Well…what can we even say? To everyone in our community, whether you live here or have other connections, we hope that you and your loved ones have weathered the tragedy of Hurricane Helene as well as can be expected. We are grateful that our staff members are okay, and that our collections sustained no damage. As community members and stewards of this regional history, we feel our collective losses deeply.
We are also committed to preserving the incredible story of our community’s response to this disaster. Just as we turn to the past to learn and grow from, we know that sharing our stories in the present day can offer a space for healing and understanding, and we hope that documenting this moment will provide future generations with the same.
Like recovery, building a collection of photographs, oral histories, and documents in remembrance of Hurricane Helene’s impact will take time. Please stay tuned for further announcements. If you are interested in contributing to our efforts—whether by offering your time, donating materials documenting the disaster, or financially supporting us through a donation to the Friends of BCSC—please email us at packnc@buncombecounty.org.
Schedule changes
Please note that although BCSC is now open, we are operating with fewer staff than usual due to temporary disaster relief reassignments. As a result, we will be closed every day during lunch (noon to 1 pm) until further notice. If you are planning a visit, please be aware that all Buncombe County libraries will be closed from November 28 – November 30, December 24 – December 26, and January 1. BCSC will also be open by appointment only from December 21 – December 28 for our quarterly in-service week.
World Digital Preservation Day
Today, November 7, 2024, is World Digital Preservation Day, celebrated annually on the first Thursday of November. It’s a day of advocacy and celebration for all the data creators, archivists, curators, consumers, community members and digital preservation workers around the world who create, use, and maintain digital content.
This year, the events of Hurricane Helene have highlighted the vulnerability of our physical records and digital infrastructure. The storm’s devastating impact has included the loss of memories and legacies held in family photo albums, hard drives and laptops, and other storage media.
If you have physical photographs or documents damaged by Helene which need to be digitized ASAP, or want to know how you can better protect your physical or digital assets so they remain accessible no matter what may come, we can help. Scanners for digitization are available for use in the reading room, or you can check out a Personal Archiving Backpack. Additional resources are available from the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, and Special Collections staff are available to help connect you with resources or talk through your specific preservation needs.
Land of the Sky 101 Book Club
Saturday, November 23, 2024, 10:30am – noon
Special Collections Reading Room, Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood Street
Land of the Sky 101 is a community learning circle for those who are interested in the history of Asheville, Buncombe County, and Western North Carolina.
This four-part series of readings and discussions is modeled after the themes of the exhibit An Incomplete History of Buncombe County in the BCSC reading room.
Each session is facilitated by a Buncombe County Special Collections librarian or special guest who shares expert knowledge, additional resources, and sets the context for the conversation.
For our fourth and final session of the 2024 cohort, we will be reading and discussing LGBTQ Fiction and Poetry from Appalachia edited by Jeff Mann and Julia Watts and What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte.
This session is full, but sign up for the waitlist if you’d like to join us. And stay tuned for the announcement of next year’s reading list!
(Psst—be sure to check out the Friends of the Library Book Sale happening the same day as our book club!)
Other Library Events
Native American History Month
In November, Buncombe County Public Libraries are hosting several special events in honor of National Native American History Month:
- Storytelling by Eastern Band of Cherokee oral historians at Pack Memorial Library in partnership with the AARP (November 13; previous sessions were held October 30 and November 6)
- “Cherokee Tales” for children presented by Bright Star Theatre at the South Buncombe and West Asheville libraries (November 16).
Fall Antique & Collectible Book Sale
Friday, November 22, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm AND Saturday, November 23, 2024, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Lord Auditorium, Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood Street
The Friends of Pack Library have rescheduled their popular fall book sale! All books in the Bookends Used Book Store will be half off their already-discounted prices. Plus, antique and collectible books, CDs and DVDs, children’s books, and local history ephemera such as postcards will be available at low prices on Friday. Whatever’s left on Saturday will be 50% off!
Saturday’s sale will be taking place during and after our book club, so be sure to check it out!
Day With(out) Art 2024: Red Reminds Me…Video Series
Thursday, December 5, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Lord Auditorium, Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood Street
Pack Memorial Library is proud to partner with Visual AIDS for Day With(out) Art 2024 by presenting Red Reminds Me…, a program of seven videos reflecting the emotional spectrum of living with HIV today.
Selected materials from BCSC’s archives will also be on view.
Community Events
We’d also like to highlight a few free events from our friends and partners that may appeal to our patrons interested in regional history and memory. Please refer to the links for further information or to RSVP. These events are not organized or hosted by BCSC. Please contact their respective host organizations with any questions.
Wilma Dykeman Legacy: An Evening of Cherokee Storytelling
Thursday, November 7, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
60 Lakeshore Drive, Weaverville
Nancy Pheasant, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation, currently resides in the Wolftown community of the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, North Carolina. Nancy is passionate about promoting the rich culture and heritage of Cherokee women in today’s society.
Inspired by her father, Nancy has become a renowned storyteller, dedicated to preserving and sharing the traditions and history of the Anikituwah/Eastern Band of the Cherokee people.
Dry Ridge Historical Museum: An Evening with Terry Roberts
Friday, November 8, 7:00 pm
60 Lakeshore Drive, Weaverville
Local author and Western North Carolina native Terry Roberts will talk about his latest book, The Devil Hath A Pleasing Shape. The novel is set in Asheville in the 1920s,
[VIRTUAL] Firestorm Books: Stories of Movement and Migration in Appalachia
Monday, November 18, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Firestorm Books, 1022 Haywood Road, Asheville
Katrina Powell, editor of Beginning Again, and collaborators, will discuss Appalachia as a diverse place where belonging and connection are created despite displacement, resource extraction, and inequality. This new oral history collection is out now from Voice of Witness and Haymarket Books, with a foreword from poet-activist Nikki Giovanni.
“How Do We Mark the Flood?” at Warren Wilson College
Saturday, November 23, 1:00 – 6:00 pm
Warren Wilson College Farm and Garden, 701 Warren Wilson Rd, Swannanoa
This one-day happening on the historic grounds of the Warren Wilson College Farm and Garden will be a day of collective healing and community resilience. Join Swannatopia for live music, art installations, dancing, mutual aid raffles, plein air painting, a grief workshop, sketchbook club, portraits by AVL Darkroom, and more. Presented in conjunction with Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center’s exhibition The Farm at Black Mountain College.
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center: David Silver on The Farm at BMC
Wednesday, December 18, 7:00 pm
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, 120 College Street
BMCM+AC will host David Silver, co-curator of The Farm at Black Mountain College, for a gallery walk-and-talk alongside a book launch / signing event. Built on more than a decade’s worth of deep, original archival research, The Farm at Black Mountain College constitutes a comprehensive new history of BMC. By focusing on the farm, the exhibition sidesteps the popular paradigm of approaching the college through its famous faculty and students, and instead offers a new cast of characters, one that includes mostly students, women, and farmers.
Got feedback on past events or ideas for future ones? Let us know in this short, anonymous survey or email us!
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