On April 8 the Birmingham Public Library, in collaboration with The Birmingham Jewish Federation, will be hosting a program in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Michael Stolowitzky, a Polish survivor who now lives in New York, will be sharing his amazing account of his experience during the Holocaust. Michael was just three years old when war broke out and his family lost everything. His father, desperate to settle his business affairs, traveled to France, leaving Michael in the care of his mother and Gertruda Bablinska, a Catholic nanny devoted to the family. When Michael's mother had a stroke, Gertruda promised the dying woman that she would make her way to Palestine and raise him as her own.

In 2007 Israeli author Ram Oren recreated Michael's amazing journey in the book Gertruda's Oath. It is a story that transcends history and religion to reveal the compassion and hope that miraculously thrives in a world immersed in war.

Copies of Gertruda’s Oath will be for sale at the program.

Event: Discussion on Gertruda's Oath
Presenter: Michael Stolowitzky
Place: Central Library, Arrington Auditorium
Date: Monday, April 8
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Cost: Free and open to the public



A clip of Michael Stolowitzky's testimony in the Rescued by Righteous
Among the Nations series.


Links:
The International School for Holocaust Studies' book page for Gertruda's Oath
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/books/gertrudas_oath.asp

Teacher's Guide
http://www.randomhouse.com/book/124785/gertrudas-oath-by-ram-oren#reader%27sguide

Book trailer featuring Michael Stolowitzky 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llH7tiVFhKs&safe=active

Students from Tarrant performing at WORD UP! 2012
Young poets from high schools all over Jefferson County will add their voices to the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham. They will perform at the sixth annual WORD UP! student poetry slam on Sunday, April 7, at 3:00 p.m. in the Arrington Auditorium of the Central Library. Their poems will be inspired by photographs that document events that took place in Alabama a half century ago—many years before these students were born.

Justin Wright who attends the Jefferson County International Baccalaureate program will be representing Shades Valley High School at WORD UP!. He was the third place winner at last year’s WORD UP! In a recent article in Weld, he states, “For me, it (the photograph) created a feeling of more than just the event but of loss and hurt and frustration…I believe it is a good way to celebrate the Civil Rights Movement. We as teenagers are so far distanced from these events that we sometimes forget them, and this competition helps us to connect with it on a different and more personal level.”

The poets who will be competing at WORD UP! are the first and second place winners of contests held at their schools. This year, sixteen high schools will be participating at the slam. The contestants are scored by a panel of three judges both on the content and performance of their three-minute poems.

BPL is partnering with the non-profit creative writing organization Real Life Poets (RLP) to nurture the talents of these budding poets in a project we are calling “Flow Tactics.” Every first Saturday, RLP leads a workshop for teens from middle-school to high-school age. John Paul Taylor, director of RLP, observed that students get the opportunity to interact with people from other schools who they may not have had a chance to meet otherwise. And they discover they’re not the only ones who are interested in poetry.

Patrick Johnson, award-winner filmmaker and board member of RLP, observes that he has seen these young people really grow through their experience in the poetry workshops. He gives the example of one student who was extremely shy and reluctant to read her poetry out loud at first. But she gradually gained the confidence to voluntarily perform her work.

And these young poets get the opportunity to showcase what they’ve learned in the workshops at a monthly open mic event, Flow Tactics Teen Open Mic, held every third Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the YMCA Youth Center near Phillips Academy. The open mic is limited to high school age students. Though RLP facilitates these events, they are organized by the teens.

Although many of your friends might disagree, the internet consists of far more useful resources than the pictures of cats and the virulent political opinions that often clog your Facebook news feed.

In fact, there is quite a lot of useful information available on the web - not all of which is available through the databases and other resources offered by libraries.

This blog post will attempt to point patrons to a few useful websites that can save you some time or maybe even help you to keep a little more money in your pocket book. (Possibly a lot more money in your pocket book.) There is also a chance that some of the sites below may provide some information that will  help to improve the quality of your life.

Please leave a comment below if you have any additional suggestions.

Lifehacker
Lifehacker is a blog with the motto "Tips and downloads for getting things done." The site is updated eighteen times each weekday with posts (or "hacks") that can increase your daily productivity and improve the quality of your life. Lifehacker covers everything from finding a good doctor, brewing the perfect cup of coffee, and getting your home organized to handling a co-worker who slacks off, improving your ability to tell a story, and how to deal with negative people. It is definitely a website worth checking out on a regular basis.

Cool Tools
Cool Tools has been around for many years and is currently being curated by Boing Boing's founder Mark Frauenfelder. Cool Tools is simply a website in which its readers submit their favorite tools - which the website defines as "any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true." The site features categories (such as workshop, kitchen, vehicles, and gardens) that can help you identify new tools that may prove useful in your daily life. This is an especially useful website for coming up with gift ideas for the person that has everything.

