BPL@Night to Host Richard Arrington Jr.

Former Birmingham mayor Richard Arrington Jr. will visit the library to discuss his book, There's Hope for the World: The Memoir of Birmingham, Alabama's First African-American Mayor.

Mayor Arrington served a record-setting five terms as Birmingham’s chief executive. He bridged the gap in a city determined to move forward to a new future. Birmingham flourished under his leadership. When Arrington left office, the city had its lowest unemployment rate in its history, crime had been reduced to its lowest levels in 25 years, and the city had funded a $260 million school construction program.

Richard Arrington holds a Ph.D. in zoology and biochemistry and did postdoctoral work in higher education administration at Harvard University and the University of Michigan. During his two decades as Birmingham’s mayor, he served on dozens of community service boards and on the Executive Committee of the Alabama Democratic Party, and was chair of the National Democratic Party’s Platform Committee for the 1980 Convention. He was selected as one of the Top 20 City Officials in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report.

The University of Alabama Press will publish There's Hope for the World on October 12, 2008. For this special BPL@Night event, books will be sold at the library and Mayor Arrington will sign copies of them.

Program Details
Event: Richard Arrington Jr. discussing his memoir There's Hope for the World
Date: Tuesday, October 28
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Auditorium at the Central Library
Cost: Free and open to the public

Light refreshments will be served.

See Also:
Bham Wiki

BPL thanks Compass Bank for its generous support of BPL@Night. BPL@Night is also made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.