Tax forms are available at all branches. Ask staff if you need assistance.
Out of the Archives is a weekly blog highlighting items in the collections of the Stewart Bell Jr. Archives.
“Develop the Power that is Within You”: Harvey Dunn Poster Campaign
Handley Regional Library Records, 138 WFCHS THL
Are you looking for ways to better yourself? Do you feel isolated in your journey to self-discovery and personal growth? Join the Handley Library branch and MoveMentation in welcoming the brand-new Better Human Book Club! Our focus is on books that help us know ourselves and allow us to explore personal and communal growth together.
Did you know that Stewart Bell Jr. Archives has over 25,000 photographs housed in its collection? It’s true! These photographs represent a diverse look at our community and its people throughout the years. The oldest photographs date to the early years of mass photographic technology in the 1850s, and the latest photographs date to the 2020s. Within those one hundred and seventy years, a lot of local events, places, and people have been documented through photography.
A key source of information while researching your family history is the U.S. Census. It can provide you with information about where your ancestors lived, when they were born, what they did for employment, and where their families came from. However, the records are not perfect and require some basic understanding of how to read the documents.
If you’ve spent much time at the Handley Library branch lately, you’ve likely seen this logo in a few places when you’re on the children’s floor. This is the logo for our new brand that we are launching this spring: Grow a Reader! This brand is something we have been working on for a long time, and we are so excited to bring it to life starting this month.
The Kanopy database has been upgraded to include 30,000 titles. Kanopy Kids is one of the great features of the database. Kanopy Kids has unlimited viewing! You can access any title on Kanopy Kids without spending any of your monthly tickets. From storybook videos to read-alongs to TV shows and movies, you will find it all on Kanopy Kids.
We created the Staff Picks Newsletter to showcase books and media hand-picked by our staff. During the month of February, I asked our staff members to tell me all about their favorites. This first installment has just that. I received a wide range of responses, including fiction, nonfiction, movies, TV series, and music.
Great news! We are excited to announce that patrons now have access to all hoopla BingePasses! If you love digital entertainment, learning, and exploring new topics, this is your golden ticket to unlimited access—completely free with your library card.
Could your ancestor be a witness in a criminal case? Could your ancestor be involved in a civil lawsuit? Could your ancestor’s testimony be found in a division of assets complaint? County court records are extensive and cover a wide range of topics. Using them in your genealogical research may help break through brick walls in your search and offer insight into the lives of your ancestors and the community in which they lived. So how do you find and use these documents? Well, come to the Handley Library Robinson Auditorium on Saturday, March 15 @ 10:30 am
Planning a trip can be overwhelming, especially when traveling to a new country. Luckily, AtoZ World Travel, available in our eLibrary, makes it easier than ever to prepare for your journey! This incredible database offers comprehensive travel guides for 202 cities worldwide, covering everything from cultural etiquette to must-see attractions.
Here are five reasons why AtoZ World Travel should be your go-to travel resource:
Are you a teen gamer or puzzle aficionado? Then the library is the place to find your people! All three branches in the system have a variety of gaming and puzzling opportunities with which to engage. From Handley’s Board Gaming Guild, to the Puzzle Tournament at Bowman there really is something for everyone.
Did you know that your library has resources to help you prepare for the SAT, ACT, and AP exams? Read on to learn how we can help you make taking these tests a little less stressful.
Have you been a faithful attendant of babytime for many months now, but your little is starting to walk, and the baby time activities just aren't keeping them engaged as much anymore? I’m sure that your little’s readiness to move up has come long before you are emotionally ready to move past babytime, and to admit that perhaps you have a toddler, not a baby anymore! When my own daughter was 16 months, I didn’t feel ready for toddler time, but I knew it was time for us to move up.
STEAM: What Does it Mean?
You’ve heard of STEM, but what is STEAM? It encompasses the same core tenets of science, technology, engineering, and math that STEM does, with the addition of an A for arts! In 2006, researcher Georgette Yakman found that the creativity and design focused thinking of the arts help contextualize STEM programs. Think of the liberal arts addition as the “who and why,” to the “what and how” of STEM.
We are excited to announce a NEW program series for caregivers with kids ages 1-3: Grow a Reader Playgroup. This 5-week interactive playgroup will feature educational components with outside professionals each week that will developmentally support your reader through learning and play. Community professionals based on each week's theme will provide passive education to support caregivers of littles ages 1-3.
