SEVIER COUNTY GENEALOGY & HISTORY CENTER OFFERS BEGINNING GENEALOGY CLASSES

SEVIER COUNTY – The Sevier County Public Library Genealogy & History Center will offer free of charge basic genealogy classes for the novice genealogist at the Seymour Branch and Kodak Branch Libraries. The classes are designed to teach the basics of tracing a family line. Call Theresa Williams at (865) 908-7988 the day prior to the meeting you wish to attend so that materials can be reserved in your name.
The Kodak Branch Library will hold meetings on the following Tuesdays from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.:

• July 29
• September 16
• November 18

The Seymour Branch Library will hold meetings on the following Tuesdays from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.:

• August 12
• September 9
• November 25

The Sevier County Genealogy & History Center is located next to the Sevier County Main Library at 321 Court Avenue in Sevierville. For more information regarding these classes or to reserve class materials, please contact Theresa Williams at (865)908-7988.

SCPLS OFFERS JULY COMPUTER CLASSES

SEVIER COUNTY – The Sevier County Public Library System offers computer classes for beginning learners to computer users with basic skills wishing to become more proficient each month. Basic computer skills classes, word processing and the use of images will be the main topics for the July classes. 
During the three-hour Basic Computer Skills class presented, participants will learn to decipher the mouse, keyboard, hardware and software. The basic computer classes will be offered at the Seymour Branch Library, 137 W. Macon Lane, on Thursday, July 10 from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. and at the Sevier County  Main Library, 321 Court Avenue, on Thursday, July 24 from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m.
A class on Word Processing will be held at the Seymour Branch Library, 137 W. Macon Lane, on Monday, July 21 from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. In this class, Dr. Tony Krug will teach participants to format text; save and open documents; select, copy and move text; and use headers and footers on the documents created. The Word Processing class will use Notepad, WordPad, Open Office and other software so each participant will receive an overview of several software programs.

Graphics, Images & Photos will be the topic of another computer class at the Seymour Branch Library on Wednesday, July 30 from 9:00 a.m. – noon. Basic keyboarding, mouse skills, windows and file structure are prerequisites for all of the classes excluding the Basic Computer Skills Classes.

The Sevier County Main Library Tech Bytes class is a series of mini courses designed to give you a “taste” of popular software packages. The 1.5 hour classes are open to anyone with basic keyboard and mouse skills and lunch is included in the cost of the classes. The Tech Byte class for July covers Basic Computer Maintenance is scheduled for Friday, July 25th from 12:00 (noon) – 1:30 p.m. at the Sevier County Main Library at 321 Court Avenue.
All classes are limited to eight participants and the cost of each three-hour class is $10.00 per person. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required by the Friday preceding the class. Please contact Dr. Tony Krug at (865)573-0278 to enroll in the Seymour Branch Library computer classes. Delores Vess, (865) 774-6033, is the contact person for the computer classes at the Sevier County Main Library.  

SCPLS Seymour Branch Inspirational Reading Club

Sevier County, TN. The Seymour Branch, Sevier County Public Library System (SCPLS), Inspirational Reading Club meets A reading club differs from a book club in that the reading club will focus on the entireworks of particular author instead of a single book by a specific author.

The SCPLS Seymour Branch Inspirational Reading Club will meet the third Wednesday of each month at 1:00 p.m. Participants are invited to bring a brown bag lunch and join others interested in inspirational authors for a time to meet, discuss and review the chosen author or the month. Please click here for a brochure.

Going Green With The Sevier County Public Library System

Each year, according to statistics provided from Recycling Appeal USA, “almost eight cartridges per second are thrown away in the United States alone” and each inkjet, toner, laser, and printer cartridges adds “approximately 3 pounds of waste to our landfills” in the United States.

