YAYAs Have An Exciting Month In October!

15 YAYAs met on Tuesday, October 4 to discuss The Compound, by S.A. Bodeen. The opinions varied from "Hated it!" to "Loved it!" with the lovers outweighing the ones who disliked it.

Dislikes mentioned the novel was predictable or simply had a general disdain for all things apocalyptic. The lovers liked the action and suspense of the story.

Everyone was uncomfortable with the purpose of The Supplements - gotta read it to understand. Just know two YAYA brothers are threatening younger siblings at home that they are "Supplements." This could be bad for the little brother and sister!

The Alexander Friends of the Library also paid the YAYAs a visit at the meeting and bestowed upon each teen a free Friends' membership for a year! Cool beans. This entitles each of them to get into the book sale early and gets them 20% off at Barnes & Noble in Hickory.

And, to top it off, the Friends agreed to sponsor the YAYAs visit to Asheville, NC on October 20 to see John Green, author of the Michael L. Printz award winning novel, Looking for Alaska. 10 club members plan to make that trip.

The YAYAs were very excited by the generosity of the Friends and wish to thank them for believing in the book club. Several YAYAs have volunteered many hours of service to the library for summer reading, Friends sales, and special programs through the years.

I want to thank all the YAYAs and the Friends of the Library for their support of the library. Y'all rock!

Next month, the YAYAs will discuss Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin. That meeting will be on November 1.

TPH is Tuesday, October 11 - 3:30 pm at The Spilled Bean. Come join us for poetry and art galore. Remember, we are adding photography so if you have pics to share, bring those, too!

Have a great weekend!
Mel

"Bags, Baubles, and Beads" Is On The Way!

Hi Everyone!

Summer is slipping away quickly and that means it's time for a wardrobe change - at least with purses and jewelry, that is! The Alexander Friends of the Library are ready to help you redefine your accessories with their "Bags, Baubles, and Beads" sale.

The sale will be held at Reformation Lutheran Church on September 16 and 17th with an early bird purchase opportunity on September 15. The pre-sale will be available to those who are Friends of the Library or to those who donated items.

(Hint! Hint! A Friend's membership is only $10 and will not only get you into the B3 sale, but also the book sale early in October!) -Did I mention it will also get you 20% off at Barnes & Noble? :)

And the most wonderful part? The proceeds will go to purchase a new rug for the children's department! Yeah!

I want to thank the Friends for all their hard work. The photo above has Friends Brenda McRae and Ruthanne Fry (Kathy Riddle is taking the picture) displaying lots of goodies with new library director, Laura Crooks, and me. Also, many thanks to those who have already donated items to the sale.

Please bring by any gently used handbags and jewelry you have to the library if you would like to donate them for the sale. And set the date to join the Alexander Friends of the Library for the "Bags, Baubles, and Beads" sale - Friday, September 16 from 11:30 am to 5:30 pm and on Saturday, September 17, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm.

Remember the presale from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm on September 15 for those who are members of the Friends or who donated items. :)

Hope to see you there!

Mel

BookFair at Barnes & Noble to Support Alexander County Library August 13th

The Alexander County Library and Bethlehem branch have been been given an excellent opportunity to raise funds for the library by Hickory's Barnes and Noble Booksellers. On August 13, they will be holding a BookFair where as much as 20% of the profits from that day through August 18 can go to our library system.

On the morning of August 13 at Barnes & Noble, I will have storytimes at 9:30 am and 11:00 am with one of my favorites, Clifford the Big Red Dog. There will be a breakfast you can reserve with B&N to attend and crafts for all ages. Should be an awesome morning!

There is a voucher code you can use (or your dearest sister in Oklahoma!) to mark the sale for the library. This code can be used online or at any Barnes and Noble Bookseller in the US.

The voucher is located on the library's main web page at www.alexanderlibrary.org. Be sure to share the voucher code with everyone you love and remind them to do their Christmas shopping between August 13 - 18 at Barnes and Noble. The voucher code is good for the purchase of books, music, movies, food, and more!

The Alexander Friends of the Library are also collecting gently used handbags, jewelry and beads for their Bags, Baubles, and Beads sale in September. I will post more on this later, but I am stoked that the proceeds from this sale will go to the children's department and a new storytime rug. Yeah!

So, please, support the Alexander County Library by visiting Barnes and Noble's store or online between August 13 - 18 and use the voucher code for the library. Also, donate goodies for the Bags, Baubles, and Beads sale that the Alexander Friends of the Library are having.

Your support of the library will be greatly appreciated!
Mel

The Alexander Muse 2011 Has Arrived!

Hi All!

What a joyful celebration on Tuesday, April 19 at The Spilled Bean when we introduced the 2011 edition of The Alexander Muse! Over 100 folks joined us with delicious snacks provided by the Alexander Friends of the Library and rocking music by Band of Music (thanks for stepping in, guys!) and local favorite, Below Freezing.

The poetry, prose, and art pieces were stunning this year! Ms. Duncan, Ms. Is, and I are so proud of the teens who contributed to the work. You guys rock!

We thank the judges who gave of their time to help determine the winners. Judges for this year’s magazine were: For art - Martha Burgin, Bud Caywood, and Kate Worm; for prose - Joyce Hostetter, Tim Peeler, and Gary Bebber.

Poetry judges were North Carolina Poet Laureate, Cathy Smith Bowers, Nancy Posey, Ann Chandonnet, and Doris Stephens. There were 28 prose entries, 54 art entries, and 64 poems that were judged.

Winners in the art category were: 1st Place and the cover page, Dallas Perry with “Landscape”; 2nd Place and the back cover, Rebecca Chapman with “Element in Time”; 3rd Place and the title page, Christina St. Clair with “Brighten Up”. Honorable Mentions in art were Carolina Arias, Kristin Collins, Louis Miller, William Vannoy, and Hunter Wiseman.

In the poetry category, winners were: 1st Place, Christy Vaughn with “Does Rain Free-Fall?”; 2nd Place, John Harriman with “Burning Buildings”; and 3rd Place, Erica Burley with “the fly on the trash”. Honorable Mentions in poetry were Abigail Keller, Harlee Korte, India McWhorter, Ashleigh Reid, and Adonna Smith.

Those who placed in the prose category were: 1st Place, “Eerie Setting” by Josh Bowman; 2nd Place, “Prose of Captain Acid” by Alan-Michael Bresch; and 3rd Place, “Unearthly Visitors” by Jordan Cruz. Honorable mentions in the prose category were Kandace Allen, Chace Carswell, Devin Mitchell, Justin Owenby, and Brittany Sullivan.

1st Place winners received a $25 gift card provided by Wal-Mart of Taylorsville. 2nd place winners received a $15 gift card for The Spilled Bean provided by the Alexander Friends of the Library. A $5 gift card for The Spilled Bean was provided for the 3rd Place winners by The Spilled Bean.

Honorable Mentions received a free scoop of ice cream provided by The Spilled Bean. The Alexander Muse wishes to thank these organizations that provided prizes. And a special thank you goes to the Alexander Friends of the Library for sponsoring this year's publication!

Also, thank you Tim Panza and The Spilled Bean for hosting us all year. Thanks to The Taylorsville Times as well for doing a great job printing The Alexander Muse!

We will have a May TPH - our final meeting of the year :( - on May 10 at 3:30 pm at The Spilled Bean. Hope everyone can make it.

Have a blessed Easter!

Mel