BEAUFORT — The Carteret County Public Library System has joined East Carolina University in a collaborative project aimed at improving access to digital technology and literacy for residents across 29 eastern North Carolina counties.

The Digital Bridges initiative is supported by $1.39 million in funding that was awarded to ECU’s College of Health and Human Performance as part of North Carolina’s first digital equity grant program. The program has allocated $9.9 million to bridge the digital divide statewide.

The Carteret County system said that the partnership will enable its library patrons to borrow iPads and Wi-Fi hotspots for free, giving them the tools they need to stay connected, build digital skills and access online resources.

Patrons will also have access to in-person digital literacy training designed to improve their ability to use technology confidently in their daily lives. Training topics will cover essential skills such as basic computer use, online safety, and health care navigation, with sessions offered at libraries, community centers, senior centers, churches and other area venues.

“We are excited to bring the Digital Bridges program to Carteret County,” said Carteret County Public Library System Director Dorothy Howell. “This initiative will help ensure that our community members have the technology and skills needed to participate fully in the digital world — from connecting with family and friends to accessing critical health resources.”

Adult patrons with a valid library card can borrow devices free of charge. Additionally, the library will launch a four-week Digital Skills Information Sessions series to enhance essential skills in a supportive environment. Sessions include the following:

• Basic Computer Skills: 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Nov. 26.
• Online Safety and Privacy: 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Dec. 3.
• How to Search and Find Trusted Information Online: 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Dec. 10.
• Using Healthcare Online: 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Dec. 17.

All sessions will take place at the Newport Library, 210 Howard Blvd., Newport. Light refreshments will be provided, and participants who complete both the pre-test and post-test will be entered into a drawing to win a free iPad.

Officials said the partnership marks a significant step forward for the county library system in helping to ensure that residents, regardless of their location or economic circumstances, have access to the technology and skills they need.

For more information about the program, including how to access devices and register for upcoming learning sessions, visit the library’s website or nearest branch.

One of North Carolina’s most famous mysteries, the “Lost Colony,” is among the more than 30 tales, tragedies and legends from the barrier islands to get lost in — virtually — while using Dare County’s new interactive map, “OBX Folklore: Your gateway to Outer Banks Legends, Ghosts, and Folklore.”

The map allows users to “delve deeper into the many eerie and mysterious occurrences that have taken place over the years and have ultimately become legends that are passed down from generation to generation,” the county said in an announcement earlier this week.

Dare County GIS Specialist Kristen Stilson and county librarians Meaghan Leenaarts Beasley and Theresa Cozart spent the last year collaborating on the website that celebrates Geographic Information Systems Day 2024 on Nov. 20.

“The Outer Banks has a long history full of lore to choose from, from Native American tales to modern day frights. This made for a really diverse set of stories to educate and entertain both the readers and us,” Stilson said in the announcement.

Stilson explained to Coastal Review Tuesday that the county had been creating special maps to celebrate GIS Day since 2019. Past projects include the 2019 Look Back Map, the 2020 Shipwreck Map, the 2021 Trivia Map, the 2022 OBX Days Gone By Map, and the 2023 Pop Culture Map, all available on the Dare County website.

The idea for this year’s map on Outer Banks folklore came about through a conversation they had about a year ago.

Cozart said that when she was hired last November, she and Stilson began talking about the 2023 Pop Culture Map, which had just been released for GIS Day, and of the interesting places in Dare County. 

“Kristen was telling me about all the fun maps she had created and how I should check them out to help me get a feel for the Outer Banks. Kristen’s excitement about these maps was infectious,” Cozart explained.

Coming from Wilmington, Cozart continued, “I started talking about all the ‘haunted’ locations down there and fun ghost tours. Kristen and Meaghan then started telling me about folklore associated with the Outer Banks and I said that sounded like a fun map that everyone would enjoy.”

Stilson said that since she tries to make a fun map for each GIS Day, she drew inspiration from Cozart’s idea and they decided to collaborate on the folklore map.

“It took us a few months to make, with all of us working on it in our spare time and adding a few things here and there,” Stilson said.

The map is best viewed on a desktop for all the effects but will work on all devices. “You can read the stories in any order you like thanks to the dropdown menu but I ordered the stories from North to South,” Stilson added.

The earliest stories date back to the “Lost Colony of Roanoke” and the “Legend of the White Doe,” both late 1500s, Beasley told Coastal Review.

The story of the “Lost Colony” begins in the summer of 1587, when men, women and children attempt to establish Roanoke Colony, the first permanent English outpost in North America. About 115 English settlers arrived at Roanoke Island, welcoming a month later Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World. Later that year, Roanoke Colony’s governor, John White, returned to England for supplies, leaving the colonists behind.

White’s return to North America was delayed by three years because of war with Spain. When he made his way back in 1590, he found the colonists had disappeared and the only clues were “CRO” and “CROATOAN” carved on trees. “Though there are many theories about their fate, the colonists were never found and what happened to them remains a mystery to this day.”

One version of the “Legend of the White Doe” suggests that Virginia Dare was raised among the Croatoan. As she matured, she became a great beauty, drawing the unwanted attention of a young chieftain who, angry at her rejection, tricks her into drinking a potion that turns her into a white doe.

Stilson said in the press release that they chose stories for the map based on ones “we knew growing up or ones that we hadn’t heard that spoke to us.”

Stilson explained in a follow-up interview Tuesday that one of the legends from her youth is about the “goat man,” the most recent tale featured on the map.

The goat man legend began circulating in the 1970s, gaining momentum in the decades that followed. The story goes that a man lived in a yellow shack in Nags Head Woods with just his goats to keep him company. One night, teens vandalized his house while he was away, killing all of his goats. It is rumored that he kidnaps or chases teenagers, the map states.

Stilson continued that when she was growing up, she had always heard the story of the goat man. “Friends and I looked for him in Nags Head Woods.”

One legend Stilson had not heard before is the story of the magic lute, she said, “but for some reason I was really drawn to that one and wanted to write it up.”

The magic lute is a tale from the 1600s about two sisters in Currituck vying for the same man’s affection, and the musician who used strands of the chosen sister’s hair, who was drowned by the rejected sister, to replace the broken strings of his lute.

Cozart moved to Dare County in November 2023 from Wilmington. She said in an interview that she “really enjoyed learning about the local legends” since she’s new to the Outer Banks and “I love a good ghost story.”

She said she is partial to their very own poltergeist in the Kill Devil Hills Library. The branch where she is based opened 34 years ago.  

“I usually get here first thing in the morning and I’ve heard stuff. Usually it’s in the back areas — meeting room and kitchen. I’ve raced back there to see what was making noise and there was nothing there. It’s happened several times,” Cozart said. “Others here say they’ve had books found on the floor that were on the shelves when we closed up the night before. I haven’t experienced that yet, but I’m keeping on the poltergeist’s good side.”

Cozart said her favorite story that she came across is about the Whalehead Club. Built in 1922, the 21,000-square-foot house in Corolla was a winter home until 1933 when the original owners made their last visit. The couple died in 1936. Uneasy feelings are reported at the building and it has been investigated by paranormal researchers.

“So creepy that the original owners just abandoned that huge house,” Cozart added.

For Beasley, the Queen of the Sounds is “a perfect Halloween tale with witches, explosions and ghosts.”

The Queen of the Sounds was a riverboat commissioned after the Civil War that toured through the Currituck and Albemarle sounds. The owner supposedly fell in love with a witch, and their relationship ended when the riverboat exploded on a Sunday, after a ceremony to summon the devil.

Beasley said in a press release that it was a “natural fit” for library staff to work with Stilson on the interactive map.

“Not only do we have physical collections of celebrated folklorists, most notably Charles Harry Whedbee, but we also have little-known Outer Banks authors and locally written pamphlets of eerie tales and legends that often go overlooked,” Beasley continued. “While some of these items reside in our reference collections due to their age or rarity and can only be viewed in our libraries, many are available for checkout by the public.” 

