Read NC!

Hello everyone,

The time has come! The North Carolina Literary Map is launching a book club! Join us as we discuss NC books and authors and discover more about NC's rich literary landscape.

Our first selection is Amanda by North Carolinian, Kay Hooper. Check out our Book Club Blog for more information and start discussing.

Happy Reading!

Missed the Launch?

No worries!

If you were unable to join us for the official launch of the North Carolina Literary Map you can view the recorded session by clicking on the web address below. Once you have clicked the link, you will be prompted to sign in with your name and email. After submitting that information, the recorded session will load and be ready to go.

If you have any questions or feedback contact us at nclitmap@uncg.edu.

https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/launch/nativeplayback.jnlp?sid=315&psid=2012-10-24.1249.M.669FDEC58C8549C611C2EC64F0EDEE.vcr

Happy Election Day

Every 4 years November 6 is a big day for Americans. Election Day! Below are some historical tidbits about former presidents.

Did you know that 3 former presidents got their start in North Carolina?

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was born in the area of Waxhaws near the North and South Carolina border. Even though his parents lived in North Carolina there is a debate among historians as to which state Jackson’s birth actually took place. Jackson lived in South Carolina during his early childhood years but returned to North Carolina after the Revolutionary War to study law in Salisbury, North Carolina. He was then appointed to be a “prosecuting officer for the Superior Court, in Nashville, Tennessee, which at that time was a part of the Western District of North Carolina”. In 1976, Tennessee became a separate state, taking Jackson with them as the state’s first congressman. He was elected president in 1828 and again in 1832.
http://ncpedia.org/biography/jackson-andrew

James K. Polk (1795-1849) was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, on his family's farm. His education was informal until 1813 when he enrolled in a Presbyterian school in Columbia. In 1816, Polk transferred to North Carolina to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating with honors in 1818. In 1819, Polk moved to Tennessee to study law. This led to Polk attaining his first political post in 1823 where he won the election to the Tennessee House of Representatives. Polk "Young Hickory" served as Speaker of the House for the last four years of this term. In 1839 Polk won the election to become governor of Tennessee. In 1844, Polk defeated competitors Clay and Birney to become president of the United States. The James K. Polk Memorial is located in Pineville, North Carolina. The site consists of a reconstructed house, kitchen, and barn as well as the relocated Polk family cemetery and is "the probable birthplace" of the nation's eleventh president.

http://ncpedia.org/james-k-polk-memorial

http://ncpedia.org/biography/polk-james

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) was born in Raleigh, North Carolina and grew up in a small wooden house where he taught himself to read while apprenticing in a tailor shop. Johnson fled Raleigh after causing mischief with some friends. During this time he lived in Carthage and Laurens, North Carolina but returned to Raleigh after a year to continue his apprenticeship. However, there was no longer a need for an apprentice and no other work to be found so Johnson and his family made their way west to Tennessee. Even though Johnson was never formally educated, he went on to be elected president of the United States in 1865. Johnson’s childhood home is still preserved today at Mordecai Historic Park in Raleigh, NC.
http://ncpedia.org/biography/johnson-andrew

Fun fact: All 3 presidents were elected to office from the state of Tennessee.
http://ncpedia.org/biography/johnson-andrew

To learn more about the history of political parties in North Carolina check out this article from NCpedia.

No matter who you are voting for today, we hope you take the opportunity to exercise your right to vote.

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

Need some spooky stories to share tonight? Here are some North Carolina ghost tales that you may enjoy.

• Mountain Ghost Stories by Janet Barnett and Randy Russell
• Ghost Tales from the North Carolina Piedmont by Barry McGee and Linda Duck Tanenbaum
• Ghosts and Legends of the Carolina Coasts by Terrance Zepke

 
http://brandthunder.com/2012/grab-a-spooky-halloween-desktop-theme-for-your-computer/

Did you know?

The night that we associate with candy, costumes, and tricks actually began as the Celtic festival, Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween), to honor the dead, aid them in their journey to the afterlife, and keep their spirits away from the living. It was believed that the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living on this day more than any other time of the year. Creepy!!

Check out the article from The American Folklife Center to learn more about the history of Halloween.

Library of Congress

Ready to Launch!

Well the big day is almost here! Tomorrow, October 24 @ 3:30, we are officially launching the North Carolina Literary Map! Below are detailed instructions for accessing the webinar. All are welcomed and encouraged to attend. If you are unable to attend and have questions, tweet us @NCLiteraryMap or post on our Facebook page.

We hope to "see" you there!


Here is the link to access the session. Please sign in a few minutes early to ensure everything is working properly.  https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=315&password=M.E0B6259CCE8D3964DCE521B4B0A71C 

Technical requirements:

• We will be using the library's virtual room in Blackboard Collaborate. It requires that you be able to download Java onto your computer, but you do not need any special software. Check your system requirements and find more details, guides and sample recording can be found here: http://uncg.libguides.com/content.php?pid=280830&sid=2856233#10013438  
• You do not need a microphone as a chat system is available in the software but if you want to talk, use a headset-mic combo, to avoid feedback sound issues. 

