Birmingham Public Library Blog

Our City Council will have many tough decisions to make very soon. At the top of the list for us are the distressing cuts proposed to the Birmingham Public Library System’s budget, nearly $125,000 less than last year’s budget and $800,000 less than previous years. The deepest cuts are concentrated in the library’s materials budget, used to buy traditional and electronic books, databases, music, movies, DVDs, and more. This reduction—coming on the heels of previous extreme cuts in this line item—is devastating. Additional cuts to supplies and janitorial services are also very serious and threaten the library’s ability to provide services in a safe and clean environment. As the city’s oldest cultural institution, the Birmingham Public Library serves more than 2 million citizens every year. Contrary to popular belief, the use of the library has gone up over the last several years with an explosion of patrons using free downloadable books and electronic resources and more people taking adv...

This summer, West End Library will host a Summer Math Enrichment Program that begins June 5 and ends July 31. The program will meet twice a week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 3:00 p.m. until 4:15 p.m. There is only room for twenty students, so parents must come into the West End Library to register their child. The Enrichment Program is for students grades K-8. Students will work on addition, subtraction, multiplication, word problems, fractions, and pre-algebra. Tutors are Willa McNeal, retired R.N.; and Tamara Wilson, who is currently a Nutrition Sciences M.S. student at UAB. Both McNeal and Wilson have tutored students at the West End Library for two years in the West End After School Reading Program which is held once a week during the school year to help students with their reading skills. Maya Jones West End Library

In 1936, Eudora Welty was catapulted into the popular American spotlight as one of the century’s great Southern literary voices. However, many Americans to this day do not recognize her body of work as a gifted photographer. The author/photographer claimed the two art forms were parallel activities, with the photography never affecting the product of her pen. Presented to accompany the exhibit Eudora Welty: Exposures and Reflections on display in the Birmingham Public Library gallery, Jacob Laurence, curator of exhibits at the History Museum of Mobile , will explore the unique relationship that exists between Welty’s written and photographic work. Wednesday, June 6, noon. Feed your body and mind at BPL's Brown Bag Lunch programs . You bring the lunch and we'll bring the drinks. Wednesdays at noon in Central Library’s Arrington Auditorium.

Superman Versus the Ku Klux Klan Rick Bowers This nonfiction work accounts the creation of the Superman character by two Jewish boys and how the character developed through comics, newspapers, and radio shows. Then the account changes to the rise and fall and rise again of the Ku Klux Klan until the Superman franchise hits on the scheme of pitting Superman against the Klan in 16 episodes of the radio show. Very interesting and educational without being boring. Lynn Carpenter Five Points West Library

Members of the Shackelford family on their front porch steps, Covin, Alabama. Birmingham Public Library (BPL) will present Both Sides of the Lens: Photographs by the Shackelford Family, Fayette County, Alabama (1910-1935) featuring 40 photographs from this collection of early 20th century glass plate negatives. The exhibition opens in the Fourth Floor Exhibition Gallery of the Central Library on Monday, July 23 and runs through Friday, September 14. An opening reception will be held in the Arrington Auditorium followed by a tour of the exhibition on Tuesday, July 24 at 6:30 p.m. The reception will feature a lecture by Dr. Psyche Williams-Forson, Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. The photographs—rich for their visual record of everyday life in rural Alabama—are also remarkable because of the story behind them. Taken by a family of African-American photographers who lived in Covin, Alabama, the images reveal the lives of the photograph...

If you’ve never read an Alexander McCall Smith novel, this is a great time to start. You will love these delightful books if you enjoy humor with just a touch of mystery, charm, philosophy, as well as quirky characters and adventure. All of the books gently blend in ethics and moral obligation as characters deal with business in their day-to-day lives. McCall Smith is a prolific author who has written five series including the The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, Isabel Dalhousie, Corduroy Mansions, 44 Scotland Street and Portuguese Irregular Verbs . Perhaps the best known is The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency novels which are international bestsellers. If you are particularly fond of British humor, don’t miss the Corduroy Mansions or 44 Scotland Street Series . Each one is special in its own way.  He has also written 40 children’s books, 14 nonfiction titles and his books are published in 45 languages. The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency Series all began with Precious Ra...

