BPL Receives $5,000 Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham COVID-19 Grant

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By Catherine Frey | BPL Director of Development 

The Birmingham Public Library (BPL) is pleased to announce we are the recipients of a $5,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham to help our metro area response to COVID-19 pandemic. In March, the Community Foundation suspended its regular grant process to dedicate those resources to focus on COVID-19 Emergency Response grants.

The grant enabled BPL to expand its library digital collection to benefit Birmingham residents - particularly students, job seekers, and small business owners. This effort originated from discussions with the Birmingham City School System about ways to provide access to BPL’s digital resources so students can complete summer reading assignments.

As a result, BPL added 162 eBooks and audiobooks to its digital collection, all of which are available through the Overdrive application. These electronic books were ordered and immediately made available to Birmingham city students. The book titles are from the Birmingham City School’s Summer Reading lists, covering grades K-12.

The library selectors placed emphasis on purchasing material for grades 5-12, but some Early Readers and Read A-longs were also obtained for our youngest readers in addition to those with disabilities.

Our selectors had a host of educational, thought-provoking, and socially relevant titles to choose from. Among the electronic titles chosen were: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey, Black Boy by Richard Wright, Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, and Kindred by Octavia E. Butler.

Providing access to electronic materials safely from home ensures that students can maintain social distancing and remain connected to their schools.

To make it easier for patrons, BPL has simplified the process to obtain library cards. Book titles are accessible from smart phones, tablets or computers.

For assistance, please visit us online at www.cobpl.org or call any of our local libraries.

Remember even when you cannot physically visit our buildings, BPL’s virtual doors are always open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.