Calendar of Events
Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.
Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.
|
Join us for an educational program with the North Carolina Arboretum to explore the unique features and diversity of birds! Come ready to hear about the ecoEXPLORE program, learn about a few WNC bird species, and try to spot birds living around the library. |
Join us for a Found Object Art Workshop with artist, Mr. Jeff Menzner! Two available times: Saturday, Feb. 11th, 2-4pm Thursday, Feb. 23rd, 4-5:30pm Space is limited! Drop in, call, or email to register. Ages 6 and up.
With photography by Charter Weeks and text by Keith Flynn, this book documents the effect of “The Great Recession of 2008” on the lives of many working Americans and has been compared to Walker Evans and James Agee’s Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, which chronicled the Great Depression of the 1930s. Flynn and Weeks interviewed and photographed over 100 people in homeless camps, dirt racetracks, gold stores, homes, churches and other environments within a 200-mile radius of Asheville, North Carolina. Despite the government’s claim that the recession was over in 2009 (perhaps true for bankers and automobile manufacturers), it was far from over for millions of ordinary American workers and continues unabated today because of the economic collapse from the pandemic. This is an important historical document raising the issues of social collapse, economic inequality and the disintegration of the financial security that was once the foundation of the American economy. Keith Flynn is the award-winning author of 6 books of poetry, most recently The Skin of Meaning, and 2 books of prose, including The Rhythm Method, Razzmatazz, and Memory. Flynn is also the Founder and Managing Editor of The Asheville Poetry Review, which was established in 1994. Charter Weeks has been a documentary photographer for over 50 years with projects in Asia, Europe, Africa and the US. Weeks’ work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the US and published in Virginia Quarterly Review, Photographers Forum, South Loop Review and Guernica Magazine, among others.
Keith Flynn is the award-winning author of eight books, including six collections of poetry: most recently Colony Collapse Disorder (Wings Press, 2013) and The Skin of Meaning (Red Hen Press, 2020), and two collections of essays, entitled The Rhythm Method, Razzmatazz and Memory: How To Make Your Poetry Swing (Writer’s Digest Books, 2007), and Prosperity Gospel: Portraits of the Great Recession (RedHawk Publications, 2021). From 1984-1999, he was lyricist and lead singer for the nationally acclaimed rock band, The Crystal Zoo, which produced three albums: Swimming Through Lake Eerie (1992), Pouch (1996), and the spoken-word and music compilation, Nervous Splendor (2003). His latest album is Keith Flynn & The Holy Men, LIVE at Diana Wortham Theatre (2011). He is the Executive Director and producer of the TV and radio show, “LIVE at White Rock Hall,” and Animal Sounds Productions, both which create collaborations between writers and musicians in video and audio formats. His award-winning poetry and essays have appeared in many journals and anthologies around the world, including The American Literary Review, The Colorado Review, Poetry Wales, Five Points, Poetry East, The Southern Poetry Anthology, The Poetics of American Song Lyrics, Writer’s Chronicle. The Cimarron Review, Rattle, Shenandoah, Word and Witness: 100 Years of NC Poetry, Crazyhorse, and many others. He has been awarded the Sandburg Prize for poetry, a 2013 NC Literary Fellowship, the ASCAP Emerging Songwriter Prize, the Paumanok Poetry Award and was twice named the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet for NC. Flynn is founder and managing editor of The Asheville Poetry Review, which began publishing in 1994.
DISCUSSION BOUND
This monthly discussion is a place to exchange ideas about readings that relate to artworks and the art world, and to learn from and about each other. Books are available at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café for a 10% discount. To add your name to our Discussion Bound mailing list, click here or call 828.253.3227 x133.
Join us for an evening with Mary B. Moore, Susan O’Dell Underwood, and Margaret Mackinnon sharing their latest works of poetry and prose.
This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. The event is free but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.
Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.
Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.
This event includes a book signing. If you would like a signed book but can’t attend in person, use the order comments field when you order below to request a signed copy and tell us to whom the book should be personalized.
