Friends of RPL Seeking Summer Reading 2025 Sponsors

Friends of RPL and RPL staff are already hard at work planning for Summer Reading 2025. In their quest to plan quality fun and educational opportunities for library customers of all ages, Friends of RPL are seeking sponsorships for Summer Reading 2025.

Individuals and businesses are invited to become Summer Reading 2025 sponsors. All donation amounts are appreciated. Businesses who donate $500 or more will qualify to have their logo printed inside RPL's Summer Reading Tabloid, which will be distributed in Sunday editions of the Salisbury Post, given to all school age public school children in Rowan County, and posted on RPL's website.

To learn more or become a sponsor, call 704-216-8240 or visit www.friendsofrpl.org. 

2nd Annual Genealogy Conference a Success

Rowan Public Library’s Edith M. Clark History Room and the Genealogical Society of Rowan County held their second annual Genealogy Conference on Saturday, November 16 at RPL West in Cleveland. The conference kicked off with a presentation by Dr. Gary Freeze about the early immigrants to Rowan County, where they came from, and their reasons for settling in the Piedmont area of North Carolina. Many commented on how much they enjoyed his presentation and were inspired to learn more about the early history of the area.

Rhonda Roederer of “Heritage with Heart” was the conference's featured speaker.  Attendees appreciated the family anecdotes she used to make the genealogy research come to life. Some of her sessions included “3 Keys to Successful Research and How to Keep the Momentum,” “Dare to Air Your Ancestor’s Dirty Laundry: 5 Positive Outcomes,” and “An Adoption Story: The Power of DNA Testing.”

Ms. Roederer also presented a fascinating tale about an undisclosed family event in her session “Deep Family Secret Uncovered: Unearthing Hidden Stories with Unconventional Research Tools.” Roederer’s family had an mystery that had remained untold since before WWII. With determination and the use of unconventional research tools, she was able to solve this mystery, though it took many years to finally do so. She used oral histories, city directories, social history, and DNA testing to trace the unknown and discover the truth.

Friends of Rowan Public Library the Genealogical Society, and the Elizabeth Maxwell Steele Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) joined the conference as vendors and were able to entice new members and sell some of their wares to the attendees.

Several posters were presented by library staff. Library school graduate student Jailene Aguilar Valdovinos invited participants to discover Digital NC and explained how it can enhance genealogical research. Anne Morgan exhibited a poster on how combining the obituary indexes created by History Room staff with the archive of Salisbury Post microfilm can assist patrons in finding obituaries. Lastly, Paul Birkhead and Gretchen Beilfuss Witt described the beginning of RPL’s large project, the “Salisbury Post Morgue Preservation Project (SPMPP),” giving attendees a chance to explore what has already been scanned from the SPMPP materials. The project involves scanning the many years' worth of clippings, photographs, and articles collected by the Salisbury Post to create a digital, searchable version of these items for the public. To learn more about the SPMPP, visit bit.ly/RPL-SPMPP.

The third annual Genealogy Conference will occur in late fall of 2025 – a Save the Date will be forthcoming. In the meantime, several genealogy classes are planned for the coming year, including “Vital Records” at RPL East (Rockwell) and “Find the Women in Your Family” at RPL Headquarters (Salisbury). Dates and times to be announced. 

Podcast Studio Coming to RPL Headquarters

Made possible with generous grants awarded from the State Library of NC, the Cannon Foundation, and matching Rowan County funds, RPL’s podcast studio and instructional space will be available for free at Rowan Public Library Headquarters (Salisbury). The studio is equipped with a soundproof booth, RODEcaster Pro mixer, five microphones, a MIDI keyboard, and a MacBook Pro with professional software. The production space is perfect for creating professional level voiceovers, podcasts, musical recordings, and more. 

Are you interested in podcasting or recording and don't know how, or where to begin? Do you need to know how a specific piece of our podcast studio works? Coming soon in RPL's spring 2025 programming, the library will offer Podcast Tech Stops! During these one-hour sessions, RPL Podcast Guru and Librarian David Lamanno will walk you through podcast studio basics. Keep an eye out for more information coming soon! To learn more, contact David Lamanno at 704-216-8229 or David.Lamanno@rowancountync.gov.

Bookshop Volunteers Wanted

The friends of RPL Second Saturday Bookshop is in need of bookshop sorting room volunteers! To learn more, contact Library Services Manager Laurie Lyda at 704-216-8245.

Location: Friends of RPL Second Saturday Bookshop

Address: West End Plaza 1935 Jake Alexander Blvd W, Salisbury, NC 28147, Unit C-7

Duties: Volunteers are needed to work shifts on the second Saturday of every month. Shifts are typically 10 am to 1 pm or 1 to 3 pm, though hours may be flexible. Duties include receiving and sorting boxes of donations, loading carts, and shelving books in the store. Shifts will involve standing for extended periods; pushing, pulling, and lifting 30-pound boxes; pushing and pulling carts of books up to 100-pounds; and stooping and bending to pick up materials.

Preferred Skills: Knowledge of broad genres (fiction, non-fiction, juvenile, etc.) preferred.

Teen Friendly?: Yes. This opportunity is open to volunteers ages 17 and older.

Time/Duration: Year-round, second Saturday of each month. Volunteers will be required to arrive at their designated shift time and work the duration of their assigned shift.

Liz Gerometta, Library Associate

I recently read The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. This is her debut novel, and it is a sharp and thrilling blend of genres: part spy novel, part time travel romance. In London in the near future, a British civil servant is promoted to a top-secret role in a newly formed shadowy ministry. She is tasked with being a "bridge" aka monitor, housemate, teacher, and helper to the "expat" known as "1847" or Commander Graham Gore. The commander, who as far as history is concerned died in a doomed expedition to the Arctic, is one of just a handful of the first people plucked from the past by the ministry for the purposes of determining the effects of time travel on the human body and mind as well as the effects of this new technology on the very fabric of space-time itself. 

With its complex and charming characters, unreliable narrator, witty and sparkling banter, and its wildly creative, twisty, and just plain fun adventure, Bradley's utterly transporting novel may just steal some of your time — but you probably won't mind.