March Task

March in Alabama is always an adventure weather wise. One day it may be warm, with blue skies and beautiful budding and greening all around and the next day may bring an ice storm. You never know what you might wake up to.

Here at Decatur Public Library, regardless of the weather we have lots of entertainment and fun planned for the month. If you are a fan of live music, the Vulcan Eejits will be performing Thursday, March 14^th at 6:30 pm. The concert is free and everyone is welcome to attend. If it’s not raining on the 18^th of the month we will be celebrating Spring Break at A. C. Banks Park from 10:00 am until 12:30 pm with story time, a visit with Rapunzel, free books, snacks and more.  Finally on Friday, the 22^nd of the month we will be showing an Alabama themed movie for patrons 16 and older. The movie and the popcorn is free, doors open at 5:30 pm, and the movie starts at 6 pm. We hope you can join us for one or more of these free events this month.

In 1987, March was designated as National Women’s History Month. It is meant to celebrate women and the ways they make the world a better place for all.  When we started looking at the history of women in Alabama we found many that have done just that; made the world a better place for everyone, not just other women. Helen Keller, Rosa Parks, Condoleeza Rice, Lilly Ledbetter, Coretta Scott King and many more women from Alabama serve as role models for people regardless of sex, race or religion. To learn more about these and other outstanding Alabama women try these links: https://styleblueprint.com/birmingham/everyday/remarkable-alabama-women/ or http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/s-129.

The other thing we found when researching women from Alabama history was another kind of woman. These women were not the type of person to model your behavior on. They were known as black widows. They married and killed multiple partners and even other family members. Most of them used poison and watched their victims die slow and painful deaths. Five of the most shocking can be found on this list https://www.al.com/living/2016/04/5_infamous_alabama_females_who.html

Which leads to the task this month for the Adult Reading Challenge, read a book about a female serial killer. Since this year's Reading Challenge already includes lots of upstanding women, this month's clue requires you to read about a more sinister and notorious type of woman.

Happy Reading!

Black History Month Reading List

February has gotten away from us, but we still want to post a reading list for Black History Month.  Since it will not be possible to read all of these in what remains of this month, we remind you that the contributions of Black people (African-Americans and Blacks from all over the world) to science, culture, history and math can be celebrated year-round, not just confined to a celebration month.

We’ve had a Black Fiction brochure for several years now, but we’ve stopped updating it because it has become impossible to fit all the authors in a brochure format…and that’s just the fiction writers!  With the conversion to our new catalog system, we are working on a way to do author lists within the catalog.  Currently we can only list by book title, which is how our Black History Reading List is laid out.   

Fiction is definitely included in our Black History Month Reading List because stories can capture truth, but non-fiction and biography are also important.  We’ve put together our reading list from several sources.  We started with several internet lists and added some titles of our own.   These lists contain fiction and non-fiction, scholarly and easy reads, and books for all ages.  Some of the books on these lists didn’t make ours because they are not in our collection; if you see something you’d like to read or that you think we should have, let us know!   

We hope you will find at least one book from our list that makes its way to your list.    

CLICK HERE to check out our recommendations.   

Some of the lists we consulted are linked below.  Happy reading!

http://www.pbs.org/book-view-now/great-books-black-history-month-2018/

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/01/black-history-month-reading-list-paul-beatty-octavia-butler

http://time.com/5157662/black-history-month-books-2018/

https://www.abebooks.com/books/features/black-history-month-books.shtml

https://www.epicreads.com/blog/black-history-month/

February Task

This year the Adult Reading Challenge is Bama: fact & fiction. While reading for the challenge we will be celebrating our state and learning about people, places and matters that make Alabama famous and notorious.

One of Alabama’s nicknames is Heart of Dixie and since this is the month to celebrate love we wanted to point out some of the things Alabama has in connection to the heart.

Did you know the first American physician to perform a successful surgical repair on a wounded heart was from the state of Alabama? Dr. Luther Leonidas Hill Jr. was from Montgomery and in 1902 he successfully operated on the heart of Henry Myrick. For more information about this visit http://alabama200.org/discover/alabama-legacy-moments/ .

Another tie to the heart for Alabama is the fact that heart disease is the single leading cause of death in the state. Data from 2013 showed that the national rate of death was 18.98%, while in Alabama the rate was 25.78%. For more information on this disease try this link https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/cardio/index.html.

The saying “I heart you/dogs/cupcakes/etc. means you love or really like something.  Here at DPL we heart all things bookish and reading. For this month’s task read a book about something you heart.

Happy Reading!

2019 Adult Reading Challenge

Please join us Friday to discover the theme for the 2019 Adult Reading Challenge!

November Task

It is hard to believe this is the last task for the 6^th Annual Adult Reading Challenge. This year has flown by and it is time to wrap up for the year.

In order to qualify for the prize drawings you must meet the following qualifications for one of the levels:

Book Worm: must have read 15 books that represent 15 different letters of the alphabet (must finish 5 of the monthly tasks)

Book Hound: must have read 30 books, must have one from each letter on the log (must finish 6 of the monthly tasks)

Book Dragon: must have read 60 books, must have one from each letter on the log (must finish 8 of the monthly tasks)

If you are not sure if you have qualified for a level, you can bring your reading log by the Marketing and Outreach office anytime we are here and we will check for you.