If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!
Mary B. Moore’s five poetry books include the full-length collections Dear If (Orison Books, 2022); Flicker (Dogfish Head Award), and The Book Of Snow (Cleveland State University Poetry Center); and the chapbooks Amanda and the Man Soul (Emrys Prize, 2017) and Eating the Light (Sable Books Contest 2016). Her poems have won awards from NELLE, Terrain, Asheville Poetry Review and Nimrod and have appeared lately in Calyx, Poetry, Prairie Schooner, Gettysburg Review, Birmingham Poetry Review, The Nasty Women Poets Anthology, and Fire & Rain, Eco-Poetry of California. She also wrote a critical study of women sonneteers and Petrarch, Desiring Voices, Women Sonneteers and Petrarchism, SIU Press, 2000. A native Californian, she lives in Huntington WV with a philosopher and a cat.
Susan O’dell Underwood grew up on small family farms in Sullivan County, Tennessee, and McDowell County, North Carolina. She is a Professor of English and the Director of the Creative Writing Program at Carson-Newman University, where she has been teaching since 1990. She earned my MFA in Creative Writing/Poetry from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her PhD in English from Florida State University. She is the author of the poetry collection THE BOOK OF AWE (Iris Press, 2018) and two chapbooks of poetry; FROM (2010) and LOVE AND OTHER HUNGERS (2014). In 2004 she won the Tennessee Arts Commission Literary Grant for GENESIS ROAD which was revised and published by Madville Publishing in 2022. Her second full-length poetry collection, SPLINTER, is due from Madville Publishing in late spring of 2023.
Margaret Mackinnon’s work has appeared in many journals, including Poetry, Image, and Blackbird. Her first book, The Invented Child, won the Gerald Cable Book Award and the 2014 Literary Award in Poetry from the Library of Virginia. Naming the Natural World received the Sow’s Ear Poetry Review chapbook prize in 2018. Her new book, Afternoon in Cartago, was selected by Maggie Anderson as the 2021 winner of the Richard Snyder Memorial Publication Prize and was published in October, 2022 by Ashland Poetry Press. Margaret Mackinnon lives in Richmond, Virginia.

HITS! The Musical is a high energy production featuring America’s best young superstars. The cast of approximately 22 members will consist of the country’s most talented singers and dancers, ages 8-21. The show will take audiences on a musical journey through the decades, highlighting the biggest hits of all time in Pop, Country, Rock and Broadway. It will incorporate fast- paced production medleys, dazzling costumes, and is sure to thrill audiences young and old!
Join us throughout February as we celebrate Black Legacy Month with programs and events for all ages! In addition to the programs listed below, we will have special story times and exhibits at most of our libraries.
- Bright Star Touring Theatre: African Folktales – February 1 at 4pm at the Weaverville Library (for children ages 3 and up)
- Book Club: Jazz by Toni Morrison – Thursday, February 2 a 3pm at the Weaverville Library
- Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm
- Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Tuesday, February 14 at 1pm at the Leicester Library
- Book Club: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland – February 16 at 2:30pm at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library
- Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – February 21 at 7pm at the Fairview Library
- Black Experience Book Club: The Furrows by Namwali Serpell – February 23 at 6:30pm at the Noir Collective, co-sponsored by the East Asheville library
Drop by your local library and check us out. Email or call if you have any questions.
Our librarians have also put together a Black Legacy Month reading list for all ages.
Black Legacy Month Reading List 2023
Books for Adults
Adult Fiction
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
- On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library edited by Glory Edim
- What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harries
- Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
- The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers
- How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemison
- Deacon King Kong by James McBride
- Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
- Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall
- The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
- Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
- Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
- Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Adult nonfiction
- Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
- Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
- The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
- Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
- Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby*
- The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
- All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
- Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson*
- You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin*
- Counting Descent by Clint Smith
- The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
- Here For It by R. Eric Thomas*
- Koshersoul: the faith and food journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty
*especially good on audio because the authors read their work!
