Special Program: Library 50th Anniversary Panel Discussion _<http://www.friendschpl.org/activities>_ (http://www.friendschpl.org/activities) 3:00pm - 5:00pm meeting room A treat is in store for you as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Chapel Hill Public Library on April 20, 2008 at 3pm in the downstairs library meeting room. An enthusiastic, knowledgeable panel of library associates will regale us with stories and memories connected with all three public library buildings in Chapel Hill from 1958 to the present. Jane Dyer, retired reference librarian; Molly Cameron, professional librarian who began her CHPL career in 1967 and has worked in all three CHPLibrary buildings; Lisa Price, library board member and chairman in the 1980’s; Ken Broun, library board member in the 1980’s and now, was Chapel Hill’s Mayor when our newest library opened in 1994. Kathy Harris, Board Member of the Friends of the CHPL, and retired school librarian, will serve as moderator. After Kathy gives a brief historical overview, with pictures, of the three library buildings: Hill House on West Franklin Street (1958-1967); the East Franklin Street Library (1967-1994); and the current Pritchard Park Library (1994-present), the panel will share all manner of interesting historical memories. As they reminiscences, the audience is invited to ask questions and make comments as audience memories are “jogged”. Jane will talk about the adventures of working in a library in an old house converted to apartments (the director’s office was in the kitchen; the biography section was in the bathroom). When the library system became automated in the East Franklin Street library, it changed all kinds of things. Remember the “homeyness” of the fireplace in the East Franklin library? Molly was born in Chapel Hill and has incredible town and library memories. She will tell us how in 1929, a group of American Association of University Women raised funds to start a children’s library located in the parish House of the Church of the Holy Cross. At that time, public schools did not have children’s libraries. The Mary Bayley Pratt Children’s Library funds became the foundation for the Hill House Library Children’s Room. Before 1958, adults in Chapel Hill used the University Library. In 1975, the Children’s Room in the E. Franklin St. Library was relocated to the ground floor for more space. Molly remembers Albert Coates of the Institute of Government, walking into the E. Franklin St Library on a snowy, winter day commenting on how cozy and inviting the fireplace was with its “flanking” reading couches. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, Lisa Price served many years on the library board, as a member and chairman, as well as on special projects associated with the newest CHPL. She will discuss how she first became involved with the library, helped to lobby for a new building, and worked with many others, unsuccessfully, to try and get the supplemental bond for a larger library, passed in 1990. Ken Broun served as mayor of Chapel Hill from 1991-1995 and helped dedicate the new library in May 1994, with 3,000 people attending. He will remind us of the frustrations of the 1990 Bond issue, which was his impetus to run for mayor. Emphasizing a concentration on space for library services in the new library, Mr. Brown suggests a need for private fundraising to assure the additions will be what is needed. Jane Dyer came to Chapel Hill with her family in 1959 and attended the Chapel Hill Junior High School located next door to the newly opened Chapel Hill Library very near the corner of Columbia and Franklin. Within a year, she was working there as a Y-Teen volunteer, and shortly went on the payroll at 75 cents an hour. This job continued through high school, including summers. From 1964 through 1972, she was in other places pursing educational and other goals and interests, including a brief career as an English teacher. In 1972, she enrolled in the UNC Library School, and upon finishing her coursework, began working again at CHPL, this time in the new East Franklin St. building. She began as a part-time, temporary shelver and worked her way up to a full-time permanent librarian, staying for 32 years until her retirement in 2006. She can still be found at the reference desk in the Library Drive Library from time to time, substituting as needed. Molly Cameron grew up in Chapel Hill and left to go to Wellesley College and the University of Michigan. She returned to Chapel Hill to earn her library degree at UNC. She was a professional children’s librarian in Massachusetts before coming back to work at CHPL. At the E. Franklin Library, she was officially the children’s Librarian, but with only two full time employees in the early days, each person performed many tasks. Her many memories include a horse stable on West Franklin Street where the Franklin Hotel is now. Lisa Price moved to Chapel Hill in 1973 and was on the Library Board from 1982-1992, serving as Board chair 1984-86. She was also on the Library Committee which chose the architect and helped to plan the 1994 new building. She was assistant to two CH mayors, Jonathan Howes and Ken Broun from 1989-1995. She was one of the founders, in 1993, of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence and served as executive director from 1996-2007. Kenneth S. Broun is Henry Brandis Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina Law School where he has taught since 1968. He served as Dean of the school from 1979 to 1987. He was in private practice for seven years. He has made more than twenty trips to South Africa to conduct programs in trial advocacy training for the Black Lawyers Association of South Africa. He served as chair of the 2003 bond issue advocacy group for the Public Library. He was a member of the Library Foundation Board from 1997-2001. Kathy Harris has been publicity chair and, later, Sunday Series Speaker chair for the Friends of the Chapel Public Library for a total of eight years. She was an elementary/middle school librarian for 33 years and is now retired. Kathy is currently active in the Sierra Club, Eno River Association, and Lake Forest Garden Club. She moved to Chapel Hill in 1971. Thank you all and I hope to see you soon! ____________________________________ More immediate than e-mail? 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