TonieBoxes @ BPL

 

TonieBoxes are now available for check-out. What Is A Toniebox? The Toniebox is a digital audio player (screen-free) for children. This innovative toy uses audio storytelling to introduce pre-readers and developing readers to the wonders of narrative. The music and stories that come with each Tonie make a great supplement to playtime. 

The system combines songs and stories with a unique element of play in an intuitive and durable unit for children. It is the perfect first audio system for kids. It's easy to use, engaging, and best of all, a lot of fun! 

Tonies were created with the goal of creating a way for kids to experience storytelling in a digital age that stimulates their imagination in ways that a screen can't. It allows kids (and parents) to feel good about their entertainment at home and to bring back imagination in its purest form. The Toniebox was officially launched in Europe in 2016 and in the U.S.A. in 2020 and has rapidly become one of the top toys. 

Tonies will be available at various Birmingham Public Library locations starting with the Avondale Regional Public Branch Library (available now). Please check with your local BPL branch for more information and share your interest in having TonieBoxes at your local library.

Read more about TonieBoxes here.

Local Artists & Makers Wanted

 

Vendors call for the 1st ever BPL Summer Art Market! 

We are looking for local artists & makers to sell their handmade pieces at the Central Library on Saturday, June 8, from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. The market will be in the Grand Commons on the 1st floor of the Central library. 

To be a vendor, you must apply & later pay the $20.00 vendor fee if your application is accepted. Tables will be provided to vendors who request them. Applications close on Friday, May 3, & acceptance notices will be sent out by Friday, May 10. 

Use this link to apply! https://bit.ly/bplartmarktapp 

If you have more questions or are a food truck & would like to be a part, contact Librarian Weston Flippo at 205-226-3690 or weston.flippo@cobpl.org

Tax Help @ BPL

 

Free tax filing assistance for patrons through AARP and SaveFirst, a program from the nonprofit Impact America.  

All you have to do is make an appointment!

Gee's Bend Quilts

 

Assembly: Contemporary Gee's Bend Quilts is kicking off the Birmingham Public Library's Art for Everyone program, a series of art exhibitions slated to take place at Central Library this year. Assembly is currently on view in the Fourth Floor Gallery at the Central Library through February 24, 2024. 

For generations, women from the rural Black community of Boykin, Alabama (more commonly known as "Gee's Bend"), created critically acclaimed quilts from recycled work clothes and dresses, feed sacks, and fabric remnants. This exhibition features 30 quilts dating from 1975 to 2023 by 23 contemporary Gee's Bend artists who continue that tradition.

Featured Artists

* Loretta Pettway Bennett 

* Priscilla Hudson 

* Marlene Bennett Jones 

* Lue Ida McCloud 

* Polly Mooney Middleton 

* Sally Pettway Mixon 

* Cathy Mooney 

* Doris Pettway Mosely 

* Caster Pettway 

* Edwina Pettway 

* Emma Mooney Pettway 

* Katie Mae Pettway 

* Loraine Pettway 

* Mary Margaret Pettway

* Mensie L. Pettway 

* Quinnie Pettway 

* Stella Pettway 

* Tinnie Pettway 

* JoeAnn Pettway-West 

* Andrea Pettway Williams 

* Caroline Williams 

* Jemica Williams 

* Sharon Pettway Williams 

Assembly: Contemporary Gee’s Bend Quilts is curated by Paul Barrett. Margaret Splane is the organizing curator. 

The curators would like to thank Claudia Pettway Charley, Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders, Bessie Miller, Carrie Campbell, and the Friends Foundation of the Birmingham Public Library for their invaluable support of this exhibition. This exhibition has been made possible, in part, by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

To read more about Gee’s Bend and its quilters, please click on the following links…

From slavery to national fame: The Gee's Bend Quilts that changed modern arts

https://www.al.com/life/2023/12/from-slavery-to-national-fame-the-gees-bend-quilts-that-changed-modern-art.html 

Gee's Bend at Target: Store launches line of clothing, home goods linked to quilters

https://www.al.com/life/2024/01/gees-bend-at-target-store-launches-line-of-clothing-home-goods-linked-to-quilters.html

Gee’s Bend Quilts

 

Assembly: Contemporary Gee's Bend Quilts is kicking off the Birmingham Public Library's Art for Everyone program, a series of art exhibitions slated to take place at Central Library this year. Assembly is currently on view in the Fourth Floor Gallery at the Central Library through February 22, 2024. 

