April "Roarin' Reads" Blog

 

The March Madness Books at DPL is down to the final matchup. You have until Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 6:00pm to vote for your favorite. The contenders for the top spot are: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt or The Maid by Nita Prose.  Vote outside the Marketing and Outreach office to help decide the winner.

April is National Poetry Month and we will be celebrating it this month with more passive activities for patrons tied to the display case presentations starting Friday, April 5th. Pick up a poem to give someone on “Poem in your Pocket” Day on April 18^th.  Take part in the poetry BINGO to read more poetry this month. Test your knowledge of famous American poems by answering the trivia questions based on the display cases.  If none of those activities entice you to read poetry, come to the FYI Series kick-off event,  American Poetry: The Pulse of a Nation with Harry Moore on Wednesday, April 17^th at 12 noon in the Community Room to learn more about American poets and poetry throughout our history.

With all of the emphasis on poetry, you might think the April task would be to read an American poet; but you would be wrong! If you attend the program and do one of the activities, you can earn an extra place in the drawing for the level you qualify for at the end of the challenge. 

The April task for the Adult Reading Challenge is to read a book with the word JAZZ in the title. April is not only National Poetry month, it is also Jazz Appreciation Month. We think poetry and jazz complement each other in swinging style and you should try both this month.

Happy Reading!

March "Roarin' Reads" Blog

 

March Madness is being hosted at Decatur Public Library this year! Only we’re not trying to predict the winner in College Basketball, we’re finding the most popular books for adults and juveniles.

We started with 32 of the most checked out titles for adults and juveniles and need your votes to see which titles come out on top.

The display cases as you come into the library hold the titles that are in contention for the best book this year. The cases at our 6th Avenue entrance hold the adult titles, and the juvenile titles are in the cases on the Cherry Street side of the library.

You can pick up a ballot outside the Youth Services Room for the juvenile competition, while the adult ballots are outside the Marketing and Outreach office.

The first round of voting is from Friday, March 1st, through Thursday, March 7th. The new ballot – with the 16 winners advancing to the next round, will be available on Friday, March 8th. 

If you are taking part in the Adult Reading Challenge, the March task is to read one of the titles on the adult ballot. Pick one title from the original 32 titles.

Be sure to vote each week for your favorite!

Happy Reading!

February "Roarin' Reads" Blog

 

The Adult Reading Challenge for 2024 kicked-off on Sunday, January 28^th. If you are interested in participating this year, details can be found at www.myDPL.org/ARC .

The theme this year is the 1920s or the decade that was known as the Roaring Twenties. Not everything you read has to be set in the 1920s, but most of the clues and tasks are inspired by life during the twenties.

We encourage anyone 18 and over who enjoys a challenge or just wants to jazz up their reading this year to take the challenge. See Rhonda or Stephanie in the Marketing and Outreach office to learn more or to sign up. Our schedule changes to accommodate events and programs, so please call 256-340-5780 or email us at stephrhonda@myDPL.org before you come by to make sure we are in the office to help you.

The February task for the Adult Reading Challenge is to read a Black American Poet to celebrate Black History Month.  Double points if you read a book of poetry by an author from the Harlem Renaissance. (Yes, you still have to read another book to complete the clue for Harlem Renaissance.)

Happy Reading!

November "ReAD, WHITE, & BLUE" Blog

 

November is here and with it some fall weather finally!  It’s a great excuse to snuggle up with  a fuzzy blanket, a warm drink, and a good book to spend some quality time reading.  Decatur Public Library has lots of choices when it comes time to pick out the book for your reading retreat. If you prefer an actual book check out the new book shelves beside the staircase or peruse the book river on the catalog or the website.  You can search for books to read at any time with the catalog, even if we are not open. If you find a book you really want to read, place a hold on it, even if it’s 2am. Once our staff get to work the next morning, they will pull that book for you, place it on the hold shelf and email or text you to let you know it is ready for you to pick up at your convenience.

You can also find some great eBooks to read on the  hoopla and Libby apps. If you are looking for a certain title in eBook or eAudiobook, don’t forget to check both apps. They have a few cross-over titles but they have access to different publishers and so a title you don’t find on one platform is often available on the other one. These great options are open to you with your DPL card 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

If you are participating in the Adult Reading Challenge this year, the last day to turn in your reading log to qualify for the prize drawings is Thursday, November 30th by 6:00pm. If you come by the Marketing and Outreach office to turn in your log and we are not available, please make sure your name, DPL card number, and a telephone number is written on the front before you slide it under our door. We will find it when we return to the office. If you have participated at all, filled out even just one title, please consider turning in your reading log.

The last task for this year’s Reading Challenge is to read a book where one of the main characters is a pet.  According to Forbes.com,  in 2023,  66% of American homes- that’s 86.9 million homes- include a pet. We really love our furry sidekicks because in 2022 we spent $136.8 billion on our pets.  Whether we consider them our fur-babies or our best friends, they are very important members of most Americans households. Their antics  also make great reading, so find a book with a furry, scaly, or feathery main character to close out this year’s Adult Reading Challenge!

Thanks for taking the Adult Reading Challenge this year.  If you have questions, concerns, or just want to talk about the Challenge you are welcome to come by the Marketing and Outreach office or call us at 256-3450-5780.

Happy Reading!