Oil, a very costly resource as we all know, is used in each of the cartridges produced. An inkjet cartridge is produced with 2.5 ouncesof oil and 3.5 quarts of oil are used in each laser cartridge. The cartridges also contain plastics, steel, aluminum and rubber that all add up quickly in the landfills. These materials do not biodegrade and only accumulate in our soil and water systems. A single cartridge alone can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade. More printer cartridge facts can be found at http://www.recyclingappealusa.com/whyrecycle/printer_fact.asp.

To help curb the destruction and pollution of our natural resources, the Sevier County Public Library System is launching a discard drop-off point so that these cartridges can be reused and recycled. So, the next time your laser, inkjet or toner cartridge is depleted, please drop the used cartridge off at the Sevier County Main Library at 321 Court Avenue in downtown Sevierville; the Seymour Branch Library at 317 W. Macon Lane in Seymour; or, the Kodak Branch Library at 319 West Dumplin Valley Road in Kodak.

The cartridges will be recycled and any proceeds from the recycling process will go directly to the SCPLS Library Foundation to help fund the new Sevier County Main Library. For more information about Going Green with the Sevier County Public Library System, please call Delores Vess at (865) 428-7653 or email at dvess@sevierlibrary.org.

SHOPPING ON AMAZON.COM EARNS $$$ FOR SCPLS LIBRARY FOUNDATION

SEVIER COUNTY, TN. – Still doing your last minute Christmas shopping? If you are going online to make purchases, consider using the Amazon.com link via the Sevier County Public Library System webpage at www.sevierlibrary.org and add some monies to the coffer for the new Sevier County Main Library.

As a special service through Amazon.com, any purchases made online via the link through the Sevier County Library webpage will contribute a percentage of the entire purchase to the building fund for the new Sevier County Main Library. Amazon.com, known for book sales, is a great resource for almost all of your holiday wish list choices for friends and family. And shopping online is a great way to avoid the traffic congestion and shopping rush in the malls.

So, to fill those last minute gifts on your list, consider shopping at Amazon.com via the link on the www.sevierlibrary.org webpage and help build a new main library for all of Sevier County residents. For additional information, contact Robin Cogdill (865) 933-0078.

GOT MP3? GET AUDIO BOOK DOWNLOADS FREE OF CHARGE AT THE SCPLS

Did you know that free eBooks and audio books are available through the Sevier County Public Library System (SCPLS) webpage www.sevierlibrary.org? eBooks are the digital version of print books and digital audio books are the digital version of an audio cassette or audio CDs. This free of charge service allows a person to read the full text of a book on their computer screen.

The R.E.A.D.s service also allows access to the full audio version of online audio books. This online collection of eBooks and audio books permits library cardholders around Sevier County to browse, download, and check out digital items twenty-four hours a day every day from any location with Internet access.

Digital eBooks and audio books can be downloaded on many computing devices and operating systems including PCs, Mac, laptops and supported PDAs - in addition to MP3 players. Burning these digital materials to a CD is also an option. Best of all, after two weeks, the digital books are automatically returned, so there are never any late fees or return trips to the library.

To access these free of charge materials, visit http://reads.lib.overdrive.com and follow these easy steps to use this service:

Step 1: Download and install the free software on the computer(s) on which you will use digital books.

Step 2: Register your free software, once for each computer on which you will use the digital materials.

Step 3: Log in to the site using your library card number.

Step 4: Browse the list of titles, add a title to your Digital Cart, and check it out.

After the item is checked out, you are ready to download the digital books. Once the download is complete, close the Internet connection and enjoy your digital books offline. After the two week “loan” period, the title will expire and will be automatically returned to the library. Delete the expired file from your computer at this time.

The R.E.A.D.S. service is provided by the Tennessee Library & Archives, a division of the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office. This digital program is funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining life-long learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities better.

For further information, contact any the Sevier County Public Library Main Branch (SCPLS) at 865-453-3532; Seymour Branch Library, 865-5777-7511; or the Kodak Branch Library, 865-933-0078.