What's New @ Your Memphis Public Library & Information Center

By: Marcey Evans

Join the club! Everyone is invited to join the Summer Reading Club 2013 at any Memphis Public Library location. From June 1 – July 28, children, teens, and adults can cash in on the benefits of reading.

“It’s free, it’s fun, and it’s easy,” said Mary Seratt, Library youth services coordinator and event organizer. “Participants can win prizes for doing something that’s free, fun, and easy!”

In addition to winning prizes, youthful readers can avoid the summer slump as they “Dig into Reading” – the children’s theme for this year’s event. “Non-readers can lose between two and three months of progress over the summer,” Seratt explained. “That means teachers have to spend time re-teaching skills students learned before the break, instead of covering new material.”

Humanities manager and teen coordinator Everna Andrews said teens can get “Beneath the Surface” during Summer Reading too. “Reading is empowering,” she said. It provides a three-in-one experience, allowing teens to be the student, the teacher, and the master by using their eyes and minds. Reading is like money in the bank and in your pockets too,” Andrews said.

By: Marcey Evans

Teens, wouldn’t it be cool if you could create and program your own video game? Now you can at Teen Tech Camp, an interactive five-day workshop at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library (3030 Poplar Avenue). From July 15 – 20, 2013, twenty lucky teens – ages 13 to 15 – can learn the fundamentals of computer programming with hands-on training from field professionals.

“Teen Tech Camp is very valuable because it could open the door to a young person’s technological career,” noted teen librarian Keshia Williams. “Campers will have a lot of fun, while meeting friends from all over the city and learning the basics of running a business.”

Teens will jumpstart each day, using a specialized program called “Jumpstart,” which allows them to begin a mock business making and selling jump ropes. Following this interactive and educational play, participants will learn other computer software like “Scratch,” developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During Teen Tech Camp, young techies will also work on individual projects to present at the program’s end.

Computer professionals from the Memphis chapter of the Society for Information Management (SIM) will teach and assist teens throughout the workshop, helping them to achieve three specific goals: 1.) To develop a better understanding of IT career choices before graduating high school; 2.) To experience fun aspects of technology; and 3.) To interact with good role models currently working in IT careers.

By: Marcey Evans

Landing a job will be a little easier for teens visiting the Whitehaven Branch Library (4120 Millbranch Road) on April 9 – 11. It’s Teen Employment Week.

Targeting the youngest members of today’s workforce, this series of seminars will help to educate youth on drafting their resumes, handling tough interview questions, and gaining work experience while still in school.

“Teens are not only competing with other teens for a limited number of jobs, but they are competing against adults who have more experience, better references, and who can work longer hours,” said Youth Services Librarian Jason Sharp. “Attending these programs will save countless hours of researching (job) material online, so teens do not have to learn through trial and error. We will provide inside information that interviewers do not typically talk about,” he said.

Programs offered during Teen Employment Week are:

       Write Your First Resume
       Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 3:30 p.m.
       Whitehaven Branch Library (4120 Millbranch Road) 
       Teens are asked to bring their resumes, if they have one.

       Job Corps Program
       Wednesday, April 10, 2013, 3:30 p.m.
       Whitehaven Branch Library (4120 Millbranch Road)

By: Marcey Evans

Regardless of which side of town one lives, Memphis Public Library locations offer customers a wealth of knowledge for the young and the young at heart. The newest additions to some Memphis libraries are early literacy stations designed for children ages 2 – 8.

“It looks like a game, but they are really learning,” said Michelle Allen, senior youth services librarian at Poplar – White Station Branch Library. “The literacy station is colorful and inviting and, when kids’ curiosities get the best of them, they come to check it out.”

When they do, children have access to 50 educational, bilingual, and easy-to-use software programs that enhance school readiness and make learning fun. Covering a range of subjects from reading and spelling to social studies and mathematics, this touch-screen technology helps to strengthen skills learned in the classroom.

“We have lots of schools in our area, plus a lot of parochial schools and a large home school population,” Allen noted. “Reading library books helps to reinforce what schools are doing, and using technology (literacy stations) teaches kids a technological way to learn also.”

By: Marcey Evans

Reading is a sign of one’s love for literacy. “Read with Me, Sign with Me” is a program that promotes literacy for children learning to read and sign.

This family event will take place on Saturday, April 6, 2013 and Saturday, May 4, 2013 in the Children’s Department of the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library (3030 Poplar Avenue).

Children ages 2 – 12 can take an adventure, while presenters read and sign stories. “Read with Me, Sign with Me” is an opportunity for all children to develop a love for reading and to learn basic sign language. All parents, including those of deaf or hard-of-hearing children, are encouraged to take advantage of Library resources, such as sign language videos and books.

The two-in-one storytime is sponsored by the Deaf Family Literacy Academy of Memphis, the Association of Library Services to Children, and Candlewick Press, in collaboration with the Memphis Public Library and Information Center.

