New Library Card Option Empowers Parents

PRESS RELEASE (04-23-2025

MACON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

Starting May 1st Fontana Regional Library will be offering a new Library Card option for parents with kids 15 and under. This new card designation, which parents can choose for existing or brand new library cards, only allows for library books and materials within the children's department to be checked out. Because this restricted card option will not allow for items outside the children's area to be checked out, if a parent wants their child to have access to any items outside the children's area they will have to check out those items using their own full-access library cards.

Fontana Regional Library's policies reinforce the role and choices of parents in their child's reading and development. Library cards are issued with parental consent, and every location enforces the Safe Child Policy, which requires that children under the age of 12 have a parent or caregiver with them. The Juvenile Limited Card is another tool that parents can utilize if they wish. Parents who would like to change their child's card over to the Juvenile Limited Card can visit any FRL Circulation Desk and complete the quick and easy process. If parents do not want to change their children's current access to borrow materials, then no action is necessary.

For more information please see the Circulation Policy at fontanalib.org/about-us#policies or visit any Fontana Regional Library location.

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Banned Books Week Honors the Freedom to Read

PRESS RELEASE
Fontana Regional Library
September 17, 2018


With the American Library Association, Fontana Regional Library will celebrate Banned Books Week 2018 September 23-29. The nationwide observance brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, authors, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek out and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

A banned book is one that has been removed from a school or library based upon the objections of a person or group; a challenged book is one that is threatened with removal or restriction. In many cases, a challenge is unsuccessful and the book remains on the shelf.

Even though Fontana Regional Library has not seen any books challenged or banned in Macon, Jackson, or Swain Counties recently, many popular and culturally important books have been banned in various communities over the years -- from Harry Potter to the Bible -- and it still happens today.

The American Library Association stands up for everyone’s right to make their own decisions about what they want (or don’t want) to read, with the understanding that parents make reading decisions on behalf of their own children.

By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and draws national attention to the harms of censorship. Look for informational displays and book lists at Fontana Regional Library locations to learn more about protecting and honoring your right to read.

James LaRue, Director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom asks, “How can libraries and literary advocates continue to encourage both individuals and whole communities to learn and grow, to understand the world around us? Censorship is not the answer.”

For more information, go to www.fontanalib.org or visit your local Fontana Regional Library location.



##END PRESS RELEASE##

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Published at 3:35 pm on September 17, 2018

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Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots John Batchelor Interviews Thomas Kidd

On March 6, 2012, John Batchelor played an interview that he did with Thomas Kidd, the author of a book called "Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots" that was very interesting. The interview last about 20 minutes and I've excerpted it from the show to bring it, the book and (of course) The John Batchelor Show to your attention. 


Patrick Henry was one of the Founding Fathers who fought against the ratification of the US Constitution because he was concerned it gave too much authority to the federal government. A number of speeches he gave are often included in collections of the Anti-Federalist Papers. 


Listen to the interview:



Download MP3




You may purchase the book below:








More about the John Batchelor Show is below...

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For more information on The John Batchelor Show, please visit the following websites:


Listen Live on WABC Radio from 9pm to 1am 7 nights a week


The John Batchelor Show website


The WABC Radio Podcast webpage (you can download the show yourself, as I do every morning)


Wikipedia Article on John Batchelor

Facebook Page (for fans)

Twitter Account


My previous articles on the show

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John Batchelor Interviews Donald Rumsfeld

Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - - the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.

~Donald H. Rumsfeld, Department of Defense news briefing, February 12, 2002

My favorite radio show host, John Batchelor, has interviewed one of my heroes, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The audio is below:



Link to Download MP3

John Batchelor interviewed Donald Rumsfeld for nearly 40 minutes regarding his memoir, "Known and Unknown" for an illuminating look into the life and times of Donald Rumsfeld. I recommend both the book and the interview.

