Central Library Hosting "Evicted: Poverty and Profit Exhibit" Beginning October 21

 

What: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, a national traveling exhibition coming to the Birmingham Public Library 

When: Thursday, October 21, through Thursday, December 30, 2021

Where: Central Library Grand Reading Room, 2100 Park Place, Birmingham, AL 35203 

Details: FREE and open to the public during library operating hours, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturdays. 

Opening Night Reception 

Join us for an opening night reception on Thursday, October 21, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Central Library Grand Reading Room, 2100 Park Place. Free, but registration in advance is required. 

To RSVP, click here Evicted Exhibit Opening Tickets, Thu, Oct 21, 2021 at 5:30 PM |Eventbrite 

Birmingham, Ala.-A traveling exhibition on a 10-city national tour to raise attention about the eviction crisis across the country is coming to the Birmingham Public Library for 10 weeks, beginning Thursday, October 21. 

“Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” a national traveling exhibition inspired by Matthew Desmond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, brings visitors into the world of low-income renter eviction. The exhibition challenges visitors to face the enormity of one of 21st-century America’s most devastating problems, while providing context for the crisis and a call to action. 

The Central Library is hosting the full Evicted traveling exhibit. 

The tour is timely as evictions are in the national spotlight due to job losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The eviction moratorium that was put in place by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) last year and extended several times by Congress, expired on July 31, 2021, after the U.S. Supreme Court put a stop to them.  

A report this week found the state of Alabama has given out just $23.3 million in rent assistance out of the $263 million in federal funds the state received to assist affected families as evictions resume across Alabama. The federal dollars are meant to pay rent and utilities of tenants facing financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but some advocates, tenants and landlords have complained about delays in receiving the money. 

You can check out "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City" at Jefferson County Library Cooperative (JCLC) member libraries, including the Birmingham Public Library, by clicking here.  

Evicted was at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. from April 14, 2018 through May 19, 2019. The touring exhibition has been redesigned for smaller venues and is on a tour to raise awareness. 

 The National Building Museum worked with sociologist and author Matthew Desmond to create the exhibition based on his 2017 book Evicted, which won the Pulitzer Prize and was named by the New York Times as one of the best nonfiction books of the decade.

The Alabama Center for Architecture (ACFA) curated a companion piece to the Evicted exhibit focused on eviction, housing, and poverty in Alabama and its four largest metropolitan areas – Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville and Mobile. 

The Alabama Center for Architecture is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that seeks to advance the enjoyment of architecture, design and construction through engagement, education, and collaboration. The organization educates individuals and community leaders about the power of architecture and how it improves lives and transforms the places where we live.

 ACFA released a statement about the Evicted exhibition coming to the Central Library on its website: “For more than a year, ACFA and partners organizations have been working towards a common goal: education and awareness about the housing crisis facing our nation. We believe that with our combined resources and statewide programming, the AEC industry can help find solutions.”

The ACFA  Evicted exhibit will visualize the state of housing and poverty in these communities, and highlight organizations working to improve housing for families across Alabama. For more information, visit www.alcfa.org/event/national-building-museums-evicted-exhibit/

 For more information, check out the Birmingham Public Library Evicted exhibit, go to www.cobpl.org.

 For more information about the national "Evicted" exhibit, click here www.alcfa.org/evicted/ 

See more details by clicking below:

Evicted travels to 10 cities around the U.S. Evicted | National Building Museum (nbm.org) 

Explore The Evicted Notecards, Written By Visitors – Part 1 | National Building Museum (nbm.org) 

In 83 Million Eviction Records, a Sweeping and Intimate New Look at Housing in America - The New York Times (nytimes.com) 

First-Ever Evictions Database Shows: 'We're In the Middle Of a Housing Crisis’: NPR

 FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BPL

For additional information about the programs and services of the Birmingham Public Library, visit our website at www.cobpl.org and be sure to follow us on Facebook,Twitter @BPL and on Instagram @BPLpics. The mission of Birmingham Public Library is to provide the highest quality library experience to our community for life-long learning, cultural enrichment, and enjoyment. This system—with 18 locations and serving the community for over 135 years—is one of the largest library systems in the Southeast.