145 Rockford Street
Mount Airy, NC 27030
Phone: 336-789-5108
Fax: 336-786-5838
mta@nwrl.org
Mon-Thu: 8:30 – 8:00
Fri: 8:30 – 5:00
Sat: 9:00 – 1:00
Sun: Closed
Free WiFi available 24/7
Additional parking can be found behind the building in the City Hall Parking lot or at the Post Office.
Each October, National Book Month allows us to celebrate and expand our love of reading. As the warm temperatures start to leave us for the winter, it’s the perfect time to put on some cozy slippers, have a cup of tea (or wine) and curl up on the couch with a good book. It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of everyday life and forget to enjoy the little things. Many of us put our relaxing hobbies like reading on the backburner, but this month, pick up a few new books and make time to read them. It’s a great hobby to get into!
Pick up your favorite books and make some time to read them. Get to any new books you have been meaning to read. Use #NationalBookMonth to post on social media.
#NorthwesternRegionalLibrary, #Reading, #LibraryLove, #LifelongLearner, #BookWorm
Click the link below to complete the survey.
Our Raffle winners are:
K-2 – Natalie Ochoa
3-5 – Karmen Avales
6-12 – Giancarlo Ramirez
Adult – Paulette Surratt
Members Needed at The Mount Airy Public Library –There’s a place for you at the Mount Airy Public Library! Too much free time on your hands? Volunteer for the Friends of the Library! We meet on the first Monday of the month at 9:30 a.m. The Friends organize used book sales to help raise funds for the various programs the library has to offer.
Click the form above to download our Friends Application.
Meet the Author – Steve Wiseman
October 9 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
October 10 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
During the Autumn Leaves Festival at the Mount Airy Public Library
Meet the Author, Thomas D. Perry – October 12 at 6 p.m. – The Surry County Genealogical Association hosts speaker, Thomas D. Perry, who will discuss his new book about the parkway, “Patrick County Virginia’s Northern Border: History and Memory Along the Blue Ridge Parkway from Volunteer Gap to Shooting Creek”
Thursday, October 15 at 2 p.m. –We will be discussing various plants that are cold hardy and then planting a Fall Harvest Planter to kick start their fall decorations. Participants should bring a 10-12 inch diameter container that is at least 8-10 inches deep with drainage holes. We will embellish the finished planter with seasonal and foraged items from nature.
We will limit this workshop to the first 15 participants to register.
Please call (336) 789-5108 to register.
North Carolina Cooperative Extension is an equal opportunity provider.
Evening with the Author – Spooktober (October) 16 at 6 p.m. – An Evening of Carolina Folklore: Storytelling by Dan Sellers. Celebrating the release of, “Folk: A Collection of Curious Lore from the Carolinas”. Dan Sellers is an author, researcher, podcaster, and storyteller dedicated to preserving the folklore, legends, and forgotten histories of the Carolinas. He is the author of: “FOLK: A Collection of Curious Lore from the Carolinas”, “Carolina Haints: Ghosts, Folklore, and Mysteries of the Old North State” and “Haunted High Point”. Dan is the proprietor of Carolina Haints, Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to researching, preserving, and sharing the stories that define our region.
Saturday, October 31 at 10 a.m. – (ages 10 and under) – Come out dressed in your costumes for some stories, songs, juice and snacks.
Welcome to the Coloring Corner! Tuesdays at 6 p.m. – Join us for a relaxing evening. Bring your own Coloring supplies or borrow ours. Listen to soft music, color, and indulge in an hour of “you time.” This group is for adults 18+. On hiatus until further notice.
Hooked – Wednesdays at 3 p.m. – Join our crochet and knitting club. Open for all ages and skill levels. Bring your own yarn and make the group project, or bring your own project to work on.
Mahjong Mornings – Fridays at 10 a.m. – Join us at the Mount Airy Public Library for a game of Mahjong! Participants will learn the game, connect with friends, and enjoy friendly competition with their peers. It’s a great way to build skills and kick off the day with something new!
Tai Chi Fridays – Fridays at 10 a.m. – Experience meditation in motion. All skill levels are welcome. In the Angela Llewellyn Room
#mountairypubliclibrary
The Secret Ingredient Cooking Club and Chapters Book Club are on hiatus until further notice.
It’s Yoga Y’all! Join Ms. Heather on the third Saturday of the month at 10:30 a.m.
Copies of all book club books are available at the library.
Saturday, October 24 at 11 a.m. – We will explore Horror with “Frankenstein: Prodigal Son” by Dean Koontz.
“Every city has its secrets. But none as terrible as this. He is Deucalion, a tattooed man of mysterious origin, a sleight-of-reality artist who has traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives in New Orleans as a serial killer stalks the streets, a killer who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that is missing in himself. Deucalion’s path will lead him to cool, tough police detective Carson O’Connor and her devoted partner, Michael Maddison, who are tracking the slayer but will soon discover signs of something far more terrifying: an entire raceof killers who are much more–and less–than human and, deadliest of all, their deranged, near-immortal maker: Victor Helios–once known as Frankenstein.”
Email questions to cmaynard@nwrl.org
Murder, Mystery and Mayhem Book Club – Last Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. October 27 – An Adult book club.
For October we are reading, “The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne” by Kate Winkler Dawson.