More information on John Batchelor:

Website 
Facebook
Twitter
Podcast
Listen Live on WABC Radio from 9pm to 1 am 7 nights a week



Previously:

Donald Rumsfeld Honored with Victory of Freedom Award

  John Batchelor articles on Thunder Pig

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Winter Reading Project

It has been a tradition for me the past few years to undertake a reading project for the long cold months of winter, usually a series of history books or a long Science Fiction or series of Historical Fiction novels. 

This year, I am currently undecided which of two book series to tackle, Will and Ariel Durant's "The Story of Civilization" (pictured above) or the Encyclopedia "Great Book of the Western World". 
I already own The Story of Civilization, having purchased them over a period of years at yard sales, used book stores and discarded book sales from regional libraries. (For the life of me, I cannot comprehend why a library would get rid of these books).
I have read bits and pieces of both before, but to tackle the whole series of either at once seems like more than I can chew. 

Right now, I'm reading my way through the Honorverse series of Science Fiction books...so I'll have a couple of weeks to make up my mind.

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Bill Forstchen on Fox News

This is one of my favorite guys to listen to on the radio. He had a show on AM-1350 out of Asheville called "The History Guy" and every Friday was a feast of knowledge...

He has a new book out called "One Second After" that I highly reccomend for you to get and read. It is a novel about the struggle of a community to survive in the wake of a devastating EMP attack.

New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real...a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages...A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies.

Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future...and our end.

Here are some websites for you to check out that will help you prepare for an EMP or other disaster:

USA Action EMP page

EMP Commission

EMP Commission Report [200 page pdf]

Survialblog [discussion in 2007 before terrorists had access to rockets]

Protecting yourself from an EMP [an article from 1989]

Surviving Unforseen Events [included because it offers a philosophy geared to survival]

My Robust Get Home Kit [I am working on updating the 2006 article, and including video]

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Presidency Thwarted, Ron Paul Movement Morphing

I continue to monitor the followers of Ron Paul (via 347 RSS Feeds currently), and have been neglecting to post some of what I have been reading.

Perhaps the best way to correct that over sight is to start with the new Ron Paul Book, The Revolution: A Manifesto. He appeared on C-SPAN's Book-TV recently, and here is the video:



I think it is good for the Ron Paul people to stay in the GOP, because this is the year that a Libertarian Party could take off. It is better that the movement be split right now between the GOP and the strengthening Libertarian Party.

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Video: Video Technical Analysis Stock Market Review For 0906

I am heavily into using charts to determine my market moves, (disclaimer---I take all my money out of the market in late July, and return sometime in September or October) and I discovered this guy a few months ago. I never got around to highlighting him until now. He blogs at Alpha Trends, and he usually puts out a video or two a day during trading, or shortly after the markets close.


John J Murphy is the best place to start, and get the study guide, too!

Martin Pring is also someone I study.

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Annual Book Sale in Waynesville

I made my annual trek to the Waynesville Public Library for the Annual Book Sale today. I thought today was the first day, but yesterday was...so tomorrow will be the last day of the sale.

My haul this year: 21 books!

History
Civil War by Bruce Catton
*Lexington and Concord by Arthur Tourtellot
*102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn
*The Convention and The Constitution by David Smith
The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico by Bernard Diaz del Castillo
The Atlas of World History by Rand McNally
The Age of Napoleon by Wm and Ariel Durant
(Volume XI of The Story of Civilization)my collection is complete!
The Rise and Fall of The League of Nations by George Scott

Fiction
*The Unseen Hand by A. Ralph Epperson
*Operation Thunderchild by Nick Pope
1632 by Eric Flint
The Source by James Michener
Chesapeake by James Michener


Political
*Our Angry Earth by Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl
The Bubble of American Supremacy by George Soros
Slander by Ann Coulter
How to Talk to a Liberal (If you must) by Ann Coulter
Winning The Future by Newt Gingrich
The Final Days by Barbara Olson
The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America since 1945 by George Nash
The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk
The Woven Figure by George Will
The Third Wave by Alvin Toffler

* Books are paperback or softcover

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