Beasley told Coastal Review that they used about 20 resources, including books and digitized newspapers from the Dare County Library holdings, as well as outside sources such as a photo from the archives of the Outer Banks History Center to build the map. 

“It was a pleasant surprise to find a diversity of sources for these legends in our collections – we’re not a large place geographically but we’ve had some legendary events here,” Beasley said.

In each of the county’s three branches, the resources are on display along with a 24-inch by 36-inch framed poster of the OBX Folklore Map. Patrons can enter the raffle at the branches located in Hatteras, Kill Devil Hills and Manteo between Thursday and Nov. 19. A winner will be selected from each branch Nov. 20, on GIS day.

Brunswick County is joining NC Cardinal this December, giving patrons access to a catalog of over 7.9 million items with their Brunswick County Library card.

The NC Cardinal program of the State Library of North Carolina is a consortium of public libraries in more than 60 North Carolina counties dedicated to sharing resources and expanding access to library materials through a single online catalog and system-wide borrowing privileges.

Brunswick is one of a handful of coastal counties in the program. Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library, Carteret and Onslow county public libraries are members as well.

Brunswick County Library will transition to NC Cardinal from Dec. 9-11. During this time, the online catalog will be unavailable, and patrons will need to have their physical library card with them in order to check out.

Brunswick County Library cardholders can officially begin using the new NC Cardinal software to manage checkouts on Dec. 12. Any book or DVD can be requested from an NC Cardinal member and shipped to their pickup library of choice at no cost to the patron, but local patrons will continue to have first dibs on items owned by Brunswick County.

“Joining NC Cardinal is a win-win situation for Brunswick County,” said Library Director Patricia Dew. “All library card holders will have access to almost any book they could want and the County saves money at the same time.”

The program is supported by grant funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) as administered by the State Library of North Carolina. Brunswick County Library received a $10,000 grant to cover all costs associated with the change and migration to new software. The cost of joining and the first two years membership in the NC Cardinal consortium is funded through the State Library of North Carolina, then an annual cost share for continued membership is determined based upon the size of the library’s collection and patron base. The end result is a cost savings for Brunswick County.

Find more information about Brunswick County Library and NC Cardinal at brunswickcountync.gov/NC-Cardinal.

BURGAW — The Pender County Library is partnering with educator and filmmaker Claudia Stack to host a screening of the documentary “Lessons from the Rosenwald Schools.”

The screening, the result of a partnership between the library and Stack’s company, Stack Stories LLC, is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at the Main Library at 103 S. Cowan St. in Burgaw. All ages are encouraged to view the film and meet the film’s codirectors, Stack and Richard T. Newkirk.

“Lessons from the Rosenwald Schools” includes footage from hundreds of interviews with alumni and former teachers in which they speak of their experiences at historic African American schools.

The Rosenwald school building program was funded by Chicago philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck and Co., according to N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Rosenwald partnered with African American educator and activist Booker T. Washington, first working with Washington’s Tuskegee Institute and then forming an independent foundation to manage the school program. After meeting in 1912, the two men built thousands of schools for black students in 15 states, according to the National Park Service.

Architectural plans and matching grants were provided that helped build more than 5,300 schools from Maryland to Texas between the late 1910s and 1932. North Carolina had more than 800 projects, more than any other state, cultural resources continues.

Newkirk, an educator and alumnus of these historic schools, and Stack, who has been documenting African American education heritage since 2003, help viewers understand how these schools fostered a culture of excellence.

The film reveals practices that were common in Rosenwald schools and other historic African American schools, including many teaching strategies that are validated by current research, and recommends ways that we can move forward together.

The Brunswick County Library is hosting Barbara Wright at its next Author Talk set for 4 p.m. Friday.

To be held in in the Southwest Brunswick Branch Library in Carolina Shores, the discussion is part of the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read 2022-23.

