Gail Roberts

DAR Librarian
Mom of 3, Marine wife, book lover, genealogy fan

[Selene Mariposa @Selene_Mariposa]

America turns 250 today.

Let me read back the resume.

We started by telling a king to pound sand, in writing.

By 1803 we bought half a continent from France for about four cents an acre.

We fought a war with ourselves and somehow stayed one country.

We strung a railroad across the entire thing.

We handed the world the lightbulb, the telephone, and the airplane in about thirty years flat.

Then a man named Willis Carrier invented air conditioning and made half the planet actually livable.

You are welcome, Texas. You are welcome, Dubai.

Twice the whole world caught fire, and twice we showed up and helped put it out.

We split the atom.

We put men on the moon in 1969.

Then we went back and hit golf balls up there, because why not.

We invented jazz, blues, rock and roll, and hip-hop, and the whole planet is still dancing to it.

We put a burger and fries on every corner of the earth.

We built rockets that fly themselves home and land standing straight up.

We flew a helicopter on Mars.

We launched a car into actual space and it is still out there cruising.

We also invented ranch dressing and somehow talked the entire world into putting it on pizza.

Priorities.

We even invented three of our own sports so we could win them.

Baseball, basketball, and football.

Real football, the kind with hands, because we named it and we are not taking corrections.

The rest of the planet can keep soccer, which is fine, we are hosting it in our backyard this summer anyway.

And yes, Canadian football exists, wider field, extra man, one fewer down, and we try very hard not to think about it.

Frankly it was generous of us to invent our own games.

If we put all that energy into soccer, nobody else would ever lift that trophy again.

We would win it so often they would just rename it the America’s Cup and hand us the keys.

You are welcome for the suspense.

And in 2026 we threw a birthday so big a German tourist live-tweeted our gas stations to 750,000 people.

Not every chapter was clean.

We argued, we stumbled, we fixed what we broke, and we kept building.

That is the whole trick.

Two hundred and fifty years in, and we are still the loudest, brightest, most improbable experiment on the map.

Not bad for a country that started as a strongly worded letter to a king.

Happy birthday, America.

🦋

[🙏🏽🧎🏽‍♀️THAT Amber 🧎🏽‍♀️🙏🏽 @all_themoxie]

@j_bambrick And the Sec of State, @marcorubio sharing the Gospel in 90 seconds, flawlessly.

[Paul Chiddicks @chiddickstree]

So you’ve found your #Ancestor in all the #Census years but what did they do in the years in between? What Did Our Ancestors Do Between The Census Years? https://t.co/gxqRKX8VZC… via @chiddickstree #Genealogy #BloggersTribe #FamilyHistory #Census #FamilyTree #AncestryHour

[Amanda Sandoval 💛 @historysandoval]

👷🏽‍♀️❤️Galentine’s Day WWII Homefront Station Rotation. Each station was guided via google slides and had a tactile element

[Mrs. Palomares @MrsPalo]

One of my new fave instructional strategies. The Emoji Board. Adaptable with any reading. This one was about Adam Smith. #whap

[Kelly Gallagher @KellyGToGo]

I have read this and it is very good. It will be released February 14, and to kick it off, the publisher is offering what promises to be an excellent FREE webinar. Sign up here: https://t.co/PmbugnJbqn

[Alan Gratz @AlanGratz]

Hey hey! @JamesPonti & I will be appearing LIVE & IN PERSON this Thursday night at 6pm ET at @Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville, NC to celebrate CITY OF THE DEAD! Can't make it in person? Watch online! Click here to register for free: https://t.co/OWzaz9OAtJ

[Fake Library Statistics @FakeLibStats]

The average librarian's cardigan conceals two pencils, one flask, and one emergency kitten

[Gail Roberts @pandagail]

@swmcfarlane Congrats!!

[Gail Roberts @pandagail]

@ktmadigan @APSTaylor Congrats! They are lucky to have you!

[Fairfax County Government 🇺🇸 @fairfaxcounty]

Multiple snake species call Fairfax County home 🐍

Learn how to identify species and stay safe with 'Your Guide to Snakes in Fairfax County': https://t.co/40gdUjsooB

[U.S. Marines @USMC]

On this day in 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, beginning Operation Overlord and the liberation of mainland Europe.

Today, we remember their "courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle."

#SemperFidelis

[Kelley @KarineKelley2]

Class size is important. For mny documented reasons. Here is one more, maybe not so tangible:

Many students are introverts. Surrounded by 30+ people all day long, with no physical space in the classroom to move. Overwhelming.

[Gail Roberts @pandagail]

Book repair class at Cat Tail Book Binding in Winchester, VA.

[Gail Roberts @pandagail]

Had the honor of meeting fellow Carolinian and President of https://t.co/yMwqFBPNbB, Kenneth Scarlett who stopped by @TodaysDAR Library to donate his new book (it's on Amazon).
#DARLibrary
#KennethScarlett
#VictoryDaybook

[CeCe Moore @CeCeLMoore]

.@Parabon & I are pleased to have assisted the dedicated heroes @FairfaxCountyPD in this #coldcase identification, made possible through #investigativegeneticgenealogy. My thoughts are with the #survivor of this horrific attack. #genealogy #forensics #DNA https://t.co/AZKem7X4xv

[Loudoun Library @LoudounLibrary]

Tune in Thursday for an exclusive virtual discussion with @AlanGratz, author of Loudoun County Public Library's #1book1community pick, "Refugee."

Read more in our latest newsletter: https://t.co/i0Jermm3kO

[Gail Roberts @pandagail]

#shustermaniacs #roxybook @NealShusterman
When metro has major delays, be happy for the ARC of Roxy.

[North Carolina Highway Historical Markers @NC_Markers]

#OnThisDay in 1858, James H. Young was born into slavery. Owner & editor of the Raleigh Gazette, the principal voice of black politics in NC in the 1890s, he became involved in the Fusion movement, merging Republicans & Populists. He was elected to the state legislature 1894-96.

[Gail Roberts @pandagail]

@mrsreidenbaugh Haha. They don't know the struggle of trying to pick seats in a dark crowded theater anymore.