Happy Birthday, Pittsboro!

On this day 232 years ago, the Town of Pittsboro was officially established!

On their FB page, the Chatham Historical Museum writes,

“Town of Pittsboro established! On January 6, 1787, the North Carolina General Assembly authorized nine commissioners to purchase one hundred acres and the Town of Pittsborough was formed as the seat of Chatham County. At the time of the founding of the town, a land survey was undertaken and a map with 125 lots was made. Although the original map has long since disappeared, a copy was made by county surveyor Rufus Clegg in 1889.”

Volume 24, chapter 81, of the Acts of the North Carolina General Assembly, 1786 – 1787 reads, “An Act for Establishing a Town on the Lands late the Property of William Petty, adjoining Chatham Court-house, as laid off by the Trustees named in the Act of the last General Assembly, entitled, “An Act for establishing a town on the Lands of Mial Scurlock, deceased, in Chatham County,” for appointing Commissioners for the Regulation of the said Town, and repealing said Act.” and declares,

“I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the said lands so laid off by the trustees aforesaid agreeable to a plan thereof, be and is hereby established a town and town commons by the name of Pittsborough.”

According to the Act, the NC General Assembly appointed George Lucas, Joseph Stewart, Roger Griffith, Matthew Jones, Zachariah Harman, Patrick St. Lawrence, Nathan Stedman, James Massey and William Riddle as Commissioners.

Full text of the Act can be found online courtesy of the The Colonial and State Records of North Carolina digital collection, a project of the University of North Carolin at Chapel Hill.

Map of Pittsboro 1787

An image of Clegg’s map. My, how times have changed!

 

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A Real Local History Gem

Our friends and colleagues at the Chatham Historical Association do an amazing job of researching and preserving the history of Chatham County!

The Historical Association is a volunteer based organization devoted to collecting, preserving, and sharing the history of Chatham County through exhibits, tours, publications, research, and educational and community outreach programs. They also promote the preservation of public and private structures that are of historical significance to the county.

Volunteers also operate the Chatham Historical Museum, located in the historic Chatham County Courthouse. The museum includes archival collections accessible to researchers and a museum gift shop. Tours and programs are available for schools and community groups.

Visit the Historical Association’s Collections and Research page to learn more about their unique holdings. Some of their collections, such as the Chatham County Funeral Programs, have been digitized and are available for online viewing.

Enjoy exploring the history of Chatham County!

Best Books of 2018

Happy New Year! Once again NPR’s Book Concierge has produced an outstanding list of some of the best titles of 2018. Over 300 titles were selected by NPR staff and critics.

The Library already has many of these titles in the collection. Search our online catalog to find a great read!

How many of these titles have you read?  Want to share your experience with a great book with other readers? Consider blogging for us!

Visit the Write for Us! section (see menu at top of page) for our blog post guidelines and instructions for submisison.

eBook Friday: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, by Samin Nosrat

Now a Netflix series!

New York Times Bestseller and Winner of the 2018 James Beard Award for Best General Cookbook and multiple ICAP Cookbook Awards 

Named one of the Best Books of 2017 by: NPR, BuzzFeed, The AtlanticThe Washington PostChicago TribuneRachel Ray Every DaySan Francisco Chronicle, Vice Munchies, Elle.com, Glamour, Eater, Newsday, Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Seattle TimesTampa Bay Times, Tasting Table, Modern FarmerPublishers Weekly, and more.

A visionary new master class in cooking that distills decades of professional experience into just four simple elements, from the woman declared “America’s next great cooking teacher” by Alice Waters.
In the tradition of The Joy of Cooking and How to Cook Everything comes Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, an ambitious new approach to cooking by a major new culinary voice. Chef and writer Samin Nosrat has taught everyone from professional chefs to middle school kids to author Michael Pollan to cook using her revolutionary, yet simple, philosophy. Master the use of just four elements—Salt, which enhances flavor; Fat, which delivers flavor and generates texture; Acid, which balances flavor; and Heat, which ultimately determines the texture of food—and anything you cook will be delicious. By explaining the hows and whys of good cooking, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat will teach and inspire a new generation of cooks how to confidently make better decisions in the kitchen and cook delicious meals with any ingredients, anywhere, at any time.

