BPL Spinners Club Spreading Music Appreciation throughout BPL This Summer
Hey music lovers across the City of Birmingham: the BPL Spinners Club is spreading the joy of music throughout library locations across the city as part of the Birmingham Public Library’s 2018 Summer Learning activities.
Next stop: BPL Spinners Club to be held Monday, June 25, 11:00 a.m., at the Smithfield Branch Library. Attendees will spend time listening to some of the best in blues and learning interesting facts about various artists. The brainchild of Russell Lee, Library Assistant III in the Arts, Literature and Sports Department, BPL Spinners Club is a music-based program in which attendees will listen to preselected music recordings and then open the floor for brief discussions about them. The club debuted in February and explores a different genre of music monthly. Patrons may bring a light snack and a nonalcoholic beverage. Read More
Rock “N” to the Rhythm of the Drums at Titusville Branch Library
The Titusville Branch Library came alive with sounds of West African drums on Tuesday, June 19. LaVondia Bryant-Square, artistic director and founder of Nathifa Dance Company & Outreach, gave attendees a lesson on the history behind the West African drum and traditional West African dance. Over 60 participants gathered to learn about the importance of the drums in West African culture and to practice movement to the melodic rhythm of the drums' beats. Be sure to catch Rock "N" to the Rhythm of the Drums at East Lake Branch Library on Tuesday, June 26, from 10:00-11:00 a.m.
2018 Rainbow Books for Kids
The Rainbow Book List Committee of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table of the American Library Association evaluates quality books published every year that contain significant and authentic GLBTQ content for children and youth, birth through age 18. For the 2018 Rainbow Book List, 260 books published between July 2016 and December 2017 were studied, and 48 from 18 different publishers made the cut. Out of these, 10 were chosen due to their outstanding merit. Read More
The Inside Scoop on Ancestry.com
By Mary Beth Newbill, Southern History Department
Ancestry.com is probably the best known genealogy database on the market. But did you know that you can access the Library Edition of Ancestry.com free at any public library in Alabama? Keep reading for some research tips and tricks and then make plans to visit your local library to try them out. Read More
Innovation Week at BPL: Business 101 for Artists
July 10, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Central Library
Free workshop by Octavia Kuransky of Bizart designed to help artists, writers, musicians, painters, and crafts professionals learn more about business management skills and how to promote their products. Attendees will create a two-page business plan. Advance registration is required. Read More
What We're Reading at BPL
In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits
Reviewed by Richard Grooms, Springville Road Regional Branch Library
You probably couldn’t ask for a more various collection of portraits than In Focus. From formal to casual, exotic to mundane, sublime to horrific, celebrity shots to peasant pics, old to contemporary, this collection seems to have it all.
“The Strange and Exotic” (chapter 2) has many notable pictures. A rural Russian family from 1917 stares blankly at the camera (save one boy, who’s wisecracking). We know their world will be devastated soon and this makes their stance all the more poignant and fragile. Read More