For more information on “Read with Me, Sign with Me,” call (901) 415-2739 or visit www.memphislibrary.org.

By: Marcey Evans

"Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war…”

These words, spoken by America’s sixteenth president Abraham Lincoln, detailed the plight of a nation divided. This quandary was the subject of “Making Sense of the American Civil War,” a five-part reading and discussion series about the Civil War and its effects on America.

Crowds of people attended the series, which started in January and ended on March 28, 2013. It was held at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library and was presented by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.

Dr. Timothy Huebner of Rhodes College’s History Department was the presenter for each session: Imaging the War, Choosing Sides, Making Sense of Shiloh, The Shape of War, and War and Freedom.

“The most profound outcome of the war is freedom for African Americans,” Dr. Huebner said, after identifying two “unresolved” issues in American society at the time – slavery and sovereignty. Huebner said the ongoing conflict between North and South resulted in the deaths of an estimated 620,000 people, but the death toll could have swollen to 800,000.

By: Marcey Evans

When “Real Men Read,” kids listen and learn. After more than five years of educating young minds, a few “real men,” Library employees, and other supporters took time to celebrate the program’s accomplishments with an appreciation luncheon at Cornelia Crenshaw Branch Library on March 27, 2013.

The third annual luncheon, this event highlighted the everyday heroes who routinely take time from their schedules to read to children, while setting a positive example.

“These are volunteers who give their time,” said Inger Upchurch, branch manager and program organizer. “They bring energy and warmth, and they show excitement for reading. Whether they had fathers in their lives or not, they say they want to be the best fathers and role models they can be. And, they are making a difference.”

Excited to give back, these men read to preschool-aged children, who have grown to love and respect the readers as role models. Upchurch said the children also expect the men to show up when she does. “If I come to one of the daycares without one of the (male) readers, the children ask ‘Where’s your man?’,” she said jokingly to the audience. “Watching the children grow up with Real Men Read is great!”

Bestselling author Hampton Sides is coming to Memphis for Libration, a three-night fundraising event benefiting the Memphis Public Library and Information Center.

Writer of the Ghost Soldiers and Hellhound on His Trail, Sides is headed to Memphis on April 25 – 27, 2013. And, you can be a special guest.

On Thursday, April 25 attendants will enjoy a cocktail-style garden party with Sides and delectable food by Felicia Suzanne at a private home. The author will review his current project and will interact with guests one on one. Tickets for this portion of the event are $300 each, which includes entry into Friday’s event.

On Friday, April 26 guests to the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library (3030 Poplar Avenue) are encouraged to dress as their favorite book characters during this spirited party. The evening will consist of live music, dinner, a disco, a silent auction, games, and more. Tickets are $75. Click here to purchase tickets.

On Saturday, April 27 at 1 p.m. attendants can return to the Central Library for a book signing and public talk with Sides. He will discuss his new project and answer audience questions. This portion of the event is free and open to the public.

All proceeds from the three-night event will go to the Memphis Public Library and Information Center. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (901) 415-2844 or visit www.memphislibraryfoundation.org.

Book lovers of all ages recently showed up to Harlem Shake and “Let Loose at the Library” to promote Summer Reading 2013.

You can join the Summer Reading Club too! It will begin on June 1 and end July 27 at each library branch. Children, tweens, teens and adults can participate in the program and win prizes. For more information on Summer Reading 2013, contact your local library branch or call (901) 415-2700.

Before “Letting Loose at the Library,” WNBA star Helen Darling read her original book to a youthful group of book lovers.

A “super” group of Library employees stopped to show off their muscles before showing their dance moves.

Adult Services Coordinator Wang-Ying Glasgow, Director of Community Outreach Nancy Knight and a few young readers stop to promote reading, one letter at a time.

 By: Marcey Evans

Books aren’t the only things library customers can check out. Now, the “smartest” card in your wallet offers access to laptops which can be checked out for internal use at any library branch system wide.

No line. No waiting. Customers needing to use computers no longer have to wait on the next desktop computer. They can use these printer-ready laptops equipped with current software such as Microsoft Office 2010.

“Come, check them out, and use them,” advised JobLINC Services Manager Robyn Stone, who helped to secure the mobile computers for public use. “We are expanding access with these laptops. While we have hundreds of computers, they were not enough. We have WiFi access at each (library) location, and we have the resources to satisfy our customers’ need to know.”

More than 170 laptops were purchased for Memphis public libraries through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), a federal grant meant to increase access to health information, workforce development training, financial literacy resources, and job search assistance in urban areas. After state government secured federal dollars, the City of Memphis also contributed to the fund, which totaled more than $200,000. This gift was given to the Library system to “bridge the gap between Tennessee’s impoverished and unemployed,” as outlined in the grant’s overall objective.