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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

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

September 1: Archaeology in the Northern Panhandle

Andrea Keller, Cultural Program Coordinator at the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex will be at the Ohio County public Library’s Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, September 1 at noon to present From Ice Age to Industrial Age : An Overview of Archaeology in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle, a trip through time, from Native American prehistory through European contact and beyond. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Next Meeting of the Minds Tuesday August 25 at 6 pm.

The topic: God. How big (or small) does he (?) need to be?

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

August 25: "My Lifetime" Books with Larry Good


Wheeling’s Larry Good will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, August 25 at noon to discuss “My Lifetime” books, the Life-Story organizers he helped invent to guide people in recording personal histories. The books, available from Personal History Systems at http://www.mylifetimebook.com/, are fully customizable albums - topics that fit individual needs in keeping a personal history. Each album is delivered with pages to help you write about your life, as it changes, to include new family members, loved ones lost, career changes, finances, a daily diary, lifestyle data, hobbies, personal faith, a travel log, and much more. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Library to Celebrate Capitol Reopening with Silent Film Screening

On Tuesday evening, September 22 at 7 pm, the Ohio County Public Library, in partnership with the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation, will offer a free screening of the first motion picture ever shown at Wheeling’s historic Capitol Theatre.

The event will be a part of the community-wide celebration of the reopening of the Capitol and will follow historian Kate Quinn’s Lunch With Books presentation on the history of the famous theatre scheduled for Tuesday September 15 at noon in the library’s auditorium.

The sixty-eight minute Fox film, Romance of the Underworld, debuted in 1928, and starred Mary Astor as a gangster’s girlfriend who works in a nightclub but gets a chance at a new life with a little help from a kind cop played by Robert Elliott. The film also stars Ben Bard and Broadway favorite John Boles.

The library will screen an original 16 mm print of the film on loan from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Live piano music will accompany the film as the library’s auditorium is transformed into a 1928 movie theatre, complete with ushers, historically accurate food and beverages, and period music, costumes, etc.

Billed as “Wheeling’s New Million Dollar Theatre: A Wonderland of Entertainment,” the 3000 seat Capitol Theatre opened its doors to the public for the first time on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28, 1928 at 12:30 pm. Admission for the “Gala Opening” was sixty cents.

In addition to Romance of the Underworld, the Capitol’s “First Mighty Offering” featured continuous entertainment from 1 pm to 11 pm, including the popular American tenor John Steele, stage plays, a pantomime act, song and dance, acrobats; and a special organ prelude featuring Dusty Rhodes at “the $50,000 Wonder Organ…the finest organ in West Virginia.” The Wheeling Intelligencer estimated that at least 15,000 people attended throughout the day.

The screening of Romance of the Underworld is free and open to the public. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.





This project is in partnership with the Wheeling National Heritage Arera Corporation.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Aug 18: The Life & Times of Henry Schmulbach with Ryan Stanton


Ryan Stanton, an educator and local history enthusiast who maintains a blog called The Bell Rang, will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, August 18 at noon to share some of his research on Wheeling businessman and brewery founder, Henry Schmulbach. The program will feature photos of places associated with Schmulbach’s life, as well as breweriana. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

August 11: Street Car Days in Wheeling

Jack Syphers, one of Wheeling’s last living trolley car men, will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, August 11 at noon to tell us about his memories of a lost era: Street Car Days in Wheeling. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are 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..