AskMetaFilter
AskMetaFilter is a crowdsourcing forum in which members can pose questions that will be answered by  other members - or what the site refers to as the "hive mind." There are hundreds of really bright people that frequent the site and can answer (or provide suggestions) for all kinds of questions - in fact, I even consulted the site when putting together this blog post. Some of my favorite past questions from the site include: What are the most useful paper catalogs? What would MacGyver pack in his survial kit?  What single book is the best introduction to your field (or specialization within your field) for laypeople? There are also plenty of questions related to careers, travel, relationships, as well as financial matters on the site. Much of the site's usefulness can be found by conducting a search of previous questions (there are tens of thousands of them).

Coursera
Coursera is an amazing resource in which you can sign-up for free college classes from esteemed institutions of higher learning such as Duke, Stanford, Emory, and Yale. Four courses have recently been recommended as credit worthy by American Council on Education - so it may not be too long before you can get actual college credit for free courses taken online at the site. Participants can take courses in computer science, the humanities, engineering, economics, and mathematics. All courses include homework assignments as well as tests and participants will receive a grade for their efforts as well as a certificate of completion.

Instructables
Instructables is the ultimate do-it-yourself website. It offers step-by-step user-submitted guides for thousands of different projects that include building robots, arduino, making toys, building furniture, Star Wars projects, canning and preserving foods, and much, much more. They also present interesting contests for submitters - for example, there is currently a bacon themed contest in which all of the eligible submissions have bacon as a main ingredient in a recipe or as the theme of a project. This is a great resource for science projects and summer activities for kids as well as adding some great personal touches (or technologies!) to your home or apartment.

YouTube
Everyone is familiar with this website for its entertainment value, but are you aware that there a thousands of instructional videos on the site for everything from car repairs and building decks to make-up tutorials and hairstyling?  My secret to finding worthwhile instructional YouTube videos for repairs around your home is to seek out the tutorials that have been made by companies that sell replacement parts. I recently replaced the ignitor in my gas oven and this video made the installation a less than fifteen minute process (and I found the part cheaper from a different company than the one that created the video).

Also, a few honorable mentions: FlyLady, Wirecutter, Open Culture, One Good Thing, Get Rich Slowly, Ana White, Ubuweb, and Apartment Therapy.

Mero’e Rei
A “meet and greet the artist” event will be held on Saturday, April 6, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. in the Boardroom on the fourth floor of the Central Library. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibition Afri-Spiritus Sembler: Diasporic Art Work displayed in Central Library's Fourth Floor Gallery will run from April 2-May 10.

Mero’e Rei had an interest in art from an early age and began producing works of art as a teenager. His love for jazz, blues, and gospel serves as the inspiration for many of his pieces. His interest in African cave and rock art has inspired his later works. Rei has shown extensively in both solo and group exhibitions.

Rei is a native of the southern region of Alabama near Mobile. He graduated from high school in Birmingham, Alabama, then attended the University of Alabama where he studied ceramics, sculpture, and printmaking. He later received his B.A. at the State University of New York. Rei is retired from the Office of Personnel Management of the United States Federal Government. He also served in the United States Navy as a medical corpsman. He gave many years as a clergyman in the Alabama West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. In his spare time, he studied art in galleries and museums in Spain and the Middle East.

Artist Statement:
“My art is a visual study of Jazz music… inspired by the African spiritual diaspora transmuted with connection to ancient and modern elders. These inclinations are visualized in intrinsic colors, organic forms and spontaneous rhythmic patterns, utilizing fresco and a mixture of mediums as ebbing tides and flowing waves of colors emanating from my life force and internal representations. My style of work contains Color Field, Gestural and Lyrical Abstract Expressions.”

Visit the artist’s website for more information: www.meroerei.com.

To purchase prints of the artist’s paintings, go to: 2-meroe-rei.fineartamerica.com.

Birmingham Public Library’s (BPL) popular Bards & Brews poetry performance/beer tasting series will travel to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on Friday, April 5, 2013. The Gardens are located at 2612 Lane Park Road. Usually held the first Friday of each month, the April Bards & Brews will be a SLAM—first place winner gets $200, and second place winner $100. The festivities start at 6:30 p.m. in the lovely outdoor setting of the Hill Garden with live music, and poetry performances start at 7:00. In case of inclement weather, the event moves inside to Strange Auditorium. Emcee Brian “Voice Porter” Hawkins will deftly guide both novice and veteran poets through an evening of verse with topics that run the gamut from romantic relationships to the local political scene.

Craft beer will be available for sampling courtesy of Birmingham’s own Cahaba Brewing Company, and light refreshments will be served. Attendees must be 18 years or older to be admitted, and 21 years or older to be served. IDs will be checked.

