Blog Entries

We want you to know that Handley Regional Library System is HERE for you this Back to School season. Whether your child is homeschooling or attending public or private school and even college, we can help. Are you an educator wanting to make the most of the digital content you are sharing with your students? Are you a caregiver that is new to assisting with at-home instruction? Or, are you a student that is anxious about this new school year? Our librarians have compiled the best library resources to support your Back to School journey. 

This blog is about another nifty feature in the library catalog that you may not have found yet. I will use two books as an example. The first book “The Sherlockian” is a historical mystery with parallel narratives. When I type the name in the search bar for the library and then click on the title, I see the page below. Notice the link on the left titled “Series & read-a-likes”.

We are excited to announce the availability of a remote printing service for the community called PrintME available at Bowman Library and Handley Library.   Users can upload their documents to the PrintME app, printme.com, or print@printme.com at home, on the go, or even at the library.  They will receive a confirmation code to take to the PrintME station at Bowman or Handley Libraries and pay with a credit card for a quick, contactless transaction when they pick-up their print job.

In August, we remember the Suffragette movement.  Our display this month shows elements of the local fight for women’s right to vote.  In particular, the display highlights Fannie Baker Dunlap, who registered for the vote on October 2, 1920 at 56 years of age, and Mary Elizabeth Pidgeon, a member of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia. 

The Library of Congress (LoC) was established in 1880 to support the research needs of the United States Congress. Over time, its mission and reach broadened, allowing it to serve as the nation’s library. As you can imagine this is quite an undertaking, making the LoC the largest library in the world! Early in this century the LoC began to digitize collections and put them online. Recently, I attended a webinar that provided a tour of features on the LoC website.

John Lewis was an amazing man; one of the key participants in the Civil Rights movement.

We mourn his death and look to his life for inspiration. If you would like to learn more about his life and accomplishments, the Handley Regional Library System has his graphic novels, the March trilogy, available at Handley and Bowman Libraries. There is also a signed set in the Stewart Bell Jr. Archives. He reached a new generation through these graphic novels.

The Reading Room of the Stewart Bell Jr. Archives is reopen to researchers. For the safety of staff and researchers, and to protect our collections, we have had to make some changes to our procedures. Researchers will now need to make appointments to do research in the Archives. Currently, researchers are limited to a one hour research appointment per day. Research appointment times are as follows:  

Monday to Thursday: 10:15 AM to 11:15 AM, 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM, 1:15 PM to 2:15 PM, 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM, 3:45 PM to 4:45 PM, 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Did you know that there are vast amounts of great music available to you through our Hoopla digital service? And even better, it’s all for free with a library card? When you download music, you get to listen to a whole album for seven days before it gets “returned”. Listed below are just some of the most popular albums in a few of the many categories. What is your favorite category of music to listen to? Do you always listen to the same music, or different music for different occasions?

What’s Popular Right now in Your Favorite Genre?

The library subscribes to many useful services and databases so you do not have to. But, we still have to learn what these services are for and how to use them. One of these very useful services is called Reference USA, which provides a database of U.S. and Canadian businesses. This database not only provides lists of new businesses and historical business but job postings as well. Below is screenshot of the “Dashboard” page that you will be directed to when you click on the link for Reference USA.

Are you stuck at home during Covid-19? The Handley Regional Library System has you covered! You can access a lot of our services online from the comfort (and safety) of your own home. From educational to fun and entertaining, check out a list below of what you can do to occupy your free time and still enjoy the library 24/7. Know what the best part of all is? All of these services are free with your library card!

For families of all ages, a global pandemic can be alarming and confusing. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has been spreading throughout the United States now, specifically, and has led to school and public closures. The uncertainty of this national and global situation can induce more anxiety in our kids. However, learning how to talk about what is going on and what to do next can be the first step that grown-ups can take to lead to better understanding for families with kids.

We are excited to announce today the official release of a new streaming service called Hoopla Digital – expanding their online digital portfolio of materials to patrons. Library card holders of all ages can now access a massive digital library of over 300,000 movies, TV shows, eBooks, Audio Books, comics, and music online at www.hoopladigital.com at no cost.

Handley Regional Library System announces today an online public facility assessment for the historic Handley Library in downtown Winchester. The online public survey will help library administration gather responses as they evaluate the space use and configuration of Handley Library as they plan for the future. 

The public can complete the brief survey at www.handleyregional.org/handleylibrarysurvey until March 18, 2020.

Handley Regional Library System and a Design Thinking class at Shenandoah University’s Byrd School of Business collaborated on a project that resulted in students creating promotional videos for the library system to use for marketing purposes. The students of Professor Montressa Washington’s Design Thinking class took on the challenge to develop and create short videos to encapsulate the services of all three library locations to the general public.

Each year the Handley Regional Library System participates in the IRS Tax Forms Outlet Program (TFOP). Recent changes from TFOP mean we're receiving fewer tax forms in print. Although the Internal Revenue Service is not able to supply libraries with the full range of printed tax forms, instruction booklets, and tax publications provided in the past, we will still be happy to assist you during this tax prep season. Library staff can assist with locating and printing online tax forms but are not able to give advice regarding the forms that you might need.