Wright will discuss her most recent work, “Crow,” a fictionalized account of the 1898 massacre in Wilmington. The book follows Moses, an 11-year-old boy living in Wilmington and his family in summer 1898.

“Crow” is one of the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read companion titles to the main book “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi. Free copies of the Big Read books are at library branches while supplies last.

Space for the event is limited and reservations are required. To reserve a spot or for additional questions, visit the Southwest Brunswick Branch Library or call 910-575-0173.

In 2013, “Crow” was named one of the Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People by the National Council for the Social Studies, and named a Best Children’s Book of the Year for ages 14 and up by the Bank Street Children’s Book Committee.

Wright was born in 1951 and grew up in North Carolina. Her family has owned a house in Holden Beach since the late 1940s. She has lived in France, Korea, and El Salvador, and has traveled widely in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband, Frank Gay. Wright has worked as a fact checker for Esquire Magazine and as a screenwriter. When not writing, she enjoys gardening, playing tennis, and practicing jazz piano.

Brunswick County is one of the 62 communities nationwide participating in program. Now through January, the library system will celebrate “Homegoing” and other companion titles.

The next speaker will be with author of Cape Fear Rising at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, at 801 Ocean Event Center in Oak Island. Author Philip Gerard as he discusses his novel, “Cape Fear Rising,” a fictionalized account of the bloody 1898 Wilmington white supremacist coup. Seats are limited, and reservations are required. Please RSVP by calling 910-278-4283.

A Smithsonian Institution poster exhibit celebrating the history of women inventors will be on display in Dare County Library’s Kill Devil Hills and Manteo locations in early 2022.

The exhibition, “Picturing Women Inventors,” showcases the many breakthroughs, motivations and challenges that American women have encountered while pursuing their goals and ambitions as inventors throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, according to the release.

Presented by the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the exhibition will be at the Kill Devil Hills library Jan. 3-31 then will move to the Manteo location Feb. 2-28.

The poster exhibition explores the inventions of 19 accomplished American women ranging from astronauts and athletes to engineers and computer pioneers.

“Throughout American history, women of all ages and with diverse backgrounds and interests have created inventions that change countless lives every day; however, women haven’t always had equal opportunities to be inventors or received as much recognition as their male counterparts,” officials said.

Among the 19 women inventors who are featured in the exhibition is Alexis Lewis. At 12 years old in 2011, she was inspired to adapt a traditional Native American sled known as a “travois” by adding wheels in order to create a simpler way for people to transport their children and belongings to camps and hospitals in Somalia.

The exhibit also recognizes Marilyn Hamilton, who was left paralyzed by a hang-gliding accident in 1978. She invented with the help of two friends a lightweight and easy-to-maneuver wheelchair and went on to win two U.S. Women’s Open Singles wheelchair championships.

The “Picturing Women Inventors” exhibition is presented at no cost to libraries, schools, museums and community organizations by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation and the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The exhibition is sponsored by Lyda Hill Philanthropies’ IF/THEN initiative, as well as Ericsson, a leading provider of information and communication technology.

For more information, visit the Dare County Library website or contact the Kill Devil Hills Library at 252-441-4331 or the Manteo Library at 252-473-2372.

Need a little help planning your spring garden?

North Carolina State Extension’s Dare County Master Gardeners is hosting a Library Garden Winter Series at the Dare County Libraries in Kill Devil Hills and Manteo, according to an announcement from Dare County Libraries.

The hourlong programs begin at 11 a.m. Wednesdays and will alternate between the Kill Devil Hills and Manteo libraries. Interested green thumbs can attend one or all of the programs. The free presentations are being provided by the Dare County Master Gardeners Speaker’s Bureau. Reservations are not required.

The master gardeners will kick off the 2020 Garden Series Jan. 15 at the Kill Devil Hills library with Plants that Survive & Thrive on the Outer Banks. The master gardeners will focus on the following seven plants that have done well in the tough conditions of the Outer Banks: ice plant, salvia, coral honeysuckle, American holly, camellia and red bud. This program will also be presented Feb. 19 at the Manteo Library.

