Smile at your Friends!

Now you can help the Friends of Decatur Public Library when you shop online!   That’s right…our Friends are now set up with AmazonSmile, so if you shop on Amazon.com you can help out the Library at the same time!

When you first visit AmazonSmile you will be prompted to select an organization. If you use our link (CLICK HERE) it will default to our Friends group, but if you somehow end up with a search field for your charity they are listed as Friends Of The Decatur Public Library Inc.  Once you sign into your Amazon account, it will walk you through the option of downloading an app (Figure 1) so that your AmazonSmile link will be easily accessible in your browser.  

Once you are signed in, your Amazon account should show “Supporting: Friends Of The Decatur Public Library Inc” at the top of the screen (Figure 2).  If it doesn’t, you can click on “supporting” and find it.

Once you’ve set up your AmazonSmile account, all you have to do is shop through AmazonSmile and the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to our Friends of Decatur Public Library!  The Friends use these funds to do so much for the Library, and now you can contribute with items you were already planning to purchase! 

Figure 2

Figure 1

      

March's Adult Reading Challenge "Clues"

March Clues and explanations:

Martial Arts- Read any book that is about the martial arts or contains a character that practices/uses one of the martial arts in the story.

200 page book- This is an open category for that book you read but couldn’t figure out where to list it. The only requirement is the book must be YA or Adult and have a minimum of 200 pages.

Historical- The book must be set in the past and give a view of life from that time.

March Author- Read any book from an author born in the month of March. List includes Alice Hoffman, Jayne Ann Krentz, Khalid Hosseini, and Nevada Barr.

2 Additional Clues:

Poison-Just in time for the National Poison Prevention Week (March 15^th-21^st) read a book about poison or poisoners.

Alabama Author or Setting- This requires a book written by an author from Alabama or for the book to be set in Alabama. This ties in with the Community Read going on in Decatur, Hartselle, and Demopolis for the Alabama set novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown. The book was the basis for the 1973 Oscar-winning film Paper Moon. Both the movie and book will be available for check out from the Library.  For more information on events at other venues check the website http://southernliterarytrail.org/events-al.html . You can also find more information on other authors who call Alabama home at http://alabamaliterarymap.lib.ua.edu/authors.

Black History Month

Celebrating Black History Month means celebrating all aspects of the African-American experience.  With this in mind, we’ve created a reading list with a variety of topics.  Whether you like fiction or non-fiction, there are plenty of ways to celebrate the contributions of African-Americans to our society.  One can glean history from novels and biographies as well as from reading a “History of…” book, so we have included titles on fine arts, music, sports, history, religion, and more. 

When you come to the Library, peruse the glass display case and the wooden book shelf next to it.   The display case contains a broad range of “book covers,” from all sections of the library.   We did not put the actual books in the case because that would defeat the purpose; we want these books to circulate and be read!  Each book represented is one from our collection, though our copy may have a different cover.  There is a folder on top of the display case containing a complete list of what’s represented and its location in the library (this list is also linked to the Black History Banner on our website).  

These are, of course, just a smattering of titles.  If there’s a subject you love, try a catalog search and look for a title by or about African-Americans.  If fiction is your thing, take one of the Black Fiction Authors brochures (also on top of the display case).   Find a book and celebrate Black History Month!