Birmingham Public Library Blog

Beginning Tuesday, September 4 you will be able to “instant message” the library for help. With this live, online reference service , librarians will be on hand to answer your questions via instant messaging from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Initially a service of the library’s Southern History Department for genealogical questions , the instant message reference service now extends to the library’s comprehensive general collection and will cover topics in arts, sciences, social sciences, humanities, business, government and everything else the library has to offer. Ask your question and leave it to the professionals and their arsenal of tools to locate an answer and type it back to you ASAP. Instant messaging is faster than e-mail and allows users to see and save the written conversation. All you need to do is to add “BhamLibrarian” to your AOL (AIM) or Yahoo buddy list, ask a question, and receive an answer in real time. Real time, real fast, really!

The Birmingham Public Library is pleased to announce that the Avondale and Springville Road Branch Libraries are the first in Alabama to be designated as Family Place Libraries ™. Family Place Libraries™ is a network of children’s librarians nationwide who believe that literacy begins at birth, and that libraries can help build healthy communities by nourishing healthy families. Family Place Libraries™ welcome infants and toddlers and their families and caregivers. Special areas in the Youth Departments at Avondale and Springville Road Branch libraries have been created to entice young children and parents to play together. A collection of parenting materials and resources are displayed in the children’s area so that parents have easy access for reading while visiting the library and for check out. One of the key components of Family Place Libraries™ is an organized time for children birth through age 3 and their parents to play and learn together. The five week program, “1,2,3 Play ...

The Birmingham Public Library will launch the 3rd annual Read It Forward project in September 2007. Read It Forward is a community-wide reading program designed to encourage teenagers to read. The concept is based on the book Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde . It is a story about an eighth grader who decides to change the world by doing a good deed for someone and then asks that person to “pay it forward” by doing the same for others. This year’s Read It Forward selection starts off early with a bang, or rather, an eruption! The non-fiction book Bodies from the Ash by James M. Deem has been selected to be read in conjunction with the Birmingham Museum of Art’s exhibit Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption . Bodies from the Ash tells the story of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. and the destruction and preservation of the Roman cities Pompeii and Herculaneum. The book includes lots of photographs that vividly tell the story of what happened to the residents of Pompeii dur...

Thanks to all who participated in the Birmingham Public Library 2007 Summer Reading Program “Get a Clue @ Your Library” and the teen component “YNK @ Your Library.” We experienced a wonderful summer filled with lots of exciting programs presented by the Birmingham Public Library storytellers and librarians. A total of 381 programs were offered in the 20 Birmingham Public Library locations during June and July with an attendance of 18,498. The libraries hosted a variety of programs including arts and crafts, movies and popcorn, video and board games, and even “grub down” with the resident library animals. A variety of special guest performers included the Umdabu Dance Company, the McWane Center, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Magic Man Larry Moore, storytellers Andy Offutt Irwin and Carolyn Baylor and 12 year-old Elvis impersonator, Alex Swindle. 5,422 kids registered for participation in the summer reading program and read a total of 59,841 books. This number includes 579 ...

Important items for Back-to-School 1. Register/Update your Jefferson County Library Card How to get your library card How to renew your library card Library locations and hours 2. Get Valuable and Useful Homework Information from the Jefferson County Library Cooperative's Catalog Search the JCLC Catalog 3. Visit the BPL Databases Learn all about BPL's Databases and use these resources to help make homework reports and projects easy. 4. Get Online Homework Help Live Homework Help is available Sunday through Thursday 3:00 pm to 10 pm. 5. Ask a Librarian a Question Librarians are available by email, telephone, and instant message. 6. School Information School websites and information 7. Subscribe to BPL's Calendar of Events and Blogs Keep up with programs, activities and computer classes going on at your library. Calendar of Events News, Reviews and Information blog Digital Collections blog Regional Library Computer Center blog 8. Add BPL as a MySpace Friend Search the cata...

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­September is National Library Card Sign-up month ! Birmingham Public Library encourages library users to sign up for a library card or trade old wallet library cards for a new keychain card for FREE ! We are waiving the usual replacement fee for the month of September only. Visit your local library and discover all your card can do for you. Or visit us online http://www.bplonline.org/ to discover your 24/7 virtual library.

All locations of the Birmingham Public Library will be closed Sunday, September 2 through Monday, September 3 for Labor Day .

The Birmingham Public Library has unveiled its first podcast. In this monumental piece, the library interviews David Ramp, Director of UAB's Small Business Development Center , about the upcoming library series entitled "Building Blocks for Your Small Business @ Your Library." Powered by Podbean.com We hope everyone interested in starting a small business will attend. Here is the schedule for the three-seminar series ( pdf flyer ) : “ Marketing Your Business ” will be held from 9:00-11:00 on Wednesday, September 26, 2007. “ Protecting Your Business ” will be held from 9:00-11:00 on Wednesday, October 3, 2007. “ Financing Your Business ” will be held from 9:00-11:00 on October 17, 2007. Seminar leaders include members of S.C.O.R.E., the Service Corps of Retired Executives, and UAB's Small Business Development Center. So, if you're considering starting a business or have already done so, please join us. All sessions are free and open to the public and they will...