Blast From the Past - Halloween 1973 at GCPL

 Happy Halloween!!!! 

We’re starting the party a bit early with this blast from the past! 

This photo was taken at the Dallas branch in October 1973 for a Halloween Storytime! Look at all the fun masks! 

Take Our Social Media Survey!

The Social Media Survey is a great way to share your opinions with us! 

We want to know what type of social media content you want to see more of! 

Do you like memes? 

Do you like photos of our displays? W

hat about event/program information? 

We appreciate all of our patrons and we love that you all want to follow us on social media. The purpose of this survey is to give you more of the library content you’re interested in! 

You can fill out the survey online at https://forms.gle/YtBHoiUJRmm6oCwJ9 and you DO NOT have to sign into google to complete the form (just ignore the sign-in request at the top 😌). 

Copies of the survey will also be available at each branch location soon! 

New DVD Staff Picks Display!

We may be librarians, aka "book nerds", but did you know that many of our staff are also huge film buffs? Check out our latest Staff Picks DVD Display at the Main Library and find your next favorite film! You may even spot some from our Oscar and Emmy podcast episodes. 

What are your favorite films? Comment below and let us know!

hoopla is Now Available on Android Auto!

GCPL has just learned that by popular request, hoopla is making it easier to do just that through Android Auto!

With your Android device and a vehicle that supports Android Auto, you can play audiobooks and music you have borrowed directly through the vehicle’s in-dash display.

For more information please click here.

hoopla does have plans for Apple CarPlay. We will keep you posted with new developments as we get them! 

Looking for a Good -- Not Necessarily New -- Book?

When the library started its first blog using tumblr™, librarian Michele Risinger posted teasers and reviews of books and online games she found interesting. (Hence the pseudonym “The Techie Librarian.”) This review was among her first postings, and I am particularly attached to it, because I recommended the book to her … and she liked it!  So, with her permission, I am republishing her review of Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker, and yes! the library still owns a copy. 

First published online on gastonlibrary.tumblr.com on August 9^th, 2014 [perma link:  https://gastonlibrary.tumblr.com/post/94247699894/title-raptor-red-author-robert-t-bakker]

Title: Raptor Red

Author: Robert T. Bakker

Genre: Yay, dinosaurs!

Contains: Evolutionary theory

This novel was originally published in 1995, just a couple of years after the movie Jurassic Park was released. Bakker, a world-renowned paleontologist, was an unofficial consultant for the film. The novel reads like a documentary — you can almost hear the cultured, British accent in the voice-over in your head (or is that just me?). This superbly well-written tale follows an adult female Utahraptor — referred to as Raptor Red — as she migrates across the North American continent and experiences the difficulties of life during the Cretaceous age. A really interesting perspective on evolution, and romance, in a previous age. [The Techie Librarian]

Then I reblogged it:

zenlib

Me:  I stumbled onto this book some years back in the drugstore paperback section.  Just a lucky buy.  Then I recommended it. The Techie Librarian tells me this is the most re-blogged post!

#books#dinosaurs#Bakker#robert bakker#fiction

--Xina Lowe

We're Booked Up - The Noise

We started a new segment for Gaston Speaks! We’re calling it We’re Booked Up and each episode will be a book discussion between Angelique, Kendall, and Andrew. In each episode we’ll share our opinions about a book we chose, rating the book and sharing what we liked and disliked about it. Like a little book club! For this episode we decided to start with The Noise, a thriller from James Patterson and JD Barker.  

Click on the picture below and give it a listen or look up Gaston Speaks on your preferred podcasting app and find the episode. And after listening, let us know what you thought of the book, or of our thoughts on the book.  

For the next episode, we plan to discuss All System Red by Martha Wells, the first book in Wells' The Murderbot Diaries series, featuring a socially anxious security android with a newfound sense of independence.

Important News Regarding OverDrive, Libby, and Older Devices

 

Last month, OverDrive reported that the web certificate provider Let’s Encrypt would end support for older operating systems at the end of September 2021. Certificates from Let’s Encrypt are relied on for secure connections for websites and apps including Libby and OverDrive. As a result of this change, the following is now in effect:

Libby’s minimum iOS version is now iOS 10. To use Libby on an iOS device, users are required to update their device’s operating system to iOS 10 or newer. These are the steps to help iOS users update their operating system version. The legacy OverDrive for Mac desktop app is only supported on macOS versions 10.12.1 through 10.14. Users on legacy web browsers may experience issues loading libbyapp.com or your OverDrive website and should upgrade to a newer browser version, if possible.

The expectation was that affected users would receive a security warning after the Let’s Encrypt change, but OverDrive has since learned that a warning is not always displayed. Users may experience issues with signing in, borrowing, loading the app’s content, etc. If you need assistance with the North Carolina Digital Library or other resources related to OverDrive, please contact your library.

NC LIVE Server Maintenance

On Thursday, October 7 from 8:00 am-9:00 am, NC LIVE will perform updates on their servers. This may result in a brief interruption to service.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

NEW Gaston County History Minute!

What do you remember about October 1997? Personally, I was eleven and just starting middle school, but as the year progressed, I vaguely remember rumblings about things happening on Cramer Mountain and something about a velvet Elvis painting. 

In today’s episode of the Gaston County History Minute, we go over some of the details of the October 4, 1997 Loomis Fargo Heist. You can access the episode by clicking on the picture above, or searching for Gaston Speaks on your preferred podcasting app.  After listening, if you want to learn more about the crime, check out the provided transcript and sources by clicking here, or contact the new Local History & Genealogy Section of the Gaston County Public Library located on the 3rd floor of the Main Library on 1555 E. Garrison Blvd. 

And share your Loomis Fargo Heist memories with us in the comments!