May 7: A Visit from Anna Jarvis

Note: The April 30 program featuring Laura Cramblet on hammered dulcimer has been canceled. An announcement will be made when the program is rescheduled. We apologize for any inconvenience.  There will be no Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, April 30.

OUR NEXT PROGRAM: On Tuesday, May 7 at noon, Kate Quinn will portray Anna Jarvis, one of West Virginia's little known heroes. The founder of Mother's Day, Jarvis led an amazing life. From the Civil War to the 1940's, she tells tales of her family and their many contributions to our state. 

See & Discuss The Natural

Friday, April 19 - Towngate Cinema at 7 PM

Screening: The Natural (Barry Levinson,1984) - 134 mins.

Tuesday, April 23 - Ohio County Public Library at Noon

Conversation: The Natural

In honor of the return of spring and a new baseball season, our final screening of 2012-2013 is the adaptation of Bernard Malamud’s modernist novel updating the Fisher King legend to the world of mid-century baseball.  Both novel and film are based in the 1949 scandal of a promising major league ballplayer whose career was altered when he was shot and wounded in his team hotel room by a mystery woman.  Levinson’s film was controversial upon its release: the novel’s downbeat ending received a spectacular Hollywood “makeover,” complete with Randy Newman’s greatest soundtrack score, climactic slow-motion fireworks, and Robert Redford getting the girl.

 All programs – screenings and conversations – are free of admission charge.

Attend as many or as few programs as your schedule allows.

All are welcome, and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Parental Guidance is recommended for all screenings and conversations.

On Friday: Library Memories

Do you remember Ethan Allen? The bookmobile? The Elm Grove branch? The Warwood branch? How about the card catalog, featuring actual, paper cards? Miss Ebeling? 

Our National Library Week celebration continues on April 19 at noon with a special Friday program devoted to your most cherished memories of the OCPL or any library that impacted your life. 

Hear and share memories, poems and other writings about the importance of libraries and the love of reading. 

Hosted by Marc Harshman, Poet Laureate for West Virginia.

Note: Governor Tomblin has sent us a special message just for this event. It will be read aloud at the start of the program.

Join in Our National Library Week Celebration

The Ohio County Public Library in Wheeling will join libraries in schools, campuses and communities nationwide in celebrating National Library Week, a time to highlight the value of libraries, librarians, and library workers.

Libraries today are more than repositories for books and other resources. They are deeply committed to the places where their patrons live, work and study – trusted places where everyone in the community can gather to reconnect and reengage with each other to enrich and shape the community and address local issues. Whether through offering e-books and computer classes, resources for job seekers or continuing education programs for adults, library staff members listen to the community they serve, and they respond.

The Ohio County Public Library is celebrating National Library Week by offering special programs, displays, and activities, including a fine free week.  From April 14-20, patrons may return overdue books without penalty.

The library is also hosting its Spring Book Sale from Tuesday, April 16 through Saturday, April 20. Cookbooks, craft books, magazines, mysteries, children’s books and videos will be among the offerings. Best sellers will be priced at $1.00 and up, hardbacks will sell for $1.00, paperbacks for 50¢, magazines for 10¢, audio books and books on CD for $1.00, and DVDs for $1.00. The hours for the book sale will be Tuesday-Thursday, 9 AM to 8:30 PM; Friday 10 AM to 4:30 PM; and Saturday, 9 AM t

o 4:30 PM. Call the library at 304-232-0244 for additional information.

Special programs during the week will focus on the National Library Week theme: Communities Matter @ your library. On Tuesday April 16 at noon, Dr. Chuck Julian of the West Virginia Library Commission, will host a special Lunch With Books program reviewing the rich history of the Ohio County Public Library, the oldest tax supported library in the state of West Virginia. Dr. Julian will trace the origins of the current library back to the mid and late 19^th century.

The celebration will continue with a special Friday, April 19 at noon Lunch With Books program called “LibraryMemories.” Hosted by West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman, the program will feature shared memories and thoughts about the importance of libraries as well as poems and other writings about libraries and the love of reading. Patrons will be invited to share their own memories of any library that may have impacted their lives.

Wednesday April 17 is National Bookmobile Day. As the first state library to operate a bookmobile, the OCPL will celebrate by decorating the library van for the day, and by setting up a display about its ongoing outreach services, which include delivery of library materials and full in-home reference service including e-device assistance for homebound patrons, as well as support for book discussion groups in high rises, retirement homes, and Story Time for day care centers and preschools.

In addition to offering special Story Times, Toddler Times, music, snacks, and crafts, the library’s Children’s Department will host storyteller Beverly Comer for a special program called “What’s the Story?” on Thursday, April 18 at 7 PM. Comer will explore the rich variety of storytelling from legends and fairytales, to ghost stories and modern urban legends. She will also show patrons how to find such stories at the library.

