Click on a link above to subscribe to an RSS feed of this page.
|
Library Volunteers Are "Shining Stars"
 Poster for the Volunteer Recognition Event. Click to view larger picture.
The Memphis Public Library & Information Center recently honored its volunteers with a Volunteer Recognition
Awards Banquet at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. The theme for the evening was "Volunteers are Shining Stars." Library
staff members, volunteers, and their friends and family all joined together to recognize the many tireless hours that volunteers
put in to make the Library such a special place.
The evening began with a concert by The University of Memphis Suzuki String Program. These child violinists serenaded attendees.
The Library's Volunteer Coordinator, Trannie Parham, welcomed the crowd and introduced Director of Libraries Keenon McCloy.
McCloy began the evening by sharing statistics on volunteerism. In 2007, 473 volunteers put in a total of 26,854 hours of service
at the Library.
Special awards were presented in four categories. The Youth Volunteer of the Year was given to White Station High School
student Laylah Thibodeaux, a volunteer in the Library's Second Editions' Book Store. Thibodeaux is a sophomore at White Station
High School. The Civic Award went to Mid-South Reads. Mid-South Reads is an organization that works to maximize literacy services
by creating public awareness and providing literacy opportunities throughout the region. Mid-South Reads has helped sponsor
the Library's "Tell Me About a Book" Program and Book Club Conferences.
Back Yard Burgers supports the Library's Corporate Knowledge Bowl and Summer Reading Programs and was this year's Corporate
Award winner.
The recipient of the Library's highest volunteer award, The Satterfield Award, was presented to Beth Farris. After a long
and successful teaching career with Memphis City Schools, Beth Farris decided to share her gift of teaching with the Library.
Farris gives her time teaching public computer classes and helping out wherever she is needed. Farris has taught more than 80
classes at the Library.
Return to Top
Summer Reading Blasts Off
As the calendar moves closer to summer, Mid-South kids will be anxiously awaiting the end of school. However, there is also
another exciting event they should be anticipating—the Memphis Public Library’s Summer Reading Club. Slated to be held
from June 1 – July 31, the program promotes the value of learning and reading. For kids up to the age of 11, the theme is
Starship Adventure at Your Library. For teens from ages 12-18, the theme is Find Out What’s Out There at Your Library.
There is also an Adult Summer Reading Program. The Program’s kick-off will be on June 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library.
Guest
Rheta Grimsley Johnson, a former Memphis newspaper columnist, will be speaking about her book, Poor Man’s Provence.
Storytimes, programs featuring special guests, and ShoWagon Theater Performances are all on the agenda for the 2008 Summer
Reading Club. Not only does the Summer Reading Club offer fun and entertainment, it is also a great benefit to the
children that participate. Research shows that students lose three months in reading skills during the summer break. The
Summer Reading Club is the perfect fix for that problem. Children can register anytime over the course of the program. When
they register, they will receive a form to record the books they read and the hours they spend reading them. Any book, magazine,
comic, or book on tape counts.
Return to Top
New Bartlett Library Open For Business
 Storybook characters join library opening. Click to view larger picture.
Saturday, April 19 was a picture perfect day at the Bartlett Library-complete with storybook characters. Blue
skies and sunshine offered a wonderful back drop for the grand opening of the new Bartlett Library located at 5884 Stage Road.
Bartlett and Memphis Public Library & Information Center officials were on hand for a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony held on
the parking lot.
The ribbon cutting. Click to view larger picture.
Boasting 22,000 square feet, the new facility with earth-toned walls, is double the size of the old library
that was housed less than a mile east on Stage Road. Additional space and modern décor were not the only updates at the new
location. Twenty new computers and 50% more shelving have customers and employees alike ecstatic.
Bartlett Branch Facts:
- Location: 5884 Stage Road
- Phone: (901) 386- 8968
- Hours: Monday - Thursday 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
- Friday & Saturday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
- Sunday 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
- Architect: Ben Witt, Principal/Owner
- Fleming Associates
- Contractor: John Reinagel, President
- R & R General Contractors, Inc.
- Size: 22, 000 sq. ft.
- Cost: $3.7M (plus cost of an enlarged collection)
 The new welcome desk. Click to view larger picture.
Return to Top
Genealogy Workshops Offered At The Library In May
 Poster for the Genealogy Program, click for larger version.
Learn from experts how to research your lineage at the Library during the month of May. At 7 p.m., on Tuesdays,
May 6, 13, 20, and 27, at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, a series of no-cost, two-hour programs, will explore different
aspects of genealogy research. Beginners are welcomed and experienced genealogists can get a refresher.
To register or for more information, call 415-2742.