Picture books for families to share
- My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
- Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner
- My N.C. From A to Z by Michelle Lanier
- Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood
- Curls by Ruth Forman
- Fly by Brittany J. Thurman
- Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
- Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
- Bright Brown Baby, A Treasury by Andrea Davis Pinkney
- Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson
Chapter books for older kids
- Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. BaptistBlended by Sharon Draper
- Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
- Tristan Strong Trilogy (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching) by Kwame Mbalia
- From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
- Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
- Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
- Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
- The Door of No Return by Alexander Kwame
Books for teens
- Quincredible by Rodney Barnes
- The Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn and Bloodmarked) by Tracy Deonn
- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
- You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
- Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
- Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
- Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
- Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
- On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
- Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi
Summer Day Camp is a great option for kids ages 9-17 with any skill level to learn and practice on the iconic rivers and lakes of Western North Carolina. Paddlers from beginner to advanced will receive high-quality instruction from our elite team while having fun and making friends.
Camp at the Nature Center consists of fun, educational experiences designed to involve campers in the wonders of the natural world. Camps are for children born between August 1, 2013 and July 31, 2017 and will run from July 3 through August 11. Our summer camp offerings and structure are different this year, so please visit our website to learn more about these changes, including registration.
New in 2023: A lottery system for registration will open the week of February 20 to 26. Each prospective camper’s information will need to be added to the lottery list for each individual camp session they are interested in attending.
Only sign up for the session(s) your child(ren) are able to attend. By signing up for the lottery, you are agreeing to enroll if selected. Selections will be generated randomly.
If your registration request is selected, you will receive an email in early March with instructions and a deadline for completing registration. Priority will be given to siblings applying for the same camp session but cannot be guaranteed. Individuals on the waitlist and those that do not get selected will be alerted by mid-March.
Registration by lottery will be employed to ensure equity of access for all interested participants, with the aim of reducing stress and the impact of technical issues, while increasing flexibility for families hoping to register. We strongly recommend that prospective participants enter the registration lottery at the beginning of the time window to enable time for any needed troubleshooting.
|
Free Family Education classes from Bounty & Soul. Each month, Bounty & Soul educators share practical information with parents and caregivers to support your child’s health and development. Classes are FREE, but please register on the Bounty & Soul site under the Schedule tab. Quick access HERE. |
Buncombe County Public Libraries offers 16 story times a week at library locations all across the County. Did you know there are two bilingual story times included in our story time schedule?
Parents can find Hora del Cuento at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library every Friday at 10:30 a.m. and at the Oakley Library every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. We’ll share books, rhymes, and songs in Spanish and English–fun for the whole family. Speakers of all languages and children of all ages are welcome to attend.
Let us know if you have any questions and we look forward to seeing you at the Library!
Hora del Cuento bilingual en la Biblioteca
Buncombe County Public Libraries ofrecen 16 story times a la semana en las bibliotecas de todo el Condado. ¿Sepa que hay dos Horas del Cuento bilinguales que están incluidos en nuestro horario de story time?
Puede encontrar Hora del Cuento en la biblioteca de Skyland/South Buncombe cada Viernes a las 10:30am y en la biblioteca de Oakley cada Martes a las 10:30am. Vamos a compartir libros, ritmos, y canciones en Espanol y Ingles. ¡Diversión para toda la familia! Hablantes de todas las lenguas y niños de todas las edades son bienvenidos.
Nos avisan de cualquier pregunta, y nos vemos en la Biblioteca!
Buncombe County Public Libraries offers 16 story times a week at library locations all across the County. Did you know there are two bilingual story times included in our story time schedule?
Parents can find Hora del Cuento at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library every Friday at 10:30 a.m. and at the Oakley Library every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. We’ll share books, rhymes, and songs in Spanish and English–fun for the whole family. Speakers of all languages and children of all ages are welcome to attend.
Let us know if you have any questions and we look forward to seeing you at the Library!
Hora del Cuento bilingual en la Biblioteca
Buncombe County Public Libraries ofrecen 16 story times a la semana en las bibliotecas de todo el Condado. ¿Sepa que hay dos Horas del Cuento bilinguales que están incluidos en nuestro horario de story time?