Bards & Brews is usually held on the first Friday of the month at various locations around town. Look for us on May 3, 2013 at the Avondale Regional Library located at 509 40th Street South. Check out the Bards & Brews page on Facebook for more information. This program is made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts

Flow Tactics Teen Poetry Workshop for grades 6-12 is held the first Saturday of every month, 2:00-4:00 p.m., in the Youth Department Story Castle at Central Library. April's workshop is scheduled for Saturday, April 6.
John Paul Taylor of Real Life Poets, Inc. is the coordinator. For more information, call Taylor at 585-8271 or email him at johnpaul@reallifepoets.org.

Origin
Jessica Khoury

There are many Young Adult books that address the idea of dystopia (a futuristic world that is dehumanizing, think opposite of utopia), and they have become increasingly popular after The Hunger Games became a huge hit. Origin contains echoes of that series but also of 1984 (the main character is watched and studied at all times, like Big Brother) and of Brave New World (science is used to manipulate, control, and excuse wrongdoing).

Pia is a teenager who knows her purpose in life, to live forever and join a team of scientists in creating more like her, immortals who will never die. The key to this mystery is a plant that grows in the amazon, which in combination with a secret element that has yet to be revealed to Pia, will bring everlasting life.

All her life Pia has been sheltered from the outside world in a small laboratory compound in the Amazon. She knows nothing and no one beyond the group of scientists who live in the compound and what they have taught her from birth. Then one day she finds a break in the fence surrounding her compound and meets Eio who is everything a girl could want: good-looking, sweet, and crazy about Pia. The only problem is that he is not immortal like her, so if she allows herself to fall for him, she will live on beyond him, and fail the calling for which she was created. Eio introduces her to the people of a nearby village, and Pia begins to question her tiny, perfect, scientific world, and longs to have what other humans have: culture and connection.

Origin looks at the difference between the many and the few, and the way that science should or should not be used to hurt a few for the “good “of the many. It also brings up questions about what it means to be human thus flawed and breakable vs. “perfect” rational, and immortal.

I think readers will find Origin to be a fun, fast paced read. It pulls the plot along quickly and does not develop characters very deeply, but it does ask some interesting questions while supporting an unusual coming-of-age love story.

Submitted by Ashley Hulsey Coutch
Smithfield Library

1, 2, 3 Play with Me is now happening at the North Birmingham Regional Library and the Five Points West Regional Library!
Playing with your baby is not only important for bonding, but it is also a great educational experience for your child. Several branches of the Birmingham Public Library are currently providing a special time and place for you to spend some one-on-one time with your child. The five week program is intended for children between birth and 3 years of age and their parents and/or caregivers. BPL has partnered with Family Place Libraries and Junior League of Birmingham in order to bring this event to our community.
We will have toys, books, and art activities just for you and your child. We have also invited special guests from the community to join us each week to answer your questions about parenting and your child’s health. Remember: you are your child’s first teacher. 1, 2, 3 Play with Me is an opportunity for you and your child to play and learn TOGETHER.
1, 2, 3 Play with Me is a winning program. You win by spending time with your child. Your child wins by spending time with you. 

As a special treat for you and your child, we will also have a giftcard giveaway at each location's session. That's right, you can really win for bringing your child to play and learn at BPL.


1, 2, 3 Play with Me will be at the following locations & times:

Five Points West Regional Library
March 26th - April 23rd
Every Tuesday
10 AM


North Birmingham Regional Library
March 27th - April 24th
Every Wednesday
10 AM

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things
Lenore Look

Second-grader, Alvin Ho, is afraid of everything. Not just the normal kid stuff that you would expect. He’s afraid of elevators, heights, the dark, scary movies, girls (of course), and school most of all. Poor Alvin is so scared of school that when he’s there, he becomes mute. He has his own special ways of coping with his fear; most notable is his PDK, or Personal Disaster Kit. He packs it full of plans and supplies should the worst finally come to pass. His tablemate, a girl named Flea, does all of his speaking for him by reading his eyes, but that still doesn’t make Alvin’s life any easier. Readers get a glimpse into the world of bright, shy, and inventive Alvin as he learns to cope with the stress school, family, friends, and growing up.

In the world of beginning chapter books, outspoken and mischievous girls like Junie B., Judy Moody, and Ivy and Bean rule the roost; it is great to see a compelling series with an introspective Asian-American boy like Alvin. A lot of kids are shy; this book shows kids that it’s alright to be scared and uncertain sometimes (or in Alvin’s case, all the time). The illustrations throughout the book are lighthearted and add a lot of humor and depth to the characters. It’s stuffed full of funny and touching scenes that make it great for kids just graduating to chapter books or a great read-aloud for parents and teachers.