 

October "REaD, WHITE, and BLUE" Blog

 

October means falling leaves, football, and in Decatur Public Library- Quilts! The 42^nd Annual Quilt Show is ready for you to come pick your favorite. There are 40 quilts entered in the show this year and they are all sizes, colors and themes to choose from. The voting for Viewer’s Choice ribbons will end on Saturday, October 21^st at 4:00 pm when we close. We will tabulate the votes and post the ribbons to the winning quilts as soon as possible on Monday, October 23^rd.  The pictorial quilt winners will be posted at the same time. Those winners will be decided by a judge and are not voted by the public.

 If you are interested in learning about hand-quilting please join us on Thursday, October 5^th for a demonstration/class with the Piecemakers and the Decatur Quilt Lover’s Guild. They will be set up in the seating area hand-quilting and will share their knowledge and allow the public to quilt with them. On Saturday, October 21^st,  at 2:00 pm, Ryan Blocker with the Alabama Department of History and Archives will present Home Sewn: Alabama’s Quilting Traditions. This free program will be held in the Community Room. Thank you to all of the talented quilters who are willing to share their handiwork with us to make this year’s show possible.

At the end of the month, we will shift from quilts to Halloween with our 3^rd Gothic Gala. This year the theme will be Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Join us for an all-day celebration of one of the most enduring vampires in literature. The book has been adapted for more than 200 movies and served as the inspiration for all fictional vampires since. There are many imitators and a lot of fan fiction but the original fanged one was depicted the best by Stoker in his 1897 classic. We will have story time for the little ones with a Trick-or-Treat parade through the library at 10:30am.  There will be LEGO: Vampire Racing from 1:00pm to 5:00pm in the Youth Services room,  many  come-and-go activities, and photo opps for all ages through out the day. We invite you into our library to join the fun!

The Adult Reading Challenge is scarily getting close to the end. If you haven’t filled in as many blanks as you wanted now is the time to figure out where you stand and plan to finish before the deadline to turn in your reading log on November 30^th.  For this month’s task read a book with a vampire in it. Extra points if you read the original Dracula. If you don’t care for classical books, there are a lot of vampire stories to choose from and several feature American vampires, though that is not required for this task.

Happy Reading!

September "REaD, WHITE, and BLUE" Blog

 

September will hopefully usher in cooler days to get everyone in the mood for the 42^nd Annual Quilt Show at Decatur Public Library. DPL is accepting quilt reservations for the October show starting at 10:00am Friday, September 1^st. You must call and reserve your space with Rhonda or Stephanie before you bring quilts into the library. We will need the quilter’s name, the name of the quilt, quilt size,  and contact information when you call. We will then make an appointment for the quilt to be brought to the library on a day and time that ensures Rhonda or Stephanie is available to accept it. All guidelines can be found at www.myDPL.org/quilts  or call 256-340-5780 with questions or to enter a quilt. Space is limited and quilts will be accepted until Wednesday, September 20^th at 5:00 pm, or until space is filled. 

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, September 19^th, also known as Talk Like a Pirate Day. Decatur has some awesome pirates who will be roaming the library all day doing story times, posing for pictures, and having piratical fun with all who dare enter the library. There will be photo opps, games, a scavenger hunt, sidewalk chalk sea creatures and more. Come dressed for the occasion in your best pirate look or join us as you are for some high seas adventure in the library with the Crewe O ‘Ye Crooked Goat.

After the pirate fun ends, we will host a program based on two of our favorite subjects: Alabama authors and quilts! Our program,  Alabama Authors: A Literary Quilt and Program, features Dr. Charlotte Teague, head of the department of English and Foreign Language at Alabama A&M university. She will speak about the authors depicted on Tiavalya Befecadu’s award-winning quilt Alabama Authors. The program is made possible by the Historic Huntsville Foundation which owns the quilt. The quilt will be on display in the library during the program. Everyone is welcome to this free program that will start at 5:30 pm in the main part of the library.

September 28^th is National Good Neighbor Day in the United States. This day is set aside to get to know your neighbors better. The task for the Adult Reading Challenge this month is to read a book set in either Canada or Mexico in an effort to learn something about one of our country’s closest neighbors.

Happy Reading!

August "REaD, WHITE, and BLUE" Blog

 

 

If you haven’t heard, Decatur Public Library is working on a Strategic Plan and we need your input. We are attempting to gather as much feedback as possible through Focus Groups and surveys. If you haven’t completed a survey yet, please follow the link to help us understand how you use the library and what you would like to see us offer in the future. 

The next Focus Group will be held on Thursday, August 17^th in the Community Room from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm. This will be an on-going, come and go Focus Group. You can join in the conversation at any time. Come in and give us your feedback to the same seven questions we have asked at other focus groups. There will also be paper copies of the survey available.

Summer Reads was a crazy, busy, and fun time this year. The Youth Services department hosted 42 events in June and July in the library, plus group activities that were not on the calendar (programs for Decatur Youth Services and the Boys and Girls Clubs) and they went out on some outreach trips. Needless to say, we all feel like summer was a very busy time. We hope
your summer was just as full of fun and books.  Don’t forget the library has resources to help
with schoolwork once school is back in session.

We now get to turn our attention to fall programming. Our Annual Quilt Show, a Gothic Gala-based on Dracula, and hopefully a couple of lunch and learn topics are being planned. On our new website, to see what’s happening at the library go to the “Library Events” tab in the blue ribbon over the picture. The events listed above are not currently found on the website because we are in the process of scheduling dates and times, but they will appear there as soon as they are finalized.

August is Family Fun Month.  The August task for the Adult Reading Challenge is to read a book about a family. The fun part is optional, but the central theme of the book must be family. The family can be blood or chosen, but must be described by the author as family.

Happy Reading!