Hispanic Heritage Film Festival

During the last film of the Hispanic Heritage Film Fest the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System was honored by the visit of a special guest! Miguel Aleman Urteaga, Consul General of Peru was in attendance and was accompanied by Carlos Castillo Morales, who is the Appointed Consul of Peru here in Atlanta.

This is the second time that Carlos Castillo Morales has taken active participation in the Hispanic Heritage Film Fest, which is held at Central Library each year during Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 to Oct. 15). Last year he sponsored two films, Soy Andina and Undertow. This year, not only did he bring another film La Prueba, he also invited his boss Mr. Aleman Urteaga to come to present the movie. Mr Castillo is also letting other consuls know of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library’s Hispanic Heritage Film Fest and encouraging them to participate. That is why in early September Jose A. Flores Velasco from the Argentinian consulate in Atlanta came to the library to offer his help.  

This year’s film festival offered the following films: Blanca Nieves (Spain), Chico y Rita (Cuba), Machuca (Argentina), Nine Queens (Argentina) and LaPrueba (Peru). If you missed them, you can check them out at the library and be sure to watch for 2015’s Hispanic Heritage Film Festival! 

New Metropolitan Library Groundbreaking Event!

The Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System will break ground on the new Metropolitan Library Wednesday, October 29 at 11:00 a.m. and we would love for you to join us! The library will be located at 1332 Metropolitan Parkway,Atlanta 30310.

The new 25,000-square-foot library is part of Phase I of the Library Building Program, currently underway. Phase II will include the renovation of many branches. Each library project also includes a public art component, through the Fulton County Public Art Program. (You can find out more about the art at the new Wolf Creek Library here!) 

Smith Dalia Architects in association with Craig Gaulden Davis and Ai3, is contracted with Fulton County to provide design and engineering services for the new library. Winter Construction is contracted with Fulton County to provide construction management, and Heery/Russell is the program management team.

The grand opening of the new Metropolitan Library is expected in the 3^rd quarter of 2015. This library will replace service at the Stewart-Lakewood Branch.

In November 2008, Fulton County voters overwhelmingly passed the Library Bond Referendum. The plan will greatly enhance all of the county’s libraries, and includes:

8 New Branch Libraries: Alpharetta, East Roswell, Metropolitan, Milton, Northwest Atlanta, Palmetto, Southeast Atlanta and Wolf Creek.

Two expansion projects: Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History and the South Fulton Library.

Green building design and sustainability are priorities for these library building projects, and the Library System expects to achieve LEED Silver on all of the Phase I projects. Each library will reflect the culture and interests of its community.

For more information or to R.S.V.P. please call 404-730-1972 or email laura.wright@fultoncountyga.gov. You can also stay up-to-date on the Library Building Program by visiting the library system's website.

Database Of The Month: OverDrive!

If you are a fan of eBooks and eAudiobooks (especially when they're free!) then you probably have already taken advantage of the downloadable collection the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System has through OverDrive. This fantastic resource has just gone through a few updates that make checking out and reading eBooks even easier, especially if you are using this database to read fun picture books with younger children! We hope all of our users will enjoy these new enhancements, including direct Tech Support from OverDrive Frontline Support. 

OverDrive is excited to announce that a new version of OverDrive Read, the browser-based eBook reading experience, is coming on October 15, 2014. Earlier this year, OverDrive introduced support for fixed layout eBooks using EPUB3 and HTML5 technology, which allows books never before available in eBook format to be enjoyed digitally. The fixed layout nature honors the book's original layout, image display, and fonts which are required for titles like The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, and Humans of New York. This update means that never-available-before eBooks like these are now available to your library or school! Textbooks, children's classics, cookbooks, travel guides, and more can now be enjoyed on any web-enabled device using OverDrive Read. To find fixed layout eBooks in OverDrive Marketplace, simply choose "Fixed layout" from the special features drop-down menu under Advanced Search.

The enhanced OverDrive Read reading experience that is currently used for fixed layout eBooks will soon be extended to all eBooks. The interface eliminates distraction from the page layout because the newly-designed menu is now behind the eBook pages rather than to the right of the book. The new OverDrive Read also offers a two-page display on large screens for a true reading experience, and a single-page view on smaller screens (unless otherwise required by the publisher). This update retains all of the great features users are currently enjoying in OverDrive Read, such as the ability to read offline, bookmarks, notes, search, and custom readability options. And, best of all, OverDrive Read is available with just one-click in any major modern web browser, and doesn't require any software installation or device registration. In order to adopt this new technology required to support fixed layout eBooks, OverDrive Read will no longer work in older versions of Internet Explorer (i.e., any IE version less than version 10) beginning October 15. Less than 0.2% of OverDrive Read usage is from a version of IE less than 10, so the few users impacted by this change will simply need to upgrade to a newer version of IE or switch to the most current versions of Chrome, Firefox, Android, Safari, or the standard browsers on devices like Kindle and Nook.

2014 Longlists For The National Book Award Announced!

Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an American literary prize administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization. The mission of the National Book Foundation and the National Book Awards is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of great writing in America. Recently the 2014 Longlists were announced in the areas of Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry and Young People's Literature. One Winner 
in each category will be announced at the National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner on November 19, 2014 in New York City. Winners will each receive a prize of $10,000. Finalists will each receive a prize of $1,000. You can see the full lists below and then visit the library's catalog to find some of the finalists on your library shelves! The National Book Foundation website is also full of other literary information from author interviews and book chats on video, to other programs for adults and teens, so be sure to visit and click around! 

Fiction: 

• Rabih Alameddine, An Unnecessary Woman 
• Molly Antopol, The UnAmericans 
• John Darnielle, Wolf in White Van 
• Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See 
• Phil Klay, Redeployment 
• Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven
• Elizabeth McCracken, Thunderstruck & Other Stories 
• Richard Powers, Orfeo 
• Marilynne Robinson, Lila 
• Jane Smiley, Some Luck 

Nonfiction:

• Roz Chast, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
• John Demos, The Heathen School: A Story of Hope and Betrayal in the Age of the Early Republic
• Anand Gopal, No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes
• Nigel Hamilton, The Mantle of Command: FDR at War, 1941 - 1942
• Walter Isaacson, The Innovators: How a Group of Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
• John Lahr, Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh 
• Evan Osnos, Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
• Ronald C. Rosbottom, When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944 
• Matthew Stewart, Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic 
• Edward O. Wilson, The Meaning of Human Existence 

Poetry:

• Linda Bierds, Roget's Illusion 
• Brian Blanchfield, A Several World 
• Louise Glück, Faithful and Virtuous Night 
• Edward Hirsch, Gabriel: A Poem 
• Fanny Howe, Second Childhood
• Maureen N. McLane, This Blue 
• Fred Moten, The Feel Trio
• Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric
• Spencer Reece, The Road to Emmaus
• Mark Strand, Collected Poems

Young People's Literature:

• Laurie Halse Anderson, The Impossible Knife of Memory 
• Gail Giles, Girls Like Us 
• Carl Hiaasen, Skink—No Surrender 
• Kate Milford, Greenglass House 
• Eliot Schrefer, Threatened 
• Steve Sheinkin, The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights 
• Andrew Smith, 100 Sideways Miles 
• John Corey Whaley, Noggin 
• Deborah Wiles, Revolution: The Sixties Trilogy, Book Two 
• Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming