Shenandoah Community Library

History of the Shenandoah Community Library

The Shenandoah Community Library, known as the Shenandoah Community Center Library prior to May 26, 1997, was established by the Chairman of the Women’s Club Library Committee, Virginia Melton, who had taught for 30 years at the Shenandoah Elementary School. It was the second branch to be founded in Page County, Virginia. Dorothy Wilson, a friend of Virginia Melton, mailed 70 books to Mrs. Melton from California which was the beginning of a town library in the Shenandoah Community Center. Other book donations followed and a room at the end of the Shenandoah Community Center was dedicated Sept. 10th, 1972 as the library. Facing the front of the Community Center building, the library was on the right end of the building. At its peak operation the room held 5,000 volumes.

The library was staffed by volunteers. Virginia Melton worked at the library for 22 years as the volunteer head librarian. She was the first librarian who cataloged the books for the library. Mrs. Melton was a great believer of the outreach program. She would take books to the shut-ins who could not come to the library, then pick-up and return the books to the library. Before Virginia Melton retired and went to live with her son in Texas, she asked Ruth Reid, an employee of the then Rockingham County Library, to be the caretaker of the Shenandoah Library and keep it established for the Shenandoah Community for future generations.

                                                                                             


Virginia Melton passed away three months before the Shenandoah Library in the Town of Shenandoah received a Trust fund of $435,000 from Boston, Massachusetts called the Ann S. Barb Trust fund. This trust fund was established around 1972 and Mrs. Barb’s son Thomas Barb received the interest until his death in 1997. The trust fund money reverted, per his mother’s wish, to the library in the town of Shenandoah. No one is certain who Ann S. Barb was, but research revealed that Ann S. Barb was a cousin of Virginia Melton, the founder of the Shenandoah Library.

The Importance of Horror Fiction

The Importance of Horror Fiction

 

“I think it's relatively easy for people to accept something like telepathy or precognition or teleplasm because their willingness to believe doesn't cost them anything. It doesn't keep them awake nights. But the idea that the evil that men do lives after them is unsettling.”
― Stephen King, 'Salem's Lot   

 

It is hard not to walk into a library or bookstore today and not be confronted with vampires and werewolves. These creatures of myth and fantasy have been capturing the imagination of readers for centuries. Zombies and vampires have gained popularity over the past decade with the help from a swarm of authors who write books designed to capture the interest of teenagers; however, the horror genre has been around for hundreds of years. People have been telling ghost stories for as long as people were willing to listen. Oral traditions, such as telling fantastical stories around a campfire or to a sleepless child, help captivate the imagination and offer an escape from the normal routine.

Bram Stoker’s 1897 gothic horror story Dracula and Horace Walpole’s 1764 novel The Count of Otranto are considered by many to be the earliest and most influential writings in this genre that reached mass audiences. Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein; or, the modern Prometheus is another classic horror story that questions man’s ability to play God. The impact of these classics is profound and has been integral in the formation and popularity of many contemporary horror writers. Fast forward to America, circa the 1970s and the origins of contemporary horror fiction begin to surface.

Find Surprises at Your Library Treasure Hunt

In honor of "Find Surprises at Your Library,"our annual spring fundraiser, we are hosting a Library Treasure Hunt. The winner will receive an MRL gift pack (MRL bookstore certificate, notepad, magnet, flashlight, book bag, etc….) All entries must be received by May 26th; winner announced Thursday, May 30th. Entries will be received at the Reference Desk. Do you know where that is?

Download the following form, solve as many riddles as you can, and bring to the Reference Desk. Good luck!

Impact Survey Results

Many of you noticed when logging onto our website a banner asking you to take the Impact Survey. First, we would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey. Surveys like the Impact Survey help libraries and librarians across the country understand more about our user’s information needs. The Impact Survey is the result of research initiative from the University of Washington’s Information School with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The purpose of the survey is to better understand how technology impacts library users. A library’s purpose is to serve its community and libraries are constantly striving to better understand their users so we can become better at what we do.

The Impact Survey collected data in the following fields: general use of library and online resources, education, employment, entrepreneurship, health and wellness, eGovernment, civic engagement, eCommerce, and social inclusion. All responses were anonymous and used to create a profile for our library that reflects the information needs of all our unique users.

A Guide to MRL's Genealogy and Local History Resources

 

            In the Main Branch of the Massanutten Regional Library a special room is set aside for genealogy and local history research. The Room holds primary and secondary resources related to the Rockingham County area since settlement in the 1730’s. Some of the holdings contain information on where settlers migrated from (often Pennsylvania) and where they migrated to (often Ohio and Kentucky). The items in this Room must be used in house. Copies of some of the books are on the circulation shelves and can be checked-out.

The following outlines the topical arrangement of the resources in the book sections for genealogical research. The information below is indicative of the materials found in each section. As you enter the room, to the far left and far right, are enclosed bookcases, some of which are locked. The Research Librarian can help you if a resource from these cases is needed. Each bookcase section is lettered starting with “A” being on the left-hand side.

Local Black History

            Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) has been cited as the father of black history.  This Virginia born Harvard Ph.D. (1912) founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (1915) and its Journal of Negro History and established Negro History Week (1926).  In a debate that is still heard today, some of Woodson’s contemporaries criticized his efforts to teach or understand African-American history apart from general American history.  Current wisdom suggests that designating a black history month is not wrong as long as black history is connected to the timeline of history studied throughout the year.  The following is to focus your attention on some of the black history resources in our area and the people and institutions that are collectors and repositories of this information.

            Americans’ consideration of the African-American experience is only about fifty years old.  The experience of and the lessons learned by many Americans during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the advent of expanded mass communication as in the presentation of the television series “Roots” resulted in widespread interest in black history among all races.  Today we find increased interest and research in the experience of this population at the local level.

Terror Finance in Demons of Gadara

Terror Finance

Demons of Gadara[i]

A Fictional Thriller

By John A. Cassara

             At the Main Library at 1:00pm, on Monday, February 10^th, John A. Cassara will talk about his novel Demons of Gadara.  The intent of this article is to preview the geography of and terror-finance terminology in this novel.  Most of us are aware of some of the tactics used in the United States’ “War on Terror,” but few of us probably understand how the “enemy” finances its side of the war.  Previously, Cassara published two technical books on the subject intended for law enforcement and intelligence entities and policy makers.  In Demons of Gadara the author puts the conflict in human terms in an effort to reach and inform a larger public audience on terror financing.  To trace terrorist activity, as in most criminal activity, the mantra is “follow the money or value trail.”  Succinctly, without money (and per terrorist episode, the amount may not be that great), there would be few terrorist acts.