When you enter the virtual room, you will be prompted for a session name. This is your personal name. You do not need a password to enter the session. 

Once in the  the room, please set up your audio (info will be on the opening slide) 

If you are having trouble entering the virtual room at the time of the event, please contact Beth at efwilli3@uncg.edu.

Questions? please ask us!

Fabulous Friday...from Asheville!

Hello all:

Today the North Carolina Literary Map is at Fabulous Friday at the Pack Memorial Library in scenic downtown Asheville.  This mini-conference, geared toward public librarians, features a lot of great sessions, including a keynote address from State Librarian, Cal Shepard. Kathelene and Jennifer are talking up the Map and giving out goodies such as totes and pens! Next week we will be at the Fabulous Fridays conference in fabulous Winston-Salem! 

3, 2, 1....Launch!

Hi everyone....

The web launch of the NC Literary Map is quickly approaching! Mark your calendar for October 24th @ 3:30. Be sure to sign-up for the webinar at tinyurl.com/nclitmaplaunch.

Also,check out our new re-designed site !

Happy reading!!

Favorite Spots

Hi everyone! Thanks for the comments about your favorite NC locations. We love to hear what you think! Our commenters said that their favorite places were Asheville and the Sandhills region. Here we’ll give you all some more information about authors and books in these areas.

For the Sandhills region we found that author Roberta Isleib stumbled upon the town of Pinehurst when she headed down to North Carolina for a work conference. After exploring the town a bit, she decided to set one of the books in her golf lovers’ mystery series here. The book, Fairway to Heaven, follows Cassie Burdette as she plays in a golf tournament on the same team as her estranged father and on-again off-again boyfriend, while holding down maid of honor duties for her best friend. Then the bride’s father disappears. What’s a girl to do?! Investigate of course….
(www.robertaisleib.com/golf/pinehurst.htm)

Did you know?

• Pinehurst was on the list of names for what we now call Martha's Vineyard.
• The landscape architect who was in charge of the design of Pinehurst also designed Central Park in New York City.
• Pinehurst is home to Maniac Hill which was the first driving range in the US.

For more history about Pinehurst check out www.pinehurst.com.

For all you Asheville and mountains lovers out there, we have many well-known authors associated with this town as well as numerous books set in this location. Some well-known authors are Sarah Addison Allen, Mark de Castrique, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Frazier, and Thomas Wolfe to name a few. Throughout our research we have found that many authors find their way to our lovely North Carolina mountains in their writing career to be inspired by the beautiful vistas of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Check out the view below and you'll see why!

Photo from Apple Wood Manor.

A Note from Bookmarks...



Our poster at Bookmarks!

So this weekend we kicked off our journey toward our official launch of the NC Lit Map by attending the BookMarks festival in Winston-Salem this past Saturday. We debuted our new poster (loving the new map!) as well as frisbees and bookmarks (of course!) detailing how to find us on the Web. Here are some interesting tidbits from the festival...

Kathelene and I made the trek to 7th and Trade Street to unload all of the Lit Map materials from my car.  (I honestly didn't believe we would have soooo much stuff until I had started gathering it together the day before.)  I was able to park right next to our table where we discovered we had a glamourous location directly in front of the port-o-potties.  Thank goodness we had such a pretty map to put up to block the view!  We set up our table with all the Lit Map swag and waited for the crowds.

The frisbees

And they came!  We met tons of people who were excited to hear about the Lit Map: parents with children, school and public librarians, teachers, and readers of all ages.  The frisbees really brought the children to our table.  One small boy took a look at the logo on the frisbee and said "Is that a compass rose?"  I was pleased to report that he had gotten it right.  And pleased that the chosen design elements had successfully connected with our audience.  Yay Lit Map!!

And thanks to the Book Diva for the shout-out in your blog.  It was a great festival!

Now Live

Come check out our new sites! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Bookmark the Day!

Come visit us at the 8th Annual Festival of Books Saturday, September 8 in the downtown arts district of Winston-Salem, NC. We will be located at exhibit table 16, across from the Food for Thought tent at the corner of 7th Street beside Inter_Section Gallery. We hope to see you there!

Keep an eye out....

UNC-Greenboro's University Libraries will host the official launch for the North Carolina Literary Map Wednesday, October 24. Blackboard Collaborate will be used to host the presentation. Continue to check our blog for more details as the launch date nears.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the North Carolina Literary Map blog. We are excited you're here! Here you will find out information about how to navigate the online North Carolina Literary Map. Continue to check our blog to find out what's new about the literary map as well as information about the upcoming official launch of the North Carolina Literary Map site.