Celebrate Free Comic Book Day by visiting any Austin Public Library location after 3:00 PM on Monday, May 7, 2012, and pick up a free comic book! Comics will be available until the Library closes or we run out of books to give away. And don't forget to browse our fantastic collections of graphic novels and manga that are always available for you to check out!
Sponsored by Austin Books and Comics, www.austinbooks.com.
The America's Music series of music documentaries and discussion continues at the Terrazas Branch on Tuesday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. with "Broadway and Tin Pan Alley." We'll be watching Episode Two; "Syncopated City" of the documentary film "Broadway: The American Musical." If you are a fan of the Jazz Age and the music it produced, you won't want to miss this film. Broadway in the 1920s reached new heights in popularity. Al Jolson attracted huge crowds. Musicals written by two legendary songwriting teams: George and Ira Gershwin, and, Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart, filled theaters night after night. However, by the decade's end, the Great Depression and the rise of "talkies," motion pictures with sound, contributed to a rapid decline in the fortunes of Broadway producers and performers. Dr. Caroline O'Meara will introduce the film and lead us through a discussion of the issues raised by it. For more information about this part of the America's Music series, including lists of related films, music recordings, books and web sites, click here.
America’s Music: A Film History of Our Popular Music from Blues to Bluegrass to Broadway is a project of the Tribeca Film Institute in collaboration with the American Library Association, Tribeca Flashpoint, and the Society for American Music. America’s Music has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.”
When:
Tuesday, April 9
7-8 p.m.
Where:
North Village Branch Library
2505 Steck Ave.
974-9960
Who: Adults who love Young Adult Books.
Book: Loving Will Shakespeare by Carolyn Meyer
Join us this month to discuss Loving Will Shakespeare by Carolyn Meyer.
There is absolutely nothing not to love about this book. Historical fiction? Check. Evil stepmother? Check. Forbidden love? Check. Bequeathing of one's second best bed? Check!
This book has it all and is written by one of the most prominent YA authors of historical fiction. Ms. Meyers is meticulous about her research and adds in a compelling, plausible storyline to fill in the rest. Her books are lovely and fun to read and can easily be completed in a day or two.
Hope you can join us!
When:
Monday, April 8
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Where:
Ruiz Branch Library
1600 Grove Blvd.
974-7500
Who: Adults interested in crafting.
What: E-Reader Covers
Here at the library it is a given that we love books. We really, really love them. We love how they look and how they smell. We love when they are small, handy paperbacks, or large, sturdy hardbacks. We also love when it is 1 in the morning and we can log onto the library's website and download a book even though the physical library is closed! Those of you at home with insomnia or newborns take note - this will make those long nights so much easier!
To celebrate our awesome downloadable collection we will be sewing covers for our tablets!
For those of you with sewing phobia we encourage you to come and try regardless. Our pattern is all straight lines and is a great way to dive into learning how to sew. And if you don't have a tablet yet yourself, let me tell you - these make terrific gifts. As always, all supplies will be provided.
Can't wait to get crafting? Check out some of the fantastic craft books in the Austin Public Library's collection:
From you have I been absent in the spring,
When proud pied April, dressed in all his trim,
Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing.
Shakespeare Sonnet 98, 1-3
There are so many things that come to mind when one mentions Spring: rain and gardens full of flowers are abound. Sunnier skies and warmer breezes lift people’s spirits. It is a season of rebirth. Then there are the celebrations: Passover, Easter, Vernal Equinox, May Day, Earth Day and the various Flower/ Garden festivals. A Spring occasion maybe less commonly known is April 23, the celebrated day of William Shakespeare’s birth and death, "Shakespeare Day."
Like so many others I didn’t much like reading Shakespeare in school but then I saw one of his plays performed live and I was hooked. I went from saying “ugh” at the assigned Romeo and Juliet in high school to voluntarily taking a Shakespearean acting class in college. I still prefer the performance over the reading because set, costume, music and strong acting complete the experience for me. These days you can find Shakespeare modernized, immortalized, dissected and fictionalized in a variety of formats. Search the APL catalog with the keyword ‘Shakespeare’ and you get 1,714 results. I was pleasantly surprised to find there are things geared for the younger set like graphic novels, and a relatively new feature, video streaming.
At the Austin Public Library we couldn’t possibly let the opportunity for Shakespeare themed programs pass us by. During April we will be doing everything from movie screenings to a scholar lead discussion.
Week Two of America's Music is centered on the fast picking and high-pitched singing of the branch of country music known as "bluegrass". We will watch about an hour of "High Lonesome", which shows how bluegrass music evolved from it's rural roots during the Twentieth Century. If you are not familiar with bluegrass, "High Lonesome" is a great introduction to this style of music. If you are already a fan, you will be thrilled by the musical gems included in this cinematic time capsule. In either case, I hope you will join us to view the film and discuss it with UT musicologist Caroline O'Meara at the Terrazas Branch at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2. For more information about bluegrass and the film "High Lonesome" click here.
Photos shows: Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys in the mid-1940s, from the film High Lonesome - The Story of Bluegrass Music.
America’s Music: A Film History of Our Popular Music from Blues to Bluegrass to Broadway is a project of the Tribeca Film Institute in collaboration with the American Library Association, Tribeca Flashpoint, and the Society for American Music. America’s Music has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.”
