Celebrate Children and Reading With The Library!

A special day highlighting children, families, and reading, El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day), culminates yearly on April 30. The celebration, an initiative of the American Library Association, emphasizes the importance of advocating literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and serves as a reminder to enjoy reading with children every day!

This is an also an excellent time to highlight the Pura Belpre Award. This award, named for the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library, is given annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator "whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth."

The Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System will be joining in the celebration with programs, events, and displays taking place throughout our branches. Check the link to see what might be happening in a branch near you. We'd love to have you celebrate with us!

Celebrate Earth Day At The Library!

Earth Day is just around the corner, and the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System has a ton of crafts, storytimes, and displays going on to celebrate! Each year Earth Day, April 22, marks what many believe to be the birth of the environmental movement in 1970. And each year this day serves as an excellent reminder to all of us that we need to do our part to help keep our planet healthy and beautiful for generations to come. The Earth Day Network is a great resource for more information about this day, from a history of its foundation to current projects they are involved in around the globe. Pledge your "Act of Green" on their website and help this community reach 1 billion people! For a listing of Earth Day events at the library, check here for program locations, dates and times.

We hope to see you this Earth Day season!

Celebrate National Library Week!

April 8 - 14, 2012 is National Library Week! This year's theme from the American Library Association is You Belong @ Your Library. So why not show your support and visit your local library this week to take advantage of all the wonderful services we have to offer?

Many people don't realize the number of formats we use here at the public library. From VHS and cassette tapes, to downloadable eBooks and Audiobooks, and pretty much everything in between, you can get for free through the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System! Not to mention the latest best sellers, a huge variety of research databases including eCampus, hot new movies on DVD, and collections designed just for children and teens. We do our best to serve as many different types of library users as we can, and we want our patrons to get the most out of every visit!

Several branches will be hosting events to celebrate National Library Week, so check here for more information. We hope to see you soon!

Preservation Week April 22-28

Have you ever sifted through your parents’ or grandparents’ photos wondering who those faded faces were? You can learn to save your heritage during Preservation Week, April 22-28, through programs in our libraries! In observance of Preservation Week: Pass It On!, the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System will present a series of free public programs, events and activities on the importance of preserving personal, family, community and cultural memories and treasures. These programs are supported in part by a grant from the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Foundation. Check the events calendar for more information.

And in keeping with the spirit of Preservation Week, why not take some time to learn more about your family heritage? All Atlanta-Fulton Public Library patrons have access to Ancestry Library Edition from within any of our 34 branches! HeritageQuest can be used from home to search census records and family histories. To access this database, visit the A-Z database list from our website. You will need the current GALILEO password, which you can find by logging into your library account with your card number and PIN, and following these directions. These databases are excellent tools for those getting started with genealogy and mapping out their family trees.

We hope our patrons get the most out of discovering their own heritage and learning how to preserve it for future generations!