| WILLIS N. HACKNEY LIBRARY, Barton College, Wilson, NC |
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FRIENDS OF HACKNEY LIBRARY
The Friends of Hackney Library are fortunate to have the sponsorship of the following businesses and individuals; many thanks to all for their support!
The Barton College Friends of Hackney Library organization was established to help support the Library in developing its collection and to provide a means for members of the community to borrow from the library's collection. (For information about computer availability for Friends, see our Computers page.)
Friends of Hackney Library members receive several benefits, including the opportunity to borrow books from the Library and through interlibrary loan, and a $5.00 discount on tickets to the Friends of Hackney Library Dinner & Lecture Series programs. Memberships must be renewed annually and members must be at least 18 years of age to join (family memberships are available). Membership applications are available online, which can be printed and mailed with payment to Friends of Hackney Library, Barton College, P.O. Box 5000, Wilson, NC 27893-7000. (Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat software to print the application; when printing, please use the Adobe print icon in the Adobe toolbar rather than the browser's print icons.)
Each year, the Friends organization hosts two signature dinners in its Friends of Hackney Library Dinner & Lecture Series at which well-known authors speak about or read from their works. Past speakers include Clyde Edgerton, Emyl Jenkins, Jerry Bledsoe, Ellyn Bache, David Hays, Dr. William Friday, Kaye Gibbons, Gail Godwin, Margaret Maron, historian Mark L. Bradley, Barton's own Dr. Jerry Maclean, Allan Gurganus, Dr. Lucy Daniels, Dr. Charles Kimball, Dr. John Hope Franklin, historian, Bill Thompson, writer and CEO of the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina, Barton's own Dr. Jeff Broadwater, religion scholar Dr. Bart Ehrman, literary couple Scott Huler and June Spence, and a panel of regional and national sportswriters, broadcasters, and announcers discussing sports journalism as it related to the Barton Bulldogs Spring 2007 Division II basketball championship. This year's programs are sponsored in part by BB&T.
 Fall 2007 Dinner / Lecture Program Spring 2008 Dinner / Lecture Program
The program was held on Tuesday, October 2, 2007, in Hardy Alumni Hall on the Barton College campus. A book signing and wine reception were held at 6 pm, followed by dinner and the program at 7 pm. A Washington County, North Carolina native, Don Brown received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina and received a Juris Doctor degree from Campbell University School of Law. He continued his studies at the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, earning the Navy's nonresident certificate in International Law. Mr. Brown spent five years in the U.S. Navy as an officer in the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps. During that time, he served with the U.S. Attorney, served in the Pentagon, and was published in the Naval Law Review. He was also a recipient of the Navy Achievement Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal. Mr. Brown spent several years as a Navy JAG Prosecutor before becoming Special Assistant to the United States Attorney in the southern district of California, but returned to North Carolina in 1992, practicing law with two Charlotte area law firms, and then founding his own firm, Brown & Associates PLLC, in 1996. He remained on inactive status with the Navy through 1999, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Mr. Brown has personal connections to Barton College (formerly Atlantic Christian College, founded by the Disciples of Christ [Christian] denomination); not only did he grow up in a Disciples of Christ congregation in Eastern North Carolina, but his father is also a Barton/ACC alumnus, and we were delighted to have the opportunity to host Don on campus.
