By Edward Hirst

Rowan Public Library

We have a lot to be thankful for this time of year. Something else the citizens of North Carolina and Rowan County have to be thankful for is NC LIVE. The cooperative library service recently announced their resource lineup for the next three years.

NC LIVE provides a twelve-fold return on investment for libraries of all types across the state of North Carolina. Their $3.6 million budget leveraged access to resources for N.C. communities worth $42.1 million. All NC LIVE resources are available 24/7 from anywhere with access to the internet by library patrons, students and educators.

Mango Languages is a new resource for NC LIVE. Mango offers access to 60 foreign language courses and 17 English courses taught completely in the user’s native language. Mango can be accessed at the library, remotely, or even on-the-go with apps for iPhone, Android, Kindle and Nook.

Cypress Resume, an online tool that helps library members to create a professional resume in just a few minutes. Its easy-to-use format assures you won’t spend hours trying to perfect your document — all the hard work is done for you. Simply plug in your basic information and Cypress Resume creates a perfectly formatted document to help you land that dream job.

SIRS Discoverer is a general reference database for elementary and middle school learners, researchers and educators, covering curriculum areas and content sets such as reading, language arts, current events, science, social studies, history, health and technology. SIRS Discoverer provides editorially-selected, indexed, and curated materials from over 2,100 newspapers, magazines, and websites offering guided research for young researchers.

AutoMate is a car repair resource for the most common maintenance and repair operations for your automobile. Automate has information available for more than 38,000 domestic and imported cars, light trucks, vans and SUVs. The information is categorized by year, make, model, sub-model and engine, leading to vehicle-specific results.

Testing & Education Reference Center from Gale provides standardized test preparation for library patrons. It is also possible to research college programs from more than 4,000 accredited colleges and universities.

Access these resources by visiting rowanpubliclibrary.org.

Chapter Chats: Weekly book club for teens 14-17, primarily for participants with developmental or intellectual disabilities, though all are welcome. Mondays, 5 p.m. at East Branch, Rockwell. Contact Tammie Foster at 704-216-7842.

Teens National Novel Writing Month: headquarters, through Nov. 30. Teens are invited to celebrate NaNoWriMo with the library. Are you an aspiring writer? Do you enjoy a challenge? Join us as we all try to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Come hang out, talk to other writers and try to meet your word goal for the day. For more information, check out nanowrimo.org. All authors who reach their goal will be invited to a special book release party at a later date.

The Write Stuff: Lessons in and practice with creative writing, led by Jenny Hubbard, young adult novelist, author of “Paper Covers Rock” and “And We Stay.” Headquarters, Dec. 5, 4:30 p.m.

Let’s Make a Playlist: Headquarters, Dec. 16, 2 p.m. RPL’s makerspace, known as the Cooperative Lab or “The Coop,” will host this teen program. Participants will curate and prepare the playlist of period-specific music that will be featured at the Welcome Home celebration on Dec. 30.

Mr. Robert’s Special Storytime: Headquarters, Nov. 30, 10:30 a.m. Come join Mr. Robert for a very special storytime to ring in the holiday season; geared for ages 3 to 5.

RoBoJo Holiday Show: Headquarters, Dec. 2, 2 p.m. RoBoJo Theatre Troupe returns to RPL for the 18th annual presentation of their Holiday Theater. A fun crew of talented local actors joins RPL’s Children’s Staff to perform an hour-long variety show featuring skits, songs, readers’ theater and audience participation.

BookBites Club: South, Nov. 28, 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. Join this free book club where we discuss a different book each month and serve refreshments loosely related to the theme. November’s book is “Death Comes for the Archbishop” by Willa Cather. Need more information? Call 704-216-7731.

Cards for a Cause: Headquarters, East and South, through Dec. 18. Create holiday cards that will be delivered to active service members in the U.S. Armed Forces and to veterans at the Hefner VAMC in Salisbury. Questions? Call Laurie at 704-216-7732.

Movie Night: East, Nov. 28, 5:30 p.m. With their daughter away, the Kranks decide to skip Christmas altogether until she decides to come home, causing an uproar when they have to celebrate the holiday at the last minute. This film is PG-rates and has a runtime of 99 mins. Popcorn and lemonade provided.

Saturday Cinema and Cards for a Cause: South, Dec. 2, 10 .m.-4 p.m. Create holiday cards for service members and veterans while enjoying Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.” The film, which has 2 hour runtime, will be shown at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Light refreshments;. free, open to the public, all ages  welcome. Participation in Cards for a Cause is not required, though both events will be held simultaneously in the Meeting Room.

‘The Vietnam War” Film Screening: Headquarters, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. and Dec. 2 at 10 a.m. The library hosts free weekly screenings of “The Vietnam War,” a 10-part documentary film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick that aired on PBS. Episode 7: “The Veneer of Civilization (June 1968-May 1969)” will be shown. Adults (17 and up) only.

Through a Soldier’s Eyes: An oral history project at headquarters, East and South. Through Dec. 30, brochures explaining the oral history project, outlining prompts for questions, and offering the contact information for two librarians who can record stories will be distributed at all branches and throughout the community.  These brochures are intended for teens and adults.Nonveterans, particularly teens with friends or family members who served in Vietnam or remember the time period well, are encouraged to use these brochures as guides to engage in conversations that can then be recorded, either on their own or with a librarian’s assistance.

Literacy: Call the Rowan County Literacy Council at 704-216-8266 for more information on teaching or receiving literacy tutoring for English speakers or for those for whom English is a second language.