Birmingham Public Library Blog

Birmingham City Councilor Roderick Royal held a press conference Thursday morning, April 30, at the downtown Birmingham Public Library to announce the City of Birmingham’s participation in the National League of Cities (NLC) Prescription Discount Card Program . The discount card program, available starting Monday, May 4, 2009, will save Birmingham residents an average of 20 percent off the retail price of prescription medications. Cards can be picked up at any of the Birmingham Public Library’s locations or downloaded from www.caremark.com/nlc . Benefits of the program: *Average savings of 20% *9 out of 10 pharmacies nationwide participate *No enrollment fees *No limit on how many times the card can be used *No age requirements *No income requirements *All family members are covered *Pet medications that are also used to treat a human condition are covered To get more program information, locate a pharmacy, look up a drug price, or access health resources, visit www.caremark.com/nlc ...

Anna Dewdney ’s new book Llama Llama Misses Mama is here just in time to comfort children attending school for the first time. It’s the first time for Llama Llama too, and he is awakened earlier than usual to get ready for his day. They hop into their little pink car and drive to school, where Llama Llama is introduced to his teacher and other new faces: Drive to school and park the car. Tell the teacher who you are. Meet new faces. Hear new names. See new places. Watch new games. Llama Llama is fine as long as Mama is by his side, but soon he must say goodbye and that’s when he starts feeling shy and alone. Suddenly he’s not liking it at his new school. Strange new teacher Strange new toys. Lots of kids And lots of noise! What would Llama like to do? Llama Llama feels so new… The teacher and students try to engage Llama Llama in their fun activities, but he’s having none of it. It’s too much for little Llama… Llama Llama misses mama! It isn’t until his teacher explains how this schoo...

From the city’s early industrial development through its civil rights struggles, and on to today, Birmingham’s Chamber of Commerce has played a major role in the community. Join us to hear Birmingham author Mark Kelly discuss and sign copies of his new book, A Powerful Presence . Wednesday, May 6, 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 Library is proud to host After Class, a Birmingham trio who play instrumental music. The group performs many of the songs written by blind Irish harpist, Turlough O'Carolan (1638-1730). After Class offers a modern interpretation of some of these tunes which include “Si Beag Si Mor,” “Planxty George Brabazon,” and “Lord Inchiquin,” as well as complete sets of Civil War, Celtic, and other melodies which made their way from Wales and Ireland to Appalachia. The band has recorded six albums. Homespun Holidays features classic holiday songs with an old-time feel. A Celtic Collection features old Irish tunes and ballads. Faith Of Our Fathers includes After Class’s version of some of the most beloved hymns, including “Amazing Grace,” “Blessed Assurance,” and “Rock of Ages.” The band’s album Hues Of Blues & Greys offers a variety of songs from the Civil War era. The self-titled album, After Class , includes several of the band’s favorite songs. Their latest album Johnny Has Gone...

Birmingham Public Library is participating in a nationwide Internet survey to find out how people use the free computers and Internet connections in public libraries. The U.S. IMPACT web survey is being conducted by the University of Washington Information School with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Until now, there has been no nationwide research about how library computing services fit into peoples’ lives. Some believe that library computers are used mostly for entertainment, but librarians report that people use them to find jobs, stay connected with family and friends, or to get health information. The goal of the U.S. IMPACT studies is to collect evidence about the ways computers in public libraries help people and their communities across the United States. This information will be used to improve these services and to inform policy makers about how best to fund and support them. In these hard economic times, this information will be invaluable. The sur...

Father Brendan Flynn ( Philip Seymour Hoffman ) is right: Gossip is like feathers pushed by the wind. They are impossible to gather up and take back, flung far and wide, settling into corners, whispering into ears, inflicting their damage. Sister Aloysius Beauvier ( Meryl Streep ) believes she knows the nature of priests, and is ever vigilant about any impropriety between a priest and a child. She tells her nuns to report anything suspicious, and the guileless Sister James ( Amy Adams ) does so in a moment of guilt-riddled suspicion, relaying to the Sister Donald Miller's trip to the rectory in the middle of class, and a whiff of alcohol on the frightened student when he returns. This is all the proof that Sister Aloysius needs to start the campaign to oust Father Flynn, a priest with long fingernails who is on his third parish and is bucking the strict nature of her principalship. When Aloysius calls Donald Miller's mother ( Viola Davis ) to the school for a meeting, she is st...

Each year, thousands of researchers from throughout the U.S. and the world use the collections of the Birmingham Public Library Archives. Many of these researchers produce books, articles and documentaries. One of these books researched in the Archives, Doug Blackmon's Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II , has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize . A groundbreaking study of the convict lease system, Blackmon's book has won wide spread praise and he drew a packed house when he spoke and read from his book at BPL last fall. The previous Pulitzer Prize winning books researched at BPL are: Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by David Garrow Parting the Waters: America in the King Years by Taylor Branch Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climatic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution by Diane McWhorter The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the A...

How often have you been told that you’re missing the forest for the trees? In 1962, the midst of what many historians consider the most politically tumultuous period of the 20th. century, an American Senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson , saw the forest for the trees. Nelson realized that if we didn’t educate ourselves about the dangers facing our environment , the political issues facing the nation and the world would become moot. From this realization was born Earth Day . In an era of Civil Rights, the Cold War and the Viet Nam war, Senator Nelson was disturbed that our political system, and indeed, most Americans, were ignorant and unconcerned about the state of the environment. He convinced President Kennedy to “take a five-day, eleven-state conservation tour in September of 1963” to discuss the environment with the American people. Later, he co-opted the teach-in methods of the anti-war movement to further educate the American electorate about environmental concerns. Nelson’s fi...