The event was held on Tuesday, April 8, 2008, in Hardy Alumni Hall on the Barton College campus. A book signing and wine reception began at 6 pm, followed by dinner and the program at 7 pm. Author Pat Conroy says Hart's debut novel "moves and reads like a book on fire" and calls Hart "an amazing new talent." The New York Times's Janet Maslin calls King of Lies a "seething, roiling, boiling North Carolina murder story [that] crossbreeds enough Grisham-style intrigue and Turow-style brooding to make for a sulfurous mix." Entertainment Weekly says, "In a top-notch debut, Hart's prose is like Raymond Chandler's, angular and hard." And the St. Louis Post-Dispatch claims the novel "pulls off the almost impossible: It makes you like a lawyer." King of Lies has been selected as an Editor’s Pick by the Mystery Guild and as a Featured Alternate by the Doubleday Book Club, the Book-of-the-Month Club, the Literary Guild, and Smart Reader Rewards. The book, winner of the Gumshoe Award for Best First Novel and nominated for several other awards, is also being adapted as a feature film. A native of Durham, North Carolina who later moved to Salisbury (the setting of the book), John Hart holds a bachelor's degree in French literature from Davidson College, a master's degree in accounting from UNC-Chapel Hill, and a law degree from Franklin Pierce Law Center. He has worked as a banker, a stockbroker, and an attorney, but took a year off to realize his only dream: "to write well and to be published well." As he describes on his web site, Hart "spent the better part of a year in a carrel at the Rowan County Public Library. The King of Lies is the result." After a brief stint with Merrill Lynch in Greensboro after the completion of King of Lies, Hart received an advance that allows him to work on his next two books full time. His highly-anticipated second novel, Down River, was released October 2, 2007 and has garnered even more praise than his debut work. It has been chosen as a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and as a featured alternate for the Literary Guild, the Mystery Guild, and the Doubleday Book Club. Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal have all given Hart's second work of fiction starred reviews. The following summary of the novel, which is also set in Rowan County, appears on Hart's web site:
Hart has almost completed work on his third novel, tentatively titled Lightning Falls, which is slated for release in May 2009. The Fall 2008 Friends of Hackney Library Dinner/Lecture (October 14, 2008) will feature David Payne, author of Back to Wando Passo, Gravesend Light, Ruin Creek, Early from the Dance, and Confessions of a Taoist on Wall Street on Tuesday, October 14, 2008.
Tickets are $25 for Friends members and Barton faculty/staff, students, and spouses, and $30 for all others, unless otherwise noted; they are available through the Friends of Hackney Library, Barton College, P.O. Box 5000, Wilson, NC 27893-7000; (252) 399-6503.
The event is being sponsored by the Friends of Hackney Library and will include refreshments provided by Tony Tilley and Aramark. Please spread the word about this opportunity for late-night studying in the library!
A Tennessee native, Jim is the author of several works of prose and poetry, including his latest, Notions: A Jim Clark Miscellany, a collection of prose and poems from 1983-2006. Other works include two books of poems (Dancing on Canaan's Ruins and Handiwork) and a play, The Girl With the Faraway Eye. He has also served as editor of a poetry collection, Fable in the Blood: The Selected Poems of Byron Herbert Reece, and several literary journals, including The Denver Quarterly, The Greensboro Review, and The Vanderbilt Poetry Review. Jim received his B.A. in English from Vanderbilt University, an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and his Ph.D. in modern literature and creative writing from the University of Denver. In addition to communicating through the written word, Jim also communicates through music, including singing and playing guitar, banjo, mountain dulcimer, and autoharp. The event also featured a performance, including songs with bandmate Katy Adams from his group's (The Near Myths) latest CD, "Words to Burn," which was released on January 28. Other CDs include Wilson and Buried Land. Copies of Notions, "Words to Burn," and other Jim Clark works were available for purchase and signing at the event.
The Friends of Hackney Library, who sponsored the event, also managed to arrange for the delivery of a new "litter" of stress-busting squeezable Barton bulldogs (wildly popular during their debut at this fall's Library Open House) that were given away as well. Reference and other services were limited from 11 pm to 2 am, but there was plenty of opportunity and space to prepare for final exams.
