealogy and family research during shutdowns due to COVID.  ProQuest & Ancestry continued to extend that access during the last 20 months.  Now that libraries are re-opening and adding more services, ProQuest & Ancestry has made the decision to end remote access.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library will return to our previous service model of offering access to Ancestry Library Edition for in Library use on December 23, 2021.  Please visit any of our twenty locations to access Ancestry Library Edition after this date.  For customers wanting to maintain remote access from a similar product, HeritageQuest (powered by Ancestry) is the best solution.

For questions about Ancestry Library Edition or any of our other resources, please contact your local branch or contact our staff by email, chat and phone.

Access all the Library’s resources for free with your Library card.  Don’t have one?  Sign up here! 

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

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An essential component of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's mission is to improve lives and build a stronger community by removing barriers to accessing information and critical resources. Enter MeckTech Connect.

Bridging the digital divide, MeckTech Connect is a program bringing free wireless internet service to over 800 homes in the West Boulevard corridor. While this area is rich in people and culture, this community's internet adoption lags behind the rest of the city of Charlotte by 50 percent. Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s West Boulevard location has been active in digital literacy work for many years. Still, the Library aims to be a leader in providing digital equity and digital literacy to communities with fewer resources. MeckTech Connect is a step in the right direction.

The Library’s efforts to lead in digital equity are matched by their partnership with Open Broadband, an essential partner as the internet service provider for MeckTech Connect. They are a regional internet service provider that contributes to underserved communities. Work on the MeckTech Connect infrastructure is currently underway in the West Boulevard community. In addition to the partnership with Open Broadband, the Library was awarded a grant and funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and The Knight Foundation. Additional support from organizations such as bloom., City Startup Labs, Hack & Hustle Academy, RowdyOrb.it, and the West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition helped make this effort possible.

MeckTech Connect is in the business of filling the digital divide and providing opportunities beyond just internet service. The Library is excited to lead this pilot in the West Boulevard corridor.

For more information about MeckTech Connect, please visit www.mecktechconnect.org.

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2021 is over, so let's take a look at which books were most popular with Charlotte Mecklenburg Library readers this year. We pulled circulation data for our adult fiction (both print and digital), adult nonfiction, young adult fiction, juvenile fiction and graphic novels.

A few listings stood out this year:

• For the first time in a while, no novel returned to the top ten fiction list that appeared there the previous year. 
• Digital usage dominated the list this year. The top print adult novel circulated wouldn’t even have made the digital list. The top adult print nonfiction book would have been #10 on the digital list. 
• Last year, Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming was the #1 nonfiction title.  This year, President Obama’s memoir A Promised Land comes in at #2.  However, President Obama’s memoir did top the audio list.
• Jeff Kenny, once again, dominated the print juvenile fiction list and Dav Pilkey cleaned up on the digital side.
• The top graphic novel, Sisters by Raina Telgemeier, circulated more than twice the number of times as the second place graphic novel. It was also the top Young Adult book of the year.

We hope you enjoy going through this year’s lists and be sure to visit your local library branch and our webpage and get started on reading the books for this year’s list.

Print Adult Fiction

• The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
• The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• Win by Harlan Coben
• A Gambling Man by David Baldacci
• The Guest List by Lucey Foley
• The Red Book by James Patterson & David Ellis
• Eternal by Lisa Scottoline
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
• The Bounty: A Fox and O’Hare Novel by Janet Evanovich & Steve Hamilton​

Digital Adult Fiction

1. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
3. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
4. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
5. The Guest List by Lucy Foley
6. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by Victoria Schwab
7. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
8. In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
9. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
10. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Print Adult Nonfiction

1. Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
2. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
3. The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis
4. Peril by Bob Woodward & Robert Costa
5. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
6. Untamed by Glennon Doyle
7. The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson
8. I Alone Can Fix it: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year by Carol Leonnig & Philip Rucker
9. Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at any Age by Sanjay Gupta, MD with Kristin Loberg
10. Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant

Digital Adult Nonfiction

1. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
2. Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder
3. Untamed by Glennon Doyle
4. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
5. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
6. The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson
7. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
8. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
9. Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
10. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

Print Young Adult Fiction

1. Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
2. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
3. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
5. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
6. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
7. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
8. Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
9. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
10. I'm Not Dying With You Tonight by Kimberly Jones & Gilly Segal

Digital Young Adult Fiction

1. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
2. Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards
3. Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
4. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
5. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
6. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
7. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
8. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
9. I'm Not Dying with You Tonight by Kimberly Jones & Gilly Segal
10. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Fiction & Nonfiction Audio Books (Digital and Physical)

1. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
2. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
3. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
4. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
5. The Guest List by Lucy Foley
6. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
7. Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell
8. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
9. Becoming by Michelle Obama
10. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

Graphic Novels (Young Adult & Adult)

1. Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
2. The boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
3. My Hero Academia 1, Izuku Midoriya: Origin by Kohei Horikoshi
4. My Hero Academia 3, All Might by Kohei Horikoshi
5. My Hero Academia 2, Rage, You Damned Nerd by Kohei Horikoshi
6. My Hero Academia 24, All it Takes is One Bad Day by Kohei Horikoshi
7. My Hero Academia16, Red Riot by Kohei Horikoshi
8. The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan
9. My hero academia 25, Tomura Shigaraki Origin by Kohei Horikoshi
10. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

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You might have noticed your holds aren’t arriving as quickly as you’re used to. Or those Halloween titles you requested for your children weren’t on the shelves until well into December! Due to unprecedented supply chain delays and worker shortages, some titles have been delayed or canceled altogether. Books are sitting in warehouses or container ships for months, waiting for workers to process them and ship them to us.

We apologize for the longer than usual wait times, which are unfortunately a common problem right now, but please know we’re working our hardest to make sure the books, DVDs, audiobooks, and other library materials you love are in your hands as soon as we’re able to get them to you. We appreciate your patience and look forward to returning to the timely service you’ve come to expect!

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This blog was written by Bethany Pierce, librarian for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.