Did you know that three Buncombe County Libraries have a seed library so you can check out seeds?  Each seed library offers vegetable, herb, and flower seeds that you can take home and plant.

If you’re a gardener or want to be a gardener, you can borrow seeds from the library at planting time. At the end of the growing season, save seeds from the plants and return a portion of the seeds to the library to be loaned out the next year. If you don’t have any seeds at the end of the season, that’s OK too. It’s not a requirement, it just helps the seed libraries grow. There is no charge to use the seed library, just visit the Weaverville, Black Mountain or Leicester Libraries and sign up. You’ll find different seeds at each location and you don’t need a library card to use the seed library.

The benefits of a seed lending library are many: it’s a way to have fun, build community with fellow gardeners, and support people who are new to gardening. It also preserves rare, open-pollinated or heirloom seeds and encourages local gardeners to save quality seeds that are suited to our growing area.

For more information on any of our seed libraries, contact the Black Mountain Library, the Leicester Library, or the Weaverville Library.

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, in cooperation with the IRS, NC Department of Revenue, Buncombe County Library System, and Council on Aging, Inc. will offer free tax preparations for taxpayers of low and moderate income, with special attention to those aged 60 and older.

You will need an appointment to speak with a tax help aide. At your appointment, you can drop off your tax documents and you’ll be given another appointment in about 2 weeks to pick up your paperwork and completed tax form.

How it works

1. Pick up a tax record envelope and instructions at Black Mountain, West Asheville, Weaverville, or Pack Library during library hours.
2. Complete the Intake/Interview Booklet in your envelope by answering all questions. Then sign and date the last 3 pages.  Place all your tax forms and any information relating to your tax return in your envelope.
3. Make an appointment to drop off your Tax Record Envelope and meet with a Tax-Aide volunteer.

Schedule and appointments

Black Mountain Library

Mondays and Thursdays, appointments are available between 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

To make an appointment, either email [email protected] with your name and telephone number, or call (828) 669-8610 between 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday. An AARP volunteer will contact you to set up your appointment. You can pick up a tax packet at the library. At your appointment, a tax volunteer will check all documents and give you a follow-up appointment to pick up your completed tax return and documents.

Pack Memorial Library

Wednesdays, appointments are available between 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

To make an appointment on Wednesday at Pack Library, email [email protected] with your name and phone number. An AARP volunteer will contact you to set up your appointment. If you don’t have access to email, the staff at the library can email AARP for you. You can pick up your tax packet at the library. At your appointment, a tax volunteer will check all documents and give you a follow-up appointment to pick up your completed tax return and documents.

Saturdays, appointments are available between 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

To make an appointment for Saturday tax help at Pack Library, email [email protected]. At your appointment, a tax volunteer will check all documents and give you a follow-up appointment to pick up your completed tax return and documents. This tax help is provided by UNCA. Saturday tax help ends on April 1 and there will be no tax help on February 18.

Weaverville Library and Weaverville First Baptist Church

Thursdays, appointments are available between 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

To make an appointment for tax help at the Weaverville First Baptist Church email [email protected] with your name and telephone number OR call the Weaverville Library at 828-250-6482 with questions. If you don’t have access to email, the staff at the library can email AARP for you.  An AARP volunteer will contact you to set up your appointment at the Weaverville First Baptist Church. You can pick up your tax packet at the library. At your appointment, a tax volunteer will check all documents and give you a follow-up appointment to pick up your completed tax return and documents.

West Asheville Library

Tuesdays, appointments are available between 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

To make an appointment at the West Asheville Library email [email protected] with your name and telephone number. An AARP volunteer will contact you to set up your appointment. If you don’t have access to email, the staff at the library can email AARP for you. You can pick up your tax packet at the library. At your appointment, a tax volunteer will check all documents and give you a follow-up appointment to pick up your completed tax return and documents in 1 or 2 weeks.

Tax help will start on Feb. 1 and end on April 15.