“On a cold winter day in 1832, Sarah Maria Cornell was found dead in a quiet farmyard in a small New England town. When her troubled past and a secret correspondence with charismatic Methodist minister Reverend Ephraim Avery was uncovered, more questions emerged. Was Sarah’s death a suicide…or something much darker? Determined to uncover the real story, Victorian writer Catharine Read Arnold Williams threw herself into the investigation as the trial was unfolding and wrote what many claim to be the first American true-crime narrative, Fall River. The murder divided the country and inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter—but the reverend was not convicted, and questions linger to this day about what really led to Sarah Cornell’s death. Until now.”
The Community Book Club meets the last Wednesday of the month at 1 p.m.
We will be focusing on Southern Fiction. For October, we will be reading, “Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely?: A Novel of Old Hollywood and a Secret Kept for Thirty Years” by Sarah McCoy.
“In 1969, twenty-three-year-old starlet Lori Lovely shocks the world by ditching a promising film career to take vows as a Benedictine nun. The media can’t get enough of the story. Why would such a beautiful girl take the veil? Did it have anything to do with her costar, heartthrob singer Lucas Wesley?
In 1990, history student Lu Tibbott decides to dig into a true twentieth-century mystery for her senior thesis and write about her aunt Lori, now the Mother Abbess at a cloistered convent in rural New England. For decades Mother Lori has refused all requests for interviews—until Lu arrives with a tape recorder in hand. To Lu’s delight, Mother Lori is finally ready to talk…but only if Lu is truly ready to listen.”
The Blue Bear Café program empowers young adults through real-world entrepreneurship. At the original Mount Airy High School café, OCS (Occupational Course of Study) students learn hands-on job skills in customer service, food preparation, and business operations — developing creativity, teamwork, and entrepreneurial confidence within a supportive school environment.
The newly opened Blue Bear Café at the Mount Airy Public Library takes that mission beyond the classroom—serving the community while offering postsecondary job training through the Barista & Hospitality Pathway Program in partnership with Surry Community College. Here, graduates gain real-world experience and industry credentials as they prepare for meaningful careers in the local workforce.
Guided by the motto “Serving Kindness One Cup at a Time,” both cafés work hand in hand to create opportunities for students to grow, connect, and succeed—one sip, one skill, and one smile at a time.
Chess Club – Every Tuesday from 6 – 8 p.m. – Come join our group and hone your skills. Call the library for more information.
Storytimes: Books, Crafts, Rhymes and Movement
Toddler Time (Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.)
Book Babies (Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.)
Preschoolers (Thursdays at 11 a.m.)
October 7 & 8 – World Octopus Day – Dive under the sea for a splashy, eight-legged adventure!
14 & 15 – Scarecrow Storytime! – Join us for a cozy fall storytime all about our friendly neighborhood scarecrows!
21 & 22 – Owls, Bats & Spiders – Gather ’round for a nocturnal storytime adventure filled with cozy hooting, fluttery wings, and clever web-weavers!
28 & 29 – Not-So-Spooky Halloween (Friendly Monsters & Ghosts) – Join us for a cozy, silly, and entirely giggle-filled storytime designed to show little ones that the bumps in the night are just looking for a friend!
STEAM’ed Up Tuesdays at 4 p.m. Grades (K – 2)
STEAM Explorers, Thursdays at 4 p.m. Grades (3 – 5)
October
10/6 & 10/8 – World Space Week – Explore how craters form on planets, moons and other celestial bodies.
10/13 & 10/15 – Train Your Brain – Use LEGOs to create different shapes.
10/20 & 10/22 – Pizza Month – Create your own pizza with mini bagels.
10/27 & 10/29 – 2D & 3D Geometry with Pumpkin Candy – Learn about 2D and 3D geometrical shapes and make them with toothpicks and pumpkin candy.
Thursday, October 29 at 5:30 p.m. – We will be reading, “Root Magic” by Eden Royce.
“It’s 1963, and things are changing for Jezebel Turner. Her beloved grandmother has just passed away. The local police deputy won’t stop harassing her family. With school integration arriving in South Carolina, Jez and her twin brother, Jay, are about to begin the school year with a bunch of new kids. But the biggest change comes when Jez and Jay turn eleven– and their uncle, Doc, tells them he’s going to train them in rootwork.”
Come by and check out a copy.
A NC Battle of the Books Selection for 2026-2027
Monday, October 26 at 5:30 p.m. – We will be reading, “The Dead House” by Dawn Kurtagich.
Welcome to the Dead House.
Three students: dead.
Carly Johnson: vanished without a trace.
“Two decades have passed since an inferno swept through Elmbridge High, claiming the lives of three teenagers and causing one student, Carly Johnson, to disappear. The main suspect: Kaitlyn, “the girl of nowhere.”
Come by and check out a copy.
Rana Southern, MLIS – Branch Librarian/Manager
Cara Maynard – Assistant Branch Manager
Lori C. Johnson – Library Programs Assistant, Youth Programming
Susan Miller – Library Assistant
Cindy Nichols – Library Assistant
Steven Scott, Chair
Emily Loftis, Co-Chair
Kelly Merritt*, Secretary
Cathy Akers
Hattie Brintle
Becky Keesler
Ron Niland
Jane Tesh
Marie Wood
*Regional Library Board Representative
1st Tuesday of March, June, September, and December at 1 p.m.