Puede encontrar Hora del Cuento en la biblioteca de Skyland/South Buncombe cada Viernes a las 10:30am y en la biblioteca de Oakley cada Martes a las 10:30am. Vamos a compartir libros, ritmos, y canciones en Espanol y Ingles. ¡Diversión para toda la familia! Hablantes de todas las lenguas y niños de todas las edades son bienvenidos.
Nos avisan de cualquier pregunta, y nos vemos en la Biblioteca!

Join us for a relaxing ride through quiet countryside on your way to small town life in western North Carolina on the Tuckasegee River Excursion. Departing from Bryson City, this 4 hour excursion travels 32 miles round-trip to Dillsboro and back to the Bryson City Depot. Pass by the famous movie set of The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford!
- About This Trip
- Things To Do
- Itinerary
- Classes of Service and Pricing
- Class Comparison
- How to Purchase
- Schedule
- The Tuckasegee (tuck-uh-SEE-jee) River Excursion includes an 1 hour and 20 minute layover in the historic town of Dillsboro, where you’ll find more than 50 shops, restaurants, a brewery, and country inns. There is time to shop, snack, and visit the many unique shops before returning to Bryson City.
The Asheville Train Show is the WNC Model Railroaders annual event. This show makes it a great family outing for kids of all ages. You will find anything, and everything, related to trains in all scales, plus books and videos. Also, many memorabilia items of all sizes and real to replicas of interest to all.
|
Lego Club resumes in January at the Fairview Public Library. The library provides the Legos and you provide the creativity! Perfect for ages 6 and up. Lego Club is on the last Friday of every month through May. |
Join us throughout February as we celebrate Black Legacy Month with programs and events for all ages! In addition to the programs listed below, we will have special story times and exhibits at most of our libraries.
- Bright Star Touring Theatre: African Folktales – February 1 at 4pm at the Weaverville Library (for children ages 3 and up)
- Book Club: Jazz by Toni Morrison – Thursday, February 2 a 3pm at the Weaverville Library
- Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm
- Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Tuesday, February 14 at 1pm at the Leicester Library
- Book Club: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland – February 16 at 2:30pm at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library
- Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – February 21 at 7pm at the Fairview Library
- Black Experience Book Club: The Furrows by Namwali Serpell – February 23 at 6:30pm at the Noir Collective, co-sponsored by the East Asheville library
Drop by your local library and check us out. Email or call if you have any questions.
Our librarians have also put together a Black Legacy Month reading list for all ages.
Black Legacy Month Reading List 2023
Books for Adults
Adult Fiction
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
- On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library edited by Glory Edim
- What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harries
- Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
- The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers
- How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemison
- Deacon King Kong by James McBride
- Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
- Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall
- The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
- Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
- Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
- Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Adult nonfiction
- Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
- Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
- The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
- Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
- Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby*
- The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
- All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
- Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson*
- You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin*
- Counting Descent by Clint Smith
- The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
- Here For It by R. Eric Thomas*
- Koshersoul: the faith and food journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty
*especially good on audio because the authors read their work!
Picture books for families to share
- My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
- Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner
- My N.C. From A to Z by Michelle Lanier
- Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood
- Curls by Ruth Forman
- Fly by Brittany J. Thurman
- Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
- Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
- Bright Brown Baby, A Treasury by Andrea Davis Pinkney
- Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson
Chapter books for older kids
- Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. BaptistBlended by Sharon Draper
- Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
- Tristan Strong Trilogy (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching) by Kwame Mbalia
- From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
- Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
- Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
- Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
- The Door of No Return by Alexander Kwame
Books for teens
- Quincredible by Rodney Barnes
- The Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn and Bloodmarked) by Tracy Deonn
- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
- You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
- Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
- Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
- Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
- Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
- On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
- Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi
Regal’s My Way Matinee program gives everyone a chance to enjoy the movies with the lights up and the volume down. This becomes a safe space where guests are free to express themselves by singing, crying, walking around, and talking while a feature film plays on the big screen. This month’s title, “Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania” will be shown February 25th and 28th.
