RPL Headquarters Closing Early May 17

RPL Headquarters (Salisbury) will be open 9 am – Noon on Saturday, May 17 due to the Cheerwine Festival in Downtown Salisbury that day. 

RPL East (Rockwell), RPL South (China Grove), and RPL West (Cleveland) will be open from 9 am – 5 pm on Saturday, May 17. 

RPL Headquarters will resume its normal hours on Monday, May 19. To learn more, call 704-216-8240.

RPL Now Offering Access to Coursera

Now through December 31, 2025, Rowan Public Library cardholders can enjoy 90 days of free access to Coursera through a pilot program made available through the State Library of North Carolina.

Coursera is a global online learning platform offering courses and certificates from top universities and companies. With over 300 partners, including Stanford, Duke, Google, IBM, and Meta, Coursera provides a wide range of subjects and formats, including courses, specializations, and certificates. Degree programs require additional payment and are not included in the pilot program.

The Coursera program will allow registrants to learn in-demand, job-relevant skills to secure their first job, improve career advancement, or transition into a new field. According to the Coursera Learners Outcome Report, 77% of Coursera learners report career benefits including new skills, increased pay, and new job opportunities.

To sign up, fill out the registration form using your active Rowan Public Library card. Registrants will be directed to the Coursera website to sign in or create an account. After signing in, registrants may select the course(s) they wish to take. Although this is a pilot program, after 90 days, a user’s progress is saved – they won't lose their work. If seats are still available, you can register again for another 90 days. Alternatively, users can continue learning by subscribing directly through Coursera. Users who do not log in or engage with Coursera after 30 days will have their access removed to allow space for others.

To help individuals take advantage of this pilot program, RPL is offering two public programs on June 25 at 2:00 p.m. and June 26 at 6:00 p.m. Both programs will be held at RPL Headquarters, 201 W Fisher ST, Salisbury, NC 28144.

For more information about Coursera and the June programs, visit www.rowanpubliclibrary.org or call 704-216-8240.

Local Media Panel Featured at Friends of RPL's Annual Meeting 

On Thursday, April 24, 2025, Friends of RPL hosted their annual meeting at RPL Headquarters. At the conclusion of the business portion of the meeting, local media professionals Deidre Parker-Smith, Mark Wineka, and David Whisenant offered a panel session where they answered attendees' questions regarding their careers, the state of print and television journalism, and the books they each wrote, edited, or designed.

Parker-Smith opened the session with reflections on what local, small-town print journalism used to be. She recalled learning how to use hot metal typesetting to prepare newspapers for publication, and how newspapers were all about keeping people informed without fear of repercussions from the public. Wineka seconded these reflections, recalling a time when the Salisbury Post printed a copy every single day except for Christmas (unless, of course, it was a year when Christmas fell on a Sunday). 

With many local newspapers scaling back their printing to only a few days per week, they simply weren't able to keep up under the "new norms" for sharing and reporting news stories. 

"The Internet totally changed everything," recalled Wineka. He described how quickly expectations shifted as Internet usage soared, and print publications could not keep up with the rapid pace of change. He explained that the Salisbury Post used to have a 70% saturation throughout Rowan County, meaning that 70% of households subscribed to the print newspaper. However, when people started looking toward Internet sources and digital publications for their news, those numbers began to fall. 

Adapting to a 24/7 news cycle thanks to the Internet, and later social media, also made huge impacts on television journalism. Whisenant, a retired television journalist with over 30 years of experience with WBTV, remembered the early days of his career. 

Early on, recording a story segment would often require multiple people traveling together and hauling equipment to ensure the news was filmed. Stories were recorded with big, bulky cameras and tapes. Whisenant often had to travel, haul equipment, and record solo, adding an extra layer of difficulty to the task at hand. 

"Deadlines disappeared. Suddenly, it was all about how fast you could get news content ready to air," said Whisenant as he recalled the drastic shifts in news delivery, thanks to the prevalence of the Internet.

Parker-Smith, Wineka, and Whisenant highlighted some of the negative aspects of the ever-changing expectations of print and television journalism, but they also remembered all the good times they experienced in the field. 

"We worked together and we worked hard," recalled Parker-Smith. She reflected on how working together to cover big stories brought coworkers closer to each other as they reported, investigated, and wrote as a team. Parker-Smith and Wineka cited the Salisbury Millworks Fire — and how strenuously the Salisbury Post staff worked to cover the story as well as provide follow-up information as it became available — as one of the biggest, most emotionally-wrought experiences of their careers. 

Wineka also explained how Salisbury Post was in a unique positon after Hurricane Hugo barreled through North Carolina in 1989. Because many power lines ran underground by that time, the paper was able to publish right after the storm hit. "Many people saw their lives as 'before Hugo' and 'after Hugo' after that, and the Post was able to publish that day despite it all," said Wineka.

Besides working through challenging community struggles together, these news media professionals also experienced exciting opportunities that became major career highlights. Wineka and Whisenant recalled the excitement of getting to travel and cover big stories, such as the time Whisenant was sent to London to cover Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in 2022. As a longtime Anglophile, Whisenant jumped at the chance to experience this monumental event firsthand and report on it for WBTV. 

