PR March 2002

Starting Monday March 4th, area students can get live on-line homework help through a pilot program of the Allegany County Library System and Tutor.com The program connects students with real time on-line tutors in math, science, social studies, and English via the Internet. The live homework help is designed for students from 4^th through 12^th grades and gives one-on-one assistance during each 20-minute session.

Students have the option of using public computer workstations at any branch of the Allegany County Library System or logging on to the library web site at http://lib.allconet.org/tutor.htm. Live homework help will be available between 2:00 PM and 9:00 PM, Mondays -Thursdays and from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

“This is a great way to extend help to students after regular school hours, seven days a week,” says Library Director John Taube. “ The Tutor.com live homework help enables students and tutors to interact in a variety of ways, including chatting, using whiteboard technology, sharing documents, and browsing the Web together. The interactive whiteboard is really exciting and is especially useful for math and science where shapes, concepts, and ideas can be drawn, annotated and shared.”

The on-line tutors are certified teachers, college professors, tutors, and graduate students from across the country. Students can get help reviewing specific homework questions, exploring social science themes and concepts, and developing research projects and papers. When a tutoring session is complete, students have the option of printing copies of chat dialogs and whiteboards during the session.

Funding for this pilot project was made possible by a grant from the Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA), a federally funded program administered through the Maryland State Department of Education, Division of Library Development and Services.

March 8, 2002

Frostburg Library Book Club Will Meet March 19th

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Pat Merrbach

Frostburg Branch Library

65 E. Main Street

Frostburg, MD 21532

The Frostburg Book Club of the Allegany County Library System’s Frostburg Branch will meet Tuesday, March 19^th at 7 PM to discuss The Winner by David Baldacci.

“Think it would be wonderful if someone offered you $100 million dollars, and all you had to do was leave the country and never return?” asks Pat Merrbach, library coordinator for the book group. “This is the offer made to Luann Tyler, a 20 year old, poor, single mother in Baldacci’s The Winner. What happens next is an entertaining, suspense thriller.”

The group meets the 3^rd Tuesday of each month at the library. Anyone interested is invited to come experience these lively discussions. Copies of the books discussed are available at any branch of the library system.

April’s book selection is Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds.

March 13, 2002

Westernport Library Celebrating Women's History Month With Book Discussion

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Pam Neder

Westernport Branch Library

66 Main Street

Westernport, MD 21562

A discussion of the best-selling book Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years by Sarah and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth will take place at the Westernport Branch of the Allegany County Library System on Wednesday, March 20^th. starting at 7 pm.

Amy Hill Hearth described her interview with the Delany sisters: “I was charmed by their vivaciousness and playfulness. They seemed to have conquered old age…It was clear that they had found the source of their vitality in each other’s company.” Readers of the book also encountered their inspiration.

March is National Women’s History Month. “Women Sustaining the American Spirit” is the theme chosen for 2002. Since 9/11, the roles of women in the world have been brought to the forefront.

Books are a prime way in which the life stories of women are preserved; and our public libraries in Allegany County have developed their collections to include books with strong women role models for children, teens, and adults.

March 13, 2002

Library Book Discussion Group Meets March 28

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Linda Burkey

South Cumberland Branch Library

100 Seymour Street

Cumberland, MD 21502

South Cumberland Branch Library’s Book Discussion Group will meet Tuesday, March 28 at 7 PM to discuss Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg.

Peter Hoeg was born in Denmark in 1957. Smilla’s Sense of Snow, an international bestseller, is his first novel to be published in English.

The novel begins when a 6-year-old boy falls off a roof to his death. Smilla Jaspersen, who was a mentor to the boy, possesses an eerie sense; she can read snow. Having read tracks left in the snow by the boy right before his death, she begins an investigation that takes strange twists and turns from their home in Copenhagen to an island off the coast of Greenland.

The discussion group meets the 4^th Thursday of each month at the South Cumberland Branch Library at 100 Seymour Street. Anyone interested may attend any of the group’s discussions. No pre-registration is necessary.

March 19, 2002

Paper Quilting Presentation at George's Creek Branch Library

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Debbie Hartman

George's Creek Regional Library

76 Main Street

Lonaconing, MD 21539

Lisa Kardel will be at the George’s Creek Branch of the Allegany County Library System on Tuesday, March 26 at 7 PM to share with the public how she creates her paper quilts.

Her creative quilt designs are actually made of fabric on paper accompanied with calligraphy sayings and embossing. Kardel’s work has become known to local residents from her booth each year at the Springs Festival in Garrett County.

She is a graduate with a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan. Kardel is married and collaborates with her husband on her quilts that he mats and frames.

March 25, 2002

Second Annual Poetry Contest at Libraries in April

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Linda Burkey

South Cumberland Branch Library

100 Seymour Street

Cumberland, MD 21502

The Allegany County Library System’s 2^nd Annual Poetry Contest will be hosted by the George’s Creek and South Cumberland Branches this year. The contest celebrates April being National Poetry Month.

This year there will be three age divisions: Children up to and including 12 years of age, Teens ages 13-17, and Adults including those from 18 to 118. There will be two winners from each division chosen. Prizes will be bookstore gift certificates.

To enter, submit your poetry to the George’s Creek or South Cumberland Branch Libraries. They must be received on or before April 29, 2002. Handwritten entries must be legible. Be sure to include your name and phone number or address, and please indicate which age division you qualify to enter. Winners will be chosen on April 30, 2002 at 3 PM. For more information call (301)-463-2629 or (301) 724-1607.

March 25, 2002

Al Feldstein Library's History Lecture Speaker

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Linda Burkey

South Cumberland Branch Library

100 Seymour Street

Cumberland, MD 21502

Local history author Al Feldstein will be guest speaker for the Allegany County Library’s History Lecture on Tuesday, April 2 at 7 PM. His presentation will be a narrated slide show focusing on the history of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Cumberland to Oakland and points of interest in-between.

The audience will have a chance to see some of the vistas, depots, bridges, and other railroad-related structures as well as some of the historic B&O Railroad locomotives and trains, including the “J.C. Davis,” “Old Maud,” and “Cincinnatian.” The talk will cover the years from 1842-1851, with the development of the resort towns, and will also make some references to the Civil War period.

The Library has a History Lecture the first Tuesday of each month at one of its branches around the county. The May lecture will be a panel of World War II Veterans telling their experiences at the Allegany County Library, on Washington Street, Tuesday, May 7 at 7 PM.

March 29, 2002

Quilt Trunk Show at Westernport Library

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Pam Neder

Westernport Branch Library

66 Main Street

Westernport, MD 21562

Linda Leathersich will be at the Westernport Branch of the Allegany County Library System to present a Trunk Show of Quilts on Tuesday, April 9 at 6:30 PM.

She will be showing the whole spectrum of quilt types from the 1800s right up to the present, bed quilts to miniatures.

A self-taught quilter, Leathersich has been quilting and teaching quilting for close to 30 years. She has taught quilting as far away as Brazil.

This is the 2^nd quilt show presented at the Westernport Branch. The audience of our first quilt show asked for more; they especially wanted us to host Leathersich’s work.