Submitted by Mollie Harrison
Springville Road Library

Birmingham Public Library’s (BPL) popular Bards & Brews poetry performance/beer tasting series will travel to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on Friday, April 5, 2013. The Gardens are located at 2612 Lane Park Road. Usually held the first Friday of each month, the April Bards & Brews will be a SLAM—first place winner gets $200, and second place winner $100. The festivities start at 6:30 p.m. in the lovely outdoor setting of the Hill Garden with live music, and poetry performances start at 7:00. In case of inclement weather, the event moves inside to Strange Auditorium. Emcee Brian “Voice Porter” Hawkins will deftly guide both novice and veteran poets through an evening of verse with topics that run the gamut from romantic relationships to the local political scene.

Craft beer will be available for sampling courtesy of Birmingham’s own Cahaba Brewing Company, and light refreshments will be served. Attendees must be 18 years or older to be admitted, and 21 years or older to be served. IDs will be checked.

Bards & Brews is usually held on the first Friday of the month at various locations around town. Look for us on May 3, 2013, at either Avondale Park OR the Avondale Regional Library located at 509 40th Street South (location TBD—stay tuned). Check out the Bards & Brews page on Facebook for more information. This program is made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts

John Paul Taylor Award-winning poet and community activist John Paul Taylor will lead free adult poetry workshops on the first Tuesday of every month from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Gifts of a Wordsmith will take place in the Story Castle on the second floor of Central Library. The next workshop is scheduled for April 2.

The class will cover how to get your thoughts down on paper, overcoming writer's block, copyright issues, self-publishing, how to perform, and more. The Friends of the Birmingham Public Library funds the workshops.

Taylor is one of the founders of Real Life Poets, a nonprofit creative writing program based in Birmingham. This summer he presented two workshops as part of BPL's adult summer reading program. Participants enjoyed the adult classes so much that they wanted to see them continue.

"We offered it this summer and the people wanted it back. That's why I wanted to do it,'' Taylor said. "We know it works. But it's cool when your community says, 'This is valuable.'''

For more information on the adult poetry class, contact Taylor at johnpaul@reallifepoets.org or 205-585-8271. The Real Life Poets website is www.reallifepoets.org. The BPL contact is Haruyo Miyagawa, 205-226-3670. Her email address is hm@bham.lib.al.us.

Phil (C) Bill Deeley (R)
Before you even say it, I know that Groundhog Day was almost two months ago.  Why talk about it now?  On Tuesday morning, nearly a week since the official beginning of spring, the wind chill in Birmingham was in the 20s. I thought winter was over, especially since I live in the South.  So what about Groundhog Day?  On February 2nd, Punxsutawney Phil predicted that we would have an early spring.  Butler County (OH) prosecutor Mike Gmoser was so incensed by an impending snowstorm in his county last week that he filed an indictment against Phil for the offense of misrepresentation of early spring.  Bill Deeley, president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, came forward to take the blame for the inaccurate prediction, stating that he incorrectly interpreted Phil's prediction.  The prosecutor later dropped the charges.

You may ask yourself, with modern technology and so many well-educated meteorologists, why are we depending on rodents to predict our weather?  Good question.  I don't want to cheat you out of the opportunity to read about the history for yourself, but I will tell you that the idea of animal behavior as a forecast for early spring goes back to the Middle Ages.  Punxsutawney Phil has been on the scene since 1887, however the Phil that made this year's prediction is not the same Phil who predicted the weather back then.  The notion of a vampire groundhog predicting weather for centuries is kind of cool, though.  Maybe someone can develop that into a screenplay. 

Where does all this leave our weather in Birmingham?  Over the weekend, we should get back to our average temperatures for this time of year.  Next week, though, the forecast shows upper 50s and lower 60s.  As long as I'm not facing popsicle status trying to walk from my car, I can handle below average temperatures. I'm no meteorologist, but I predict Birmingham will shift directly from winter temperatures to summer temperatures.  I hope the county prosecutor doesn't indict me if I'm wrong.

• Groundhog Day
• The Groundhog Day Book of Facts and Fun
• Groundhog Weather School
• Groundhogs: Woodchucks, Marmots, and Whistle Pigs
• It's Groundhog Day!

President of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle - See more at: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/punxsutawney-phil-handler-responds-to-indictment-takes-responsib/#sthash.f68gbZoM.dpufThe prosecutor later dropped the charges.

Your help is urgently needed to ensure that poetry survives and thrives! Between now and May 5, the Birmingham Public Library hopes to raise $7,000 to nurture an ever-growing number of teens who are passionate about poetry. We'd like to fulfill a dream to send a team of Birmingham-area youth to the Brave New Voices (BNV) international poetry competition this August. BNV has never seen a team from the state of Alabama--we can't let this situation continue!

