The Library is hosting two special events this month that look at German POW camps in the U.S.
On Tuesday, September 14th at 7 p.m., Jim White, historian and author, will speak on "Camp Battle: German POW Camp, New Bern, NC. Jim's research includes a few photos of the camp and information about one prison escape. Local history buffs and students of World War II will be interested in this chapter of New Bern's history.

The traveling exhibit Held on the Homefront: German POWs in the U.S. will be at the library from 2-8 p.m. on Thursday, September 16th. The mobile museum, a converted bus, includes a 21 seat theater and uses media, narrative texts and artifacts to tell the story of the 380,000 Germans imprisoned across the U.S. during World War II. The exhibit is organized by the TRACE Museum, St. Paul. MN.
The North Carolina Museum of History lists 18 prisoner of war camps throughout the state, housing primarily German prisoners including crews from U-Boats captured or sunk off the North Carolina coast.
The New Bern exhibit stop is sponsored by First Citizens Bank.

Register Now for Book Discussion Series

"“Law and Literature: The Eva R. Rubin Series”

This Let’s Talk About It Book Discussion series will meet every three weeks on Monday evenings at 7 PM from August 23rd through November 15th.
Participants are encouraged to explore the difference between what is established law and what is “just". Visiting college professors provide background and moderate the discussions.
The first session will meet at 7 PM on Monday, August 23rd in the library auditorium. Books are now available at the library.
Titles to be read include:

August 23 – Billy Budd by Herman Melville
September 13 – The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
October 4 – A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
October 25 – Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
November 15 – The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen Carter

This project is made possible by a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, in partnership with the North Carolina Center for the Book, a program of the State Library of North Carolina. Additional support is provided by the Friends of the Library.

Contact the library at 638-7800 for more information.

Neuse River Program June 8th

Neuse River: Life Begins With a Drop of Water


Jake Jacobson, of the Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation, will speak about the Neuse River
at 7 p.m on Tuesday, June 8th in the library auditorium.

Please join us for this informative presentation. Admission is free and refreshments will be served.

Children (12 and under) are invited to Make a SPLASH at the New Bern-Craven County Public Library for this year's Summer Reading Program! Registration will begin Monday, June 28 in the Children's Services Department. We encourage children to register early so they may participate in the storytimes and club sessions beginning Tuesday, July 6. The Youth Services staff will kickoff the summer programs with a Bedtime Special on Wednesday, June 30 and Thursday, July 1 at 7:00 in the library auditorium. All children need a ticket to attend. Free tickets will be available beginning Tuesday, June 8. We hope you will help us celebrate 30 years of summer reading programs. Wear your pajamas and plan on having fun with all your library friends. For more information about our programs and services, please call at 252-638-7815.

Lecture and Genealogy Seminar, May 21 and 22

In celebration of New Bern’s tercentennial, the New Bern-Craven County Public Library is sponsoring two programs featuring the renowned Palatine researcher, Henry Z. “Hank” Jones, Jr.

On Friday, May 21, at 7 p.m. in Orringer Auditorium at Craven Community College, Mr. Jones will deliver a free lecture titled “The Palatines: Profiles in Courage.” The lecture will discuss the history of the Palatines and their subsequent immigration to England and North America.

On Saturday, May 22, a day long genealogy seminar will be held at the New Bern-Craven County Public Library auditorium, beginning at 9 a.m. for registration. Topics discussed will include “When the Sources are Wrong,” “Family Tradition: Separating Fact from Fiction” and “How Psychic Roots Became an Unsolved Mystery.” Also discussed will be “Tracing the Origins of early 18th Century Palatines and Other Emigrants.” The cost for this seminar is $40 if registered by May 7 and $50 after May 7. Price includes lunch and workshop material.

Contact the Kellenberger Room at 638-7808 or visit the Kellenberger Room’s website (http://newbern.cpclib.org/research) for more information and registration forms.

Hank Jones has written seven books on genealogy and an autobiography. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, a group whose membership is limited to 50 members. He received the Award of Merit from the National Genealogical Society for Distinguished Work in Genealogy, is a member and former Trustee of the Association of Professional Genealogists and is a Charter Member and former Director of The Genealogical Speaker's Guild. In addition to his genealogical career, Hank also had a twenty-five year acting career, appearing on numerous television programs and eight Walt Disney movies in the late 1960s and early 1970s including Herbie Rides Again, Blackbeard’s Ghost and The Shaggy D.A. He retired from acting in 1981 to spend more time doing genealogy.