The first program, an afternoon session with over 40 Barton students, centered around the topic "The Constitution in Our Daily Lives." The second program followed a reception from 6:30 to 7:00 pm on the first floor of Hackney Library; during the evening presentation, Dr. McGuire addressed the question of "How Well is the U.S. Constitution Working?" and responded to questions from some 30 Barton faculty, students, and community attendees. Dr. McGuire teaches and conducts research on the American judiciary, with a primary interest in the U.S. Supreme Court. His book The Supreme Court Bar: Legal Elites in the Washington Community, an analysis of the participation and influence of Washington-based lawyers who specialize in litigating before the high court, received the Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award as well as being honored by the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association. Dr. McGuire has also written and edited several textbooks, including his most recent, The Judicial Branch, which he co-edited as part of Oxford University Press's Institutions of American Democracy series. In addition, his research has been published in numerous journals, such as the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, and the Journal of Politics. A former Fulbright Scholar at Trinity College, Dublin, Dr. McGuire received his BA degree from West Virginia University and his Ph.D. from Ohio State University. Among other awards, he has twice received the American Judicature Society Award and has also received the McGraw-Hill Award for work on public opinion and the Supreme Court. The Constitution Day reception and lecture were free and open to both the Barton community and the community at large.
The Encyclopedia, published by UNC Press (2006) in association with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, features over 2,000 entries on 1,360 pages covering the entire history and culture of North Carolina. The single-volume work is the final installment of a series of three works edited by Powell that includes The North Carolina Gazetteer (1968) and the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography (six volumes, 1979-96), also published by UNC Press. Last updated May 5, 2008 |
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Sponsors--Friends of Hackney Library
The Fall 2007 lecture featured Don Brown, a former Navy JAG Officer and the author of Zondervan's
Navy Justice Series: Treason (2005), Hostage (2005), Defiance (2006), and the latest novel in the series, Black Sea Affair (
Spring 2008 Program
The Spring 2008 program featured John Hart, author of two New York Times best-sellers: his debut novel, The King of Lies, as well as his second, Down River.
Got the pre-exam jitters? Need a safe, quiet place to study or relax late into the night? During final exam period on Sunday, May 11, the Library will hold its second "Late Night at the Library" event, staying open until 2:00 AM in the morning. In response to student requests for later hours during exams, Late Night debuted during the Fall 2007 semester, and thanks to its success, it is being held again this spring. Reference and other services will be limited from 11 pm to 2 am, but there will be plenty of opportunity and space for students to prepare for final exams.
The Friends of Hackney Library and the Barton College Department of English and Modern Languages sponsored a book signing and reception featuring Barton's own Dr. James A. (Jim) Clark, writer and musician. Jim is currently the Elizabeth H. Jordan Professor of Southern Literature and Writer-in-Residence at Barton College, where he is also Director of the Barton College Creative Writing Symposium. The event was held on Tuesday, February 26 from 5:00-7:00 pm in Hackney Library, with some 75 people in attendance.
For students with pre-exam jitters who needed a safe, quiet place to study or relax late into the night, Hackney Library offered just what the doctor ordered. On December 13, the first night of exams, the Library held its first "Late Night at the Library" event, staying open until 2:00 AM in the morning. This stress-busting event was designed not only to give students plenty of time to study for exams but also to offer some study breaks complete with refreshments, such as hot chocolate and cookies from the incomparable Tony Tilley & Aramark, and free giveaways.
Hackney Library held its second annual Open House on Thursday, August 30, from 4-6 pm. Sponsored by the Friends of Hackney Library, the event featured food and giveaways such as stress-relieving squeezable Barton bulldogs, pens, bookmarks, and award-winning dry-erase boards. More than 100 people attended, and several Barton chairs and umbrellas (thanks to the Barton SGA) and bookstore certificates (thanks to the Barton Bookstore) were given to winners of the door prize drawing. Now if only we had some more of those squeezable bulldogs to give away...
In celebration of Constitution Day 2007, the Friends of Hackney Library and the Wilson County Historical Association sponsored two special programs on Monday, September 17, 2007 featuring speaker Kevin T. McGuire, associate professor in the department of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Friends of Hackney Library, the Friends of the Wilson County Public Library, and the Wilson County Historical Association sponsored a book signing and reception featuring William S. Powell, editor of the Encyclopedia of North Carolina. Long considered the "dean" of North Carolina history, Dr. Powell was on hand from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 15, 2007 in Hackney Library to sign copies of the book, which were sold during the event. (Three other works authored by Powell were available for purchase as well: The North Carolina Gazetteer; North Carolina: A History; and North Carolina through Four Centuries.) More than fifty people attended the event.
