Birmingham Public Library Blog

What: Google Insights and Analytics workshop When: Wednesday November 9, 2016, 12:00-1:30 p.m. Where: Central Library/2nd Floor/Youth Department/Story Castle Are you getting the most out of your website? Do you understand how people are finding your business online and how they are interacting with you once they get there? For answers to these questions, please join the City of Birmingham’s Office of Economic Development and Zeekee , a local digital marketing firm, on November 9 at the Central Library for a workshop that will introduce you to the free tools Google offers that allow you and your business to get a better handle on customer behavior. Google's Insights and Analytics tools are powerful and free. Google Insights is part of the Google My Business program and shows you how people interact with your Google listing. Google Analytics is by far the most used analytics tool on the planet and gives you data on how people interact with your website. Zeekee presen...

What: Bards & Brews Sister City Connection open mic poetry performance/beer tasting When: Friday, November 4, with music by Josh Wheeler at 6:30 p.m., poetry performances at 7:00 Where: Birmingham Botanical Gardens , Strange Auditorium Details:  Admission is free and open to the public; however, attendees must be at least 18 to enter and 21 to sample beer—ID is required At the final Bards & Brews of 2016, the spotlight will shine on female spoken word artists as the Birmingham Public Library's spoken word poetry/craft beer event tasting goes on the road this week to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with light refreshments and craft beer as musical guest Josh Wheeler performs. Poetry begins to flow at 7:00 p.m. with Brian "Voice Porter" Hawkins serving as host. Beer will be provided by Cahaba Brewing Company and SweetWater Brewing Company . Closing out its fifth year, Bards & Brews has been a popular roving poetry fest ...

Teen librarian Lance Simpson with STEM students at Central Library What: Teens Engineer BHM Robotics Marathon for middle and high school students When: November 5, 9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; November 6, 2:30-5:00 p.m. Where: Central Library , Teen Zone, 2nd floor Details: Free but registration required at lmsimpson@bham.lib.al.us or 205-226-3655 Teens Engineer BHM will host its first Robotics Marathon weekend November 5-6. “Hang out with us at the Central Library for a weekend of awesomeness complete with robots, programming, pizza, and our team of UAB School of Engineering students,” said Lance Simpson, system teen librarian for the Birmingham Public Library (BPL). “Our teens are very excited, and so are the UAB students with whom we've been working,” Simpson said. “This program will encourage students to push themselves academically, and prepare them for great success in future STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) careers.” BPL purchased 3D print...

The Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) will host an online survey at your public library through November 18 to assist in gathering information to develop APLS’ next five-year plan. This plan is needed in order to receive federal funds. The survey may be taken online at http://webmini.apls.state.al.us/survey/ or at one of the 225 public libraries around the state. APLS will also conduct town meetings at seven locations throughout Alabama during November. Agency director Nancy Pack said, “These meetings will provide an opportunity for community leaders and all citizens to explain what they think about Alabama’s public libraries, what they value in libraries, and what they think libraries should provide. Their voices will be heard by those who will write the next Five-Year Plan for Library Development in Alabama.” The meetings will be held at these locations and times: November 1, 11:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Baldwin County Cooperative Building Auditorium November 2, 11:00 a...

by Kelly Laney, Adult Department, Springville Road Regional Branch Library There are so many exciting new technologies in the world that it’s tough to keep abreast of them all. The Afterthoughts, a nonfiction reading group which meets at the Springville Road Regional Branch Library, has come up with an interesting solution for their November 15 meeting : each member of the group will choose one or more emerging technologies for light research, then get together to share their findings. Copies of books and articles will be available in the adult department so that patrons can pick up one or more and read about whatever interests them. 3D printing (especially new research that involves printing with human cells for medical use), virtual reality goggles as teaching tools, new technologies in archaeology, the effect of the usage of personal “smart” devices by our military personnel, and zero-net-energy construction are some of the topics we’ve pulled, but any new technology is...

It’s never too late to start building a better understanding of your personal finances and begin developing a plan for the future. To assist you in this endeavor, the Birmingham Public Library (BPL) is partnering with the staff of the Regions Institute for Financial Education at UAB to offer a series of Money Matters workshops at the Central Library on the first Wednesday of each month from July 2016 to May 2017. Please join us on the dates below to take part in discussions about a variety of money management issues and learn ways to help you achieve your economic goals. When:  First Wednesday of the month Time: 12:00-1:00 p.m. Place:  Central Library/Linn-Henley Research Building/Richard Arrington Auditorium Dates/Workshops 11/2/2016 – What Every Woman Should Know About Money 12/7/2016 – Protecting Yourself Against Targeted Fraud 1/4/2017 – Dealing With Debt 2/1/2017 – Where to Invest Your College Money 3/1/2017 – Your Credit Report 4/5/2017 – Saving Through...

by Mary Anne Ellis, Southern History Department, Central Library The Shadow Tiger: Billy McDonald, Wingman to Chennault  William C. McDonald III & Barbara L. Evenson One of the more memorable experiences of my teen years was the opportunity to interview an African American veteran of World War I for a school assignment. Though I would now ask many more questions (and have better questions to ask), I can remember a feeling of awe as he gave his reminiscences of the war and his life afterwards, including the deadly Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. It was a privilege to speak with him and it is one of my treasured memories since our World War I veterans are all gone. Now that veterans of World War II are going the way of their Great War predecessors, every scrap of information about their lives and careers is valuable—and as I looked through The Shadow Tiger , I was thinking, “Why have I not heard of this man before?” The Shadow Tiger is William McDonald’s account of the li...

Registration is now open for staff and the public for the November 2016 Class Schedule . During this month, we include classes on a variety of topics including computer skills, career guidance, and genealogy. All classes are held in the Regional Library Computer Center (RLCC) of the Central (downtown) Library. PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR ALL CLASSES. Please note that registration does not necessarily guarantee you a spot in the class. You will receive an email confirming your registration for classes. You may also call to confirm your registration. To register for any class, please email us at cenrtc@bham.lib.al.us or call 205-226-3681. You may also download and print a pdf copy of the November 2016 Class Schedule to bring to a Computer Commons staff member on your next library visit. Please note that the November 2016 Class Schedule pdf can be sent to us as an email attachment.