All children are invited to come and bring their parents to the George’s Creek Branch Library, Thursday evening, October 10 at 7 PM to make a Fall Harvest wreath for their home. A story with a fall theme will also be read.

Members of the local 4-H club from George’s Creek will be providing the beans, seeds, and other supplies for making the wreaths, as well as instructions and helping hands.

Ask at your local library for a brochure and calendar containing schedules of the library system’s Children and Family Programs throughout the county.

Make a Harvest Wreath at Frostburg Library's Saturday Craft Time for Families

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Patricia Merrbach

Frostburg Public Library

65 E. Main Street

Frostburg, MD 21532

All children are invited to come and bring their parents to the Frostburg Community Library, Saturday, October 12 at 11 AM to make a Fall Harvest wreath for their home. A story with a fall theme will also be read.

Members of the local 4-H club from Frostburg will be providing the beans, seeds, and other supplies for making the wreaths, as well as instructions and helping hands. “Making one of these harvest wreaths is a great way for the children, and adults too, to learn just how wide a variety of nutritious beans and seeds are available for adding to your meals,” explained Linda Burkey, program coordinator.

Ask at your local library for a brochure and calendar containing schedules of the library system’s Children and Family Programs throughout the county.

Pumpkin Painting at South Cumberland Library's Evening Story Time

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Linda Burkey

South Cumberland Library

100 Seymour Street

Cumberland, MD 21502

South Cumberland Library’s Evening Story Time on October 10 will allow children of all ages to listen to a story about pumpkins and to paint their very own pumpkin to take home. The program that will begin at 7 PM, is designed to provide a fun family outing to the library.

Members of the local 4-H club will be providing the pumpkins, paints and helping hands.

The Allegany County Library System’s Evening Story Time Programs are half hour programs designed for the convenience of families who are busy in the daytime hours, but still want to foster good reading habits for their families. These sessions are open to all children. Ask at your local library for a brochure containing a schedule of Evening Story Time Programs, as well as other Story Hours and Toddler Times throughout the county.

October 3, 2002

Encarta Reference Suite Is Now Available at Your Local Libraries

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Linda Burkey

South Cumberland Library

100 Seymour Street

Cumberland, MD 21502

Students, parents, teachers, and children now have access to the Microsoft Encarta Reference Suite at all branches of the Allegany County Library System. Each children’s computer in Cumberland, Frostburg, South Cumberland, LaVale, George’s Creek, and Westernport are now equipped with a multimedia suite of reference sources including an encyclopedia, dictionary, interactive atlas, and the Encyclopedia Africana. The Reference Suite is a great starting point and makes it easy to access information that understandable and relevant to all areas of study.

The Reference Suite is comprised of four major components: the Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe, Encarta Interactive World Atlas, Encarta Africana, and the Encarta World English Dictionary.

An interactive experience, the Encyclopedia Deluxe contains a Homework Center, Curriculum Guide, and Report Writing Guide that helps students who don’t know how to get started with their research. It plans a strategy for them that is age appropriate. With its interactive Timeline, students can put historic happenings into perspective, then go to an archive of related articles dating back to 1938, or on to the historical video collection, which includes rare footage of events. There is always an emphasis on making sure the student is able to access the most current information available; Microsoft wants them to leave knowing what happened yesterday or today in the world.

Encarta’s World Atlas goes beyond just giving the student in-depth information on the physical, biological, and cultural geography for places around the world. It gives students the opportunity to take a flight on a virtual airplane to see the world for themselves. The Atlas’ Statistics Center gives more than 350 different statistical indicators for the countries. A Geography Quiz game is included to challenging one’s expertise.

Encarta Africana delves deeper into the geography, history and culture of Africa and allows one to learn about people of African descent, including their dispersion to the Americas, their Civil Rights struggles, Music and Literature, and much more.

Encarta’s World English Dictionary is the first newly-written English dictionary in 30 years. Being interactive, it also allows one to use it as a Thesaurus, library of Quotations, guide for proper grammar and punctuation, and a style manual.

Fun to use, the Encarta Reference Suite entices students, who are often times more adept at using technology than printed materials, to explore on their own. Mindmaze, included in the encyclopedia, is also a hit with the students. One of our student patrons, Tonya, tells us “it’s a great way to test your skills and knowledge, to find out what you know.”

“This new service is part of the library system’s ongoing Young Adult Services Enhancement project to improve the services and collections for young adult patrons,” explains John Taube, Library Director. “We’re trying to create an increased awareness of the needs and wants of our 12-18 year old library patrons.”