Integrated Pest Management is a new program that will be introduced at the Manteo Library Jan. 22 that help gardeners formulate a pest-management plan for weeds and insects in landscapes and gardens.

Another new program, Native Plants for 4 Seasons, will be presented Jan. 29 at the Kill Devil Hills Library. Master gardeners will talk about plants that are well adapted to the climate, weather conditions, soil types and other factors affecting gardening.

A presentation on Herbs is Feb. 12 at Kill Devil Hills Library will provide information on growing and using herbs to enhance your garden and food preparation.

During the Container Gardening program Feb. 26 at Kill Devil Hills, attendees will learn the basics for growing vegetables and flowers in containers, and learn about types of containers, preparing pots and soil mixtures as well as ideas for decorating landscapes with containers.

New to the library series is a presentation March 11 at the Kill Devil Hills Library on Orchids. Learn which orchids are best for the home gardener as well as their care and requirements.

Color without Flowers: Foliage Takes the Stage is March 18 at the Manteo Library and will show how to use foliage plants in landscaping.

The 2020 Garden Series will wrap up with Irrigation for Container Gardening March 25 at the Kill Devil Hills Library to help attendees find ways to spend less time watering.

For more information, call the Dare County Library in Kill Devil Hills at 441-4331, the Manteo Library at 473-2372, or stop by the library to pick up a program brochure.

Learn more about the program and Dare County Master Gardeners on Dare County’s North Carolina State Extension website.

PINE KNOLL SHORES — The Art Gallery of the Bogue Banks Public Library will feature this month the night time photos of coastal photographer and surfer Doug Waters, a regular contributor to Coastal Review Online.

A reception will be in the library’s art gallery from 3 to 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13.

When asked what first inspired him to become a photographer, Waters, a New Bern native, started contributing to the surf magazines in the late 1970s. He moved to Florida in the early 1980s and was hired as a staff photographer at Surfing magazine. By the mid 1990s, he was a senior staff photographer. In 2009, Waters moved to New Bern to become a full-time caregiver for his parents. He now resides in Morehead City, and photographs nature, night sky and the ocean.

The display cases will feature the handcrafted jewelry by Pam Valente. Valente creates jewelry in her studios in Beaufort and Little Switzerland, North Carolina. Her pieces incorporate metal etching, enamel, thread work, gemstones, wire work, crystals and eclectic mediums that capture the essence of coastal and mountain living.

The exhibit is open during regular library hours, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The Bogue Banks Public Library is at 320 Salter Path Road in Pine Knoll Shores.

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• Doug Waters Fotos

OCEAN – Many people will remember her for helping save Sugarloaf Island, an undeveloped island visible from Morehead City’s waterfront. Books, however, may be the things Sarah Hamilton loved more than environmental activism.

Hamilton, 90, passed away in March of 2013, but the library at the N.C. Coastal Federation’s headquarters here in this small community in Carteret County continues to be a reflection of her touch.

Hamilton made a career out of her love for books, introducing others to the gift books offered. Born in 1923 in Morehead City, she was librarian at three high schools in Carteret County over her lifetime. Todd Miller, the executive director of the federation, remembers Hamilton when he was a student at West Carteret High School.

“She was of the community. She was well known and well respected,” Miller said. “She was just a very sweet woman.”

Hamilton served on the board of the federation for 20 years.

The federation’s “library ladies,” from left, Dot Reist, Sarah Hamilton and Ann White.

She also served on the town planning board of Morehead City and took an interest in environmental issues. During the time she was on the board, there were several proposals to develop Sugarloaf Island. Accessible by watercraft only, the 47-acre island can be seen from the restaurants and shops lining downtown Morehead City’s waterfront on Bogue Sound.

