Birmingham Public Library Blog

Dominick Dunne , American writer and investigative journalist, died Wednesday, August 26 at his home in New York City, after a long battle with bladder cancer. He frequently examined the relationship between high society and the judicial system. He was successful both as a television and Hollywood film producer and a writer. Dunne was born on October 29, 1925 in Hartford Connecticut. He was known to childhood friends as Nick and grew up one of six children of a wealthy Connecticut surgeon. His brother was the author John Gregory Dunne. He was the father of actors Griffin Dunne and Dominique Dunne. He began working in show business around 1950, as a stage manager for The Howdy Doody Show. He eventually met many actors including Paul Newman, Steve McQueen and Warren Beatty whose photographs, along with hundreds of other pictures, according to People , filled "a stack of scrapbooks four feet high." Dominick Dunne battled drugs and alcohol for years as a Hollywood film producer i...

The Birmingham Public Library is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Central’s East Building . And, as with any celebration, the more the merrier, so we're inviting the public to share their memories and thoughts about the East Building. Do you remember what was located at the site prior to the new addition? Were you at the groundbreaking or grand opening ceremonies? What did you think the first time you walked into the "new" library? Click on the comments link to post your memories. Thanks for sharing!

Artwalk is an arts festival that transforms Birmingham’s loft neighborhood into an arts district, featuring the work of more than 100 visual artists, live musicians, street performers, food and drink vendors, and children’s activities. The event is free to the public and in the last three years has become a much anticipated fall event, drawing visitors from all over to downtown Birmingham. For the past two years, more than 10,000 people walked the streets of downtown during the two-day event. Join us for an inside look at this year’s Artwalk taking place on Friday and Saturday, September 11 and 12, 2009. Wednesday, September 2, noon. Feed your body and mind at BPL's Brown Bag Lunch 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. photo by Bob Farley

Birmingham Public Library is a member of the JCLC . For more information visit http://www.jclc.org/ .

If you enjoyed our 2008 Big Read: Project Mockingbird , you will also like ProjectRead. The Public Libraries of Jefferson County's fall selection is Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron. This is the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa, who was found dirty and shivering in a library book drop one cold morning and ended up staying and melting the town's heart. Libraries will hold book discussions, film series, and children's activities during September and October. Check with your local library for programs. Visit the Calendar of Events at http://www.jclc.org/ for the latest program information.

Yes! We are doing it again. During the month of September any Jefferson County library patron may bring in donations for our food drive and have overdue charges waived for participating. Our food drive benefiting local food banks is open to anyone, even if that someone doesn't have overdue books. For those with late materials however, this is a golden opportunity to take a bite out of library overdue charges and help someone else at the same time. One dollar will be waived up to a maximum of $10 per patron for each dated canned or packaged food item the patron donates. These waived fees applies only to fines for overdue materials, not lost materials.

When someone asked Don Hewitt about the secret to the success of "60 Minutes," he would answer, “Tell me a story.” And he did. The creator of the long-running news magazine series even wrote about it in Tell Me a Story: Fifty Years. But on Wednesday, Hewitt succumbed to his battle with pancreatic cancer at age 86. He was reportedly surrounded by family at his home in Bridgehampton , New York . Having a journalism background, I was influenced by news pioneers such as Hewitt, Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow . They weren’t flashy. They weren’t even handsome in today’s news anchor standards. But they were authentic. It was storytelling, pure and simple. It was brilliant. As a reporter, I learned to be tenacious in my pursuit of the truth and tell it with eloquence. It is one place where passion and compassion merge. After all, truth without heart is just harsh. That’s how you win awards as a journalist. Hewitt should know. He won eight Emmy and two Peabody award...

We are pleased to present Birmingham Public Library’s version of the Antiques Roadshow. Birmingham’s own Bill Carner will be a guest appraiser. Mr. Carner is a certified member of the International Society of Appraisers specializing in Antiques and Residential Contents. If you have an item you would like to know more about and its approximate value, bring it down and let Bill take a look. No coins or stamps, please. Wednesday, August 26, noon. Feed your body and mind at BPL's Brown Bag Lunch 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.