MoCo Libraries
Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL), on Saturday, Aug. 12, will host its annual “Just for the Record–A Vinyl Day,” a celebration of music on vinyl records that will feature popular DJs from around the country and a special celebration of 50 years of hip hop. The free, family-friendly festival will take place from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Library located at 900 Wayne Ave. in Silver Spring.
Attendees can participate in workshops about music production, songwriting, breakdancing and more. They also will be able to purchase vinyl records and CDs organized by the Friends of the Library Montgomery County (FOLMC). The festival’s concluding event, “FADERATION: United Cuts & Scratches Mid- Atlantic Scratch Battle for DJ Supremacy,” will feature well-known DJs from around the country vying for top “scratch” honors and cash prizes.
Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL), in partnership with Friends of the Library, Montgomery County, Inc. (FOLMC), Mid-Atlantic Scratch League (MASL), Levine Music and Classroom 2 Community (C2C) will have a full day of free events on Saturday, Aug. 12, to celebrate music on vinyl records and the DJ culture. Just for the Record—A Vinyl Day, geared toward all ages, will take place from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Library in Silver Spring.
The activities scheduled for Just for the Record—A Vinyl Day will include:
Per Montgomery County: The Wheaton and White Oak libraries of Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) will offer several free animation, graphic novel and mini comic book programs for ages 10 to 50-and-over in July and August. The animation workshops explore the history, science and creative possibilities of animation. Participants will create three optical toys: a thaumatrope, a zoetrope strip and a flip-book.
The graphic novel classes teach participants to create a graphic novel page using all the conventions of graphic novel storytelling: narration, dialogue, character design, dynamic page layouts and cinematic techniques. The mini comic book workshops teach participants to write and illustrate a brief fictional, factual or a combination of both that will become six-to-eight-page narratives using one folded sheet of paper.
Per MCPD: The Montgomery County Committee Against Hate Violence (CAHV) of the County Office of Human Rights, at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 12, will sponsor a “Second Conversation” panel discussion focusing on “Hate/Bias/Violence/Bullying” within the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). The program will be held at the Gaithersburg Library and also will be livestreamed. The Gaithersburg Library is located at 18330 Montgomery Village Ave. in Gaithersburg. There is no charge to attend and audience participation will be welcomed. The discussion will be streamed at https://www.facebook.com/CountyCableMoCo.
Scheduled to be on the panel are Attorney Guila Siegel, the associate director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Washington, D.C.; Stephanie Sheron, the chief of strategic initiatives of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS); Demon Monteleone, the associate superintendent of MCPS; Ryvell Fitzpatrick, the ombudsman of the Montgomery County Board of Education; and Lisa Taylor, chair of the Montgomery County Committee Against Hate Violence.
Per Montgomery County Public Libraries: It’s time to pre-register for MCPL’S Summer Reading Challenge: All Together Now! Children ages 0-12 and teens ages 13-17 can pre-register (or log in) online or at your local library, and on June 17 you can pick up your free book at your local branch and start logging your reading and activities online!
At the same time, you’ll be helping our community be kind to animals, to one another, and to the planet this summer, while working together with several Montgomery County organizations to strengthen our community! Much more to come on that!
Per the Germantown Historical Society: On Saturday, May 20 at 3pm at the Germantown Library Susan Cooke Soderberg will be giving a PowerPoint presentation on: The Man Behind the Stations on the Metropolitan Branch Railroad as part of the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Metropolitan Branch of the B & O Railroad. 150 years ago on May 25, 1873 trains began running across Montgomery County. The coming of the railroad changed the agriculture, the economy and the society of the County. By 1893 the line had 18 stops between Washington D. C. and Point of Rocks.
Most of these stops had a station house for the ticket master and waiting passengers – some large and fancy, some small and plain. All but one of these station houses were designed by noted architect E. Francis Baldwin. Five of these buildings still exist and are preserved with historic designation on what is now known as the MARC Brunswick Line. The Architect E. Francs Baldwin is renown for designing many buildings in a variety of styles from the Catholic Cathedral in Savannah, Georgia to the Power House in Baltimore. His attention to detail extended even to the waiting shelters at the train stops. Free tickets available at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-man-behind-the-stations-on-the-metropolitan-branch-railroad-tickets-628856475647, but Walk-ins are welcome.
The renovation work included the replacement of all flooring, reconfiguration and updating of shelving, painting throughout, a new service desk, new lighting, redesign of the children’s reading nook, installation of security equipment, the addition of lounge seating and study areas, replacement of the entry doors, creation of a family restroom and the updating of interior and exterior signs.
Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) will host a Dental Health Fair at the Long Branch Library from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, April 22. The Dental Health Fair will provide free oral health screenings for all ages (from young children to older adults) and general information about dental care, hygiene and dental services. The Long Branch Library is located at 8800 Garland Ave. in Silver Spring. No registration is required to attend.
The Dental Health Fair is part of the Narratives and Medical Education (NAME) Project. NAME is an experimental National Institutes of Health funded project that brings together different disciplines focusing on the role of racism in health care, specifically in dental care disparities. The free screenings will be provided by students of the Dental Hygiene Program at the University of Maryland (UMD) School of Dentistry.
The workshops are funded in part by an Arts in Education Grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.For more information contact Clotilde Puértolas at [email protected].
Per Montgomery County: Olney Writer’s Group authors and members Kaitlyn Jain and Amy Chan Zhou will present a free program open to all residents on “Writing and Publishing a Memoir” at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 26, at the Olney branch of Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL). Each recently published their memoirs and will have advice and tips for anyone who has been considering writing a memoir of their own. The Olney Library is located at 3500 Olney-Laytonsville Rd. in Olney. Advance registration is not required to attend, but seating is limited.
Ms. Jain and Ms. Zhou will describe the genesis of their writing projects, how they stayed motivated, their participation in and support from the Writer’s Group and the steps taken to successfully publish their works. A question-and-answer session will be part of the workshop. Light refreshments will follow. Ms. Jain is the author of Passports and Pacifiers: Traveling the World, One Tantrum at a Time(2021), which was published by Boston BELS Publishing. Ms. Zhou wrote Flowing with the Pearl River (2022), which was published by Santa Monica Press. Both memoirs can be found on Olney Library’s local author shelf and in MCPL’s catalog.