Birmingham Public Library Blog

What: Powderly Branch Library Presents Conversations with an Author Kwame Mbalia  When: 9:30 a.m. on Monday, September 20. Where: Virtual. Registration is required at this link  https://forms.gle/K6DsevhQVpPkfSR27  Details : The Birmingham Public Library’s Powderly Branch is hosting a virtual interview with New York Times best-selling author Kwame Mbalia. For more information, contact  Powderly Branch Manager Candice Hardy at (205) 925-6176.  Birmingham, Ala. - The Birmingham Public Library’s Powderly Branch invites you to join in for a powerful conversation with New York Times best-selling author Kwame Mbalia, best known for his Tristan Strong series.  The author talk will take place virtually on Monday, September 20, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Registration is required by clicking here  https://forms.gle/K6DsevhQVpPkfSR27  Once you are registered, you will receive a Zoom link on how to view the author event.    Kwame Mbalia is a husba...

By Gelenda Norman| Southside Branch Library   Join the Birmingham Public Library (BPL) Southside Branch's celebration of  National Hispanic Heritage Month ! Their themed celebration for 2021 is ESPERANZA: A Celebration of Heritage and Hope. Southside Library is happy to celebrate Hispanic and Latino communities throughout the year.  But they especially want to highlight this community's rich heritage, traditions, and culture from September 15, 2021—October 15, 2021. Why these dates?  Here is a brief history on the celebration of this month. Former President Lyndon B. Johnson wanted to honor several Central American countries' Independence Days observed on September 15, whom he considered “neighbors” to the United States. He also recognized Mexico, whose Independence Day is celebrated on September 16. President Johnson paid special recognition to the Hispanic communities and their traditions by announcing September 15 and 16 as National Hispanic Heritage ...

  By Cheyenne Trujillo|Birmingham Public Library PR Department Imagine a world where the United States of America is ravaged by climate change, a drug crisis, and exploitive corporate powers that entrap people in life-binding contracts.  Picturing the setting of Octavia E. Butler ’s Parable of the Sower might be too easy. Eerily enough, we are only a few years off from Butler’s imagined world set in the year 2024.  Parable of the Sower begins with the diary entries of fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina. She is surviving this collapsed society with her family in their walled community in Robledo, California. Banding together with their other middle-class neighbors, the Olamina family creates a tolerable life, trusting each member to keep the community alive.  But Lauren has secrets that might threaten their safety. First, she has a rare condition of hyper-empathy.  Lauren experiences other people’s pain to the point of bleeding when someone else bleeds. Second, sh...

What: Book Signing with Author Sarah Collins Rudolph, 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Survivor When: 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 15 Where : Smithfield Branch Library , #1 8th Avenue West Details: Join us as Smithfield Branch Library hosts a Meet & Greet with Sarah Collins Rudolph, co-author of The 5th Little Girl: Soul Survivor of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing . Four little black girls died in the September 15, 1963 bombing, set by white supremacists. Hear the story of the only survivor, then 12-year-old Sarah Collins. For more information, call 205-324-8428 or visit www.cobpl.org . Smithfield Library Hosting Book Signing with 16 Street Baptist Church Bombing Survivor  Birmingham, Ala. – Many people know the stories of the four little girls who died when white supremacists bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham on September 15, 1963. But few know much about the fifth little girl in the group, then 12-year-old Sarah Collins, who was the soul sur...

September 11, 2021 marks the 20 th anniversary of the 9/11 attack on the United States.   There will be widespread coverage of events taking place all over the nation to commemorate this occasion.   Stories from that day and reminiscences by family and friends will be shared on television, radio and online.   The Kanopy movie streaming database also provides several documentaries about 9/11 that share many stories you may not be familiar with.   The following are a sample of the documentaries available on Kanopy and the descriptions are provided by the database. 9/11 Inside the Pentagon (2016) On September 11th, 184 people lost their lives at the Pentagon. Today many people are surprised to hear that the Pentagon was ever a target, let alone the loss of life that occurred there. And even fewer know about those who escaped and how many people were terrifyingly close to the impact zone. On the 15th anniversary of the attack, survivors -- many for the first tim...

  What: In Loving Memory: BPL Bards & Brews Tribute to Brian “Voice Porter” Hawkins  When: 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 10, 2021. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.  Where: Boutwell Auditorium, 1930 Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd, Birmingham, AL 35203 Details: The Birmingham Public Library & Bards & Brews hosts a tribute to longtime host and emcee Brian “Voice Porter” Hawkins, who died August 25 at age 42. BPL will be joined by spoken word artists inspired and mentored by Voice Porter paying tribute to his legacy in the metro Birmingham arts community. For background on Voice Porter's legacy, click on this link  Birmingham, Ala. – The Birmingham Public Library’s popular spoken word poetry/craft beer program, Bards & Brews , happening this Friday, is hosting a memorial tribute to longtime host Brian “Voice Porter” Hawkins. Best known by his stage name "Voice Porter," Hawkins was found dead in his Warrior home on August 25. He was 42.   The “In Loving Memor...

How many books do you recognize in the fairy reading room? By Ellen Shade| Avondale Regional Branch Library Magic is moving into  the Magic  City at the Avondale  Library. Our staff reported spotting  fairies .   S ort  of. While  there are  no major  sightings  of fairies yet, y ou can find fairy doors at  the  Avondale   Library . You can ev en make your own to take some of the magic with you. Each month t heir  adult programming team creates a simple   craft  project that can be completed at the library or at home. For the month of September,  Avondale   Library  is offering DIY fairy door kits. Here is what Ellen Shade, Librarian II at Avondale Library, had to say about the ir impressive new fairy reading room, F airy gardens are nice, but Avondale Library’s fairies prefer their new fairy reading room, complete with a variety of reading material.   Our library fairies are also quite s...

By Jacqueline Winston| Powderly Branch Library Wednesday, September 15, 2021 is International  Dot   Day . It's  based on the best-selling book, "The D ot"  by Peter H. Reynolds .  Reynolds, a children's book author/illustrator, released " The Dot" on September 15, 2003. The book is about a little girl, Vashti, who feels she cannot draw, but her art teacher wouldn't accept that. "Just make a mark, and see where it takes you," the teacher tells her.  Vashti marked her parchment paper with a small dot and was surprised to come in the next day and find her paper with the dot framed and hung on the classroom wall, Vashti was so proud of her work that she began creating more elaborate drawings of different types of dots.  The Birmingham Public Library's Powderly Branch   is inviting youth across the City of Birmingham to participate in International Dot Day on Wednesday, September 15, 2021. Students will celebrate self-expression, diversity, and...