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2025 Summer Bookmark Contest for Children and Teens
June 4, 2025
This blog was written by Jesse Isley, children's services manager for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library
This spring, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library hosted our second annual bookmark contest for children and teens in grades K-12 to showcase the creativity of our community. We were excited to expand the contest this year to include middle and high school students, and we loved hosting the contest itself in March as part of our celebration of Community Read!
We received over 1,100 bookmark entries—including hundreds from local schools and classrooms that teachers graciously dropped off for students. Themes included everything from love of books and reading (which made our hearts so happy!) to nature, animals, positive messages, and the celebration of summer. We also got to see unique materials used to complete the challenge with watercolors, stickers, and photography all submitted this year.
While it was a difficult task, we worked hard to narrow down the entries for final selection by our judges. We were so lucky to have 2 local artists judge the contest this year! To Melody Cassen and Chris Georgalas, we are so grateful for your support of our community and for your willingness to take on the hardest job of selecting winners for each range of grade levels. We greatly appreciate the judges sharing their time and expertise. Here is some of the feedback they shared:
“I loved the theme of these bookmarks—positive, universal that can apply to anyone.”
“It was hard for me to judge these as they were all so imaginative and genuine!”
“I congratulate all of the artists. It’s important for all of the creatives involved to know that they are unique in what they dream, and it is a gift they have to share with the world.”
We are thrilled to announce the winners below and first runners up below. Copies of the winning bookmarks will be available to pick up in every library location while supplies last. A huge thank you to our community for your response to this contest, and CONGRATULATIONS to our winners.
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Reading Buddies
Technology Tutoring
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Step into a story with Free RPG Day
June 6, 2025
This blog post was written by Laura Carroll, a staff member at the Mint Hill branch.
Join us for Free RPG Day on June 21st from 11am-4pm at our new University City Library location!
Free RPG Day is a world-wide celebration of role-playing games (RPGs). Role-playing games encourage collaboration, storytelling, and imagination as you take on the role of a character in a fictional environment.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is celebrating its second year of Free RPG Day. This year’s event will feature sword fighting, costume design (cosplay), and, of course, games! We’re also excited to welcome community partners like the Athena Alliance, the Black Gamer League, and the International Game Developers Association at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte among many others.
New to RPGs? We’ll have workshops where you can make a D&D character and paint a mini-fig. You can even join a game for beginner players or try your hand at sword fighting.
Want to level up your gaming skills? We have a game development workshop and a panel discussion on creating inclusive game spaces. We’ll have lots of gaming tables for you to join – including several different TTRPGs.
Feeling crafty? Join us in our Makerspace to 3D print, use a heat press, or make a button. Craving adventure? Swordwind Historical Martial Arts will present a sword fighting demonstration. There will also be giveaways, information about local gaming organizations, and a gaming lounge!
Whether you are a seasoned gamer or a new adventurer, we hope you’ll enjoy this special celebration of storytelling and exploration! Find all the details here on our calendar.
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June is African American Music Appreciation Month!
June 6, 2025
This blog was originally published in June 2019 by Sydney Carroll and updated in June of 2025 by Chauna Carr, digital production librarian in the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room
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 (available until August 2025):
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Cover Image Caption: 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.
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2025 Book Sale Dates
January 21, 2025
This blog was written by Kim Arlia, logistics leader for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.
This blog was updated on June 6, 2025 to include new dates and remove dates that have already passed.
SUMMER IS HERE! Let the humidity begin! I do not know about you but now it is all about chilling and enjoying a vacation/staycation with a good book! What better place to pick up your next favorite read than at the library book sale! At a loss of what to read – just ask the volunteers and staff at the sale – we have lots of recommendations! Trust me – my TBR ( to be read) list is a mile long!
Each sale will have a unique selection. Bring your book club group! Pick up some beach reads! Kids heading to camp – pack a book.
We are filling the carts with fiction, non-fiction, children’s, young adult, cook books, and coffee table books. Prices start at $1.00 Bring a friend and remember to buy for yourself and others! Gifting a book is a literacy treasure that lasts a lifetime!
Support your local library and expand you mind. See you at the sales!
Start marking your calendar today! Book sales are 9 a.m. – 1 pm (unless otherwise noted).
- Saturday, June 7, 2025 – Allegra Westbrook Regional Library
- Saturday, June 28, 2025 – South Boulevard Library
- Saturday, July 12, 2025 – Sugar Creek Library
- Saturday, July 19, 2025 – South Park Regional Library
- Saturday, August 23, 2025 – Pineville Library
- Saturday, September 13, 2025 –Hickory Grove Library
- Saturday, September 20, 2025 – Mountain Island Library
- Saturday, October 25, 2025 – Myers Park Library
- Saturday, November 15, 2025 – Mint Hill Library
- Saturday, December 6, 2025 – North County Regional Library
- Saturday, December 13, 2025 – South County Regional Library
As new dates are scheduled – the listing will be updated. Hope to see you soon!!
HOW CAN I DONATE BOOKS?
Book donations are currently accepted at all open Library locations.
NOTE: Smaller libraries may have limited storage capacity. Please call your local Library before making a book donation to ensure the location can receive your items. Do not leave them outside – rain and bugs are not their friends!
The Library does NOT accept the following items:
- Newspapers
- Magazines
- Encyclopedias
- VHS tapes
- Music CDs
- Textbooks
Have a large donation? Please contact Kim Arlia by phone at (704) 416-0751 or by email at [email protected] to make an appointment.
WHAT HAPPENS TO DONATIONS?
All donations are brought via the library delivery system to the Library Administration Center (LAC). At the LAC, a team of volunteers will go through the donations and determine what will happen to them based on condition, age, and genre. Some may be added to the existing library collection, others may go to various outreach programs, some make their way to the many Free Little Libraries in Mecklenburg County, while others end up at the library book sale or for sale at Thriftbooks.com. Revenue generated by book sales and Thinftbooks.com allows for the procurement of more library materials.
CAN I VOLUNTEER AT A BOOK SALE OR AT THE LAC?
SURE CAN!!! Complete a profile here: https://www.cmlibrary.org/volunteer Make sure you select to work with the Book Donation and Book Sale Team Member. Having problems with the CERVIS site – contact Kim Arlia by phone at (704) 416-0751 or by email at [email protected]