Blog Entries

The Handley Regional Library System is excited to offer tours of the downtown Handley Library Branch on the 2nd Saturday of the month at 11 AM. This tour is FREE and open to the public. Meet on the Lower Level to start your tour at 11 AM.

The Handley Library branch tour will take you behind the scenes to all floors of the building. Learn about the unique architecture and amazing history of this beautiful library. Walk on the famous glass floors, and see the well under the stage.  

On July 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to land on the moon and said his famous line. “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” If you’d like to learn more about Armstrong, you can check out a biography we have about him: Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight by Jay Barbree. We also have some movies, too.

Our teen book spotlight this week is all about Possibilities of New Places!!!  We are exploring books that take place in either other countries, at sea, in outer space, and in some cases even at different schools such as a boarding school.  Books have this amazing ability to take us to numerous places, real or imagined, without even needing to leave our comfy reading nook as we need to take advantage of it as we can learn more about ourselves and others.  These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tags

Summer Reading is Underway... Don't miss these awesome, fun, and educational programs at each library location! 

Join us this summer for these special programs and earn badges on Beanstack!

"Science Heroes" with Talewise

Two unlikely heroes work together to save their town (and the planet) from a super-polluting mastermind! Together we’ll conduct experiments and more! All ages.

Monday, July 10, 11:00 AM, Clarke County Library

Monday, July 10, 2:00 PM, Bowman Library

Why Native Plants? 

For families with kids of all ages finding a “just right” book can be tricky. Handley Regional Library System staff offer numerous ways to help you and your reader try new genres or authors of books. Specifically, we have a service called BookMatch Junior! for ages 12 and under, which matches your reader with books to try based on a quick survey form you fill out. However, a generally good practice when helping to build strong readers in your home is the following:

In celebration of pets, May is recognized as National Pet Month. It’s a wonderful time to show a little extra appreciation for our furry friends, and books are always a great resource for everything, including learning something fun about your pets! 

Researching Common Surnames:

May 2022

My last name is Smith.  I have been told that our ancestors changed our surname before immigrating to the United States from Poland.  I have hesitated to attempt any research because I feel like I truly have a generic name.  Would it even be possible to learn anything about this family?

-A Researcher

In Marvelous Us! Part I and Part II we explored books related to our marvelous human bodies. Although popular culture over-emphasizes how our bodies may look, we often fail to appreciate how our bodies function. Whether or not you are happy with the way your body looks, the way it functions is truly marvelous.

April’s Family History Hunters meeting will feature a special presentation on organizing your family history research. Our presenter for this meeting, Tina Claflin, is the owner of Halcyon Reflections, a certified photo manager, and offers independent consulting and organizing services for veterans, families, and non-profits to help others get organized to preserve their stories.

In this installment of the Pushing My Shelf  blog series, Katie M. tries her hand at writing a haiku after reading a book about poetry.

This month we thought we would do a blog series for the Push Your Shelf Bingo Challenge. The challenge is to complete Bingo squares that “push your shelf.” In other words, read or try something that you might not ordinarily consider; something not typically found on your bookshelf. Find out more here.

Have you tried Universal Class yet?

Universal Class offers over 500 online courses. From academic subjects to career and business courses to creative hobbies, there is something for everyone, ages teen through adult, available from Universal Class. Learn something new or update your existing skills. All courses are self-paced, so you can finish them at your convenience. Progress is assessed through assignments and exams, with feedback given. Certificates and CEUs can be earned with course completion.

In this installment of the Pushing My Shelf  blog series, Katie gets gobsmacked with so many NextReads Newsletters from which to choose.

This month we thought we would do a blog series for the Push Your Shelf Bingo Challenge. The challenge is to complete Bingo squares that “push your shelf.” In other words, read or try something that you might not ordinarily consider; something not typically found on your bookshelf. Find out more here.

Part I of Marvelous Us! got us started on an exploration of the human body by examining some recent titles added to the library’s collection. The subject is so large and rich that we need three parts to cover our recent acquisitions on the topic.  In Part I we looked at our skin, microbes, bacteria, hearts, blood, transplantation, and an overview of the human body.

In this installment of the Pushing My Shelf blog series, Julie talks about discovering online magazines, especially those that appeal the most to her such food magazines and foreign language magazines and even foreign language food magazines!