Birmingham Public Library Blog

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, June 15. 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.

National Doughnut Day was created in 1938 to raise much-needed funds during the Great Depression , and to honor the work of World War I Salvation Army volunteers who prepared foods for thousands of soldiers. During World War I, Salvation Army “Lassies” were sent to the front lines of Europe. These brave women cooked homemade treats and provided a much needed morale boost to the troops. Often the doughnuts were cooked in oil inside the metal helmet of an American soldier. The Salvation Army lassies were the only women outside of military personnel who were allowed to visit the front lines. Lieutenant Colonel Helen Purviance is considered the Salvation Army’s “first doughnut girl.” This national observation takes place on the first Friday of June each year and celebrates the doughnut or “donut.” Be it sprinkles, chocolate, cream-filled, sugar, cake, powdered, jelly-filled, or glazed, nothing beats a doughnut, a glass of milk, and a good book. The Great Doughnut Parade by Re...

Monday's Tot Time at the Avondale Regional Library was all about animals that burrow. The feature story was Ouch! , by Ragnhild Scamell.   Ouch!  is a wonderful story reminding us that when we are in trouble, there are always those around who will help.  The props are made of foam core purchased from the Dollar Tree.  Hedgehog's quill's are made of toothpicks. This is my peek-a-boo bag. For this year's theme of Dig into Reading, I glued felt onto my bag to create "burrows." We tried to guess which burrowing mammals were hiding in the hole and shared amazing facts about each one. It looked like there was a worm peeking out of the side of the bag, but it was really a mouse! Mouse has a tail as long as his body! Bunny's ears were peeking out, and he was nibbling a carrot to wear down his front teeth. Did you know they never stop growing? I poked my head into the bag, and PEE YEW! It was a skunk's hole, and I scared the stink r...

The roar of the crowd. The crack of the bat. Few things are more fun than a Barons baseball game. But have you checked out the 40 Public Libraries in Jefferson County recently? We have some exciting things going on too! Join the public library staff of Jefferson County for Public Library Night at Barons Park, Saturday June 15. The first few hundred attendees who show a library card will receive a free gift, compliments of your public libraries. Stop by your local library today—it’s a home run!

The Avondale Library Storytellers were Digging Up Trouble at the Titusville Library today as part of the Summer Reading Program, Dig into Reading.  If you missed today's fun, you can still catch them on June 14th at the Southside and Eastwood Libraries, or on June 18th at the Avondale Regional Library.  Check your program guide for times.  We hope to see you there!

The Birmingham Public Library staff was at the Pepper Place Farmer's Market Saturday morning, promoting this year's Summer Reading program, playing with our food and getting messy! Did we have fun? Yes, we did!   Summer Reading is always a blast!   But, Summer Reading, it passes really fast.   So sign up now, don't miss any more fun,   Ages 0-120, it's for EVERYONE!   You'll make new friends and great memories,  so please join us for Summer Reading at your local library! Submitted by Eve Parker Avondale Library

Decadence Eric Jerome Dickey Fans of Eric Jerome Dickey’s book Pleasure and its main character Nia Bijou, it’s time to rejoice! Dickey revisits Pleasure 's main character and her world in his newest offer, Decadence . Four years have gone by and Nia has found enormous success with a film screenplay that she’s written that’s been adapted into a movie. Nia has also been successfully admitted to Decadence, an exclusive pleasure palace. While enjoying a time of unprecedented freedom and exploration, Nia can’t help but also be consumed with Prada, a businessman that she’s gotten to know personally; Bret, her workout partner; and her first love, Chris, who still holds a special place in Nia, despite the betrayal and heartbreak that he’s caused. Come along for the ride as we find out just how far Nia is willing to go to fulfill her every desire. Fans of Eric Jerome Dickey will be delighted with his latest literary offering, especially since he chooses to revisit a much loved ch...

Virtually every week someone brings in a box or bag or books for our library. Usually these are put in the book sale. Quite often, however, a title will catch my eye. One such book was Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Gilman. Reading her descriptions of her experiences growing up in New York in the early 1970s, watching and listening to The Partridge Family and the Jackson 5 (including the Saturday morning cartoons of the same name) is hilarious and reminded me of my own childhood. Her description of an increasing larger-than-life show-and-tell (where she eventually changes her name from Susan to “Rhinestone Gilman” and later “Sapphire Gilman” because her initials will be the same) made me laugh out loud. (Judging by my daughter’s actions, five-year-olds haven’t changed much.) The jacket blurb from Frank McCourt says it all: “Thank you, O Lord for sending us Susan Gilman’s tales.” Today a patron brought in half a dozen books on dogs and how to care for them. ...