“She was pretty instrumental in saving the island,” Miller said. Hamilton opened the door for the federation to begin working with Morehead City, helping the town apply for funding to buy the island. Sugarloaf Island is now a part of Morehead City’s park system with a floating dock, nature trails and public restrooms. The preserved island is like a good book in a way – it’s a place where you can get away from it all.

Hamilton’s background as a librarian was put to use when the federation was settling into its office in Ocean in 1995 and another former board member, Bob Daland, died, leaving behind his collection of environmental literature. Daland, whom the library is named after, was an active member of the Sierra Club and infatuated with environmental issues, said Miller.

“He gave us the beginning of the library,” Miller said.

The library is one of the benefits of being a member of the N.C. Coastal Federation. There are books and magazines on a range of environmental topics including gardening, crafting with nature, seashells, wildlife and a juniors’ section. Photo: Tess Malijenovsky

Hamilton in 1996 recruited the help of two other local women – Anne White and Dot Reist – to organize and help maintain the library. The three of them, known around the headquarters as “the library ladies,” were recognized in 2006 for their outstanding environmental service to the federation with a Pelican Award.

“She was a gracious lady with finesse under any circumstance. I just admire her so much,” said Reist, of Emerald Isle.

Reist volunteered at the library until 2013, two years longer than Hamilton was capable for health reasons. White died in 2013.

“I really got to know her through politics,” Reist said. “She was a good Democrat and so am I. We used to go to Raleigh often, my husband would drive us.”

The women would visit senators and congressman in Raleigh together, going office to office. Reist said, as one example, they fought for tougher regulations on hog farms, which had open pits for waste that would wash out into the watershed with each storm.

Reist was invited to help organize the federation’s library by typing the catalog cards. In fact, part of the ambiance of the federation’s library is its classic card catalog system that Hamilton installed, said Rose Rundell, a federation staffer.
There is no computer database to tell people where to find a particular book. The federation’s library relies on the good old-fashion system that’s worked since 1876: the Dewey Decimal System. Whether you’re searching a book by title, author or subject, it’s easy to locate the book you’re looking for by pulling the appropriate file draw and flipping through cards in alphabetical order for a classification number.

“Aunt Sarah was all about books,” wrote one of Hamilton’s nephews, Bob Harvey. “I’m not sure she would have the same love of Kindles and iBooks.”

“Having the card catalog system was definitely her touch,” Miller said.

Sarah Hamilton helped put in place the card catalog system that you’ll find at the federation’s library. Photo: Tess Malijenovsky

The catalog system may be old school, but its contents are old and new, from classics like the Audubon Society’s Sibley Guide to Birds to Philip Gerard’s most recent novel Down the Wild Cape Fear. The library features books and magazines for the environmental enthusiast on a range of topics, including gardening, crafting with nature, seashells, wildlife and much more. There’s even a juniors’ section.

And thanks to a contribution made by Harvey, the library will continue to expand its book collection over the next several years. “It just seemed appropriate to donate it to one of the things that she was involved in,” said Harvey.

It was something of a family tradition, Harvey said, for Hamilton to bring her nieces and nephews over to Dee Gee’s Gifts and Books, a shop on Morehead City’s waterfront, the day after Thanksgiving to pick out a new book.

In addition to the federation, Hamilton was also a volunteer for Hospice, Emily’s List, Planned Parenthood and the Southern Poverty Law Center. “I think probably because she didn’t have any kids, she got involved with a lot of things that helped other people,” said Harvey.

If you’ve never visited the library before, it’s a cozy nook in the federation’s headquarters, just beyond the entrance and front desk. Three walls of shelved books surround a spiral staircase, plush reading chair and study table. Readers will find a checkout sheet on top of the vintage card catalog cabinet.

There are no late fees here. “We go by the honor system,” said Rundell.

The library is one of the privileges of being a member of the federation. Members simply fill out their contact and library book information and can keep the books for as long as it takes them to read it. Book can be returned in a pile next to the checkout sheet or, if the office is closed, the white mailbox just outside the entrance doorway. You might like to visit if you share Hamilton’s love for reading with a worn paperback book in your hands.