Birmingham Public Library Blog

The diverse voices of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr ., politician Robert Kennedy , poet Maya Angelou , playwrights Athol Fugard and August Wilson , singers and songwriters Harry Chapin , Elton John and Marvin Gaye , and others are dramatized in an evening of American prose and literature interpretation. While many of the featured voices and spirits are well known, others are less known, but nevertheless brilliant. From these voices came the power to vote, to change laws, to love, to unite, and to enlighten the masses. The voices in these spirits altered the prism through which we view life. Accompanied by a biting soundtrack, Voices of Spirits is inspirational, motivational, fun, and stirring. Through his unique oratorical style, dramatic flair and audience participation, Gossom presents Voices of Spirits as a dramatic, motivational lecture interspersed with speeches, sermons, poetry, hip-hop, and his own writings. An accomplished actor, Gossom has appeared on telev...

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to hear the Alabama School of Fine Arts Music Department present a musical delight. The department is under the direction of Kim Scott. Wednesday, December 3, noon. Feed your body and mind at BPL's Brown Bag Programs . You bring the lunch and we'll bring the drinks. Wednesdays at noon in the Arrington Auditorium located on the 3rd floor of the Linn-Henley Research Library, 2100 Park Place.

The staff of the Southern History Department will discuss how to begin genealogical research. The Southern History Department is located on the 1st floor of the Linn-Henley Research Library. For more information call 226-3665. Schedule of Classes for November thru January Sunday 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. January 11 Tuesday 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. November 25 January 27

It's been 23 years since readers were introduced to Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, a 12-year-old tapped to save the human race from an insect-like alien race called Formics, or "Buggers." Orson Scott Card 's Ender in Exile is a direct sequel to Ender's Game , and it explores the lost years of Ender's life between the ages 0f 12 and 35. After extensive training at Battle School—beginning when he was just 6-years-old—and winning the third war against the Formics, Ender must leave school and find his place in the world. But what does the Savior of Earth do for an encore? With every nation vying to own a piece of Ender, it is decided that Ender will not return to earth but will travel to one of the worlds won in the war. He is joined by his sister, Violet, who begins writing a history of the Bugger War. Later when Ender is searching for a new site for future colonists, he discovers a "note" from the Formics in the form of a game he played in Battle Sc...

Searching for Schindler , Thomas Keneally 's latest nonfiction book, is about a chance encounter in 1980 with a Polish Jew named Poldek Pfefferberg while shopping for a briefcase, and where that encounter led. Pfefferberg, number 173 on Oskar Schindler's famous list, convinced Keneally that the story of Schindler is one that begs to be told: "I was a Jew imprisoned with Jews. So a Nazi saves me and, more important, saves Misia, my young wife... Not that he was a saint. He was all-drinking, all-black-marketeering, all-screwing, okay? But he got Misia out of Auschwitz, so to me he is God." Pfefferberg had tried selling the story to the screenwriters and filmmakers who came into his Beverly Hills luggage shop, but no one was interested. In 1963 Metro-Goldwym-Mayer bought the story rights from Oskar Schindler, who was living in Frankfurt at the time, but the movie was shelved. An intrigued Keneally sifted through Pfefferberg's extensive Schindler files and saw the po...

Running Ho t by Jayne Ann Krentz will be released on December 30. Click here to reserve a copy today. By the way, if you enjoy books by Jayne Ann Krentz you might consider joining our immensely popular Best Sellers Club , so that we can put advanced holds on all of her new releases for you. The Bestsellers Club is provides quick access to new releases from many best-selling authors. Select from a list of authors and have the books delivered to your preferred Birmingham Public Library location. You will be notified when your copy is available. Click here to join the club or visit any Birmingham Public Library for more information.

Birmingham Public Library is excited and happy to present the 3rd Annual Local Authors Expo. We even created two videos for the event: one excited, in the fashion of a monster truck announcer and one happy Join us Friday, December 5 and Saturday, December 6, 2008. 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. at the Central Library Meet local authors who will sell and autograph their books including: Mychal Smith - Author of "Choosy Lovers a Radical Romance" Jeanenne Bell - Author of "How to be a Jewelry Detective" Jessie Crawford - Author of " The Christmas Prayer" (Click on the authors name to watch an interview) The Expo is sponsored by the Friends of the Birmingham Public Library .

The Birmingham Public Library is excited to host the old-time string band, Flying Jenny, of Birmingham, Alabama. They play the music of the American settlers from the British Isles, which is a forerunner of bluegrass and country music. It consists of lively fiddle tunes meant for dancing as well as old songs sung on front porches and in front of fireplaces when families and friends got together after the day’s work was done. Flying Jenny (named after an old-fashioned mule-powered carnival ride) plays breakdowns on fiddle, guitar, banjo and bass, and sings old songs, often comical, in three-part harmony. In addition to the music, a performance by Flying Jenny includes stories about the tunes and the fiddlers who first played them. They have done a number of thematic performances on such topics as Alabama history, folk art, early radio music, Christmas folk music, romance in old-time music, etc., and have collaborated with storyteller Dolores Hydock in Footprint on the Sky: Memories of ...