For generations, women from the rural Black community of Boykin, Alabama (more commonly known as "Gee's Bend"), created critically acclaimed quilts from recycled work clothes and dresses, feed sacks, and fabric remnants. This exhibition features 30 quilts dating from 1975 to 2023 by 23 contemporary Gee's Bend artists who continue that tradition.

Featured Artists

* Loretta Pettway Bennett 

* Priscilla Hudson 

* Marlene Bennett Jones 

* Lue Ida McCloud 

* Polly Mooney Middleton 

* Sally Pettway Mixon 

* Cathy Mooney 

* Doris Pettway Mosely 

* Caster Pettway 

* Edwina Pettway 

* Emma Mooney Pettway 

* Katie Mae Pettway 

* Loraine Pettway 

* Mary Margaret Pettway

* Mensie L. Pettway 

* Quinnie Pettway 

* Stella Pettway 

* Tinnie Pettway 

* JoeAnn Pettway-West 

* Andrea Pettway Williams 

* Caroline Williams 

* Jemica Williams 

* Sharon Pettway Williams 

Assembly: Contemporary Gee’s Bend Quilts is curated by Paul Barrett. Margaret Splane is the organizing curator. 

The curators would like to thank Claudia Pettway Charley, Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders, Bessie Miller, Carrie Campbell, and the Friends Foundation of the Birmingham Public Library for their invaluable support of this exhibition. This exhibition has been made possible, in part, by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

To read more about Gee’s Bend and its quilters, please click on the following links…

From slavery to national fame: The Gee's Bend Quilts that changed modern arts

https://www.al.com/life/2023/12/from-slavery-to-national-fame-the-gees-bend-quilts-that-changed-modern-art.html 

Gee's Bend at Target: Store launches line of clothing, home goods linked to quilters

https://www.al.com/life/2024/01/gees-bend-at-target-store-launches-line-of-clothing-home-goods-linked-to-quilters.html

Black History Month @ BPL

 

Over 80 programs happening across 16 BPL library branch locations this February. 

Celebrate Black History Month at the Birmingham Public Library this year with a variety of programs, like film screenings and art programs—including an art exhibition of contemporary Gee's Bend quilts!

This year's theme for Black History Month is African Americans and the Arts.

Links:

• List of all programs arranged in alphabetical order by library branch
• BPL Calendar 

21st Annual Memorial Lecture

 

Remember With Jefferson County Memorial Project: Reckoning With The Jim Crow South

Join JCMP Director, Gina Mallisham for a curative examination into Jefferson County's past and the efforts of many to memorialize our victims of racial terror violence.

More than 33 people were lynched in Jefferson County between 1883 and 1940, victims of racial terror in the segregated, postwar South. This was allowed by a national system of terror and oppression that local governments, the press, religious institutions, and businesses were complicit in upholding. These residents lived through slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the rise of Jim Crow. But their stories have mostly been lost. As we observe this societal movement to further civil and human rights, we invite you to remember them. 

As part of the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, each January the Birmingham Public Library Archives Department sponsors Begin the Day: The Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Lecture. Now in its twenty-first year, the King Lecture has featured civil rights activists, scholars, children’s book authors, and community leaders discussing civil rights history and contemporary human rights issues including immigrant rights, voting rights, human trafficking, and Islamophobia. 

When: January 13, 2024, 11 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.
Where: Central Library, 2100 Park Place

What: Begin the Day: The Twenty-first Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Lecture

Details: Free and open to the public.