Birmingham Public Library Blog

Is your child in need of tutoring help this summer? The Birmingham Public Library is calling rising second and third graders in the Birmingham City School System to take advantage of our free Literacy Leaders Tutoring Services. The program starts Monday, June 14, and runs through July 22.   Registration is now open! Please call the following 5 Birmingham Public Library locations to enroll:   *  Central  Library - (205) 226-3655 *   Avondale  Library - (205) 226-4003 *  Five Points West  Library - (205) 226-4017 *  North Birmingham  Library - (205) 226-4026 *  Springville Road  Library - (205) 226-4085 BPL's Literacy Leaders Tutoring Services are funded by a $16,000 grant the Friends Foundation of the Birmingham Public Library received from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham . The program aims to address learning deficits among young children, brought on by remote and hybrid learning formats due...

BPL's Grab n Go Fox Craft activity is Friday, June 11 at 10:00 a.m . The first of 14 free "grab n go craft" Birmingham Public Library Summer Learning activities kick off this week.  The Artic Fox craft activity video, available for all ages, airs on  BPL's Facebook page  on Friday, June 11 at 10:00 a.m. Every week throughout June and July, p articipants will learn how to make items such as leather bracelets, door hangers, animal masks, key chains, and animal bookmarks.  Swing by your local BPL branch to pick up free "grab n go" kits containing supplies needed to create your craft ahead of each scheduled craft event.  Two of BPL's "Grab n' Go" crafts are sponsored by the Birmingham Museum of Art: June 18 and July 9.     You can find a link to all 40-plus BPL 2021 Summer Learning programs and craft activities on the BPL events calendar or download a printable listing by clicking on  www.cobpl.org/SummerLearning All 2021 Summer Learning prog...

The Birmingham Public Library Board of Trustees has approved new extended public service hours for all 18 BPL locations that go into effect next week.  Beginning Monday, June 14, 2021, in-person service hours will be extended at 18 Birmingham Public Library locations on a select schedule until 6:00 p.m. This will assist patrons who work until 5:00 p.m. by allowing them to visit their favorite libraries after work.  Beginning, Monday, June 14, 2021, curbside service will be available at 18 Birmingham Public Library locations from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.  The new in-person public service hours by library location are on the flyer above.   In addition to these services, BPL also provides a Books by Mail service for patrons unable to visit our locations, including the elderly and disabled. You can reach Books by Mail by calling (205) 226-3758. BPL reminds the public that our libraries remain open 24/7 online, allowing patrons to continue to che...

 By Mary Beth Newbill| Central Library Southern History Department  The Birmingham Public Library's Southern History Department has several free virtual genealogy programs underway as part of  2021 BPL Summer Learning. The genealogy series kicked off on Tuesday, June 8, with the popular Intro to Genealogy workshop . That program covers such topics as how to begin researching your family tree using vital records, courthouse documents the Federal Census, and other materials. The other programs, all offered viz Zoom, are as follows:  Mad About Magazines, Tuesday, June 22, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.  If you're not using periodicals in your family history research, you're missing out on some great information. Find out what you can discover about your ancestors in the pages of a magazine. Registration link is below: http://www.cobpl.org/calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D152538883   Researching Your House History, July 8, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.  ...

  The Central Library has a Pride Month Display that includes LGBTQ collection from BPL Archives.    As part of its recognition of Pride Month, the Birmingham Public Library is hosting a program at 10:00 a.m. this Thursday, June 10, called “Queer History with the Invisible Histories Project.”   This powerful discussion on the BPL Facebook page will focus on the Invisible Histories Project (IHP) , a Birmingham-based 501©3 organization that locates, preserves, researches, and creates for local communities an accessible collection of the rich and diverse history of LGBTQ life in the deep South. Currently, IHP collects in Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia.  IHP acts as an intermediary between the Queer community and various institutions like universities, museums, archives, and libraries to preserve Southern LGBTQ histories. The Invisible Histories Project was co-founded by Joshua Burford and Maigen Sullivan and established as a nonprofit in October 2016. T...

  By Leslie Deason| Avondale Regional Library   Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor, is a young-adult fantasy that has been lovingly called “the Nigerian Harry Potter."   Twelve-year-old Sunny Nwazue lives in Nigeria but was born in New York City.  She's albino, loves to play soccer, and is an outstanding athlete, but feels that she doesn't really fit in anywhere.  She meets Orlu, Chichi, and Sasha, and discovers that she is a "free agent Leopard Person" with magical powers. Join Sunny and her group of friends as they explore the roads of Nigeria and track down "Black Hat Otokoto", a ritual killer. You will learn about magical creatures, magical powders, walking books, a magical library, and a "funky train." This book is filled with magic, secrets and prophecies.  Okorafor does a splendid job of immersing you in Nigerian history, food and culture.  Importantly, this is a book about discovering yourself and finding who you truly are.  ...

  By Jim Baggett | Central Library   Archives Department   As we celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month in Birmingham and around the world, the Birmingham Public Library has several newer books on the history and experiences of Queer people.  One of the best of these books is Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States by Daily Beast reporter Samantha Allen. Following in the tradition of classic road trip narratives, the author travels the southern half of the United States, meeting people and collecting their stories.  From the publisher’s description: “Allen takes us on a cross-country road-trip stretching all the way from Provo, Utah to the Rio Grande Valley to the Bible Belt to the Deep South.  Her motto for the trip: "Something gay every day." Making pit stops at drag shows, political rallies, and hubs of queer life across the heartland, she introduces us to scores of extraordinary LGBT people working for change, from the first openly transgender ma...

  Birmingham, Ala. - The Friends Foundation of the Birmingham Public Library (BPL) has been awarded a $16,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham to provide free reading and math tutoring for second- and third-grade students in Birmingham City Schools .  This program aims to address learning deficits among young children, brought on by remote and hybrid learning formats due to the COVID-19 pandemic. BPL will offer these sessions at five library locations- Central (downtown), Avondale , Five Points West , North Birmingham and Springville Road . The program begins on Monday, June 14 and runs through July 8. Each of the five libraries will be assigned a literacy leader (tutor)  -  a high school junior, senior or college student -   and a certified teacher to implement and oversee the program. Literacy leaders will receive a monetary stipend and access to classes on budgeting and other critical life and job skills, using the Birmingham Pu...