Genealogy Workshop Schedule
- Tuesday, May 6
-
- 7 p.m. Introduction to Genealogy
- 8 p.m. Immigration and Naturalization Records
- Tuesday, May 13
-
- 7 p.m. Vital Records
- 8 p.m. United States Census Records
- Tuesday, May 20
-
- 7 p.m. African American Genealogy
- 8 p.m. Native American (Cherokee) Genealogy
- Tuesday, May 27
-
- 7 p.m. Using Original Records to Join an Heredity Society
- 8 p.m. Military Records
About Memphis Public Library & Information Center's Genealogy Department
The microfilm and print genealogy materials available at the Memphis Public Library & Information Center enable individuals
to research family history, and trace the movements of relatives, especially in the southeastern United States. The collection
includes more than 20,000 genealogy books. The History Department staff, with assistance from local volunteers, has collected
and indexed Shelby county marriage, death, probate, church, cemetery, and funeral home records to aide research.
Return to Top
Filmmaker And Author Willy Bearden Presents Library With Victorian Village Archive
 From left: Wayne Dowdy, history
department archivist, Keenon McCloy, director of libraries, Willy Beardon, and Thomas Jones, acting history department manager.
Click to view larger picture.
Extraordinary filmmaker, photographer, historian and author Willy Bearden presented the Memphis Public Library & Information
Center with an expansive photo archive of the historic Victorian Village neighborhood district recently. Built on the outskirts
of what was Memphis in the mid-1800's, Victorian Village was Memphis' first suburb-a Mecca for the prominent and wealthy. The
collection contains 1,500 digital photographs that capture, with intricate detail, the architecture and design that categorizes
an opulent era of Memphis' history.
The collection was carefully catalogued and organized for immediate use and presented to the director of libraries, Keenon
McCloy, acting history department manager, Thomas Jones and history archivist, Wayne Dowdy. Bearden is a regular customer of
the Memphis & Shelby County Room and has used the library's photo archive for his films. Bearden enthusiastically told a crowd
gathered for the event how his experience at the library inspired him to donate the photos. "My hope is that one day-maybe
50 years from now- some filmmaker will find what they need." The photo archive is available in the library's Memphis & Shelby
County Room.
Bearden has produced several Memphis-centric films: Visualizing the Blues, The Story of Cotton, A History of Memphis Garage
Bands, Overton Park, Elmwood Cemetery, Horn Island Journal, and Project 366.
Return to Top
CS Lewis Exhibit Featured At Central Library
 Poster for the CS Lewis Program, click for larger version.
Starting on Monday, May 12, the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library will host a C.S. Lewis Exhibit. This exhibit
will feature artifacts from the life of the man who wrote
Till We Have Faces,
The Great Divorce and his bestselling novel
The Chronicles of Narnia. Fans of the first Chronicles of Narnia movie will also get insight into
the soon-to-be-released
Prince Caspian, which is the second installment in the series.
Also on May 12, at 7 p.m., Dr. Harry L. Poe, a Professor of Faith and Culture at Union University, will have his collection
of Lewis first editions, letters and memorabilia on display. Dr. Poe will speak on the importance of Lewis' works to theological
and classical literature.
The exhibit will close on May 24th.
For more information, call 415-2700
Return to Top
Executive Director Of US Botanic Gardens Speaker For Library's Adult Enrichment Program
 Holly Shimizu, Executive Director of the United States Botanic Gardens. Click for larger picture.
Holly Shimizu, Executive Director of the United States Botanic Gardens, will bring her expertise on herbs
to audiences at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library on Saturday, May 17 at 9:30 a.m. According to Shimizu, it does not take
an expert to grow herbs. Home gardeners are also able to grow them. She will offer practical tips and give suggestions on how
audience members can use herbs for cooking, crafts and overall well being.
"Herbs are so important to our health," says Shimizu. "They offer fragrance, flavor, and most importantly,
they are plants we can use."
Shimizu's talk is a part of the library's Adult Enrichment series and is co-sponsored with the Memphis Herb Society. Admission
for Society members is $20. Admission for non-Society members is $25.
For ticket information, call Ann Waldon at 359-2849 or Pat Skaggs at 853-7731
Return to Top
Grizzlies Re-open Teen Reading and Learning Center at Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
The Memphis Grizzlies, Hilton Hotels Corporation
and the Memphis Public Library & Information Center are partnering to re-open a Grizzlies Teen Reading and Learning Center at
the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library on Tuesday, April 1 at 6:00 p.m. Grizzlies' guard/forward, Casey Jacobsen, will be at
the re-opening. Keenon McCloy, director of libraries, will speak. (Following the ceremony Jacobsen will be meeting with members
of the Grizzlies Book Club for a book discussion.)
The Reading and Learning center is a special space set aside for teens at the Central Library. The center had been temporarily
closed while the room was updated. New paint, graphics and furnishings, sponsored by the Hilton Hotels Corporation, give the
room a fresh new look.
