Birmingham Public Library Blog

Join the Birmingham Public Library on March 2, 2007 as we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss, the man who epitomizes reading fun, and the National Education Association’s (NEA) Read Across America Day . From coast to coast, more than 45 million readers, both young and old, are gearing up for this reading extravaganza. The event is extra special as we also celebrate the 50th Birthday of the Cat in the Hat , the book that continues to capture the imagination of children everywhere. Visit any location of the Birmingham Public Library on March 2nd for a slice of birthday cake, and while at the library take a moment to send an online birthday card to the Cat in the Hat . For every card the Cat receives, Random House Children’s Books will donate one book to First Book , an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. The Birmingham Public Library is doing their part to deliver the very

Will Jennifer Hudson’s dream come true when she wins the Oscar for Dreamgirls? Will Little Miss Sunshine’s littlest star Abigail Breslin beat out some of our greatest seasoned actresses? Will Martin Scorcese, the Susan Lucci of Oscar nominees, finally get to take an Oscar home? The 79th Annual Oscars show will be hosted once again by funny girl Ellen Degeneres this Sunday, February 25, at 7 p.m. To learn more about this topic see the links below. Videos and books you can check out The Oscars Homepage The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Academy Award Nominations All About Oscar

The West End Branch of the Birmingham Public Library opened yesterday morning with greetings from the library director, the library board, city officials and community leaders. To view photographs and learn more about the history of the West End Library click on the links below. Grand Opening Photographs Construction Photographs History of West End's Library

Did you know Birmingham celebrated Mardi Gras in the 19th century with parades and grand masquerade balls? To read more about it and view photographs, newspaper clippings and documents click on the links below. "Birmingham's Ill-Fated Mardi Gras" Birmingham Magazine article by James L. Baggett, BPL Archivist "Mardi Gras came to Birmingham, shivered, vanished in Victorian era" The Birmingham News article by Walter Bryant Photographs, documents, and newspaper articles

Blessings juxtaposes the lives of its two main characters: Lydia Blessing, an elderly socialite whose flashbacks reveal her inadequacies as a mother, and a young man recently released from prison, Skip Cuddy, whose regrets about his past have brought him to work as a handyman on the Blessing estate. Lydia and Skip become engrossed in the life of a third person – a newborn baby who is abandoned at the estate-house and found by Skip. Without much deliberation, Skip takes the baby, hides her from Mrs. Blessing, and cares for her as his own. The story quickens when Mrs. Blessing discovers Skip’s secret. Blessings explores first the relationship between the forlorn man and baby, both abandoned by society and their families, and second between Mrs. Blessing and what will become her pseudo-adopted family. Each finds in the others resolution or redemption for his or her respective pasts: the baby finds a devoted father in Skip, Skip empties all his pent-up affection onto the baby, and Mrs. B

In BPL's latest online video , Birmingham Black Barons players Jesse Mitchell and James Sanders discuss playing baseball in Birmingham and the history of the team. Clayton Sherrod from the Alabama Negro League Association is the interviewer. This video was originally broadcast on Bright House Networks' public access channel in February 2006 (59 min. 27 sec.)

Birmingham Public Library and Woman’s Day magazine want to know how you’ve used the library to start your own small business Every year, more than 500,000 entrepreneurs start new businesses in the United States. But how and where to they get the resources and support it takes to succeed? The answer is @ your library. This spring, the Birmingham Public Library , the American Library Association and Woman’s Day magazine want to know how people in our community have used the library to start their small businesses. From now until May 10, women entrepreneurs over the age of 18 can send their story in 700 words of less to womansday@ala.org. Four stories will be featured in the March 2008 issue of Woman’s Day. More information, including the official rules, are available at www.womansday.com/ala . The initiative is part of a program sponsored by Woman’s Day and the American Library Association’s Campaign for America’s Libraries, a multi-year public awareness and advocacy campaign designed

Celebrate the Year of the Boar this Saturday at the 2007 Chinese New Year Festival and Parade. The event will take place at Linn Park, the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Birmingham Public Library from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. As one of the sponsors of the festival, BPL will feature the films “Suzhou Gardens” and “Chinese Traditional Festivals” on two screens continuously between 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. in the Arrington Auditorium. For more information and a complete program listing go to: http://www.bhmchinesefestival.org/

BPL staff members review two books by Alabama authors in our first YouTube video.

Five Points West Regional Branch Library is closed due to water problems. We will let you know as soon as we are open again. Until then, visit one of our other branches .

BPL subscribes to several online databases focusing on African Americans. One of these resources, African American History and Culture , provides a comprehensive reference for African American history, culture, and experience. Take a look at this excellent database from the editors of Facts On File . (A library card is required to access this resource.)

BPL @ NITE presents Second Chance At Love . Come and spend an evening with us under the trees of Central's Atrium listening to pianist Dr. Barry Vaughn performing romantic classical music. Details: Thursday, February 15, 2007 6:30-7:30 p.m. Central Library Atrium 2100 Park Place Birmingham, AL (205) 226-3742

West End Branch Library will close tomorrow, February 2 in order to move into our brand new library. Please join us February 21 at our grand opening celebration.

The winners of the 2007 Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) Literary Awards were announced this week. The awards recognize excellence in adult fiction and nonfiction by African American authors published in 2006 and a citation for Outstanding Contribution to Publishing. And the winners are . . . Fiction category winner: After, A Novel by Marita Golden (Doubleday) Fiction Honor Book winners: Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley (Little Brown and Co.) and Jump at the Sun by Kim McLarin (William Morrow) Nonfiction category winner: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama (Crown) Nonfiction Honor Book winners: A Piece Of Cake by Cupcake Brown (Crown) and Medical Apartheid: the Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington (Doubleday)