Bring the following documents and tax forms to your tax help appointment. Photocopies are recommended:

• Photo ID / Driver License for Taxpayer and Spouse
• Social Security Cards for Taxpayer, Spouse and ALL dependents
• Prior year Federal and State tax return
• W-2 (Wages), W-2G (Gambling winnings)
• Amounts of Stimulus Payments you received (EIP-3, IRS Letter 6475)
• Amounts of Child Tax Credit Payment you received (IRS Letter 6419)
• SSA-1099 (Social Security Benefit Statement)
• 1099-R (Retirement), 1099-RRB (Railroad Retirement Benefits)
• 1099-Interest, 1099-Dividend, 1099-OID
• 1099-B (Brokerage Statement, Sale of Stocks and Bonds), 1099-Ks
• 1099-G (Unemployment and State refunds)
• 1099-NEC (Self-Employment), 1099-MISC, PLUS itemized list of expenses
• 1099-S (Sale of Home), 1099-C (Forgiveness of Credit Card Debt)
• 1098- Home Mortgage Interest and Real Estate Taxes
• 1099-T (Education Credits) PLUS Student Account Statement
• 1098-E (Student Loan Interest)
• 1099-SA and/or 5498-SA (HSA = Health Savings Account) PLUS itemized list of expenses
• 1095-A (Health Insurance – Affordable Care Act, Health Insurance Marketplace)
• Schedule K-1 (Form 1065)
• Any other documents or information relevant to preparation of the tax return
• Voided check for direct deposit of any refund to your checking / savings account

If you’re behind on your water bill or afraid your water might get cut off, a new resource might be able to help you. On Jan. 4, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approved more than $450,000 in federal funding for the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP). The initiative is aimed at preventing water disconnections and helping reconnect drinking and wastewater services.

The LIHWAP will be administered by Buncombe County-based Eblen Charities. The nonprofit will make payments directly to utilities on behalf of qualifying households. The program is slated to run through Sept. 30, 2023 or until funds are exhausted.

Eligibility requirements

Households that currently receive Food and Nutrition Services (FNS), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Work First services, or those that received Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) services from Oct. 1, 2020-Sept. 30, 2021, are automatically eligible to receive this benefit if their water services have been cut off or are in danger of being cut off.

For additional eligibility information or to apply, please contact Eblen Charities at (828) 255-3066.

The addition of preservation grants to our existing efforts in advocacy, technical support, preservation easements, and education, will allow us to reach a new and diverse audience.  This program will allow us to support both large and small projects from downtown Asheville to our rural and under-served communities.

Click here for the Grant Application

We look forward to helping with emergency stabilization projects and restorations of important places, to helping neighborhoods receive designations such as recognition on the National Register of Historic Places and to encouraging and supporting new and unique education and research opportunities.  We want to be surprised and humbled by the projects our community asks us to support!

As our city faces the inevitable challenges of growth, PSABC’s voice and reach must expand.  The important addition of this Preservation Grant Program comes in response to the needs of our community.

Preservation grants from $500 – $5000 will be offered to the public in three categories:

1. Bricks-And-Mortar

Rehabilitation, restoration and repair of structures that are 50 years of age or older

Some examples: Windows and doors • Exterior painting • Porches • Roofs and gutters • Electrical and plumbing • Hardscaping • Foundation • Original exterior or interior details

2. Public Education

Development of educational materials and programs that advance knowledge of our shared history

Some examples: Research and documentation • Oral histories • Installations specific to buildings, place history, and culture • Exhibitions • K–12 educational publications • Seminars and lectures • Documentary films

3. Planning, Survey and Designation

Planning and design for building rehabilitation and restoration projects, historic resource surveys and local or national designations

Some examples: Historic building condition reports • Engineering and rehabilitation plans • Feasibility studies • Historic resource surveys • Updates of previous surveys • Local and national historic designations

Read about our past winners here!

A South-Eastern Regional Premier and Shakespeare’s most wicked wonder join beloved Main Stage productions, Music on the Rock® and Playhouse Jr. Family Programming to round out an inviting 2023 season.

The Main Stage curtain lifts later this month with Here Comes the Sun Band & Friends – Music of the Beatles and More!, the musically-authentic act that will rock-and-roll fans through a decade of The Beatles music. A crowd favorite, the Music on the Rock® series will also feature Rumours – The Ultimate Fleetwood Mac Tribute Show in March, followed by the bluesy swagger of the Rolling Stones.