To kick off 2012's summer reading, the Friends of BPL are hosting an in-house book sale . The Friends have received several recent donations (tons of children's books, as well as adult nonfiction and bestsellers). All books and media in the store are 25% off (which normally sell for $2 or under)! The Bookstore is located on the second floor of the Central Library (2100 Park Place-35203). Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. and Sunday from 2:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. For additional information, please call (205) 226-3676. Book Sale ends June 10th. Come on down!

Vacation season is coming and we all hope our vacations will be flawless excursions that help us relax and leave us with fond memories. We can hope, but our dream vacations can turn into nightmares because of filthy hotels, incompetent airlines, disease-ridden cruise ships, and destinations where you stand a better than average chance of being murdered for your shoes.   Peter Greenberg, who is the travel writer for the Today show, tries to help the reader escape some of these tourist traps by listing his picks on such topics as “Worst Hotels: Paging Norman Bates”; “Worst Cruises: Ships of Fools”; and “Highways of Death: God’s Not Your Copilot.” Everyone who has traveled extensively is bound to have war stories, but you could literally wind up in a war zone in “Dangerous Destinations: You’d Better Pack More Than Samsonite.” One of Greenberg’s most hair-raising accounts is of the person who discovered a dead body under the bed in a hotel room. Through most of this book I was...

A few months ago, my dental hygienist told me that one day a week, she tells her children, “no video games and no television. Go outside and play or read a book.” I thought it was a very cool approach to keeping her kids active and interested in reading, especially considering all the news about childhood obesity and diabetes. She and her husband both enjoy the outdoors, so many of their family outings involve physical activity. Their kids are a lot more interested in being active because mom and dad enjoy it. As summer approaches, you may be trying to figure out how to keep your kids occupied. If you need some tips and ideas, the library has a number of books to help you get started. Not only will you discover activities to keep them active, if you let them read through the titles to pick out what they find interesting, you’ve added some summer reading at the same time. The subject guide on Outdoor Recreation may also give you some ideas for activities. These websites provi...

The Birmingham Public Library’s (BPL) popular Bards & Brews poetry performance and beer tasting series is scheduled for Friday, June 1, 2012 at the Central Library located at 2100 Park Place. The program which will be an open mic begins at 6:30 p.m. with live music and poetry performances start at 7:00. Emcee Brian “Voice Porter” Hawkins will deftly guide both novice and veteran poets through an evening of verse with topics that run the gamut from romantic relationships to the local political scene. Craft beer will be available for sampling, along with light refreshments. Attendees must be 18 years or older to be admitted, and 21 years or older to be served. IDs will be checked. Bards & Brews is usually held on the first Friday of the month at various locations around town. Look for us on July 6, 2012, at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens . Check out the Bards & Brews page on Facebook for more information. This program is made possible by grants from the Alabama State Cou...

Examples of recycled book art from The Repurposed Library by Lisa Occhipinti . Who says summertime fun is just for kids? The Birmingham Public Library (BPL) wants to make sure grown-ups have a good time as well over the next few months, and we’re offering numerous FREE activities throughout the BPL system. One such program is the Recycled Book Art Class series which will be held at seven libraries. The first class will take place at the East Lake Library on Tuesday, June 12, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Take a look below for the complete schedule of this series. Each class is limited to 12 participants, and prior registration is recommended. Don’t just check out books at the library. Give an old book new life by turning it into a beautiful work of art! Artist Allison Rhea will hold a series of classes to show you how to use an old book as a starting point to explore a medley of techniques so you can create a poignant, meaningful work of art, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced art...

Birmingham Public Library presents a very special exhibition created by the Museum of Mobile , Eudora Welty—Exposures and Reflections . Eudora Welty has long been recognized as one of the great Southern literary voices of the twentieth century. However, many Americans do not know of her amazing work as a photographer . During her time as a junior publicist for the Works Progress Administration, Welty photographed the effects of the Great Depression on her native South. The exhibit opens in the Fourth Floor Exhibition Gallery at the Central Branch on Tuesday, June 5, and runs through Friday, July 20. Welty insisted that her writing and her photography were separate art forms, and that neither influenced the other. But Eudora Welty—Exposures and Reflections explores a unique relationship between her written words and photographic images, a relationship that exists despite Welty's assertion to the contrary. Using 40 photographs and excerpts from various Welty short stories and nov...

