300 E. Seventh St., 704-416-4600
Every Saturday at 10:30 a.m., dozens of kids up to the age of 7 or so gather at the feet of one of ImaginOn’s animated storytellers for 45 minutes of stories, singalongs, dancing … and bubbles! Afterward, they will find plenty of activities to keep them busy till lunchtime—climbing on a wooden truck, trying the interactive games, or, you know, reading. Bonus: the LYNX blue line stops right outside. A train ride is the perfect way to start or end your ImaginOn experience.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association, selected 25 innovative teen programs to be featured at the 2013 ALA Annual Conference and included in a sixth edition of "Excellence in Library Service to Young Adults." These successful programs focus on addressing new or ongoing teen needs or interests in innovative or unique ways. 

Each award will be presented to the applicant's institution for use with future teen programs and/or for the applicant’s travel to the 2013 conference to participate in the YALSAPresident’s Program.

Great places geared especially to kids include Discovery Place, Charlotte Nature Museum and ImaginOn, a combination library/theater with exhibit space. Thrill seekers will find a collection of roller coasters and other rides at the Carowinds amusement park, which opens March 29. When it comes to chow time, Charlotte's eating options range from food trucks and diners to sophisticated bistros and quaint cafés.

Following review of more than 160 applications, members of the Public Library Association (PLA) Leadership Development Committee and PLA President Eva Poole chose 24 exceptional PLA Leadership Fellows to attend the upcomingPLA Leadership Academy: Navigating Change · Building Community, March 4-8, 2013, in Chicago. Congratulations to:  

 If the mandate was to make a great operational app, they succeeded with flying colors.  The business side of me wants it to be more of a promotional tool that can produce a quantifiable ROI, but government agencies don’t have to be as fanatical about this as private enterprises.  Or with looming budget cuts, maybe they do?  It’s a great app, regardless!  Way to go, hometown library!

Almost everyone's life has been enriched by what they learned in a library. But libraries would not be the wonderful teaching and learning places that they are without librarians. They are our guides to knowledge, the ones who classify and clarify, authenticate and actualize our desire to find the tools we need to become educated individuals. Today, librarians are the men and women who help us to find our way along the electronic highway, and there are no more intellectually rigorous, imaginative, and professional tour guides one could find, online or off.

Responding to budget cuts, reduced staff and hours, closure of four libraries and the key recommendations from a Future of the Library Task Force, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library launched a strategic approach to Programming plan that emphasizes core services, full costing for all programs, scalable activities that other branches can adapt as well measurable changes in behavior, skill or attitude that can all be linked to library programs.

 Just nine months after it was first recognized among the top libraries in the country in a national index of public library service from the Library Journal,

the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library has once again been designated a “Five-Star” library.

The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) received multiple accolades at the American Library Association’s (ALA) annual conference, held in Washington, DC, June 21-27 .

First Lady Laura Bush will present the 2006 National Awards for Museum and Library Service to three museums and three libraries, including the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, Monday morning at the White House. The awards are conferred annually by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to museums and libraries that have demonstrated a long-term commitment to public service through innovative programs and community partnerships. Each organization will receive a of $10,000 prize as part of the honor.

The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) joins the famed Shedd Aquarium of Chicago and four other institutions nationally in receiving a prestigious award for excellence. Charles Brown, director of the library, has announced that PLCMC has received a 2006 National Award for Museum and Library Service, presented by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

One of the most coveted, perhaps the most prestigious of the awards given by the American Library Association (ALA) is the John Cotton Dana Award. The award is the responsibility of the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA), the division of ALA that cuts across type-of-library lines to select libraries that have distinguished themselves by their public education and public relations efforts. PLCMC received the award for "Bringing the Story to Life," a campaign celebrating the opening of ImaginOn, an innovative collaborative venture between the Library and Children’ Theatre of Charlotte.

The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) has one of the top librarians in the country: Julia Hanson, an educational specialist in the Virtual Village computer center at Main Library. Hanson was one of 27 recipients of the New York Times Librarian Awards, chosen from 1,200 nominations from across the country.

National Association of County Information Officers Best of Show honors communicators who demonstrate a standard of excellence in their work. Received six awards, including the national Best in Show award for promotional materials for “Smart Connections,” a cultural partnership between the library, Mint Museums, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte and Charlotte Symphony.

The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) was recently recognized for its Storytimes to Go! initiative for preschool children. The free service provides a variety of pre-literacy kits, with high-quality picture books and music as well as art tools and teacher-training resources, to childcare centers throughout Mecklenburg County.

Check it Out (CiO), the newsletter of the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, received a Silver Crown Award from the Charlotte Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). The judges called CiO "appealing from a design and informational standpoint."

The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) is proud to announce that NOVELLO: Ten Years of Great American Writing has won national recognition in the Independent Publisher Book Awards competition for 2001. The book is the first publication of Novello Festival Press (NFP), the only book publisher in the United States sponsored by a public library system.