Cool New Stuff

Here are the latest programs to be added to the Spring and Summer 2008 Lunch With Books Lineup:

April 15th: Scott Shalaway, Travelogue: Galapagos Islands, Mexico, & Panama

Naturalist Dr. Scott Shalaway will return to Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday April 15th at noon. Dr. Shalaway will present a travelogue including wildlife slides from his travels to the Galapagos Islands, Mexico, and Panama. For more information, please call the library at 304-232-0244.


May 13: Theologian Dr. Bonnie Thurston

Dr. Bonnie Thurston, a local theologian, and the author of numerous books, including Women in the New Testament, Fruit of the Spirit Growth of the Heart, Wait Here and Watch, will visit Lunch With Books to discuss her latest work.




July 22: Coalfield Jews: An Appalachian History

Historian Deborah R. Weiner will appear at the Ohio Counhty Public Library’s Lunch With Books Program on Tuesday, July 22 at noon to discuss her book, Coalfield Jews: An Appalachian History. Professor Weiner is a research historian and family history coordinator at the Jewish Museum of Maryland and director of Historic Jonestown, Inc., both in Baltimore. The book is the first extended study of Jews in Appalachia. It explores the mass migration of Eastern European Jews to America and the effects of the coal boom (1880-1920) on their settlements and culture. The book provides a holistic portrayal of Jewish communities using oral histories and archival sources. It won the Southern Jewish Historical Society Award “for the book making the most significant contribution to the field of Southern Jewish history published during 2003-2006.” Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.


Sept 16: Glass Towns by WVU History Professor Ken Fones-Wolf

West Virginia University history professor Dr. Ken Fones-Wolf will appear at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program on Tuesday September 16th at noon to discuss his book, Glass Towns. Through case studies of glass production hubs in Clarksburg, Moundsville, and Fairmont (producing window, tableware, and bottle glass, respectively), the book examines the impact of industry on local populations and immigrant craftsmen. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Meredith Sue Willis to Visit LWB

On Tuesday, January 15th at noon, celebrated West Virginia author Meredith Sue Willis will visit the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program for the third installment in the library's 2008 West Virginia Writers Series. Willis is the award-winning author of several works of fiction, including Higher Ground, Only Great Changes, and Oradell at Sea. She has also written several books about writing and the teaching of writing, including Personal Fiction Writing, Blazing Pencils, and Deep Revision. The versatile author’s recent books include the children’s novel Billie of Fish House Lane, a collection of short stories called Dwight's House and Other Stories, and a science fiction novel for young adults, The City Built of Starships.

The West Virginia Writers Series continues on April 1st with Kevin Stewart (The Way Things Always Happen Here), and will conclude with Jeff Walmsley (Mothman: Behind the Red Eyes) on April 26th. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

February 26: Gretchen Moran Laskas

Author Gretchen Moran Laskas will appear at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, February 26th at noon. Laskas is a native West Virginian who now resides in Northern Virginia. She is the author of The Midwife’s Tale, which received a starred review in Library Journal, as well as awards for Outstanding Contribution to Appalachia and Best Appalachian Novel. Her latest novel for young adults, The Miner’s Daughter, is the story of the 1930's coal camps and how church and secular organizations came together in order to bring families out of poverty. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Adoptee Meeting to be Held at Wheeling Library

Are you an adult adoptee born in West Virginia? The West Virginia House of Delegates recently considered a bill styled HB 4135, which would permit adult adoptees to obtain noncertified copies of their original birth certificates and provide birth parents with consent preference and medical history forms. The Ohio County Public Library will hold an information session on the history and status of HB 4135 in the library's auditorium on Tuesday February 19th at 7 p.m. The session is free and open to the public.

West Virginia Author Mark Brazaitis

Feb 19th 2008, WV Author and WVU English Professor Mark Brazaitis

Author Mark Brazaitis will appear at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, February 19th at noon. A professor of English and Creative Writing at West Virginia University, Brazaitis is the author of An American Affair, winner of the 2004 George Garrett Prize for fiction, as well as The River of Lost Voices: Stories from Guatemala, winner of the 1998 Iowa Short Fiction Award, and a novel, Steal My Heart. He is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and his stories, poems and essays have appeared in The Sun, Beloit Fiction Journal, Notre Dame Review, Atlanta Review, Shenandoah and other literary journals. Brazaitis has also published journalism in The Washington Post, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Detroit Free Press and American Medical News.

Professor Brazaitis's appearance marks the beginning of OCPL's 2008 West Virginia Writer Series, which will include, in future weeks, Gretchen M. Laskas, Meredith Sue Willis, and Kevin Stewart.

SCHEDULE CHANGE

PLEASE NOTE: The appearance by Historic Elm Grove author Jack Maynard, originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 15th at noon, has been moved to Tuesday, April 29th at noon.