Have you always wanted to check out a Youth Services program at Handley Library, but you’d been a little nervous about how to get yourself and all your kids from the car into the building? Maybe you’ve found our plan your visit page, but you still have questions? I get it, it’s a daunting task; street parking, stairs to the entrance, and a difficult to find elevator. Maybe you’ve lugged a car seat up those winding stairs a few times, but never found the elevator!
As we kick off a new year with new reading goals, I am highlighting some of my favorite reads of the past year. In my new role as Teen Services Associate, I'd love to hear from you. What are some of your favorite reads of 2024? Click here to share some of your favorite reads from the past year or so. I'll put together a spotlight featuring our teen Patrons' Picks! In the meantime, take a look at some of mine.
Come to our first Archives After Hours event of the year on Thursday, January 30 at 5:30 pm. This event’s focus will be on our local World War I veterans and the Handley Plaques.
New Years is a great time to pick up hobbies and join clubs. Got an interest in the past? Wondering about who your ancestors were? Why not join Family History Hunters? Family History Hunters is an informal monthly meeting for genealogists of all levels of experience. The group meets on the second Thursday of each month to discuss a topic related to studying your family history to make genealogical research more successful. The upcoming topics include…
January - Beginners Genealogy
February - Googling your Ancestors
During my time as a parent patron of storytime programs, I’ll admit; if I walked in to the children’s room, and it was playtime instead of storytime, I was disappointed. Who wouldn’t be? Likely it took a lot of effort to get yourself and your children out the door- maybe there were tantrums, blowouts, and last minute outfit changes. You ran a marathon this morning, and you want one of the rockstars who works in the Youth Services department to entertain you and your kids for 30 minutes!
Are you ready for some thrilling updates? Handley Regional Library System has expanded our streaming video resource offerings, Kanopy, and there’s never been a better time to dive in!
Kanopy now offers access to over 30,000 new titles, including:
NOTE: Registration begins on December 28!
Winter is the perfect season to cozy up with a good book, and the Handley Regional Library System is excited to announce our 2025 Winter Reading Program: Be a Reading Machine! This engaging program runs from January 2 through January 31 and is open to readers of all ages.
At Handley Regional Library System, we proudly serve as a cornerstone of knowledge, community, and innovation. Our mission is to empower individuals and enrich our region through access to resources, programs, and opportunities for all. But to continue this mission, we rely on the generous support of people like you.
Here are six compelling reasons to consider financially supporting Handley Regional Library System today:
Although I am the newest member of the Youth Services team, I have been attending the programs offered by the Children’s Department for over a year as a parent! With a current 19 month old, I have spent the last year exploring the storytime and STEAM programs offered here, so I will be writing a series of posts exploring my transition from Parent Patron to Staff Member.
The Juvenile Read-Along collection boasts more than 600 titles. Recently, many Read-Along chapter books have been added to the catalog, ranging from classics: Ramona the Brave and The Mouse and the Motorcycle to new favorites: The Wild Robot and The Last Kids On Earth. Books from some of your favorite series are now available in Read-Along format, such as Big Nate, and The Adventures of Captain Underpants. Several titles are available in Large Print.
Libby, the popular library reading app from OverDrive, is changing how people connect with books. If you haven’t tried reading with Libby through the Handley Regional Library System, now is the time! Here are 10 reasons why downloading Libby will be your best literary decision yet.
Are you a fan of the classics and looking for a new book to read? Or maybe you’re reading a classic for school and stuck on the old-timey language? Either way, the library has a great selection of classic rewrites that will expand on stories you already know or help you relate to more modern characters and conflicts. Check out our selection of classic rewrites that will make you fall in love with stories based on authors like Shakespeare and Jane Austen!
Many locals will be familiar with the connection to prisoners of war camps the Winchester area has had throughout history: the Hessian prisoners brought here during the Revolutionary War and the German prisoners during World War II. Many may be unfamiliar with the story of a small group of 20 men from Philadelphia, PA exiled out of the commonwealth and sent to Winchester for months during the Revolutionary War. Norman Donoghue’s new book Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia’s Quakers in Exile, 1777-1778 examines that topic.
There's one more chance to attend our popular Archives After Hours event this year. The final one will be held on Thursday, October 24 @ 5:30 pm. If you haven't heard, each Archives After Hours event begins with a presentation concerning special items found within the collection and an explanation of how those items can help the researchers that visit the space.
Halloween is a fun holiday for many kids. You can dress up in a fun costume and go trick-or-treating, collecting lots of candy. But what if you had a food allergy, which causes your immune system to overreact to certain food proteins? Trick-or-treating might not feel like a possibility with the high risk of being exposed to an allergen. FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) decided to help change that with the Teal Pumpkin Project.