The season’s Main Stage series kicks off in April with Ring of Fire, a musical portrait of “The Man in Black,” Johnny Cash. Mother’s Day weekend brings the witty and hilarious Steel Magnolias. Children of all ages and the Vagabonds who never grew up will delight in a newly imagined Cinderella: Enchanted, a fresh take on a magical fairytale, followed by Broadway’s longest-running musical and infamous nine-time Tony Award-winner, A Chorus Line. And this summer, FRP is thrilled to present the South-Eastern Regional Premier of The Girl on the Train, a thrilling mystery based on the bestselling novel by Paula Hawkins and DreamWorks film.

In time for the haunting season, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth tragedy will engage audiences in the terrifyingly prophetic tale of revenge, murder, and madness in a smaller, intimate setting as part of FRP’s new Black Box series.

Slowpoke! The True Story of a Tortoise and Hare, an Appalachian retelling of Aesop’s fable arrives in November, and the season concludes with the popular holiday must-see A Playhouse Christmas–the same festivity and excellence in an all new show!

Catch everything from foot-stomping Music on the Rock® to Broadway energy to intimate Black Box performances with a season subscription, on sale February 28. Single tickets for all remaining shows go on sale on March 8, 2023. For a complete lineup with show descriptions and to purchase tickets, visit www.flatrockplayhouse.org.

This project was supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. www.NCArts.org.

Position Announcement
Executive Director, Literacy Together
Asheville, NC
Spring 2023

Literacy Together is seeking an experienced and passionate candidate to lead the organization as
executive director and add to its exceptional 36-year history.

Our Mission
To transform lives and communities through the power of literacy.

Our Vision
A just and equitable community in which literacy is accessible and achievable by all.

The Organization
Literacy Together is a strong, stable organization with solid infrastructure poised to move to the next
level of greater impact with the inspired leadership of the right individual.
Literacy Together’s core values include Lifelong Learning, Individual Dignity, Equity and Justice,
Leadership and Innovation. Literacy Together believes literacy is a social justice issue and
acknowledges and works to address the systemic barriers to literacy experienced by its students.
Literacy Together teaches individuals of all ages basic reading, writing, and English language skills
through specialized instruction provided by trained volunteer tutors. Programs include Adult Literacy,
English for Speakers of Other Languages, Youth Literacy, and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library®.
Students gain self-confidence and self-sufficiency to transform their lives as individuals, parents,
workers, and citizens.

Literacy Together, a nonprofit organization accredited by ProLiteracy and serving the community since
1987, provides highly individualized tutoring to fit the needs of over 300 students annually through the
skilled instruction of over 250 volunteer tutors. Literacy Together is governed by a 12-member board
of directors and staffed by nine highly skilled professionals. The organization has an annual budget of
$462,000, funded primarily by a mix of individual donations, foundations, and government grants. The
organizational culture is collaborative, committed, mission-driven, and service-oriented.

The Position
The next ED will take advantage of Literacy Together’s strong infrastructure, high-quality programs,
and existing partnerships by continuing to develop collaborations and build relationships with donors
and funders to broaden the organization’s impact. The next ED will also be a dynamic presence and
an effective communicator strongly aligned with the organizational values of Lifelong Learning,
Individual Dignity, Equity and Justice, Leadership and Innovation.

Organizational Priorities
The Board of Directors and staff of Literacy Together have identified the following as the highest
priorities for the new executive, the board, and the staff over the next 12 to 18 months:

● Continue Literacy Together’s track record of securing sustainable funding from diverse
revenue sources by focusing primarily on a growing individual and major donor base
● Strengthen existing and build new partnerships and collaborations to meet the community’s
need
● Support staff in delivering high-quality tutoring services as prioritized in the 2020-2025
Strategic Plan
● Further define and deepen the organization’s ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion
efforts, in order to identify and work to remove barriers to literacy
● Conduct an organizational compensation and benefit analysis, with continued exploration of
healthcare coverage and other benefits, to retain and motivate talented, dedicated staff.

