GRANVILLE COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM: The Granville County Library System will hold its annual Summer Reading Program from June 7 through July 26. The community is invited to kick off the festivities on Saturday, June 7 with a Comic-Con at the Richard H. Thornton Library in Oxford! Events and programs will run throughout the summer at all four branches of the Granville County Library System.

Participants at the Comic-Con on June 7 can learn about all the great things happening across the library system this summer and register to keep a log of their reading and win prizes. Comic-Con will also include sword- fighting and cosplay demonstrations  and offer the opportunity to purchase cuisine from local food trucks and unique items from craft vendors. Another summer highlight will be the Blow-Out Party at the Granville Athletic Park on Monday, June 30, which will feature family-friendly yard games, face painting, and free ice cream from Southern Snow.

Other program highlights for the summer include:

• Bob Ross Painting Party on June 19 at Thornton.
• Eco Explore on June 20 at Berea Branch.
• Tie Dye Extravaganza at South Branch on July 2.
• Chalk Painting at Berea on July 11.
• Mario Kart Tournament at Thornton on July 15 and South on July 23.
• Teen Chef Competition on July 17 at Thornton.

Weekly recurring events include:

• Mondays: Lego club at South.
• Tuesdays: Storytime at South and elementary activities at Thornton and Stovall libraries.
• Wednesdays: Storytime and family art workshops at Thornton.
• Thursdays: Special events including Bright Star Theater, Museum of Life and Science and Japanese

Drumming. These events will be held in the morning at Thornton and in the afternoon at South. For the full schedule and more information about the four branches of the Granville County Library System, visit the library website at https://granville.lib.nc.us/. Or visit any of the four branches: Richard H. Thornton (210 Main Street, Oxford), South (1550 South Campus Drive, Creedmoor), Stovall (300 Main Street, Stovall), and
Berea (1211 US Highway 158, Oxford).

HENDERSON, NC (May 6, 2025) — On behalf of its faculty, staff, and 2025 graduating class, Vance-Granville Community College invites the public to attend its 56th annual commencement exercises, honoring 551 graduates who completed degrees or diplomas during the 2024-2025 academic year.

The 2025 graduation ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 16, on the grounds of the College’s Main Campus in Henderson (200 Community College Road). Please note that traffic around the Main Campus is heavy a few hours before, during, and after the ceremony. The College recommends both graduates and guests allow ample time to navigate traffic and find a parking space before ceremony activities begin.

In addition to remarks from Vance-Granville’s president and trustees, guests will hear addresses from keynote speaker Tom Barkin of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Caitlyn Lister, 2024-2025 president of the College’s Student Government Association.

No admission tickets are required; however, seating is limited and is available on a first come, first served basis. Guests may bring lawn chairs for seating in the grassy area around the College gazebo. Sign language services are provided during the ceremony for attendees who are hearing impaired, and a designated seating area will be provided for guests with disabilities.

If the outdoor ceremony is postponed due to inclement weather, the ceremony will take place Saturday, May 17, in the Main Campus Civic Center. If the ceremony is moved indoors, each graduate will receive a limited number of guest tickets.

Those who cannot attend the ceremony in person may watch a livestream of the event at VGCC’s official YouTube channel.

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About Vance-Granville Community College: Your community, your college. Since its founding in 1969, Vance-Granville Community College has proudly educated, inspired, and supported a diverse community of learners to achieve professional and personal success. VGCC offers 40+ Curriculum programs, as well as short-term Continuing Education, High School Equivalency, and Adult High School Diploma programs. Located in North Carolina's Triangle region, VGCC serves the counties of Vance, Granville, Franklin, Warren, and beyond! For the latest college news, visit www.vgcc.edu or follow Vance-Granville on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

Contact: Courtney Cissel, Public Information Officer cisselc@vgcc.edu • 252-738-3484

GRANVILLE COUNTY ADMINISTRATION: The NC Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) and Roanoke Connect Holdings (Fybe) have partnered to provide fiber-optic broadband infrastructure to more than 2,164 homes and businesses across Granville County as part of the Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program. Fybe will invest $973,276 and the State of North Carolina will provide $2,270,978 in CAB grant funding. Fybe will have two years to complete the required installation once final contracts are approved and executed.

This is the third CAB project that will improve high-speed internet access in Granville County following an earlier County partnership in mid-2024 with Fybe to service 1,697 addresses and a County partnership with Spectrum in early 2024 to service 1,530 locations. These three successful CAB program awards are in addition to a 2023 County partnership with Brightspeed on a Growing Rural Communities with Access to Technology (GREAT) program grant to service 1,914 locations. Spectrum also received federal funding in 2020 to install broadband infrastructure at 1,120 addresses as part of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). Once all five broadband internet projects are completed, more than 8,425 homes and businesses in rural Granville County will have gained access to high-speed internet.

“On behalf of the Board of Commissioners, I would like to thank the State of North Carolina and Fybe for continuing their commitment to investing in high-speed internet access for Granville County residents,” said Granville County Board of Commissioners Chair Jimmy Gooch. “County staff has worked diligently with NCDIT and several ISPs to provide what we know is a necessity for our residents and businesses. This latest grant award shows that our hard work is being rewarded, and we are committed to exploring every possibility to ensure that every corner of our county has access to reliable high-speed internet.”

Since 2019, Granville County has proactively sought methods to bridge the high-speed internet access gap for its residents. Various state laws and regulations prohibit county and city governments from providing internet service or installing infrastructure themselves, but if an ISP chooses to participate in an eligible project (like the NC CAB or GREAT programs) a local government may then incentivize the expansion of service access with the use of public funds. The CAB Grant Program utilizes funding that the State of North Carolina received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that allows ISPs to competitively bid and partner with counties to provide internet access to rural North Carolina locations.

NCDIT utilizes Federal Communications Commission (FCC) data for these projects to determine eligible locations that are “unserved” based on the FCC definition of high-speed internet. Residents are encouraged to utilize the FCC challenge process if they believe that their address is unserved and has not been included in any of these current or future broadband expansion projects.

For more information on the FCC challenge process, visit https://help.bdc.fcc.gov/hc/en us/articles/10476040597787-How-to-Submit-an-Availability-Challenge. Residents can also assist NCDIT efforts to gather accurate data on broadband internet access by completing the NC Broadband Survey at www.ncbroadband.gov/surveys/broadband.

To see if your address has been included in one of the awarded projects, visit the NC Broadband funding map at www.nconemap.gov/pages/broadband. Additional information about Granville County’s initiatives to expand broadband access can be found at www.granvillecounty.org/broadband including information about the RDOF, GREAT, and CAB projects, along with project maps.