By Paul Birkhead
Rowan Public Library
I’ve always admired houses with porches. In fact, that’s what drew me the most to the first house I ever owned.
Situated on a corner lot in Salisbury’s North Main Historic District, it was a yellow, two-story Victorian with a grand porch that wrapped around the front. Just one moment of imagining myself sitting on a front porch swing or watching a parade from the granite steps and I was sold.
While once a fixture on American houses, porches fell out of favor during the World War II era and are only now making a comeback. Not only can porches perform useful functions for the home, they can also serve as beautiful bridges between the indoors and outdoors.
If you’re as fascinated with porches as I am, check out some of these books on the shelves at Rowan Public Library.
“Porch Style,” by Barbara Bucholz, is an interesting portfolio of porches from not just America, but from around the world. The author does a good job of informing the reader about the evolution of porches and using bountiful color photographs to show that there are many styles and shapes of them.
“Porches and Other Outdoor Spaces” is another fascinating collection of both information and photography that promotes the idea that porches are vibrant living spaces. Throughout the book, authors James Grayson Trulove and Connie Sprague, explain how each style of porch has a different purpose. Particularly interesting is the section that showcases sleeping porches. Before the invention of air conditioning, our ancestors often used their porches to take advantage of the cool, night air.Another book that you might enjoy is “On the Porch: Creating Your Place to Watch the World Go By,” by James Crisp and Sandra Mahoney. A word of caution: An overabundance of beautiful photographs inside will either make you extremely jealous or inspire you to renovate or design your own porch.
Porches not only add beauty to the streetscape, they gently remind us that life passes by much too quickly. The next time you find yourself in need of some downtime, consider yourself fortunate if you can sip a glass of tea under the shade of a porch. Don’t forget to add a book from the library to make things even better.
Computer classes: Headquarters ó Sept. 8, 7 p.m., Introduction to Internet Safety; Sept. 11, 2:30 p.m., Introduction to Searching the World Wide Web; Sept. 15, 7 p.m., Creating Spreadsheets with Excel; Sept. 18, 2:30 p.m., Introduction to Windows; Sept. 22, 7 p.m., Creating Presentations with PowerPoint; Sept. 25, 2:30 p.m., Creating Web Pages Part 2.
South ó Sept. 9, 11 a.m., Basic Windows; Sept. 22, 7 p.m., Digital Photography, Part 1.
Classes are free. Sessions are about 90 minutes long. Class size is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis.
Children’s Program: Headquarters ó Sept. 18, 7 p.m., Stanback Room, nationally renowned storyteller Andy Offutt Irwin.
September-November ó Weekly Story Time. Headquarters ó Tuesday, 10 a.m., Toddlers and Moms (18-24 months); 11 a.m., Toddlers and Moms (24-36 months); Wednesday, 11 a.m., Tiny Tots and Moms (infants-18 months); Thursday, 10:30 a.m., Three through Five; 4 p.m., Noodlehead Story Times (4-8 years). South óMonday, 10:30 a.m., Preschool Time (3-5 years); 4 p.m., Noodlehead (4-8 years); Wednesday, 10:30 a.m., Toddlers and Twos (18-35 months); Thursday, 10:30 a.m., Baby Time (babies and toddlers); East ó Tuesday, 10:30 a.m., Preschool (2-5 years); 4 p.m., Noodlehead, (4-8 years); Wednesday, 10:30 a.m., Preschool (2-5 years); Thursday, 11 a.m. Baby Time (6 months-2 years).
Teen program: East ó Sept. 25, 5:30-7 p.m., Teens Locker Madness.
Tuesday Movies in September ó Featuring leading ladies. All movies are rated G, PG or PG-13. Some movies inappropriate for younger audiences. Children should be accompanied by an adult. Free popcorn and lemonade. Tuesday, “The Hours”; Sept. 9, “Julia”; Sept. 16, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”; Sept. 23, “Suddenly Last Summer”; Sept. 30, “Stardust.”Displays: Headquarters ó Hispanic Coalition by DAR; South ó Hispanic Heritage by Hispanic Coalition; East ó ceramics by Clara Trexler.Literacy: Call the Rowan County Literacy Council at 704-216-8266 for more information on teaching or receiving literacy tutoring for English speakers or for those for whom English is a second language.
Web site: For a listing of all library programs at all library locations, www.rowanpubliclibrary .org.