Your tax-deductible gift will also fund a twelve-month series of poetry writing/performance workshops and open mic events for teens in the Birmingham metropolitan area led by the non-profit creating writing group Real Life Poets. Whatever amount you can afford will be appreciated.

At WORD UP!, the annual poetry slam for Jefferson County high schoolers, these young people have proven they have what it takes. Now these teens are ready to take on a much bigger stage. So help them get to Brave New Voices in Chicago this August. And help many more young people gain writing and public speaking skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

Visit the Library WishList page and donate today!

We assist many of our BPL patrons with the how-tos in the use of their downloadable devices to read or listen to our free e-books/audiobooks. While doing so many often ask if we have African American authors in our collection. The quick answer is yes, we have many. We are then asked for a list of those authors. This is not as simple as it seems, especially given the authors’ varied subject matter and vastness of the Jefferson County Library Cooperative African American downloadable collection. We have some African American authors who have only a few titles in our e-books/audiobooks downloadable collection, and others whose titles are quite a bit more significant—some have as many as thirty titles in our downloadable collection. Narrowing the focus to a few is very difficult. So I have simply chosen to identify some of those African American fiction writers for which we have a significant number of titles and many patron requests:

Rochelle Alers ● Vanessa Davis Griggs ● Mary Monroe Adrianne Byrd ● E. Lynn Harris ● Mary B. Morrison Wahida Clark ● Donna Hill ● Toni Morrison Pearl Cleage ● Brenda Jackson ● Noire Eric Jerome Dickey ● Beverly Jenkins ● Kimberla Lawson Roby Gwynne Forster ● Lutishia Lovely ● Carl Weber
Also, although downloadable accessibility has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years, there are still many titles that publishers have not made available in downloadable format. A good example of this can be seen when we look at popular authors such as Gwyneth Bolton, Terry McMillan, Nikki Turner, and Zane. Although we have numerous titles in physical books and audiobooks, many of their titles and those of other African American authors might not be available in downloadable form yet.

Lastly, as previously stated, we have many more African American authors aside from the above list, many of whom write non-fiction, as well.

Please go to our downloadable website to determine if a particular author you might be interested in is available.

This just touches the surface of the African American authors we have with our downloadable collection, but hopefully this will give you a small idea of what we have to offer. As usual, if you need any help with your downloadables, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 226-3600.

NOTE: Karyn Davis-West will be conducting four instructional classes in April on how to download e-books and audiobooks from the collection. Click here for dates and times.

Submitted by Karyn Davis-West
Information/Circulation Department
Central Library

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
by Jon Meacham

Thomas Jefferson was given many gifts: wealth, in the form of plantations and slaves, vast natural talents, education, health, powerful family connections, a capacity for hard work, a nose for the main chance and the political savvy to take it. Of all our great men, we know most and least of Jefferson. Great volumes treat pieces or summarize. Thomas Jefferson, The Art of Power is a portrait of Jefferson, the political theorist and working politician who, by intent, became a world historical figure.

Jefferson’s father, Peter, was a renowned frontiersman in the early 1700s. He was given great tracts of land for surveying the Virginia-North Carolina border, a feat when one imagines surveying a straight line several hundred miles long through the wild forest mountains and swamps. And that’s the delight of this Jefferson biography. The characters and the scenes come to life. One can imagine Jefferson sitting by the sunny window of his corner office in the White House, his pet mockingbird, Dick, perched on his shoulder singing, his red roses and geraniums in pots on the sill, humming along as he worked through the federal correspondence twelve hours a day (he read and corrected all federal paperwork).

Even more wondrously, Jon Meacham, the author, brings Jefferson’s voice back to life. One can hear Jefferson’s amusement and the subtle ironies and wit of his voice, see the lift of an eyebrow and his warmth as we read his passages, framed by Meacham’s writing. The influence of Laurence Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman on Jefferson’s writing is unmistakable. He carried the book with him always.

Peter Jefferson died when young Tom was fourteen. At sixteen Tom, already proficient in Latin, Greek, French, and Spanish, went to William and Mary College in Williamsburg, studied eight hours from dawn, ran a couple of miles, raced horses (he always kept fine horses) and went to the Governors palace for evenings of music, wine, and conversation. A teen, he was already at the center of power, an intimate of the acting royal governor, Francis Fauquir, the colony’s leading attorney, George Wyeth and his cousin, Payton Randolf, Speaker of Virginia’s House of Burgesses.

By his mid-twenties Jefferson, a young lawyer, was a member of the Burgesses, and already patriarch of an extended clan which included his own young family, his widowed sister’s family, and his father-in-law’s enslaved concubine’s family, the Hemings. All of this he risked, in 1774, with his first state paper, his Summary View of the Rights of British America, a brilliant declaration of human rights, treasonous to the British. In 1776 he was young (32), rich, famous, and admired as he entered the Continental Congress in Philadelphia and wrote his immortal Declaration.