The Grizzlies' Reading and Learning Centers serve as "read-in" locations for what has been dubbed the All-Star Reading Team.
All-Star Reading Team 'members' include Grizzlies players and their families, ownership and management, and local civic and
business leaders. This local effort is part of the NBA's league-wide initiative that encourages community youth to develop a
love for reading and promotes the value of literacy.
Return to Top
FOREIGN FILM SERIES CONTINUES AT THE LIBRARY
The Memphis Public Library & Information Center just released its schedule for the Spring 2008 Wider Angle
Film Series. Followers of the popular foreign cinema showcase can expect introspective and culturally astute offerings.
The showings are free and are held at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. Children under 17 will not be admitted without
a parent or guardian - these programs are intended for mature audiences only.
Check out www.filmmovement.com for more information and reviews about individual
films.
For more information about the film series, call the humanities department at 415-2726.
Wider Angle Film Series Schedule
- Wednesday, January 9, 7:00 p.m.
Dreams of Dust (French with English subtitles)
- This drama centers around a Nigerian peasant, Mocktar, who goes looking for work in a dusty gold mine in Essakane, Africa.
He quickly finds out, the gold rush ended twenty years before, and the inhabitants of the wasteland-of-a-town manage to exist
simply from force of habit. The beautiful Coumba, however, is still courageously struggling to raise her daughter after the
death of her family. Mocktar will soon be fighting not only to survive, but also to provide a better future for this mother
and her child.
- Wednesday, February 13, 7:00 p.m.
The Island (Russian with English subtitles)
- Somewhere in Northern Russia, in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives a very unusual man. His fellow-monks are confused
by his bizarre conduct. Those who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell
the future. However, he considers himself unworthy because of a sin he committed in his youth. The film is a parable, combining
the realities of Russian everyday life with monastic ritual and routine.
- Wednesday, March 12, 7:00 p.m.
Her name is Sabine (French with English subtitles)
- This documentary is an intelligent, moving and beautiful portrait of Sabine, a 38-year-old autistic woman, filmed by her
sister, the famous French actress Sandrine Bonnaire. Through personal footage filmed over a period of 25 years, it is revealed
that Sabine's growth and many talents were crushed by improper diagnosis and an inadequate care structure. After a tragic
five-year stay in a psychiatric hospital, Sabine finally finds a new lease on life in a home together with other young people
living with similar mental and emotional illnesses. This very intimate film also sends an urgent message to a society that
still does not know how to properly take care of its citizens with physical and psychological disabilities.
- Wednesday, April 9, 7:00 p.m.
The Way I Spent the End of the World (Romanian with English subtitles)
- Bucharest 1989 is the last year of the communist leader Ceausescu's dictatorship. Eva, 17, lives with her parents and
her 7 year-old brother Lalalilu. One day at school, Eva and her boyfriend accidentally break a bust of Ceausescu. They are
forced to confess their crime before a disciplinary committee. Eva is expelled from school and transferred to a reformatory
establishment. There she meets Andrei and decides to escape Romania with him. Lalalilu is more and more convinced that Ceausescu
is the main reason for Eva's decision to leave. So, with his friends from school, he devises a plan to kill the dictator.
- Wednesday, May 14, 7:00 p.m.
Fraulein (Swiss-German, German, Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian with English subtitles)
- A story of the friendship among three women from Yugoslavia. Reza left Belgrade more than 30 years ago to seek a new life
in Zurich. Now in her fifties, she has completely detached herself from the past. She owns a cafeteria and maintains an orderly,
joyless existence. Mila, a waitress there, is a good-humored Croatian woman who also emigrated decades ago. But unlike Reza,
Mila dreams of returning to a house on the Croatian coast. Both of them receive a jolt when Ana, a young, itinerant woman
who has fled Sarajevo, breezes into the cafeteria looking for work. Reza hires her but is annoyed by Ana's impulsive and spirited
efforts to inject life into the cafeteria. But the acrimony dissipates as Ana begins to thaw Reza's chill.
Return to Top
Second Editions, located next to Java Coast, off the Central Library's vestibule, is the place
to find library post cards or gently used books for sale at great bargain prices. Customers can purchase delicious hot and cold
beverages or snacks at Java Coast, then browse the varied selection available at Second Editions.
- Second Editions Hours
- Tuesday through Friday - Noon to 6:00 pm
- Saturday - Noon to 5:00 pm
- Closed Sunday and Monday
For more information about Second Editions, or to volunteer, call 415-2836.
Return to Top
COMPUTER CLASSES
The current Computer Classes schedule is available
here as an Adobe PDF
file. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is available here for free.
More information about the classes can be found on the Computer Classes page.
|
