Birmingham Public Library Blog

The Young Professionals of the Birmingham Public Library celebrate the rich history and prosperous future of Birmingham's oldest cultural institution. The Young Professionals support the Library financially and culturally and promote its remarkable treasures. By hosting dynamic lectures, special collection tours, and other social events and by volunteering time and skills, the Young Professionals increase public awareness of and access to the Library's resources. BPLYP Kristy Stewart What is your full name, age, and occupation? Kristy Waldon Stewart, 34, Bank Secrecy Anti-Money Laundering Analyst, Regions Bank. What is your favorite place to eat in Birmingham? Village Tavern. Why did you get involved with the BPLYP? I got involved with BPLYP simply to give back to the community and to be an advocate for an institution that allows you to discover never ending possibilities. Which is your favorite (or most frequented) library branch? Five Points West simply becau...

The fitness industry is bombarded with killer workouts such as Iron Tribe, Insanity, and Crossfit. Let's get to the basics again with certified group exercise instructor Russell Lee. He has been instructing since 1989 in group fitness and he is also a long time employee of the Birmingham Public Library and currently still teaches at the Downtown YMCA. Bring your towel, exercise mat, hand weights and let's work the body safely and effectively. If you have pre-existing medical conditions please seek clearance from your physician. This workout will include low impact cardio, strength training, and flexibility/stress reduction techniques. Wednesday, May 15, noon. Feed your body and mind at BPL's Brown Bag Lunch Programs . You bring the lunch and we'll bring the drinks. Central Library, Linn Henley Research Building, Arrington Auditorium, 4th floor. For more information call 226-3604 or visit www.bplonline.org .

Teens, get your poetry on at the Flow Tactics Teen Open Mic every 3rd Saturday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.at the YMCA Youth Center, 2400 7th Avenue North (near Phillips Academy). Admission is free. The sessions are for high school students only. To sign up to perform or for more information, e-mail johnpaul@reallifepoets.org. This month's program is scheduled for Saturday, May 18. Flow Tactics is sponsored by The Real Life Poets , the Mayor's Office Division of Youth Services , YMCA Youth Center , and the WORD UP! Student Poetry Slam Committee of the Jefferson County Library Cooperative. WORD UP! is an annual poetry slam for Jefferson County high school students hosted by the Birmingham Public Library.

If you need to get your hands on one of those Chilton or Motor Trends automotive repair manuals and don’t want to peel out the cash to buy one, don’t despair! Just use your JCLC library card, go to www.bplonline.org , click on “databases” and then use the “database quick links” menu to locate Chilton Library. If you’re using the Internet away from a library, when you click on “go” you will be asked to type in your name and library card number. When the Chilton Library database comes up, select the year, make and model of your automobile or truck. You’ll be allowed to narrow your search further to find repair instructions, diagrams, troubleshooting tips, and sometimes even videos to show you exactly how to perform your own auto repairs. These are subscription databases and only available to JCLC library members—just one more reason to get a library card and become a digital patron! Save tons of money and research just about anything using the Databases at Birmingham Public Libra...

Tony Smoke, Birmingham Division Manager for Alabama Power and Foundation Board Member, presents a check for $15,000 to help fund Summer Reading programs at BPL Each year, public libraries across the United States prepare for the summer months by coordinating programs and incentives to encourage reading by individuals of all ages—especially children. This year, staff at the eighteen (Pratt City is scheduled to reopen later this year) libraries in the Birmingham Public Library System, have been preparing for Summer Reading 2013 since December of 2012. The result of their planning will be more than 300 programs designed for audiences of all ages. Program information can be found by visiting the library’s website at http://www.bplonline.org/summerreading.aspx . Summer Reading signup kicks off on Monday, May 13. The Alabama Power Foundation is the lead sponsor for this year’s programming. Birmingham native and NFL player Jerricho Cotchery and the Cotchery Foundation will once...

A shield to protect the face during snow storms. (Canada, 1939) Interesting Strange Inventions of the Past iliketowastemytime.com Many inventors were people who seemed to be unlikely prospects: they were women, they were African-American, they were too young/old, their profession was something else, etc. But inventors create inventions where they see a need. Gary Burghoff (M*A*S*H*’S “Radar”) developed a device that attracts fish toward a boat. Philo Farnsworth (age 14) had the first idea for the television set, or “image dissector.” Benjamin Franklin (age 83) invented bifocals. Hedy Lamarr (1940’s screen actress), co-invented a “secret communication system” that is a basis for today’s “frequency-hopping spread spectrum” method of transmitting radio signals. Chelsea Lanmon (age 5) invented a diaper that contains a wipe and a powder puff. Stephanie Kwolek (chemist with DuPont) discovered Kevlar, the fiber used in bullet-proof vests. Abraham Lincoln patented a process...

BPL employee and exercise instructor Russell Lee The fitness industry is bombarded with killer workouts such as Iron Tribe, Insanity, and Crossfit. Let's get to the basics again with certified group exercise instructor Russell Lee. He has been instructing since 1989 in group fitness and he is also a long time employee of the Birmingham Public Library and currently still teaches at the Downtown YMCA. Bring your towel, exercise mat, and hand weights and let's work the body safely and effectively. If you have pre-existing medical conditions please seek clearance from your physician. This workout will include low impact cardio, strength training, and flexibility/stress reduction techniques. Wednesday, May 15, noon. Feed your body and mind at BPL's Brown Bag Lunch Programs . You bring the lunch and we'll bring the drinks. Central Library, Linn Henley Research Building, Arrington Auditorium, 4th floor. For more information call 226-3604 or visit www.bplonline.org .

We all do some sort of research on the internet, whether it be looking up information for a school report or personal enlightenment. Some search results can leave us scratching our heads, wondering why we yielded links that are far from what we had in mind, and some results are just simply lacking. Here are some tips that can help your search be more efficient and succinct. Enter as many keywords as possible .  If you do this, you are likely to yield more results. It’s best to try five to seven keywords to help narrow your search field. Use nouns as keywords . Words such as “a” and “the,” pronouns such as “she” and “he,” and prepositions such as “over” and “to” slow down the search engine and often produce irrelevant results. Some search engines actually ignore these words. Use exact phrases when searching .   Quotation marks should surround each phrase. The ability to search for exact phrases can be extremely useful in locating materi...