A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me about Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter William Deresiewicz As a young graduate student, William Deresiewicz believed he knew it all. He certainly didn’t think that a 19th century female novelist writing primarily about relationships, family, and community had anything to teach him. However, as Deresiewicz immerses himself in the world of Austen he realizes that he does, in fact, have a lot to learn. Deresiweicz is unflinchingly honest about his shortcomings and bravely turns the spotlight on himself as an arrogant and generally unpleasant young man. He takes the reader along as he begins his graduate studies, gets his first real apartment, learns to navigate friendships, and finally finds true love. Each chapter is devoted to a different Jane Austen novel and how that particular novel helped him through a challenging time of life. Even though Deresiweicz holds a Ph.D. in literature and devoted a portion of his di...

Click the link below to see a video from today's visit from Good Day Alabama with Jeh Jeh Pruitt. Jeh Jeh Live: Reading Wednesday

The Gift of Fire/On the Head of a Pin Walter Mosley Walter Mosley has released a new book which consists of two short novels in one volume. The two novels are The Gift of Fire/On the Head of a Pin . The novels are a departure from his more popular detective series. They are science fiction titles which deal with the expansion of human consciousness , somewhat similar to his 1998 title Blue Light . They place the protagonists into contact with beings, dimensions, and possibilities to which humans are unaware. The Gift of Fire is a modern retelling of the Crosstown to Oblivion series of novellas, presented in a single flip-over volume. Unless you are versed in Greek mythology, you may not pick up on all the references in the novel, but don’t worry, the story becomes clearer once Prometheus lands on Earth, becoming a seven-foot-tall black man named Foreman Prospect. He is promptly jailed, where he gives the gift of the Second Fire to a man, who becomes his friend. On the Head of a Pi...

An illustration of Mary Anderson's hand-operated windshield wiper. Another woman, Charlotte Bridgwood, would invent the first automated windshield wiper in 1917; her daughter, Florence Lawrence, invented the first turn and brake signals. Several Alabamians have been granted patents for inventions of “useful” devices. (The requirements for a patent include the invention’s being “useful.”) The most well-known local inventor is Mary Anderson from Birmingham. She invented the windshield wiper or “Window Cleaning Device” in 1903. Its number is #743,801. George Washington Carver is probably the most famous inventor associated with Alabama. Credited with hundreds of agricultural products, the Tuskegee professor only had three patents, none of which is for peanut butter. One is “Paint and Stain and Process of Producing the Same,” #1,541,478, patented in 1925. A surprising patent holder is Erskine Ramsay , one of the founders of Birmingham’s steel industry. He was granted several ...

Strategic grant writing should begin long before you consult with any foundations, agencies or individual donors and before you actually do any writing at all. Whether you are trying to build capacity, fund a program, or restore a building, there are several steps you should take to make certain your project gets funding and delivers the results you are looking for. Join Kelsey Bates, Assistant Archivist at BPL and former Director of Development at the Chinati Foundation, to find out how to effectively plan, research, and fund your grant projects. Wednesday, May 23, noon. Feed your body and mind at BPL's Brown Bag Lunch programs . You bring the lunch and we'll bring the drinks. Wednesdays at noon in Central Library’s Arrington Auditorium.

The month of May is the beginning of one of my favorite seasons: the arrival of locally grown fruits and vegetables at the farmers markets and produce stands around town. My absolute favorite farmers market is the Jefferson County Truck Growers Association Market—also known as the Alabama Farmers Market . This 49 acre market is located on Finley Ave (just down the street from one of the Alabama’s best meat and three restaurant: Niki’s West ). Although the Alabama Farmers Market is primarily a wholesale distribution center for commercial farming operations, many vendors in this market sell to the general public. They also have some of the best produce prices in town. The Alabama Farmers Market is open to the public seven days a week from 5:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. during this time of year. The secret for finding the best selection at this market is getting up early on a Friday and Saturday and visiting the market between 5:00 a.m. till 7:00 a.m.—these are the hours that chefs and grocery...