Reading logs can be turned in any time after Monday, November 5^th. Before turning in your log, make sure your full name and library card number are printed on the log. If we are not in the office when you come by, feel free to slide it under the door. The logs will be returned to you at the Christmas Open House on Thursday, December 6^th when we award prizes.

The final task for this year is to read a book about or set during the celebration of one of the holidays that are coming up soon. (Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or New Year).

Thank you to each and every person who accepted our challenge and signed up to participate in the 6^th annual Adult Reading Challenge this year. We appreciate you taking part in our reading fun for adults and hope you sign up for the 7^th Annual Adult Reading Challenge in January of 2019.

Happy Reading!

October Task

The month of October is going to be another month of change at DPL. If you haven’t heard we are switching our operating system from TLC to Koha. Our go-live day is Monday, October 1^st, 2018. Decatur Public Library will be closed for staff training that day and will re-open Tuesday, October 2^nd at 10:00 am. When patrons will see a brand new “card catalog” and will notice a few new services. We ask you to please be patient with the changes. Just as things will look different to you, they will look completely different to the staff, as well. We will be working out kinks and  getting used to the new features, just like our patrons. While we are sure there will be a few problems, we will work hard to try to make this as painless as possible.

Some of the new perks with Koha will be that you will be able to put items on hold from our online catalog. And not just items that are currently checked out, you will be able to put holds on books and items that show available. If you see an item you want, you click to put it on hold, and once the staff has pulled it and put your name on it, you will receive an email or text that it is ready to pick up.

Another perk is once we get everything up and running, you can recommend purchases online. The best part about this is you will receive either a confirmation the item will be purchased or a message that we will not be able to purchase the item. No more guessing and hoping your recommendation will be seen.

If you are looking for the October task for the Adult Reading Challenge, you are in luck again. We are so busy with the Koha switch we need the task to be an easy one. This month read a book by your favorite male author. This is your treat for this month. Try out the new catalog while looking for a book for this task and remember we are working hard to make your DPL the best we can.

Happy Reading!

September Task

The second River City Read hopes to encourage as many people as possible to read Scottsboro Unmasked: Decatur’s Story by Peggy Allen Towns, the facts of the famous trials as told from the perspective of a Decatur native.  This is the first time a book about the Scottsboro Trials deals with the impact on the local people and the town of Decatur. The River City Read begins on September 6th and lasts through November 6th.  During the Read, participants may check out a copy from the library, purchase their own copy, or get one of the “pass-along” books; the last will be available at Decatur Public Library and Morgan County Archives (while supplies last) and are available to take without a library card.  The idea behind giving away these books – purchased with a grant from TVA and Representative Terri Collins – is that once you read it, you give it to someone else, who reads it and passes it on, with the intention of keeping the book moving from reader to reader.  Each book will contain a bookplate with instructions for how to register that you read it.  Registering is optional, but since the Library staff would like to know how many people read the book, all are encouraged to take a moment and fill out the brief survey.  All who participate are invited to take the short survey, which will be available in paper form at the Library or on Decatur Public Library’s website.  It is hoped that people keep reading the book and passing it on throughout the two months of the River City Read.

We will kick-off the River City Read on the September 6^th with the Alabama Humanities Road Scholar program “Pen Strokes of Justice: Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys”.  The world was captivated in spring of 1933, by the re-trial in Decatur, Alabama of one of nine black teens previously found guilty of raping two white women on a train. From around the world, people wrote to the judge begging for justice, whatever they deemed justice to be. When the trial was over, and Judge James E. Horton Jr. had lost his judicial career over his decision to overturn the jury’s guilty verdict, Horton took the more than 700 letters, telegrams, resolutions, and newspaper clippings he had received and carefully stored them in a tin lard bucket. For this presentation the lid comes off the bucket and the audience will learn more about this case and its continuing effect on civil rights and the justice system today. This fascinating program will be presented by the Limestone County Archivist Rebekah Davis, starting at 6:30 pm at the Decatur Public Library.

You will be able to pick up a “pass-along” copy of the book at the Library after the program (while supplies last) or starting on the 7th at the Morgan County Archives (while supplies last). If you don’t have someone to pass the book to, please return the copy to the Decatur Public Library or the Morgan County Archives so that another person can pick it up to read also.

On October 4th Peggy Allen Towns will host a discussion on Scottsboro Unmasked: Decatur’s Story at 6:30 pm. There will be copies of the book for sale if patrons want to purchase their own autographed copy.

The River City Read is a bicentennial event, endorsed by ALABAMA 200.  ALABAMA 200 supports, creates, and executes events and activities that commemorate the stories of our people, places and path to statehood.  Between 2017 and 2019, ALABAMA 200 will engage residents and visitors in educational programs, community activities, and statewide initiatives that teach, inspire, and entertain.  For more information about additional programs, and partnerships, visit our website www.mydpl.org.

The September task for the Adult Reading Challenge is to read Scottsboro Unmasked: Decatur’s Story by Peggy Allen Towns. You can get credit for this book in two ways: check out the library copy and save your receipt or take one of the “pass along” copies, fill out the paper survey and turn in the survey to StephRhonda.

Happy Reading!