The program is make possible by a grant funded through the Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA), a federally funded program administered through the Maryland State Department of Education, Division of Library Development and Services.

October 7, 2002

Congratulations to the Following Winners! Allegany County Library System's Back-to-School Essay Contest (September 10, 2002)

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Linda Burkey

South Cumberland Library

100 Seymour Street

Cumberland, MD 21502

Senior High Winner

The Future of the Local Library

By Dana Douglas

A library is a place for anyone in the community, young or old, to go and study, peruse a magazine, or sit and read a good novel. The quiet atmosphere has a calming affect that people adore. In the library of the future, there will be a growing number of electronic books and increasingly more ways to access information. The rapid growth in the information technology field is providing libraries around the world with new and different methods of obtaining information. These exciting advances are bringing numerous changes to the way libraries work and the materials they can provide.

In the year 2020, we will see and experience a different library from the familiar library of today. We could be receiving information through entire encyclopedias on one CD ROM. Or, considering the advancements in the last twenty years, we may be watching an instructor explain everything we want to know about a topic on our home DVD players. In fact, it is very possible that in the next eighteen years, a new, smaller, faster, and more efficient means that we have not even heard of yet will be assisting us in our information search. Checking out books will be an entirely different routine than that of today. We may be identifying ourselves through a fingerprint or an eye print, quite a distinction from the old paper library card with our printed name. A number of people may find themselves accessing the library from their home computers. For instance, someone could find the book they need online and have the library send them the book, whether it be in a file, on a CD, or amazingly enough, in its original hardback book form.

Not only will the new technology affect how we receive information, but it will also decrease the amount of space needed to store all of that information. Already, with the invention of computers and other technologies, the space taken up by books has dramatically decreased. This additional space allows the library to house more resources. Improved technologies, such as more computers, could replace the books. A few more comfortable chairs could even help occupy the space provided. More space in the library can mean more opportunities for technological advancement or it may just provide the library with an even more comfortable atmosphere.

Junior High Winner

The Library in the Year 2020

By Dinah Douglas

No one knows for sure what kind of materials we will be able to check out of a library in the year 2020, but we all could take a good guess? Considering how dramatically technology has changed in just the past five to ten years, and now how everything is faster, sleeker, or smaller, who knows what the next eighteen years have in store? Books may be obsolete! I certainly hope that books won’t be lost, but that they may become more easily accessible. Instead of ordering books online, maybe we will pay for them, link our electronic book to the computer, and download them right from our home! How convenient? There could be on-line libraries, where you can access materials from all over the world! Of course, I have just guesses of what the future holds, but it would be nice to have all of this and even more!

The types of materials that we have checked out of the library hasn’t changed very much in the past few years, but who is to say it won’t change in the next eighteen years? We have just been checking out books from the library, but with the high tech age coming upon us, that may change. I expect that electronic books, or “e-books” as they are more commonly called, will become the next “big” thing, and almost everyone will use them. “E-books” are about the size of a paperback book, so they are very easy to carry around. Those who don’t have an e-book could borrow one from the library. “Smart cards,” similar to the ones that are used for digital cameras, may be used to put into these “e-books.” You may be able to check out DVDs with information on them to watch, or CD-ROMs to view on your computer. And I think that cassettes will be totally obsolete, just as eight-tracks and records are now, so audio books will come on CD or even be downloadable from an online source in the form of an MP3. I hope that books won’t become a rarity, but there are more efficient ways to read books.

The information that is held within the library should stay the same for the most part, but it is how the information is stored that should change the most. Right now we cannot check out reference books, rare books, artifacts, or anything of that sort. In the future, we may have reference books placed on the aforementioned “smart cards” and viewed easily by e-book. Rare books could be put on disc and viewed on the computer. Lectures given by well know professors could be put onto a DVD and viewed in the home, and can be paused to take notes, or they could be viewed numerous times for reference. Now, newspaper and magazines are archived and viewed over a machine that is only available for use in a library. In the future, these archives could be put on a disc, a CD-ROM, or a smart card, making the archives easily accessible. In addition, a library could store more information because computer discs take up much less space than bulky books. It would be extremely convenient to access all of the things you may ever need for pleasure reading, studying, learning, reference, and much more, all available from your local library! I cannot tell you what I definitely will be able to check out of the library in the year 2020, but I can tell you that we could have a greater understanding of the world, which would lead to a more peaceful world, all because of a few changes in technology at your local library.

Elementary School Winner

What will you check out of the library in 2020?