Jefferson’s political acumen failed him in the military disaster of the 1881 British invasion of Virginia, during the last days of his governorship of that state. Lessons learned from his failings paid handsome dividends for the US during his presidency, twenty years hence. Following the death of his beloved wife in 1883 (He and Patty wrote out passages from Tristram Shandy for each other, from memory, as she lay dying), he became the American minister in Paris and began his French adventure, A jewel of the Parisian salons, he built upon his international renown, had an affair of the heart (at least) with a beautiful Anglo-Italian matron, educated his daughters, discharged his ministerial duties, negotiated loans for the US, collected seeds of useful plants, helped LaFayette shape the Declaration of the Rights of Man and began his intimate relationship with Sally Hemings, his deceased wife’s fifteen-year-old half-sister.

In Meacham’s telling, we see one scene of their relationship, about which so little is yet known. Jefferson was set to return to the US. Sally was pregnant with his child and did not want to leave France, where she was free. She had learned French and she was not alone; Jefferson had brought her enslaved brother to France to be trained as a chef. And, so, began a political negotiation, wherein Jefferson, unusually, was at a disadvantage. She would return to the US, if he would free her children at age twenty-one, which he did. On returning to the US, Patsy Jefferson, Thomas’s daughter, barely older than Sally Hemings, married her cousin Thomas Mann Randolf. One suspects she felt displaced from her father’s affections by her enslaved half-aunt. Four of Sally Hemings’ and Thomas Jefferson’s children survived to become adults, and be freed.

As Jefferson moved in political circles within the Washington administration, as our first Secretary of State, he was often accused of hypocrisy. Jefferson never disagreed with anyone to their face. He judged it never did any good. If someone made ten points, he picked out the one he could agree with and left the others aside. His listeners often believed he had agreed with many of their other nine points, and were surprised to learn, from others, that he did not. (He also gave few speeches, believing they did little good for the speaker). But the larger hypocrisy, widely discussed, was for planters like Jefferson to be leading advocates for democratic rights, accusing others, who had no slaves, of championing hereditary rights and monarchy. How was it that a world famous champion for democracy and universal human rights continued to be a slave owner? Meacham’s book does not fully answer that question, but one is given fresh insights. Jefferson had extraordinary abilities of command and great talent. He did not need slaves and plantations to be rich. He was well aware of the evils of slavery, the danger slavery would create for the nation and said so, if not often, regularly. Given his strength of will, and his extraordinary capacity for self-awareness we must conclude that Jefferson was the man he wanted to be, a Virginia planter, a slave-owner and a powerful advocate for democracy and human rights, and he was not personally torn by the contradictions. Meacham’s portrait is that of a happy man who enjoyed political struggle and was good at it. His cause was a powerful, enduring democratic republic.

The continental (Atlantic to Pacific) power of the United States and its democratic institutions, and its ambivalence about African-American rights, are largely the result of Jefferson’s vision and his work shaping our political and governing structures. The lesson learned from his want of boldness during the British invasion of Virginia informed his bold purchase of the Louisiana Territory during the brief period when it was on offer from Napoleon, thus setting into motion the US westward expansion. He did not have authority to so fundamentally change the nature of the young nation, by doubling its size, and did not have time for permission, so he acted, bought the territory for 3 cents an acre and gained approval afterwards. The New England-based federalists were overwhelmed by the popularity of his actions. Capitalizing on this diplomatic and political victory he sent his personal secretary, Meriweather Lewis, and his friend William Clark, Virginians, west to lay claim to the Pacific northwest for our young country. Jefferson’s political victory and that of his party were complete. .And by the end of his presidency his party controlled three fourths of congress and discussion of returning to British monarchical forms was ended. He had formed what is now the oldest political party in the world and his direct political successors included three two-term presidents (Madison, Monroe and Jackson) and presidents Van Buren and Polk.

Our popular image of Jefferson is that of a mild-mannered courteous man, architect, gardener, statesman. But Meacham shows us other aspects of his personality. He was an avid outdoorsman, who loved hunting, He always carried a gun and could kill game at 30 yards with his pistol. He always fished and would go fishing with Washington and his friend Madison. He rode for hours every day and famously disdained the cold and wet. His even temper was, in part, enabled by his complete command of his household. He was a patriarch with exacting standards and was always obeyed by slaves, servants, laborers, daughters and grandchildren. He was known to wipe the flanks of his horses with a white handkerchief and, if they were not perfectly clean, the horses were sent back to the stables. The portrait we see in Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power is that of a happy man, not at all oppressed by his ideals, a robust, witty man who knew how to please himself and command others, who lived a grand life of his making.

