Birmingham Public Library Blog

  By Reba Williams| Titusville Library Branch Manager  What: Titusville Branch Library Art & Creative Writing Club When: Weekly on Thursdays from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. beginning October 21 Where: Titusville Branch Library, #2 6th Avenue SW Details: Desert Island Supply Co. is partnering with Titusville Library to offer creative writing ideas and tips every month for middle and high school students who have a passion for artistic expression. Advanced registration is required. To register, email your contact info to titusvillelibrary@gmail.com or call Branch Manager Reba Williams at (205) 322-1140. Birmingham, Ala. - Looking for ways to organize your thoughts on paper? Are you between the ages 14-18? Titusville Branch Library has the perfect solution!  Join Titusville Library’s Art & Creative Writing Club every Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., starting October 21, 2021, for creative writing ideas and tips. The Desert Island Supply Co. (DISCO) is providing their expertise a

  The Birmingham Public Library is hosting its annual Family History Month celebration. Seven programs, all virtual, will be held, kicking off Saturday, October 2, 2021, and concluding on Thursday, October 28.  To register for these Zoom programs, go to the BPL website and register on the event calendar .  Since being passed by Congress in 2001, Family History Month as been observed annually during the month of October.   Family History Month encourages people to do research into their past to learn more about their ancestors. It is a great time to look into your genealogy to gain knowledge of your family tree.  Here is a description of BPL’s seven programs. If you want to learn more about genealogy and how to research your family tree, check out the many genealogy programs held throughout the year by BPL’s Southern History Department.  Hidden No More: Locating Enslaved Persons in Local Legal Records, Saturday, October 2, 2:00 p.m. Virtual. This is a Zoom program. Visit www.cobpl.

  Voice Porter, longtime host of Bards & Brews & community activist from Ensley What: Reading from Brian “Voice Porter” Hawkins book The Devil Came to Alabama   When: Saturday, September 25, 2021, 3:00-5:00 p.m.  Where: Tres Fine Dressing at Cotton's 400 19th Street Ensley, Birmingham, AL 35218  Birmingham, Ala. -  Join a celebration of the life and legacy of Brian “Voice Porter” Hawkins, community activist in Ensley and longtime host and creative director of Bards & Brews , the Birmingham Public Library’s spoken word poetry event.  Poets will be reading from his new book, “The Devil Came to Alabama,” from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. this Saturday, September 25, in an event hosted by Tres Fine Dressing at Cotton’s, located at 400 19th Street Ensley in Birmingham. Tres Fine Dressing and Heritage Coffee, located inside the Cotton’s building, will be open for business.  Steve Miller of Red Hydra Press in Birmingham published Voice Porter's first poetry book in mi

By Caitlin Jackson and Heather McWilliams| Central Library Teen/Youth Department The Birmingham Public Library is kicking off its newly expanded youth engineering program, beginning September 30 at Titusville Branch Library. BPL's Engineer BHM STEM program will also be offered October 21 at Five Points West Regional Library and October 28 at the Central Library . These STEM programs are sponsored by Infosys Foundation USA’s 2021 Infy Maker Award . BPL received a $10,000 Infy Maker grant on June 23, 2021 . The award will allow BPL to focus on teaching electrical engineering, making and coding to students in Birmingham area school systems who are interest in science, technology, engineering and math-related fields.   BPL's Engineer BHM will cover basic skills related to engineering and 3D printing through creating 3D objects/puzzles with cardstock, said Caitlin Jackson, teen librarian at the Central Library. Participants will  learn basic concepts found in geometry and design

By  William Anthony|Birmingham Public Library Citizen Services Department On January 20 , 2021,  Joe Biden  was sworn in as the 46 th  president of the United States of America. When the current president moves into the  White House , people think about the previous administration while others anticipate what the current administration brings.

  By Heather McWi lliams|Teens/Youth Department Head, Central Library To celebrate Star Wars Reads, Birmingham Public Library will be hosting a Fall Reading initiative systemwide during the month of October.  The reading challenge will begin Friday, October 1 and end on Saturday, October 30. All of of BPL's library locations will have sci-fi inspired takeaways for all participants who want to take part.  Participants will be able to set their own goals to win prizes!  Please register with your local library. Remember, the BPL Star Wards Reading Challenge will begin on October 1 and concludes on Saturday, October 30. Prizes will be drawn Monday, November 1. Click here to see the Star Wars collection at the Public Libraries in Jefferson County (JCLC) which includes BPL.   Click here to check out the Star Wars Reads ebook collection on Hoopla. Click here to check out the Star Wars ebook collection on Overdrive.

By Cheyenne Trujillo| Central Branch Library   W ith instant   access to  information  and communication,  The First Amendment , or the Freedom to Speech,  and censorship  pops up a lot in conversations these days. This is a topic that libraries are well  acquainted  with. In fact, it was a  librarian  who founded Banned Book Week . Back in 1967, T he American Library Association (ALA) formed its chapter of the  Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF)   after the OIF expressed that libraries need to protect books from censorship at the  1965 Midwinter Meeting preconference in Washington, DC.   With Judith F. Krug (a librarian, freedom of speech advocate, and critic of censorship)   as the Director  of ALA’s OIF ,  she co-created the Banned Books Week in 1982. This devise week responded to the surge of books challenged in schools, bookstores, and libraries since the ALA formed its chapter of OIF. Krug believed  people had the right to express themselves  and listeners had the right to