Birmingham Public Library Blog

#GivingTuesdayNow is being held on Tuesday, May 5, 2020.  The Birmingham Public Library is excited to join   #GivingTuesdayNow  on May 5, 2020. This monumental day joins efforts in response to emergency needs due to COVID-19. Thie movement is designed to increase generosity, promote community awareness by helping businesses and nonprofits around the world. #GivingTuesdayNow unites us to come together and give back. This important day adds to the scheduled #GivingTuesday held on Dec. 1, 2020. During the coronavirus pandemic public libraries, including BPL, are featuring programs to provide local information on COVID-19 , virtual storytelling by Avondale Library's Mrs. Eve , and online help for students stuck at home such as  Smithfield Library's math tutoring provided April 28 by Miles College Adjunct Professor Charles McCauley . "  #GivingTuesdayNow  is a great time for people to give back and help organizations, like BPL that are striving...

Earnest Wrenn wishing BPL employees a Happy National Library Workers Day.  As employees work tirelessly from home due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Birmingham Public Library is celebrating National Library Workers Day today, Tuesday, April 21, 2020. National Library Workers Day is a day set aside during National Library Week for library staff, users, administrators and Friends groups to acknowledge the valuable contributions of library workers from top administrators to front line staff. Although BPL cannot have in-person celebrations due to its buildings being closed, BPL is highlighting the critical role all workers play in keeping our libraries running, both during normal operations and virtually 24/7. Chris Reid of the Central Library Youth Department produced a video featuring several employees holding up signs with encouraging messages for library workers, plus hashtags such as #Bhamstrong . The national hashtag is #NLWD20 . See link to the BPL National Libr...

Today, Tuesday, April 21, BPL is hosting a National Bulldogs are Beautiful Day Photo Challenge. By Heather McWilliams, branch manager of Smithfield Library The Birmingham Public Library’s Photo Challenge continues as part of National Library Week. Today, April 21, is the National Bulldogs are Beautiful Day Photo Challenge. We love bulldogs and want to see pictures of your beautiful pup! Post a photo of your bulldog and include #BHM247 on your personal social media page. Did you know that two U.S. presidents owned a bulldog as a pet? President Calvin Coolidge named his bulldog, “Boston Beans” and President Warren G. Harding named his bulldog, “Old Boy.” Long before Uga took the stage at the University of Georgia, Yale was the first university in the U.S. to adopt a mascot, a bulldog, known as Handsome Dan. BPL started this month-long challenge on April 1. That challenge was on National Walking Day. 

By Mary Beth Newbill |  Southern History Department , Central Library  While church records make excellent resources for genealogists, the first step in the process is knowing where to find them. This article and short video will discuss how to use sources, some of which you may already have, to help you determine your ancestors' religious affiliation or church membership. Local newspapers are filled with articles about the churches in their area. Don’t overlook them as a resource when it comes to researching church membership. Articles were often written describing various committee meetings, reporting on the latest election of church officers, or giving a brief history of a church as it celebrates a milestone anniversary. Of course, wedding announcements and obituaries have long been places to look for clues to religious affiliation. The location of a wedding or funeral is often the place where the family worshipped. Thankfully, researching newspapers online is getti...

DeCorey Hale, author of Ebenezer The Sneezer When his oldest child, Nylah, was a toddler, Sylacauga native DeCorey Hale made up a story character to entertain her. The book instilled in his daughter at a young age the joy of reading. Two years later in April 2017, Hale turned those made up stories into his first book, “Ebenezer the Sneezer.” Hale, who participated in the Birmingham Public Library Local Authors Expo last year , has accepted the BPL Local Authors Online Reading Challenge. For a Facebook video of Hale reading a portion from Ebenezer the Sneezer  click here https://www.facebook.com/decoreyhale/posts/547854685619442 Ebenezer The Sneezer is a short rhyming book focusing on an old man named Ebenezer. Readers get a peek into his day as he sneezes on absolutely everything! While fun and captivating, the book teaches sight words, adjectives and colors. But the real question is will Ebenezer ever stop sneezing? Stay tuned and read the book to find out! ...

By Lynn Hutchins⎹  Information/Circulation Department , Central Library During this difficult time of sheltering at home, Hoopla has introduced a Bonus Borrows Collection. Over 1000 top titles are available, and titles checked out do not count toward your monthly lending limits. You can check out Bonus Borrows titles without using up any of the Hoopla checkouts you get with your library card! The new Hoopla Bonus Borrow collection gives you access to more than 1000 titles curated from each section of Hoopla:  Audiobooks  E-books  Comics  Music Television Movies So even if you're out of borrows for the month, there's no end to the reading, watching, and listening you can do with the Hoopla Bonus Borrows Collection. Simply follow the link https://www.hoopladigital.com/ , select Birmingham Public Library on the signup page, and begin borrowing. To access the titles from the Hoopla Digital app: If you are using the Hoopla Digital app on your ...

By Heather McWilliams, branch manager at Smithfield Library in Birmingham  The Jefferson County Public Library Association is hosting a photo challenge for library workers countywide to celebrate 2020 National Library Week! The contest kicks off today, Monday, April 20. The challenge is open to all library staff in Jefferson County, not just JCPLA members. Here's how it works:  Post a photo with your favorite book, talk about what the book means to you, or draw a new cover of the book. Be as creative as you like! Be sure to use #jcplamember when posting on your personal social media account.  The challenge begins Monday, April 20 and ends Friday, April 24. The grand prize will be free admission to the Christmas luncheon, including the yearly JCPLA dues. The JCPLA Photo Challenge is a spin-off of the Birmingham Public Library Photo Challenge being held throughout the month of April. The BPL Photo Challenge began April 1 with a BPL National Walking Day Pho...

By Reba Williams of Smithfield Branch Library Stuck on math homework? Have a question the night before a test? Connect to an online math tutor partnering with Smithfield Branch Library and rise to the top of the class. The free tutoring session will be led by Charles McCauley, an adjunct math professor at Miles College in Fairfield. Algebra will be the topic for Tuesday, April 28, at 12:00 p.m.  To participate, simply CLICK on the following link https://us04web.zoom.us/j/79176994323  You will be then be given live access to Professor Charles. The Zoom meeting ID is 791-7699-4323  McCauley is an adjunct math professor at Miles College. He has a bachelor’s of science and masters in secondary education from  Miles College  and the University of Montevallo.