Birmingham Public Library Blog

Join us at Tech Tuesdays for a look at the technologies sweeping the Internet and increase your TechKnowledge. This series of programs is available, live or via simulcast, at the Central , Five Points West and Springville Road Libraries. Click here for the Tech Tuesday schedule and more information.

Click here to see upcoming BPL @ Night performances

The Big Read Celebration continues! Staff and board members from the Birmingham Public Library have come together to present podcasts of readings and reflections from To Kill a Mockingbird . Matt Layne and Kelsey Bates are reading two of the most significant sections from To Kill a Mockingbird . Next, Samuel Rumore, Lillie Fincher, and Renee Blalock offer their reflections and memories about the book, the movie, and the author. We hope you will enjoy! Here are the podcasts: Matt Layne , a former storyteller at North Birmingham and a current Mountain Brook employee, reads from To Kill a Mockingbird : -- Atticus' famous speech on justice and equality. Kelsey Bates , Grants Writer and Assistant Archivist, reads from To Kill a Mockingbird -- a sin to kill a mockingbird. Mr. Samuel A. Rumore, Jr. , BPL Board Member, reflects on his meeting with Harper Lee, her sister, and the possible origin of a name. Mrs. Lillie M. H. Fincher , BPL Board President, remembers introducing the book to ...

Come join a discussion about one of the best-loved novels of the 20th century: Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird . One of Samford University 's top scholars will discuss the profound implications behind the novel and lead a lively audience discussion. Wednesday, April 2, 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-Hinley Research Library, 2100 Park Place.

Last Thursday Sports Illustrated unlocked The Vault ; the magazine’s massive archives. And vault is exactly the right word, for treasure is the only way to describe the contents of this site. SI has been in the business of printing the mot juste and capturing the perfect image for over 50 years. Here you’ll find the classic article in which George Plimpton described the 1974 Foreman, Ali fight in Zaire as a battle between a “big cartoon wolf, licking his chops, … tricked into some extravagantly ghastly trap laid by a sly mouse.” Here too, you’ll find the iconic image of the fiercely determined Roberto Clemente doubling off John Matlack to join the 3,000 hit club. From the beginning, Sports Illustrated has covered not only professional sports, but college sports as well. In these archives you can discover the Holy Grail of Crimson Tide articles; “ I’ll tell you about football ” written by Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant. And equal treatment of college athletics inside the magazine also meant equ...

On the Trail of Justice: Montgomery, Monroeville, Selma A Bus Tour of the Old South (April 24&25, May 1&2, May 8&9, May 15&16) This specially planned overnight tour of historic Alabama sites has been designed to enhance programming for the county's The Big Read activities. The cost for this trip is $105 per person. Your payment and registration must be received no later than April 10, 2008. Just to let you know the first 2 dates for the trip are going fast, but there is still plenty of space for the last 2 dates. There are 35 spots are available for each trip. Click here for a downloadable brochure of the trip. Click here to download the registration form.

BPL is now on Twitter. Twitter is a cross between Instant Messaging and Blogging. It is not quite Instant Messaging because the features of Twitter are a little more advanced but yet it is not blogging. Basically, Twitter is considered to be a micro-blogging website. For the BPL system this new online service will be used to publicize any events which are going on at that time. This service will be updated on a daily basis. If you would like to keep abreast of what is going on in the BPL system, please create your own account @ Twitter.com . As new events are publicized on Twitter you will receive notfication on your Twitter account that BPL has new events happening. You don't necessarily have to have a Tweeter account to see the new BPL Tweeter account. You can go to any of our web services such as our MySpace page or even the BPL website.

Matthew Levey of Birmingham Southern College will discuss the writings of Holocaust survivor Primo Levi . Mr. Levey will examine the increasing adoption of some of Primo Levi’s works—particularly Survival in Auschwitz —into the curricula of American high schools. Wednesday, March 26, 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-Hinley Research Library, 2100 Park Place.