From April 11, 2012 to April 13, 2012, I served as a Graduate Student Ambassador for the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival , held annually at the University of Southern Mississippi. Every year, graduate students can apply to become volunteer ambassadors for the festival. This year, five students from across the United States attended the festival as ambassadors, and I had the honor of being one of the students chosen. As an ambassador, I had the privilege of being allowed to visit the depths of the De Grummond Collection , a special collection of children’s artwork and manuscripts. One unique part is their collection of Ezra Jack Keats material, including not only original illustrations but also personal memorabilia. But being an ambassador was about more than privileges. I assisted throughout the course of the festival by aiding the presenters and staff during the sessions and ceremonies. When I sent in my application, I could only imagine what it would be like, but I knew ...

Responsibility by Mary Dillard Four Decades: Photography from the University of Montevallo , a special exhibition created by faculty students from the University of Montevallo's College of Fine Arts, will be on display through Friday, May 25, in the Fourth Floor Gallery of the Central Library . Faculty featured in the exhibition includes Associate Professor of Art, Karen Graffeo, and Scott Stephens, Professor of Art and Chair of the Department of Art. In addition to Graffeo and Stephens, the exhibition will include works by artists Margaret Blevins, Andrea Bliss, Gena Gann Childers, John DeMotte, Mary Deering Dillard, Lee Dunnie, Amanda Rowland Erwin, Philip Griffith, Sky Johnson, Ben Rigsby, Jesse Robitaille, Ted Tucker, and Joel Whitaker. Exhibition Details Four Decades: Photography From the University of Montevallo Central Library , Fourth Floor Gallery April 17, 2012-May 25, 2012 Gallery open during library hours: Monday-Tuesday, 9:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 9:00 a...

The civil rights movement was a world-changing crusade for equality under law for African-Americans in the United States. In Alabama, the struggle was sparked by a single act of civil disobedience by Rosa Parks in Montgomery in 1955. It awakened the conscience of many to the plight of African-Americans, especially those residing in the South. And the world took notice. Alabama was the site for many defining events of that era, with major campaigns characterized by protests and civil resistance. Boycotts, sit-ins, marches, and other nonviolent activities pushed for the equal treatment of African-Americans and desegregation. Patrons can read and learn about the civil rights movement with materials and resources provided in our libraries. Some recommended readings are: “ Devil in the Grove ” Undoubtedly the most impressive and compelling attorney in U.S. history, Thurgood Marshall was preparing to argue the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education before the U.S. Supreme Court when h...

Sanspointe Dance Company will present The Golden Record at three Birmingham Public Libraries between May 21 and May 29. The locations include the Five Points West Regional Library, Central Library, and the Avondale Regional Library. All performances last approximately 20 minutes. The programs are free and open to the public. In August 1977, NASA sent into outer space the phonographic recording The Golden Record . The recording contained sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth with hopes of someday communicating with other intelligent life. Sanspointe dance artists Lynn Andrews and Rhea Speights choreographed a dance response to this cultural capsule—a dance which ranges from satirical to earnest—and makes physical humanity's attempt to project ourselves beyond our own time span. Birmingham Public Library Tour May 21 @ 6pm Five Points West Branch 4812 Avenue W Birmingham, AL 35208 May 22 @ 6pm Central Branch 2100 Park Place Birmingham, ...

Strategic grant writing should begin long before you consult with any foundations, agencies or individual donors and before you actually do any writing at all. Whether you are trying to build capacity, fund a program, or restore a building, there are several steps you should take to make certain your project gets funding and delivers the results you are looking for. Join Kelsey Bates, Assistant Archivist at BPL and former Director of Development at the Chinati Foundation, to find out how to effectively plan, research, and fund your grant projects. Copies of Guide to Alabama Foundations on CD will be available for purchase. Wednesday, May 23, noon. Feed your body and mind at BPL's Brown Bag Lunch programs . You bring the lunch and we'll bring the drinks. Wednesdays at noon in Central Library’s Arrington Auditorium.

Since February 2012, the Wylam Branch Library has been providing afterschool snacks for kids in the Wylam community. Collaboratively, the staff did some brainstorming and came up with an afterschool snack project called Vittles for Vitality. This project is a new initiative that came about as a result of school-aged children visiting our library in the afternoons and stating that they were hungry. We did some research and found that many of our children have lunch as early as 11:00 a.m., and by school’s end they could use some additional nourishment. Vittles for Vitality was inspired by one of Ralph Waldo Emerson ’s quotes, “The first wealth is health.” This quote illustrates the basic needs for our children to eat right and stay fit so that they possess exuberant physical strength and mental vigor to succeed in life. We then immediately thought of ways in which we could branch out and make this a concerted effort in the Wylam Community. We decided that we would inform our patrons of w...