The panelists wrapped up their discussion by describing their experiences with writing and editing books versus writing and reporting for print and television media. Wineka is the author or co-author of multiple books, Whisenant recently released his own memoir, and Parker-Smith has edited and designed multiple books for different writers. 

When asked what her favorite difference between the two writing formats, Parker-Smith exclaimed, "you get more than an hour!" After following long careers constantly dotted with deadlines, being able to slow down and write at their own pace was a much-welcomed change for all three panelists. "Writing a book is a lot more pleasurable," agreed Wineka. 

Whisenant knew he wanted to write about his career and experiences as a veteran news reporter, so he planned ahead. 

"I saved all my transcripts and notes when I knew I would want to include them in the book," he explained. Because television news segments are often so short — and depend heavily on video clips and photos to relay the stories — he wanted to ensure he could review the details and get everything right when the time to write about it all eventually came. 

Interested readers can find copies of the panelists' books at local bookshops and on Amazon, though they do encourage interested readers to shop local. Wineka recently published A Drive Across Town, Whisenant recently authored Chasing the Story: The Stories and Events that Shaped the Life of a Veteran News Reporter, and Parker-Smith has edited and designed multiple books, including titles by local author Margaret Basinger, most recently 'Tis the Season with Belle and Chuck.

Copies of the panelists' books are also available for checkout via Rowan Public Library. To learn more about Friends of RPL or how to access these titles, call 704-216-8240.

Teens Learn Fire Safety Skills at RPL

On Tuesday, April 15, teens at RPL Headquarters had the chance to learn about fire safety and fire extinguishers from the Salisbury Fire Department. Participants got a firsthand look at all the gear on Salisbury Fire Department's Truck 1 and how quickly a firefighter must be to get their gear on before racing to an emergency.

RPL staff thank the Salisbury Fire Department for taking time out of their day to visit RPL Headquarters and teach teens the importance of knowing what to do in an emergency. Remember: know your home's exits, have a plan to meet with your family members outside, and always sleep with your door closed! 

To learn more about teen programming and events at RPL, call 980-432-8670.

Episode #13 of Come Gather 'Round Good People Available to Stream Now

The latest episode of Come Gather 'Round Good People, an RPL podcast with a special focus on folk music with local, regional, and statewide connections, is available to stream now.

The latest episode is titled "In the Pines" and features a short interview with local singer and songwriter Kristen Anderson. The episode concludes with a performance of "In the Pines" by Anderson. 

To stream all previous episodes of Come Gather 'Round Good People, visit bit.ly/RPLSoundCloud. To learn more about the podcast and RPL Headquarters' new public-use podcasting studio, contact David at David.Lamanno@rowancountync.gov or 704-216-8229.

Lyndsey Maloney, Adult Services Supervisor

Kelsey McKinney's You Didn't Hear this From Me is an insightful exploration of gossip — why we are obsessed with it, how it is used in our daily lives from personal to work relationships, and how it plays a role in our culture. From the host of podcast Normal Gossip, McKinney dives into what gossip is, why we feel entitled to gossip, and when to realize it's entertainment versus being used as a weapon. 

I enjoyed this book because gossip is such a part of our culture. People crave to know the details of seemingly everything, from every celebrity drama to every every detail of an event (good or bad!). Gossiping is ingrained in culture, which is why I loved this book – McKinney guides readers through the vast history of gossip, and how it isn't a new concept. Gossip has existed since the beginning of mankind; it has just changed over time. McKinney explores what it is we are searching for when we crave gossip and demand all the details, and does it matter if the details are true, or even half true. Peppered throughout the book, readers get their own morsels of gossip from the Gossip Queen herself, that just leave you with questions and wanting more! 

If you love gossip, have always been told gossip is bad, or even don't care for it at all but are surrounded by it in your daily life, this book is an excellent choice to learn why "you didn't hear this from me..." is such an ear-catching phrase. 

Amanda Brill, Reference Librarian

I recently finished Liann Zhang's Julie Chan is Dead. Julie Chan is dead — to the world, at least. After finding her estranged twin, Chloe, dead in her luxury apartment, Julie takes Chloe’s identity and dives into the extravagant world of social media influencing. Counting the views and followers in the millions, Julie begins to lose herself as Chloe and it doesn't take long for the pressure to be perfect to get to her.

As a librarian, I received an Advanced Reader Copy for this title and finished it within a day of starting. Zhang writes a story of obsession, addiction, and influence in a way that terrifies the reader. I wished I could reach through the book and grab Julie by the shoulder and stop her before it got out of hand. Julie is haunted by her sister and can’t tell another soul what happened. I think what really resonated with me was how how quickly social media can spiral out of control; the likes, follows, and attention can be addicting, like a drug. 

Anyone interested in reading this title should check it out at Rowan Public Library! As a fun bonus, the author is going to host a live virtual author talk via the Library Speakers Consortium on Wednesday, May 14 at 7 pm. No login or library card number is required to participate, and if you can't make the livestream, you can catch the recording afterward. Audience members are also invited to ask the author questions! 

Rowan Public Library recognizes the following donations: 

A gift in memory of Tim Kelly Hinson given by David Bingham

A gift given by David Hood 

A gift in memory of Mayor Karen K. Alexander given by Mr. & Mrs. I. Reed