Have you ever thought about all the photos on your phone: photos of loved ones, silly moments that bring you joy, and milestones in your life? Can you find the photo you want to show someone quickly? Do you worry what could happen to those photos should the phone break? Do you have a plan to preserve those photos for the future?
Digital photography has made it so much easier to make memories, but also brings new challenges when it comes to organizing and preserving these digital images for future use.
Looking for a new way to enjoy your favorite magazines? With Magzter, you can access over 4,000 digital magazine titles for free through the Handley Regional Library System. Whether you're into lifestyle, tech, entertainment, or niche hobbies, there’s something for everyone—and in multiple languages!
Here are five reasons to start reading digital magazines today:
Sleep is very important for everyone, especially your developing little’s brain. As soon as you get a routine into action, it often feels like your little starts going through a regression.
Thursday September 12 is Video Game Day and we can help you celebrate.
Our teen book spotlight this week is focused on graphic novels!!! Graphic novels are incredibly visual stories that can feature pretty much anything fiction and nonfiction. Done in the style of comic books, there is a huge variety of choices; literally something for everyone so even if you have never read one before, you will definitely be able to find something. For our talk this week, we have a great selection of nonfiction, fantasy, historical, humor, and realistic to get you started.
Our Middle Grade book spotlight this week is focused on graphic novels!!! Graphic novels are incredibly visual stories that can feature pretty much anything fiction and nonfiction. Done in the style of comic books, there is a huge variety of choices; literally something for everyone so even if you have never read one before, you will definitely be able to find something. For our talk this week, we have a great selection of retellings, fantasy, historical, humor, and realistic to get you started. These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the sea
Do you know the story of Rebecca Wright and Thomas Laws? They aided Union General Philip Sheridan with information regarding Confederate General Jubal Early’s troop movements in and around the Winchester area. Rebecca Wright, a Winchester school teacher with loyalty to the union, would collect intelligence about troop movements and pass that information along to Thomas Laws. He was an enslaved man who would carry that intelligence to Union scouts. The information provided by Rebecca Wright and transported by Thomas Laws was crucial to Sheridan’s decision to attack Wi
Are you researching your family’s history? Have you hit a brick wall in your research? Do you have tips/strategies that you can share with others? If so, Family History Hunters is the group for you!
A major thing that helps us in life is our executive functioning skills. Our executive functioning skills are essentially our ability to do planning, organization, and then follow through with that planning and organization by acting on it.
Get ready to learn all about the environment and how you can do your part with Smokey Bear’s Reading Challenge. Running from August 10th to November 30th, the challenge is available to all ages and accessible on your Beanstack account.
Our teen book spotlight this week is taking a look at Mysteries!!! There are so many different types of mystery books available that there is literally something for everyone’s tastes! Some are straight mystery/detective stories while others are more suspenseful and thrilling; mysteries are usually cross genre as well meaning that not only is there a mystery element, but there may also be some fantasy, science fiction, or historical elements as well. We have a great selection this week from realistic to fantasy, murder mysteries and crime solving so you will either find so
Our middle grade book spotlight this week is taking a look at Mysteries!!! There are so many different types of mystery books available that there is literally something for everyone’s tastes! Some are straight mystery/detective stories while others are more suspenseful and thrilling; mysteries are usually cross genre as well meaning that not only is there a mystery element, but there may also be some fantasy, science fiction, or historical elements as well. We have a great selection this week from realistic to fantasy, murder mysteries and crime solving so you will either
When you think of youth programming at the library, you probably think about storytimes and puppets and all sorts of things for younger kids. But did you know that the library offers programs for teens, as well? Read on to learn about a few of the activities you can get involved with!
Bowman Library
Winchester, VA — The Handley Regional Library System is proud to announce the impressive statistics from the 2023-2024 fiscal year, underscoring its vital role in the community and its ongoing commitment to providing accessible resources and services to patrons of all ages.
Over the past year, the Handley Regional Library System's three locations—Handley Library, Bowman Library, and Clarke County Library—welcomed 365,992 visitors, reflecting the vibrant engagement with our libraries. Key highlights from the year include:
Historical Fiction
Discover quick listen historical fiction favorites that explore the complexity of the human condition, like The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, on @hoopladigital. https://www.hoopladigital.com/collection/5558
Mystery
Check out @hoopladigital's quick-listen mystery, suspense, and thrillers that will keep you on the edge of your seat. https://www.hoopladigital.com/collection/5552