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern Stephen Greenblatt The Swerve is the story of Renaissance scholar, Poggio Bracciolini, and the monumental ancient poem he rescued from oblivion in 1417. Monks are burned at the stake for heresy, a librarian is flayed alive by Christian zealots and a piratical Pope is deposed for murder, simony and sodomy. Maidens floating in healing waters catch garlands in their open robes. Modern science is born and a nation is dedicated to happiness . . . all in an extensively footnoted 263 page literary history. Poggio, from humble beginnings, rose to the powerful position of apostolic secretary under several Popes and ultimately became the titular head of state for the Florentine republic under Lorenzo the Magnificent. But it was his quests for ancient Roman manuscripts that lifted him to a level of historical significance among his near-contemporaries Brunelleschi, Petrarch, Ghiberti, Alberti and Donatello. “We accept Aesculapus as belonging among the gods...

The first known baseball song, "The Baseball Polka," was written in 1858, but it was never as famous as the Jack Norworth 1908 classic "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." On a train bound for Manhattan, Norworth spent all of fifteen minutes writing the lyrics on scrap paper which he then gave to Albert Von Tilzer who composed the music. The New York Music Company published the song and, within a year, it became a hit. A second version appeared in 1927 when Norworth changed some of the lyrics. In the Arts, Literature & Sports (ALS) Department, we have the score for voice, piano, and guitar in the All American Patriotic Songbook , on the CD Baseball Hits in the Folk section under American Baseb and in the Youth Department in Children’s Favorite Songs . There are a lot of people who love spring and summer because it ushers in the baseball season. Since baseball season has already begun and summer means Father’s Day will be here soon, we invite you to check out the n...

With several recent donations, the Friends Bookstore is overflowing with inventory. Beginning May 29, the Friends of the Birmingham Public Library (BPL) will host an “in store” summer reading book sale. What better time to show off the recent renovation of the Friends Bookstore and to connect to the successful summer reading initiatives undertaken by the library system? The sale begins the day after Memorial Day and continues through June 10. Shoppers can expect to find 25% off all books and books-on-tape which are regularly all priced at $2 and below. The sale will feature the following: hundreds of children, teen and young adult books, already as much as 90% off the original price, now an additional 25% off the low, low prices—including picture books, readers, chapter books, teen novels, and lots of non-fiction titles; hundreds of adult fiction titles—both hardback and paperback—covering all genres. These books include best-sellers novels by such popular authors as Stuart Wood...

The publication formerly known as Season’s Readings was a great success for more than twenty years. With that in mind, the BPL staff decided to tweak it and create a book that will serve our community all the livelong year. Therefore, Books forAll Seasons was born. Created by BPL staff and overflowing withgreat reviews of great books, Books forAll Seasons includes recommendations for adults, teens, and children in both fiction and nonfiction. It is free to the public as our gift to you. (The Hollywood sign is in the distance. Photo taken from Mulholland Drive ) One of our staff members headed to Hollywood recently to seehow our handsome publication compared to some other famous institutions, such as the signs in Hollywood and Beverly Hills ( swimming pools and movie stars ). We feel ours did just fine. Vacation time is upon us, so if you're looking for something to read at the beach or in a plane, train or automobile , visitone of our 18 branches to pick up your copy. We hav...

In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India Edward Luce When it came out in 2007, this picture of India received almost uniformly positive reviews, but when I saw a favorable blurb on its cover from William Dalrymple, that’s all the recommendation I needed. Every Dalrymple book is a gem, and he’s written several notable ones on India. Like Dalrymple, Luce is a Brit transplant to India. He covered the nation for the Financial Times newspaper in the years running up to the publication of this book. In Spite of the Gods is very assured and is a pleasure to read. It’s by turns fun, scary, hilarious, shocking. Well-informed, it very seldom puts a foot wrong. It’s problematic for a European-derived Brit to write about India, given the complex and tragic history between the two nations, but Luce does a very good job of being fair. For instance, when you think of India, do your thoughts turn to religious violence? It’s true that this is a painful reality for the country, but as Lu...