With vibrant photographs and engaging data, Buncombe County’s new ESRI StoryMap is now available to help the public learn more about land conservation. With the Commissioners setting the goal of preserving 20% of County land by 2030, these maps are a timely way to provide an immersive journey into the past, present, and future of land conservation. “It’s also a tool that helps explain the County’s Ag and Land Resources conservation easement process that is overseen by the County Land Conservation Advisory Board and the Ag Advisory Board,” explains Farmland Preservation Program Manager Ariel Zijp. “The story map provides background information about the two Boards and shows their conservation focus areas in Buncombe County.

Beyond the sharp aesthetic of the website, there is a vast repository of conservation-related data, processes, and overall information. “Three of the four maps are interactive and allow residents to zoom in and out of the map,” says Farmland Preservation Program Coordinator Avni Naik. “Please remember that the focus areas help us guide conservation in the County but are not the sole determinant of project approval. If a property does not fall in a focus area we will still evaluate its conservation values through field work and landowner meetings. Similarly, a property that falls in a focus area does not mean automatic project approval. It would help the project rank higher, but other due diligence will still be carried out to ensure the best available projects are funded.

Ultimately, the County believes these maps increase transparency and awareness about the importance of land conservation and the process of creating easements. “I hope this tool helps people understand that there is a conscious, research-based approach to the County’s conservation easement process and our conservation focus areas,” explains Zijp.

View the maps here.

Buncombe County would like to thank the following partners for their help with the creation of these StoryMaps:

• Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
• Conserving Carolina
• Riverlink
• Buncombe County GIS Database
• NC Department of Environmental Quality
• Linking Lands and Communities Report – Land of Sky Regional Council

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.

After six years of hard work, the dream of using The Learning Garden as a hub for public gardening education is finally a reality. The Learning Garden, located at the Extension Office, 49 Mt. Carmel Road, is offering the public the opportunity to Visit and Learn in the garden on selected 2nd and 4th Thursdays, February – October. The Thursday in-person programs will consist of five garden-specific series. Visitors can walk around before or after the program and soak in our lovely gardens. Our gardens will open at 9:00 a.m. and all the demonstration programs run between 10-11:30 a.m.  To ensure a good learning experience, attendance will be limited and registration will be required.

Dahlia Series
February 23 – Getting Your Dahlias Ready for Planting
August 3 – Disbudding Dahlias for Better Blooms
October 26 – Dividing and Storing Dahlias

Dye Garden Series
May 4 – Planning Your Dye Garden
June 22 – Introduction to Natural Dyeing
July 27 – Fresh Indigo
August 24 – Botanical Printing: Printing with Leaves and Flowers
September 28 – Dyeing with Hopi Black Sunflower
November 9 – The Magic of Indigo

Rose Garden Series
March 9 – Pruning Roses
April 6 – Climbing Roses
April 13 – Rose Pests and Pathogens
May 20 – Growing Beautiful Roses (Saturday Seminar)

Sun & Shade Garden Series
May 11 – Planting a Native Butterfly Host Plant Garden
June 29 – Foodscaping Edible Plants in Flower Beds
August 31 – Dealing with “the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” Plants
Sept 14 – Native Butterfly Life Cycles in the Fall Garden

Vegetable Garden Series
March 23 – Building an ADA Compliant Raised Garden
April 26 – Planting Root Crops: Leeks, Onions, Carrots, Parsnips
May 25 – Planting a Seed Saving Garden
June 8 – Common Vegetable Garden Pests
July 13 – Kid Friendly Gardening
                                       August 10 – Preserving Your Vegetable Harvest

In addition to the Thursday programs listed above, The Learning Garden will present a series of ninety minute (+/-) hands-on seminars covering various gardening topics. These in-person programs will be held at The Learning Garden on selected Saturday mornings, February – September.

Saturday Seminars
February 18 – Tool Selection and Sharpening
March 18 – Pruning Trees and Shrubs
April 22 – Gardening for the Birds
May 20 – Growing Beautiful Roses
June 17 – Pollinator Plants in The Learning Garden
September 16 – Bulbs for All Seasons

Each of the programs in The Learning Garden will be announced individually through this blog and on our website two weeks before each program.  Each announcement will include instructions on how to register. Mark your calendar and register to attend as many as you can.