Birmingham Public Library Blog

Author Vallean Jackson has answered the Birmingham Public Library Local Authors Reading Challenge. Jackson is the author of Adventures with Liyah Presents Colors at First Sight . The book tells the story of Liyah, a curious young girl who loves taking adventures and learns the colors of the world around her.  Click here for a link of Jackson reading a sample from her book on YouTube https://youtu.be/kK3HXxinHhA   Author Vallean Jackson In a Q&A with BPL’s PR Department, Jackson shared what inspired her to write the book. BPL: What is Adventures with Liyah Presents Colors at First Sight about?  Jackson: My book is about a little girl named Liyah taking adventures and along the way notices the different colors around her. This awareness of colors and illustrations encourage learning through the use of word/color association and related illustrations to match.  BPL: You are a journalist - What inspired you to start writing books? Jackson: I was inspired to wri...

  Count Tee Cunningham of Birmingham among the many patrons thankful that the Central Library has reopened. Desiring to get a passport for an upcoming family trip to Mexico, Cunningham was surprised when a friend told her that the Central Library in downtown Birmingham offered passport application services. Last week, Cunningham visited the Central Library and within an hour, she started her passport process, including getting a photo done.  ‘I’m so glad the Birmingham Public Library offers this service,” she said.  In addition to passport services, the Central Library allows patrons to come inside to get papers notarized, documents faxed, and use of public computers on the first floor.  For more information about BPL’s Citizens Services, call (205) 226-3600 or go to www.cobpl.org.  The Central Library began offering in-person visits by patrons on October 1.  BPL is also offering curbside pickups of new materials and drop-offs of old items at the Central L...

  By Lynn Hutchins  |  Information and Circulation Department | Central Library  The Central Branch of the Birmingham Public Library can help you by providing information and assisting with Healthcare Marketplace enrollment.  If you don’t have health insurance coverage, BPL can help you enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace during the open enrollment period between November 1 and December 15, 2020.  Here are details:  • Most people who enroll on the Health Insurance Marketplace at HealthCare.gov get help paying for their health insurance  • Many people will pay $100 or less each month  • Plans and pricing change every year, so be sure to shop around on the Marketplace. You may find a plan that better meets your needs and budget. Schedule an appointment for Healthcare Marketplace enrollment at the Birmingham Public Library by clicking here  https://widget.getcoveredamerica.org/ Click here for a recent BPL blog that provides inform...

The Birmingham Public Library will be closed for Veterans Day Wednesday, November 11, 2020.

  Bards & Brews, the Birmingham Public Library's monthly spoken word poetry/craft beer event, will be held virtually this Friday, November 6, 2020.  Bards & Brews will air beginning at 6:00 p.m. on the Bards Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/BardsandBrews.   Candice Hardy, BPL's Outreach Librarian and creative director for Bards, says poets who desire to  participate can still register for a few slots open by emailing Bards.Brews@cobpl.org. The deadline to register is at noon this Friday, November 6.   Preparing to enter its 11th year this fall, Bards & Brews has become one of the Birmingham Public Library’s most successful programs, with its combination of spoken word poetry and craft beer attracting a diverse crowd of patrons of all races, both young and old.  Even after being switched online to the Bards & Brews Facebook page since April, the monthly program has continued to attract a large viewing audience. Prior to COVID-19 pandem...

  What: 2020 Birmingham Public Library Local Authors Expo  When: Saturday, November 7, 2020  Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: Virtual/Live-stream via Birmingham Public Library Facebook Page  Details: BPL is holding its annual Local Authors Expo virtually this year, featuring 10 authors from across Alabama. The program will be hosted by BPL Programming/Outreach Librarian Candice Hardy. Registration is closed; no other authors will be admitted. For information, contact Candice Hardy at (205) 226-3741. Participating Authors Link:   www.cobpl.org/LocalAuthors A 10-year-old student from Birmingham’s Glen Iris Elementary School is among the 10 participants in the 2020 Birmingham Public Library Local Authors Expo taking place virtually this Saturday, November 7. Ayrika Jones, author of How Did You Know It was Me, Mr. Tomato , was featured on WVTM NBC 13 in September and interviewed by Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin for his spotlight feature last week.  Birmingh...

Count Jan Roper of Birmingham among the many patrons thankful that the Central Library has reopened. A few weeks after the Central Library began offering in-person services on October 1 , Roper visited to use one of the public computers.  Roper acknowledges she is not computer savvy and called BPL’s Education Training Coordinator Maurice Harley “my life saver.” Harley was among employees featured when The Atlantic magazine did a national spotlight on BPL's  free computer workshops.  “Maurice was my knight in shining armor,” Roper said. “He helped me download a form I needed and sent it to a government agency for me. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him, and am forever grateful.” Roper, 71, says she is a longtime user of BPL. While living in Roebuck several years ago, Roper used to take her children regularly to the East Lake Branch Library . In recent years, she has been a regular patron of the Avondale Regional Branch Library . “In the middle of a pande...

  Central Library Youth Librarian Caitlyn Jackson dressed up during Halloween 2019. Caitlin Jackson has been a professional librarian for two years at the Central Library in downtown Birmingham.  She obtained her Master’s in Library & Information Studies from the University of Alabama  in 2017. In a short Q & A with BPL Public Relations Director Roy L. Williams, Jackson described what a typical day is like serving as a librarian in the Central Library’s youth department.  BPL: What inspired you to become a librarian?  Jackson: I have worked in a library on and off as a volunteer since high school. I also enjoy sharing knowledge, which fits perfectly in providing youth and teen programming. Being a librarian allows me to provide programs on a diversity of topics!  BPL: What do you do on a typical day?  Jackson: On a typical day: I pull the holds list in the morning, so that we can send out books to any branches. I also shelve incoming books. I...