Echoing Samin’s own journey from culinary novice to award-winning chef, Salt, Fat Acid, Heat immediately bridges the gap between home and professional kitchens. With charming narrative, illustrated walkthroughs, and a lighthearted approach to kitchen science, Samin demystifies the four elements of good cooking for everyone. Refer to the canon of 100 essential recipes—and dozens of variations—to put the lessons into practice and make bright, balanced vinaigrettes, perfectly caramelized roast vegetables, tender braised meats, and light, flaky pastry doughs.

Featuring 150 illustrations and infographics that reveal an atlas to the world of flavor by renowned illustrator Wendy MacNaughton, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat will be your compass in the kitchen. Destined to be a classic, it just might be the last cookbook you’ll ever need.

With a foreword by Michael Pollan.

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Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collections at
http://e-inc.overdrive.com,
 http://nckids.overdrive.com/, or http://chathamconc.oneclickdigital.com. Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

eBook Friday: Present Over Perfect

Present Over Perfect, by Shauna Niequist

LIVE A LIFE OF MEANING AND CONNECTION

Instead of pushing for perfection

A few years ago, I found myself exhausted and isolated, my soul and body sick. I was tired of being tired, burned out on busy. And, it seemed almost everyone I talked with was in the same boat: longing for connection, meaning, depth, but settling for busy.

I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, neighbor, writer, and I know all too well that settling feeling. But over the course of the last few years, I’ve learned a way to live, marked by grace, love, rest, and play. And it’s changing everything.

Present Over Perfect is an invitation to this journey that changed my life. I’ll walk this path with you, a path away from frantic pushing and proving, and toward your essential self, the one you were created to be before you began proving and earning for your worth.

Written in Shauna’s warm and vulnerable style, this collection of essays focuses on the most important transformation in her life, and maybe yours too: leaving behind busyness and frantic living and rediscovering the person you were made to be. Present Over Perfect is a hand reaching out, pulling you free from the constant pressure to perform faster, push harder, and produce more, all while maintaining an exhausting image of perfection.

Shauna offers an honest account of what led her to begin this journey, and a compelling vision for an entirely new way to live: soaked in grace, rest, silence, simplicity, prayer, and connection with the people that matter most to us.

In these pages, you’ll be invited to consider the landscape of your own life, and what it might look like to leave behind the pressure to be perfect and begin the life-changing practice of simply being present, in the middle of the mess and the ordinariness of life.

***

Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collections at
http://e-inc.overdrive.com,
 http://nckids.overdrive.com/, or http://chathamconc.oneclickdigital.com. Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

eBook Friday: The Plague of Doves

The Plague of Doves, by Louise Erdrich

A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, The Plague of Doves—the first part of a loose trilogy that includes the National Book Award-winning The Round House and LaRose—is a gripping novel about a long-unsolved crime in a small North Dakota town and how, years later, the consequences are still being felt by the community and a nearby Native American reservation.

Though generations have passed, the town of Pluto continues to be haunted by the murder of a farm family. Evelina Harp—part Ojibwe, part white—is an ambitious young girl whose grandfather, a repository of family and tribal history, harbors knowledge of the violent past. And Judge Antone Bazil Coutts, who bears witness, understands the weight of historical injustice better than anyone. Through the distinct and winning voices of three unforgettable narrators, the collective stories of two interwoven communities ultimately come together to reveal a final wrenching truth.

Bestselling author Louise Erdrich delves into the fraught waters of historical injustice and the impact of secrets kept too long.

***

Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collections at
http://e-inc.overdrive.com,
 http://nckids.overdrive.com/, or http://chathamconc.oneclickdigital.com. Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

eBook Friday: The Shining Girls

The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes

The girl who wouldn’t die hunts the killer who shouldn’t exist.