(Audio versions of this title are also available from the library in formats including CD and Downloadable. Edward Herrmann, the Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor, is the reader and his treatment is both vibrant and engaging. Should you choose either of the audio formats, be sure to check out the print edition as well. The historic illustrations and the documentation are not to be missed.)

Submitted by David Blake
Fiction Department
Central Library

How The Irish Saved Civilization
Thomas Cahill

As someone who is part Irish, I’m embarrassed to say that I’m not well-versed in Irish history. That’s why I wanted to read this book. That, and the fact that many people over the years, some of them Irish-American, have strongly recommended it to me (one even chided me).

Thomas Cahill is well-positioned to do the job of explaining to the masses the crucial part the Irish played in saving Western Civ. A former academic, he now makes his living by writing. So he has the chops and the incentive to write plainly for the average educated reader. The fact that his writing is often inspiring is a bonus.

You don’t have to be Irish to get a charge out of How The Irish Saved Civilization. Because, as Cahill so eloquently shows, the Irish actually did in the Middle Ages save the West, which means that all residents of the Western world (and by extension, the planet, in this Westernized present) owe them an enormous debt. After Rome fell to the barbarians, civil life in Europe (i.e., the Classical heritage of Rome) was decimated. Learning, science, literacy, art, architecture, engineering, plumbing, legal principles—the whole lot, and far more, took a nosedive. By a series of twists, turns and sheer blooming luck, that heritage ended up almost totally in the hands of the Irish, a people whose land the Romans and the barbarians had shown very little interest in because it was considered so worthless, so beyond the radar. The Irish didn’t just warehouse it, though. They preserved it, engaged it, re-charged it. Then they sent it back to Europe, which was truly a Dark Continent by this time.

It’s not as though no one knew about all this. But Cahill’s skill is in taking it out of the academy and bringing it to a general audience, thereby kicking down some of what he calls the bulwark of Anglo-American dominated history, which has very seldom acknowledged the importance of Ireland. Now we can all learn about this tradition, from Skellig Michael, to a flexible, non-Puritanical, women- and nature-affirming Christianity, to Green Martyrdom, to new insights on a young Romanized Briton slave called Patricius, better known as St. Patrick. (By the way, the Irish were the first European country to do away with slavery.) There’s the paradox of a people who converted en masse to Christianity but who kept some of their pagan Celtic customs (pretty wild ones, too). It’s an account of a people enraptured with learning, writing, calligraphy, book arts. And committed to nature, joy and justice. (It wasn’t all sweetness and light- Cahill accounts for that, too.

On a very few occasions, Cahill overstates, as when he says, “in four centuries between Paul and [Saint] Patrick there are no missionaries.” That’s true of Europe, but not true of the churches in the East. But, on the whole, the book is convincing.

Eventually, the barbarians would destroy almost all of this Ireland, and Vatican control would greatly diminish its spiritual distinctiveness, but the Irish would start to revive their golden age in the 19th century. Cahill shows just how much of the Celtic civilization there is yet to learn about and revive. John Scotus, for one, gets my vote.

Submitted by Richard Grooms
Fiction Department
Central Library

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 Pic taken from Slice's Facebook. The proceeds will go to benefit young poets in the Birmingham area, in a program called "Flow Tactics" Poetry and Performance Workshops. So while you’re enjoying some of the restaurant's many menu choices, you can feel satisfied that BPL will benefit from your patronage. 

One of BPL's patrons enjoying a meal at Slice (see her mother Rachel C.'s great review here.) 
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We hope you will take this opportunity to host a pizza party at your office or for your kids, friends and family. The deal is also good on carry-out orders.  
If you're planning a larger order, please call ahead of time to avoid a delay. The fine folks at Slice have supported BPL programs for some time now and we do indeed "heart" them for it. 

As you can see from the above picture, their stone cooked pizza is really enough to make the angels sing, so we know you'll both enjoy the meal and the good its doing for BPL. 
  
Thank you for all your support and especially for helping us Raise Dough on April 9th. 



Slice Birmingham will be open Tuesday, April 9th, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The restaurant is located in Bham's gorgeous Lakeview District at 725 29th St. South (35223).
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If you'd like to donate for the Flow Tactics teen poetry workshops independently, you may do so here.

All Birmingham Public Library locations will be closed on Friday, March 29, for Good Friday; and Sunday, March 31, for Easter.

BPL will be open Saturday, March 30, for regular operating hours.

The increased use of electronic books and audiobooks and the devices used to play them has a number of library visitors anxious to get on board, but not exactly certain how to make that leap onto the platform! Potential users are often faced with a myriad of concerns ranging from how to get started, to getting the e-book onto the e-reader. For many potential users, this is still uncharted territory that many do not want to face alone.