Friends Wanted

The Friends of the Library membership drive is now underway. Application forms are available at the Library's main desk. Annual dues and proceeds from the twice yearly book-sales help support library programs including the Summer Reading Program and Let's Talk About It Book Discussion Series.

Join the Friends on Sunday, April 18th at 3 p.m. with local author Eddie Ellis. Mr. Ellis will be the keynote speaker for the Friends Annual meeting which is open to the public. Ellis, the author of New Bern History 101, will speak on "How a Trip to the Library Changed My Life"

GIANT VIDEO and AUDIO BOOK SALE

The New Bern-Craven County Public Library announces a giant video and audio book sale in the library auditorium from March 25-27. Sale hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Thousands of entertainment videos and a large collection of books on cassette tape will be available. Topics include: drama, family, musicals, science-fiction, westerns, and more. $1 per video tape, books on tape will be 25 cents per tape.

Call 638-7800 for more information.

Author Margaret Maron to Visit

Best-selling author Margaret Maron comes to New Bern to kick off the New Bern Craven County Public Library series, Tar Heel Voices, an exploration of works showcasing life and culture in North Carolina. Maron, a native Tar Heel, is the author of twenty-six novels and two collections of short stories, including the popular and best-selling series of mystery novels featuring Judge Deborah Knott, a district court judge from fictional "Colleton County," North Carolina. As a district court judge Knott travels all over the state and her cases (and the novels) take her to Harkers Island, (Shooting at Loons), among the potters in central NC (Uncommon Clay), to the High Point furniture market (Killer Market), and the Blue Ridge Mountains (High Country Fall), among many familiar North Carolina locations. Through murder and mayhem, family trials and tribulations, hurricanes and scorching tobacco fields, Judge Knott dispenses justice across her beloved North Carolina with an even hand and a good sense of humor. Beyond the mystery stories, the novels explore author Maron’s concerns for North Carolina as the state transitions from agriculture to high tech, and touch upon problems of race, migrant labor, politics, and unstructured growth.

The New York Times Book Review states, “Every Margaret Maron [novel] is a celebration of something remarkable.” Ms Maron still lives on the family tobacco farm a few miles southeast of Raleigh. (The farm is also the setting for her novel Bootlegger's Daughter, numbered among the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.) In 2004, she received the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for best North Carolina novel of the year. Maron is also a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine and in 2008 she was honored with the North Carolina Award for Literature, the state’s highest civilian honor.

“Ms. Maron is a wonderful speaker and a great way to kick off our Tar Heel Voices series which aims to celebrate North Carolina as an inspiration to the creative process,” says Head Librarian Joanne Straight. “Margaret Maron herself is a North Carolina native who returned to her family home following time in Italy and New York. Not only does she have deep roots in our state but she vividly reflects that in her writing.”

Maron will be presenting a lecture titled: “Coming Home with the Bootlegger"s Daughter;” Bootlegger's Daughter is the title of the first book in the Deborah Knott mystery series.

“I think it’s especially wonderful that Margaret Maron is coming this year when we are celebrating New Bern’s 300th birthday since she so clearly loves being a Tar Heel and is so interested in the history and cultural life of this state,” says Straight. “We are really excited to have her and are looking forward to introducing her to our community.”

Tar Heel Voices: Author Margaret Maron will be held Saturday, March 20 at 2 p.m. in the dining room of the New Bern Scottish Rite Temple, 516 Hancock Street in downtown New Bern. Free tickets will be available at the New Bern Craven County Public Library at 400 Johnson Street in New Bern beginning March 1. There will be no admission without a ticket. Although there is no charge for admission, donations to the New Bern Craven County public library are welcome.

A wine and cheese reception with Margaret Maron will be held on March 19 (the evening before) from 7-8:30 p.m. at the home of John and Maria Cho in downtown New Bern. Tickets are $20 per person. Tickets are limited and will be available for sale at the library beginning March 1. All proceeds will benefit continuing programs at the New Bern Craven County Public Library.

Margaret Maron’s appearance is made possible through the generous sponsorship of: Harris, Creech, Ward & Blackberry, P.A., Leigh A. Wilkinson, the Arts Department of the New Bern Woman's Club and the Friends of the Library.