Bowman Library announces their next celebration of 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten on September 21 at 11AM. These graduates and their families took the challenge to read or listen to 1000 books to help prepare them for the next step in learning. This is a celebration of accomplishments with their families and friends.
Storytimes have returned, just in time for our Library Card Sign-up Month! The Toy Story characters are helping us spread the word and are the inspiration for this week's storytime theme, Toy Trunk.
Handley Regional Library System has expanded their STEAM-based (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) programs for kids with their new Girls Who Code Club. The series begins September 12th and runs through October 31st at Handley Library. Each session begins at 4PM and will focus on teaching coding in a fun environment just for girls. Registration is required and light snacks are provided. The program is free and open to the public.
We have a unique program called Conversation Partners that happens the third Thursday of the month, starting on September 19th at 5:30PM at Bowman Library. The free program will pair up anyone who wants to practice speaking another language in everyday conversation with a native speaker. The library system can currently support Spanish; however they are seeking additional language volunteers. For more information, contact Mandy Foote at (540) 869-9000 ext.
We have an upcoming extracurricular activities fair for kids, teens, and their families on September 14th at 2PM at Handley Library!
The first class in the ongoing Tech Tuesdays series is on Windows 10 at Bowman Library. Free and open to the public, the class is led by George Williams from Senior Technology Service on September 17th at 11AM. Attendees will learn how to clean up, speed up, and protect their PC. They will also get the basics for Windows 10, including using the start menu with tiles, customizing the desktop, using the control panel, and keyboard shortcuts.
You never know what will be the next donation to the Archives, or where it will come from. In this latest blog post from the Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, photograph assistant Bettina Helms tells the story of how we acquired several new images of the Baker family of Winchester.
In June, Rebeca Thibodeau of Ocala, Florida contacted the Archives after she had purchased a framed set of eight pictures of Henry Baker family members at a church rummage sale. After researching the family, she realized they were from the Winchester area. Would we like to have them?
It started with a simple collaboration between the Sinclair Health Clinic, then known as The Free Medical Clinic, and the Handley Regional Library System. We wanted to offer flu vaccinations to those without insurance and, at the same time, introduce the community to the services provided by the clinic. Well, since that first successful event things have grown. We now have a number of community partners offering a variety of health, safety, and overall well-being services represented at our wellness event. You can still get that flu shot and much more.
We are excited to announce the Frederick County Board of Supervisors signed a proclamation to honor Library
Card Sign-up Month at Handley Regional Library System.
Read all about the month here and sign-up for a card here.
Mayor visits and tours at library locations, over 100 programs for all ages, a signed proclamation from the Frederick County Board of Supervisors, prizes, and community events help celebrate this month.
We have a new series of free technology workshops called Tech Tuesdays at Bowman Library starting September 17th every Tuesday at 11AM. The workshops are led by George Williams from Senior Technology Services and are free and open to the public.
Our next author talk is Private Confederacies: The Emotional Worlds of Southern Men as Citizens and Soldiers on September 14th at 2PM at Handley Library. Author James J. Broomall will show the crisis of the war and a forced a reconfiguration of the emotional worlds of the men who took up arms for the South. The talk will also focus on returning to civilian life and how Southern veterans questioned themselves as never before, sometimes suffering from terrible self-doubt.
Friends of the Handley Regional Library Announce Genealogy and Local History Bus Trip to DC on September 25th. Researchers and sightseers will have a choice of three destinations – The DAR Library, The National Archives, or the National Gallery of Art. The Schrock Tour and Charter Bus will depart from Solenberger’s on Berryville Avenue (Rt. 7) in Winchester and will leave promptly at 8:00AM, arriving back in Winchester around 5:30PM. The cost of this trip is $25 a passenger and is open to the public.
College student Matt Geczy worked on a number of projects for the Stewart Bell Jr. Archives this summer and wrote this blog post to share his experience.
We have a new program sponsored by the Lord Fairfax Soil and Water Conservation District, Conservation in Your Watershed & In Your Backyard. Free and open to the public, the program is on September 19th at 6:30PM. Attendees will learn how to identify problem areas on their land, how to prevent runoff and explore different land management options like livestock, native/pollinator habitat, conservation landscaping, beekeeping and more - all designed to make your land more productive and environmentally friendly.