In April, the Birmingham Public Library (BPL) will host a 90-minute class designed to move folks in the right direction. The library offers thousands of free e-books and audiobooks for members to download and checkout. This training will teach attendees how to checkout and download material from the library’s downloadable site to a computer and/or reading and listening device. The Central Library’s computer lab will be used for training, and staff will be on hand to demonstrate popular devices. Led by BPL librarian Karyn Davis, the training is scheduled to take place in the Regional Library Computer Center (RLCC) on the fourth floor in the Linn Henley Research Library.

Training dates:
Thursday, April 11, 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 18, 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 20, 12:00 p.m.
Monday, April 22, 6:00 p.m.

The classes are free and open to the public. However, space is limited and reservations are required. Please call (205) 226-3600 to reserve your space today.

The Regional Library Computer Center April computer class schedule is now available, and registration is open to the public for the free courses. Please note that class times have been changed to 10:30 am – 12:30 pm.
In addition to the basic core course (which consists of Keyboarding, Basic PC, and Basic Internet), we are offering classes teaching email, introduction to social media software, and Microsoft Office 2010 programs. Here are descriptions of the classes offered in April: Keyboarding: This beginner class is designed for people who have not had formal training in keyboarding. It is intended to introduce you to the basics of working with the computer keyboard and the mouse. Participants need not have any previous computer experience to take this course.  Basic PC: This beginner class introduces people to the computer: basic PC terms, components, hardware, peripherals, desktop features, etc. Participants need not have any previous computer experience to take this course.  Basic Internet: This beginner class introduces people to the history of the Internet, how to access and surf the Web, what web browsers are, what search engines are available, and basic search methods. Participants need to have taken Keyboarding and Basic PC or have some PC, mouse, and keyboarding experience to take this course.  Email Workshop: This intermediate class is a practical workshop which helps people set up email accounts and learn to maneuver their way through email browsers. While there are many different email services available, we have chosen to work with Gmail and Yahoo! Mail, because they are free and are two of the more popular email services available. Participants need to have taken Keyboarding, Basic PC, and Basic Internet or have some PC, mouse, keyboarding, and Internet experience to take this course. This class roster is FULL. Registration will no longer be taken. Microsoft Word 2010 (Parts 1, 2, & 3): This intermediate class introduces people to Word 2010, a word processing application that is part of the Microsoft Office suite. This version of Word uses the new interface that was introduced in Word 2007. Even if you’ve used Word before, it will help to familiarize yourself with the interface, since there are significant differences from the older versions. Because Microsoft Word 2010 has many components, the entire course will be taught in three parts. We recommend participants to take all three parts. Participants need to have taken Keyboarding and Basic PC or have some PC, mouse, and keyboarding experience to take this course. Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 (Parts 1 & 2): This advanced class introduces people to PowerPoint 2010. This presentation software allows you to create dynamic slide presentations that may include animation, images, videos, music, and more. Unlike previous versions, this version provides a base to create slides, demos, and presentations at a more professional level. Participants need to have taken Keyboarding and Basic PC or have some PC, mouse, and keyboarding experience to take this course. It is recommended that participants take Microsoft Word 2010 prior to taking this course.  It is also recommended that participants take both parts of the course. Microsoft Excel 2010 (Parts 1 & 2): This advanced class introduces people to Microsoft Excel 2010, a spreadsheet software in the Microsoft 2010 Office Suite. Excel allows you to store, manipulate, and analyze data in organized workbooks for home and business tasks. You can use Excel to keep up with inventory, budgets, bookkeeping, contact lists, etc. Participants need to have taken Keyboarding and Basic PC or have some PC, mouse, and keyboarding experience to take this course. It is recommended that participants take Microsoft Word 2010 prior to taking this course.  It is also recommended that participants take both parts of the course. Introduction to Social Media – TWITTER: The April Social Media class will focus on TWITTER. This advanced class introduces people to the history, elements, and software used in social media interactions.  This class focuses on the three most popular social media software: Pinterest,Twitter, and Facebook. Participants need to have taken Keyboarding, Basic PC, and Basic Internet or have some PC, mouse, keyboarding, and Internet experience to take this course. An email account is needed for this class.
UPDATE 3/25/2013: The following courses are now FULL:

• Keyboarding (April 1)
• Basic PC (April 2)
• Basic Internet (April 3)
• Word 2010 Part 1 (April 8)
• Word 2010 Part 2 (April 9)
• Email Workshop (April 17)
• Excel 2010 Part 1 (April 22)
• Excel 2010 Part 2 (April 24)

Registration will no longer be taken for these sessions.

Submitted by Farah A. Ferguson
Public Computer Services Central Library