A poster contest themed “I Love My Library” will be open to children ages 4 to 12. Posters must be no larger than 12 by 18 inches and the submission deadline is Saturday April 13. Prizes will be awarded by age group and the posters will be displayed throughout the library.

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. 

For more information, visit the Ohio County Public Library or call 304-232-0244.

New People's University to Begin May 7...RSVP Today!

Please RSVP by emailing lunchwithbooks@yahoo.com or by calling 304-232-0244.

People's University, American History II, The Civil War & Statehood

All classes start at 7 PM.

Class 1, May 7:  Slavery & the Road to War
A look at slavery in the United States before and leading up to the American Civil War.

Instructor:      John Mattox, Curator, the Underground Railroad Museum, Flushing, OH. 

Class 2, May 14: Lincoln & the Secession Crisis

A look at the life of Abraham Lincoln, his election as president, and the ensuing secession crisis.

Instructor:      Rea Redd, Director of Eberly Library and American History instructor, Waynesburg University.

Class 3, May 21: Introduction to The Civil War

An overview of the major American political, social, and economic issues from of the second half of the eighteenth century to just prior to the attack on  Fort Sumter.

Instructor: Roger Micker, Past President of the Ohio Valley Civil War Roundtable and retired history teacher, at Steubenville High School.

Class 4, May 28: The Civil War. Pt. 1

Instructor: Rea Redd, Director of Eberly Library and American History instructor, Waynesburg University.

Class 5, June 4: The Civil War. Pt. 2

Instructor: Kristopher White, former staff military historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Class 6, June 11: The Civil War in Wheeling

A look at important locations and buildings in Wheeling during the war years (some of which still remain) and the local people whose efforts changed history.

Instructor: Jeanne Finstein, President of Friends of Wheeling, Member of the Civil War 150 Committee and the Upper Ohio Valley Civil War Roundtable.

Class 7, June 18 The Wheeling Conventions

A look at how a new state evolved from the deliberations at Wheeling’s Custom House.

Instructor: David Javersak, Dean Emeritus of the School of Liberal Arts & Emeritus Professor of History at West Liberty University,

Class 8, June 25 Reconstruction

Instructor: Rea Redd, Director of Eberly Library and American History instructor, Waynesburg University.

Please RSVP by emailing lunchwithbooks@yahoo.com or by calling 304-232-0244.
 

April 9: Join Marc Harshman for an afternoon of soothing poetry.

"The poetry of Marc Harshman is deeply anchored in the earth, the elements of light and water, of all life closely observed. Plants and animals and human beings are equally treasured. Harshman's deep spirituality also permeates his poetry. This new volume by West Virginia's Poet Laureate is a joy." - Denise Giardina, author of Storming Heaven

"Marc Harshman writes a poetry of bonds, bonds between individuals, between families and communities, between the past and present. In his poems the mythic and the folkloric often swirl around the everyday. They are poems of clear-eyed witness and unexpected connections, of relish and humor, and sometimes the macabre, even the uncanny. Harshman celebrates the local and personal as it touches the larger world, in vivid portraits, rituals that define our lives. I admire the authenticity of both the voice and the vision." -Robert Morgan, author of Terroir

"Poems of person and place by West Virginia Poet Laureate, Marc Harshman. Marc Harshman knows these people, these places, and he has the wisdom of someone who knows when to be quiet, when to watch, and listen, so that he can come to us and tell these heart-felt stories. These poems earn their keep, weaving together the physical and spiritual worlds in a landscape that can both sustain us and break our hearts." -Jim Daniels, author of Show and Tell: New and Selected Poems

Share Your Library Memories

Dear Patrons,

In recent weeks, many of you have asked how you can support your library. A wonderful opportunity is right around the corner.

As part of our NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK celebration, we have added a special Lunch With Books program on Friday, April 19 at noon called “Library Memories.” 

Hosted by West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman, the program will feature shared memories and thoughts about the importance of libraries as well as poems and other writings about libraries and the love of reading. Patrons will also be invited to share their own memories of any library that may have impacted their lives. 

Obviously, we will not have time to hear from everyone, so we encourage you to share your library memories in writing by emailing lunchwithbooks@yahoo.com or by sending a letter to LIBRARY MEMORIES, Ohio County Public Library, 52 16th Street, Wheeling, WV 26003.

Some of these shared memories may be selected to be read aloud at the program or may appear in print or on the OCPL's web site.

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to highlight the value of libraries, librarians, and library workers. 

The 2013 theme, Communities Matter @ your library, invites you to rediscover your library as a hub for engaging in creative conversations about the community’s needs. Please take this special week to show that your library is so much more than a repository of resources—that it’s the place for discussion that can enrich, shape, and transform

our community.

We to hope to hear from many of you about your fondest library memories.Thank you for your ongoing support.