“The future is not as loud as war, but it is relentless. It has a terrible fury all its own.”

Harper Curtis is a killer who stepped out of the past. Kirby Mazrachi is the girl who was never meant to have a future.

Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women burning with potential whose lives Harper is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a house in Depression-era Chicago that opens onto other times.

At the urging of the house, Harper inserts himself into the lives of the shining girls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He’s the ultimate hunter, vanishing into another time after each murder, untraceable—until one of his victims survives.

Determined to bring her would-be killer to justice, Kirby joins the Chicago Sun-Times to work with the ex–homicide reporter who covered her case, Dan Velasquez. Soon Kirby finds herself closing in on the impossible truth.

The Shining Girls is a masterful twist on the serial killer tale, a violent quantum leap featuring a memorable and appealing heroine in pursuit of a deadly criminal

***

Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collections at
http://e-inc.overdrive.com,
 http://nckids.overdrive.com/, or http://chathamconc.oneclickdigital.com. Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

eBook Friday: Twas the Night Before Christmas

Twas the Night Before Christmas, by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Daniel Kirk

When Father Mouse is awakened on Christmas Eve by a clatter outside his window, he catches a glimpse of the one and only Santa Claus! Father Mouse can hardly believe his eyes as he watches St. Nick come down the chimney with a pack full of toys. In this amusing twist on the classic poem by Clement C. Moore, Daniel Kirk reimagines the story from a fresh perspective—and readers of Kirk’s Library Mouse series may discover a familiar friend, too!

***

Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collections at
http://e-inc.overdrive.com,
 http://nckids.overdrive.com/, or http://chathamconc.oneclickdigital.com. Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

eBook Friday: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba

The New York Times bestselling memoir of the heroic young inventor who brought electricity to his Malawian village is now perfect for young readers

When a terrible drought struck William Kamkwamba’s tiny village in Malawi, his family lost all of the season’s crops, leaving them with nothing to eat and nothing to sell. William began to explore science books in his village library, looking for a solution. There, he came up with the idea that would change his family’s life forever: he could build a windmill. Made out of scrap metal and old bicycle parts, William’s windmill brought electricity to his home and helped his family pump the water they needed to farm the land.

Retold for a younger audience, this exciting memoir shows how, even in a desperate situation, one boy’s brilliant idea can light up the world. Complete with photographs, illustrations, and an epilogue that will bring readers up to date on William’s story, this is the perfect edition to read and share with the whole family.

***

Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collections at
http://e-inc.overdrive.com,
 http://nckids.overdrive.com/, or http://chathamconc.oneclickdigital.com. Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

Give the Gift of Books with Our Second Annual Giving Tree!

‘Tis the season for giving! From now through December 20, Chatham County Public Libraries invite you to give back to the Chatham community by sponsoring books from our Library Giving Tree. Each library branch will host a tree. Patrons wishing to sponsor a book simply take a tag from the tree, follow the URL on the tag to the Library Giving Tree Amazon wish list and purchase a listed item. Items purchased from the Library Giving Tree list will be donated to the Sonflower Seeds Christian Preschool & Learning Center  in Siler City. Purchased items will ship directly to the Center.

Sonflower Seeds Christian Preschool & Learning Center is a locally owned and operated educational center for children between the ages of 0-12. Each classroom uses Creative Curriculum to teach writing skills, numbers, motor development and language. Classroom lessons are designed to meet each child where they are and are reinforced using a variety of hands on learning activities. The items on this year’s Giving Tree list reflect the curriculum style in place at Sunflower Seeds by promoting early literacy, social skills, and cultural awareness.

Spread the holiday cheer and promote literacy with books for our Community’s youngest learners! The deadline for making purchases is Thursday, December 20.

For more information about the Library Giving Tree, contact Katy Henderson at (919) 545-8085 or  [email protected].