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"I am completely smitten with the Lunch with Books patrons...who welcomed me like a long-lost cousin. It takes two to have a successful reading: an enthusiastic presenter and an engaged audience, and boy did the stars align for us." -Marie Manilla, Still Life with Plums

"Lunch With Books is an outstanding program -- one of the best in the country." -NPR Journalist Matthew Algeo, The President is a Sick Man


"With a new book in hand, I’ve visited a lot of libraries lately, and I think the Ohio County Public Library is my all-time favorite. People are kind and welcoming, and deeply appreciate a visiting writer." -Jaimy Gordon, Lord of Misrule (National Book Award)

“I wanted the book launch to be at Lunch With Books because it is the best library book program in West Virginia and because Wheeling and the Wheeling area was centrally involved in so many of the firsts in West Virginia sports.” –Bob Barnett, Hillside Fields: A History of Sports in West Virginia

This blog is being discontinued.

This blog is being discontinued.
Please visit: www.ohiocountylibrary.org/calendar

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Tuesday: July 1


July 1—Marianne Novy, Reading Adoption: Family and Difference in Fiction and Drama

University of Pittsburgh professor Marianne Novy will appear at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, July 1 at noon. Novy will discuss her book, Reading Adoption - Family and Difference in Fiction and Drama. From the book description: “Reading Adoption explores the ways in which novels and plays portray adoption, and suggests how these representations have contributed to general perceptions of adoptive parents, adoptees, and birth parents. Novy reads a range of authors, including Sophocles, Shakespeare, George Eliot, Dickens, Barbara Kingsolver, Edward Albee and others, to observe how these works address the question of what makes a parent. She identifies repeated themes such as differences between adoptive parents and children, fantasies of mirroring between adoptees and their birth parents, and the relationship between nature and nurture. She meditates on how her relationships with her adoptive parents, her birth mother, and her own daughter affect her reading, and ultimately finds issues in much adoption literature relevant to parenting in any kind of family. Engagingly written from Novy's dual perspectives as critic and adult adoptee, the book combines the techniques of literary and feminist scholarship with memoir, shedding new light on familiar texts. Marianne Novy is Professor of English and Women's Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. She is author or editor of numerous books, including Imagining Adoption: Essays on Literature and Culture.” Lunch with books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring lunch and free beverages are provided. Please call 304-232-0244 for more information.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Revisit Woodsdale's Days of Yore


Local historian Kate Quinn will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, June 17 at noon to present a program called "Woodsdale Kids."

In an era of innocence and freedom, children who grew up in the Woodsdale neighborhood enjoyed a lifestyle that today's child will never know. "Woodsdale Kids"highlights the myths that the children believed, the unique ways they entertained themselves, and the characters who were part of their lives.

With humor and wit, Quinn will recall the activities that made life in this area so different from that of today's children. "Mothers of today would not think of allowing their children the freedom that we enjoyed," said Quinn. "Imagine sending your child off to play in the woods with a beebee gun and a peanut butter sandwich and not expecting to see him or her again until the streetlights came on (the universal curfew)!. No cell phones, and no worries."

In this period of 1945 to 1960 most mothers did not work outside the home and children enjoyed a freedom unseen today. There were no "helicopter" mothers hovering over a child, so children were forced to make their own decisions and become much more responsible. Children knew every neighbor and even more important, they knew that the neighbors not only knew them, but probably went to school with their parents! They would not hesitate to call the parents of a misbehaving child.Quinn has interviewed more than 60 former or present residents of Woodsdale and collected photos from many families.

For free, fun entertainment and a walk through yesterday, join Lunch with Books as we stroll down memory lane.

Thanks to Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation.

James Alexander and Dark Rain Thom Pack the House!

Last Thursday evening, James Alexander Thom and Dark Rain Thom gave us a presentation for the ages. The eager, near capacity crowd shattered the old attendance record. It was an enjoyable, informative experience for all and one we will not soon forget. Thanks to all who attended.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Next Tuesday


Tuesday June 10 at NOON-- Father Kevin Quirk, Review of The God Delusion

Father Kevin Quirk, JCD, Rector of St. Joseph Cathedral Parish in Wheeling, will review The God Delusion by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. The book explores the historic conflict between religion and science from an atheist’s perspective. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring their own lunch and free beverages will be provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Top Ten Lunch With Books Programs

Program; Presenter; Attendance; Date

1. SAENGERFEST; Eintracht German Singing Society; 200; 07-17-10

2. A Lucky Child; Auschwitz Survivor Judge Thomas Buergenthal; 198; 03-04-11

3. Fashion Show; Civil War 150; 194; 11-20-11

4. Ruanaidh; Art Rooney, Jr. and Jim O'Brien; 168; 06-15-10

5. Follow the River; James Alexander Thom; 160; 06-05-08

6. Warwood Memories; 157; 12-18-12

7. The Quiet Man Pub Reading; 150; 08-30-12

8. Wheeling Then and Now; Sean Duffy; 146; 09-07-10

9. Bloch Brother Tobacco; Stuart Bloch; 131; 04-27-10

10. Reasons to Believe; Dr. Scott Hahn; 126; 08-21-07

Book Discussion Groups

The Ohio County Public Library facilitates book discussion groups for both young adults and adults. Currently, the OCPL offers two adult groups, which meet on the first Monday and third Thursday of each month.

In addition to its own growing collection, the OCPL has access to the book discussion collection of the West Virginia Library Commission.

To join or form a book discussion group, or for more information, please call 304-232-0244.

Meeting of the Minds Philosophy Group

The Meeting of the Minds Philosophic Inquiry Forum is facilitated by David Weimer. The group meets virtually every Tuesday at 6 PM. Call the library for meeting room locations.

For more information, visit www.firstknowthyself.org/m&mphilosophy.htm or contact group organizer, David Weimer, at 740 526-0985 or by email at dwwweimer@comcast.net..