Anna Porter Public Library

Everyone, please give a round of applause for Pat Adams! 👏👏👏 Adams presentation examined the Civilian Conservation Corps’ role in the infrastructure, conservation policy, and the social history of the 1930s workforce that transformed the Smokies into the Smoky Mountains National Park. The program was full of excitement, laughter, questions, and people sharing their families stories about relatives that worked in the CCC.

To learn more, we have included a list of resources from Pat Adams presentation down below.

Thank you for coming! We will be taking a break for this summer, but don't worry! We are already scheduling guests for this fall and next spring. Make sure to follow us on our social media to keep up with our events. You can also look up events on the programs calendar on our library's website.

Missed the program? You can watch our programs on the library's YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/

Resources:
"Dollar a Day" Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoQcad8pxmA&t=18s

Great Smoky Mountains (1936) - U.S. National Archives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx3OoN0dIfY&t=3s

CCC Legacy
https://ccclegacy.org/

CCC Enrollee Records
https://www.archives.gov/st-louis/civilian-personnel/ccc-holdings-access​
https://www.archives.gov/st-louis/archival-programs/civilian-personnel-archival/ccc-finding-aid​

New month! New movies and TV series! Come by today and get ready for the weekend. Patrons can now check out 4 DVDs per person. You can reserve DVDs online or call (865) 436-5588.

What are you excited to watch?

Summer has arrived, and we have new large print books to help you celebrate!

Annie Adams is back to solve another murder with the help of her deceased Great Aunt Frances in How to Cheat Your Own Death from the Castle Knoll Murder Mystery series. If you enjoy reading about a person's journey to stardom, read Michael J. Fox's memoir detailing his personal experiences filming the legendary Back to the Future trilogy.

To get ahead of the line, reserve online or call (865) 436-5588. Happy reading!

President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, liberating African Americans from slavery. The last state to remove slavery was in Galveston, Texas. Freedom did not come right away until Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued the order on June 19, 1865. The delay was caused by news taking longer to reach certain states, transition, and resistance from slaveholders. While states have been celebrating Juneteenth for years, the day officially became a federal holiday on June 19, 2021. People around the country celebrate the event which can often include parades, guest speakers, family gatherings, and more!

If you like to learn more here is a sample list of resources we have at the library!

- On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
- All different now: Juneteenth, the first day

Here is list of books that you might find in our eBook and audiobook collection on Libby. If you cannot find a copy contact us and we can help get it through our ILL resource!

Penguin Random House Juneteenth Reading List 2026
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/the-read-down/juneteenth/

However you celebrate, Happy Juneteenth!

Is it too Monday for this joke?
We hope not.

If you've got a case of the Mondays, we've got the cure! Fly on in to the library and grab a book or movie to escape those blues. While you're at it, sign yourself and/or any kid you are in charge of for the summer for our summer reading program. It's all about dinosaurs, archaeology, and more this year, and we can't wait to share all the excitement with you. It will make our Monday better! Can we help out with yours?



P.S. It's pronounced (AR-kee-OP-ter-iks). We had to look it up, too.

Did you know that even reading cookbooks counts for our summer reading program?

If you're not signed up, we're here to deliver! Pop on in and get your reading record and some sweet swag. It's open to kids, teens, and adults.

Not to mention, check out Libby, our online app for e-books, audiobooks, and magazines. We've got everything from Bon Appétit to Food & Wine in magazines, and cookbooks for beginners to professional chefs. Right there at your fingertips 24/7/365. There's no excuse not to rack up those entries for some awesome prizes! We're happy to show you how. See y'all soon!

Oh no! You missed it! Our big kickoff!

That's ok! You can still sign up for our Unearth A Story Summer Reading program any time in June or July. It's open to ages 0-100 (and if you're over 100, we'll still let you sign up, we promise). Stop in and sign up, get your reading log and some fun treats, and get to reading! If you need some "long tales" we've got plenty we can recommend.

Thank you, Marilyn, for a wonderful and informative program! 👏👏👏

In celebration of our country's 250th anniversary, or the Semiquincentennial, we appreciated learning about the efforts to locate and preserve the graves of Revolutionary War veterans within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Marilyn Childress, president of the Veterans Heritage Site Foundation, was our guest speaker on Thursday, May 14, 2026.

For those interested, the project's progress is documented on the Friends of Bryson City Cemetery website: https://friendsofthebccemetery.org/

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel? Catch up on past programs at https://www.youtube.com/

Summer Reading is nothing to sneeze at!
Reading during the summer helps prevent "summer slip" in students' skills (wow, say that 3x fast!) and helps them retain their literacy progress when they start back to school in the fall. Not to mention it fosters a love for reading, life-long learning, and literacy. Now those are some things we can get behind!

Tomorrow we kick off our summer reading program. This year it is Unearth a Story, with programs about dinosaurs, archaeology, fossils, and even your family roots! Join us on Friday, May 29th, to sign up, do some fun activities, and start this summer off just right!