Purchase Tickets for 2.25
Purchase Tickets for 2.28
Summer Day Camp is a great option for kids ages 9-17 with any skill level to learn and practice on the iconic rivers and lakes of Western North Carolina. Paddlers from beginner to advanced will receive high-quality instruction from our elite team while having fun and making friends.
Camp at the Nature Center consists of fun, educational experiences designed to involve campers in the wonders of the natural world. Camps are for children born between August 1, 2013 and July 31, 2017 and will run from July 3 through August 11. Our summer camp offerings and structure are different this year, so please visit our website to learn more about these changes, including registration.
New in 2023: A lottery system for registration will open the week of February 20 to 26. Each prospective camper’s information will need to be added to the lottery list for each individual camp session they are interested in attending.
Only sign up for the session(s) your child(ren) are able to attend. By signing up for the lottery, you are agreeing to enroll if selected. Selections will be generated randomly.
If your registration request is selected, you will receive an email in early March with instructions and a deadline for completing registration. Priority will be given to siblings applying for the same camp session but cannot be guaranteed. Individuals on the waitlist and those that do not get selected will be alerted by mid-March.
Registration by lottery will be employed to ensure equity of access for all interested participants, with the aim of reducing stress and the impact of technical issues, while increasing flexibility for families hoping to register. We strongly recommend that prospective participants enter the registration lottery at the beginning of the time window to enable time for any needed troubleshooting.

Join us for a relaxing ride through quiet countryside on your way to small town life in western North Carolina on the Tuckasegee River Excursion. Departing from Bryson City, this 4 hour excursion travels 32 miles round-trip to Dillsboro and back to the Bryson City Depot. Pass by the famous movie set of The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford!
- About This Trip
- Things To Do
- Itinerary
- Classes of Service and Pricing
- Class Comparison
- How to Purchase
- Schedule
- The Tuckasegee (tuck-uh-SEE-jee) River Excursion includes an 1 hour and 20 minute layover in the historic town of Dillsboro, where you’ll find more than 50 shops, restaurants, a brewery, and country inns. There is time to shop, snack, and visit the many unique shops before returning to Bryson City.
Blue Ridge Roller Derby is pumped to have all of their incredible fans join them for their inaugural Home Team Championships on Saturday, Feb 25th at the Smoky Mountain Event Center. Come see the Black Balsam Batties and Copperhead Outlaws battle for the champs for a full hour game. And they’re thrilled to have their guest, the Hard Knox All Stars, from Knoxville, TN, join them and play their home team The Swarm! Remember you get your tickets at the door so get them before the first whistle. Spread the word! All are welcome, this is a family friendly event.
Tickets at the door (3pm): $10 for Adults; $5 for ages 12-18; FREE for kids 11 and under.
First whistle: 4pm
After party TBD. See you there!
photo credit: @ezekiel_coppersmith

HITS! The Musical is a high energy production featuring America’s best young superstars. The cast of approximately 22 members will consist of the country’s most talented singers and dancers, ages 8-21. The show will take audiences on a musical journey through the decades, highlighting the biggest hits of all time in Pop, Country, Rock and Broadway. It will incorporate fast- paced production medleys, dazzling costumes, and is sure to thrill audiences young and old!
Summer Day Camp is a great option for kids ages 9-17 with any skill level to learn and practice on the iconic rivers and lakes of Western North Carolina. Paddlers from beginner to advanced will receive high-quality instruction from our elite team while having fun and making friends.
Camp at the Nature Center consists of fun, educational experiences designed to involve campers in the wonders of the natural world. Camps are for children born between August 1, 2013 and July 31, 2017 and will run from July 3 through August 11. Our summer camp offerings and structure are different this year, so please visit our website to learn more about these changes, including registration.
New in 2023: A lottery system for registration will open the week of February 20 to 26. Each prospective camper’s information will need to be added to the lottery list for each individual camp session they are interested in attending.