By Jordan Montgomery Grade 5

In the year 2020 I think I will be able to check out books from the library that will tell the story of the book in virtual reality. The books will look the same as they do now on the outside, but when they are opened up the characters will come to life in 3-D and act out the story. The words of the book will still show up on a screen inside the books for people that would rather read. The words will also appear in Braille, at the touch of a button, inside the cover of the books for people that are blind. To make the stories seem more realistic, there will be buttons that can be pushed to add other sounds, besides the words of the story, and smells to enhance where the story takes place like at the beach where the smell will be salty. Books will be available in different forms so that a lot of people can enjoy them in the way they like best.

October 15, 2002

Library Book Group Discussion on October 24

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Linda Burkey

South Cumberland Library

100 Seymour Street

Cumberland, MD 21502

South Cumberland Library’s Book Discussion Group will meet on Thursday evening, October 24 at 7 PM to discuss Marlo Morgan’s Mutant Message Down Under.

Mutant Message Down Under is a fictionalized account of an American doctor’s walkabout with Aborigines in the Australian outback. Morgan had not planned the trek. Under the most unusual circumstances, she found herself walking in the middle of the outback with no way to turn back. After the first day, she found she couldn’t turn back anyway; for the first time in her life, she was coming to understand what it meant to be human.

According to the author, the self-published book was “written after the fact and inspired by actual experience…It is sold as a novel to protect the small tribe of Aborigines from legal involvement.” Morgan had been responsible for setting up a program that employed “urban-dwelling, half caste Aborigines”; as the book begins, she thinks she’s about to receive another reward for this work. What an understatement.

The book discussion group meets on the 4^th Thursday of each month. Anyone who has read the selection is invited to participate. Copies of the book are available through your local library.

October 25, 2002

Make a Harvest Wreath at Westernport Library's Evening Story Time

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Pam Neder

Westernport Public Library

66 Main Street

Westernport, MD 21562

All children are invited to come and bring their parents to the Westernport Library, Monday Nov. 4 at 6:30 PM to listen to stories and make a Fall Harvest wreath for their home. The craft time is being held in conjunction with the regularly scheduled Evening Story Hour.

Members of the local 4-H club will be providing the beans, seeds, and other supplies for making the wreaths, as well as instructions and helping hands. Making one of these harvest wreaths is a great way for the children, and adults too, to learn just how wide a variety of nutritious beans are available for adding to your meals.

“There’s a lot of crafty kids that come into the library,” commented Children’s Librarian Nancy Sudine. “They will really enjoy this program.”

“Sharon Diehl and the local 4-H members have done a wonderful job helping the library system bring some crafts to our patrons,” said Linda Burkey, Community Outreach coordinator. “We’d like to take this opportunity to thank them again.”

October 28, 2002

Mount Savage, A Busy Company Town History Lecture at Frostburg Library

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Patricia Merrbach

Frostburg Public Library

65 E. Main Street

Frostburg, MD 21532

Mount Savage, a busy company town will be the topic of the Allegany County Library System’s History Lecture on Tuesday, November 5 starting at 7 PM at the Frostburg Branch Library.

Probably best known for the fact that the first iron rails made in the United States were rolled there, Mount Savage went from what was once called Arnold’s settlement to a company town with a rolling mill, blast furnaces, and later coal company and locomotive shops. Locomotives for the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad were built in the town.

Jim Dickel, President of the Mount Savage Historical Society, works to see that the history of this town is recovered and preserved. It’s such a historic town in Western Maryland made possible by the local iron ore, fire clay and coal. Thousands were employed there. The town has many historical buildings still standing.

This lecture is part of the History Lecture Series presented by the Allegany County Library System. The first Tuesday of each month, a lecture is held at one of the system’s libraries. The lectures usually last about an hour and include a question and answer period. They are free and open to the public and make a good outing for families.

October 30, 2002

Homeschoolers' Book Discussion Group Will Meet November 11

PRESS RELEASE - Allegany County Library System

Contact: Linda Burkey

South Cumberland Library

100 Seymour Street

Cumberland, MD 21502

The Homeschoolers’ Book Discussion Group of the Allegany County Library System have chosen Newberry Honor Winner Hatchet by Gary Paulsen for its discussion on Monday, November 11 at 2 PM.

Hatchet is the story of Brian Robeson’s fifty-four days of surviving on his own in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash. Thirteen-year old Brian is totally unprepared for wilderness life. He’s from the city and trying to survive the divorce of his parents.

The Book Discussion Group meets the 2^nd Monday of each month at the South Cumberland Library. Discussions last about one hour and are open to all children ages 7 to 15. Copies of the books are available at your local library.