Only sign up for the session(s) your child(ren) are able to attend. By signing up for the lottery, you are agreeing to enroll if selected. Selections will be generated randomly.
If your registration request is selected, you will receive an email in early March with instructions and a deadline for completing registration. Priority will be given to siblings applying for the same camp session but cannot be guaranteed. Individuals on the waitlist and those that do not get selected will be alerted by mid-March.
Registration by lottery will be employed to ensure equity of access for all interested participants, with the aim of reducing stress and the impact of technical issues, while increasing flexibility for families hoping to register. We strongly recommend that prospective participants enter the registration lottery at the beginning of the time window to enable time for any needed troubleshooting.
Wee Trade is a Pop-up Children’s Consignment Event occurring twice a year in WNC for over 20 years. Shoppers can find deals up to 70-90% off retail on items for infants to teens including maternity. SAVE THE DATE!
Friday, February 24: 2pm-7pm
Saturday, February 25: 10am-5pm (Wee Trade Family Fun Day- free activities for children and Wee Trade Bounce)
Sunday, February 26: 10am-2pm (most items 50% off)
Join us on Sundays this Fall and Winter for $10 to ride Kolo Bike Park on over 125 acres beside Downtown Asheville! Enjoy pump tracks, skills area, trails, skinnys, berms, table tops and much more! Littleville is also included for our youngest shredders. Rentals not included.
Reservations not required. Call for conditions: 828.225.2921.
The Perspective Café is kicking off 2023 with a classic bang! Grab your friends and join us each Sunday from 2pm to 5pm in the Perspective Café to play an assortment of board and card games. You can even bring your own favorite games from home to share with new friends.
The Perspective Café will be offering special snacks and cocktails to savor while you play and make a memorable afternoon! Enjoy the galleries and then head up to the rooftop.
Join us throughout February as we celebrate Black Legacy Month with programs and events for all ages! In addition to the programs listed below, we will have special story times and exhibits at most of our libraries.
- Bright Star Touring Theatre: African Folktales – February 1 at 4pm at the Weaverville Library (for children ages 3 and up)
- Book Club: Jazz by Toni Morrison – Thursday, February 2 a 3pm at the Weaverville Library
- Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm
- Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Tuesday, February 14 at 1pm at the Leicester Library
- Book Club: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland – February 16 at 2:30pm at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library
- Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – February 21 at 7pm at the Fairview Library
- Black Experience Book Club: The Furrows by Namwali Serpell – February 23 at 6:30pm at the Noir Collective, co-sponsored by the East Asheville library
Drop by your local library and check us out. Email or call if you have any questions.
Our librarians have also put together a Black Legacy Month reading list for all ages.
Black Legacy Month Reading List 2023
Books for Adults
Adult Fiction
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
- On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library edited by Glory Edim
- What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harries
- Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
- The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers
- How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemison
- Deacon King Kong by James McBride
- Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
- Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall
- The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
- Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
- Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
- Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Adult nonfiction
- Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
- Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
- The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
- Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
- Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby*
- The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
- All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
- Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson*
- You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin*
- Counting Descent by Clint Smith
- The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
- Here For It by R. Eric Thomas*
- Koshersoul: the faith and food journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty
*especially good on audio because the authors read their work!
Picture books for families to share
- My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
- Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner
- My N.C. From A to Z by Michelle Lanier
- Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood
- Curls by Ruth Forman
- Fly by Brittany J. Thurman
- Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
- Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
- Bright Brown Baby, A Treasury by Andrea Davis Pinkney
- Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson
Chapter books for older kids
- Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. BaptistBlended by Sharon Draper
- Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
- Tristan Strong Trilogy (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching) by Kwame Mbalia
- From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
- Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
- Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
- Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
- The Door of No Return by Alexander Kwame
Books for teens
- Quincredible by Rodney Barnes
- The Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn and Bloodmarked) by Tracy Deonn
- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
- You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
- Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
- Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
- Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
- Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
- On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
- Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi










