Community Meeting For South Fulton Library Project

Meeting Will Be Held Monday, November 18 at 7:00 p.m.

Location: South Fulton Library, 4055 Flat Shoals Rd., Union City 30291

Please join us for a presentation regarding the South Fulton Library expansion project! McAfee3 Architects was asked to study the existing site at the South Fulton Library to determine the feasibility of expanding the existing building and its on-site parking. The group will present their findings at this community meeting.

Phase I of the Library Building Program includes 8 new libraries and 2 expanded libraries. Design has begun on several of the projects, with construction beginning in late 2013 and openings beginning late 2014 and continuing into 2015. Community engagement has been the cornerstone of our Library Building Program, and we would like you to join us!

If you are unable to attend, we’d also like to hear from you with questions or comments. You can get in touch with us in the following ways:

- Online: www.afpls.org

- Email: librarycomments@fultoncountyga.gov

- Fax: 404-335-5291

And continue to follow our progress at www.afpls.org – front page, click “Your New Libraries”

If you have questions, please call 404-730-1777. We appreciate your continued support! 

Foundation Center Resources At Your Library

Did You Know?

The Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System is a Funding Information Network partner of the Foundation Center.

Funding Information Network Partners, which used to be called Cooperating Collections, serve as satellite locations, offering the key databases and book resources offered by the Foundation Center. 

The Funding Information Network is a network of libraries, community foundations, and other nonprofit resource centers that can be found across the U.S. and around the world. Network partners provide a core collection of Foundation Center publications and a variety of supplementary materials and services in areas useful to grantseekers. 

The New York-based Foundation Center has helped philanthropists and nonprofits since the 1950s and produces the voluminous Foundation Directory, the premier source of information about funding providers and their grants.

The Foundation Directory, its database version (Foundation Directory Online) and the Foundation Grants to Individuals resources are offered free of charge to patrons in the Ivan Allen, Jr. Reference Department on the 2^nd floor of Central Library during its hours of operation. In addition, the Ivan Allen, Jr. Reference Department maintains a collection of reference books that help nonprofits get started and manage themselves well.  See the Reference Department’s Grants Resources page to get an idea of what is offered.

The Foundation Center's Atlanta location can be found at:

50 Hurt Plaza, Suite 150

Atlanta, GA 30303

(404)880-0094

http://foundationcenter.org/atlanta/

Teen Flash Fiction Contest Winner!

Congratulations to Brianna Herrington, age 14, from Woodward Academy for winning the Teen Center's Flash Fiction Contest at the Central Library! As part of the annual event, Teen Read Week, the Teen Technology and Homework Center located in the Central Library hosted a writing contest with a Flash Fiction Challange! Flash Fiction is fiction that is extremely brief, typically only a few hundred words or fewer in its entirety.Teens had to write an original story, 800 words or less, using the word ‘Library’ as the inspiration. Thank you to all who participated and we hope you enjoy Brianna's story below!

The three girls knelt  and clasped hands. They’d had lives plagued by sadness.  They’d been too different:; too weird.  Still, their loving parents, wanting the best for them  forced them to come to the transfer program at Woodland Academy. Where “unique ability is cultivated into exceptional skill”. True, they had grown here but today they were living a nightmare as  a fellow student burst into the library with a loaded gun.

See each girl had at one time been a prodigy of some sort, now as they kneeled clustered together in a row of the amphitheater, they feared the worst. The end of all they had worked for. Each girl had her own demons, her own struggle, her own internal battle and yet they felt alone even as they clasped hands and cried out in fear to their different G-ds.  As their lives were flashing before their eyes, they each had one thing in common. The tallest girl, dark-skinned with an afro and wide brown eyes prayed softly to the Virgin Guadalupe. She was Hispanic and all through her life she’d been taunted for it.

‘How could a dark girl be Hispanic, she’s obviously a liar?’

‘What made her think she was better then everyone else, why couldn’t she just be protestant ?’

But despite the taunting, the cruelty and her hardships Analise managed to become a piano prodigy. When her fingers flew across the keys she conveyed words yet to be created. Her feelings flowed through her music and into the minds and souls of her audience and everyone that listened to Analise left her performances a changed person.

‘But what made her think she was so special?!’

As yet another shot went off around them, and the girls grasped each others hands more tightly, Piruva as tears rolled down her cheeks cried out to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. The Trimurti; the top three gods of her religion; Hinduism. Vocal prodigy, all Piruva had ever wished for was not wealth nor fame but enough quiet so that one day her tiny voice could be heard above the noise. When she’d been moved to her fourth foster home, the obese white girl was forced to raise her voice over her meek spirit. And when she did she brought people to tears with the beauty and sheer power of her voice. Despite the fact that her beliefs and her face did not fit together. She managed to believe in others more than she thought she would ever believe in herself.

‘Who was she to consider herself pretty?’

‘She would never be enough.’

The last but not least and tiniest of the girls, Mira said nothing, the girls let go of each others hands and with one hand she wrote ‘I believe’ over and over again in a notepad that lay open on the floor. She was mute and autistic. The girl did little in school but was required to go. Her mother a short Japanese woman who couldn’t speak much English mumbled her daughter into the local public school; where she thrived. Mira, was talented in so many aspects it was obvious she had been blessed. At the age of two she could write paragraphs with the  vocabulary  resembling a high school students, when she was ten she wrote a novel as intriguing and enticing as Harry Potter. But the power of the pen was just the beginning. It was when Mira first picked up a paint brush that the world stilled. At the humble age of twelve Mira was using colors in ways indescribable.  She did self portraits and mirror images of  landscapes. Her artwork was featured in many museums in hallways where people looked at her work then at Van Gogh's. Mira was an art prodigy and at thirteen that was more then clear.

‘But why couldn’t the funny-eyed Japanese girl talk.’

Because she could paint. Analise could make music and Piruva could sing notes that flew high above mountains and lifted the saddest of spirits, just not her own. But as each girl finally dropped hands they wrote one sentence. One thing they each had in common.

Analise wrote, “Creo.”

Piruva wrote, “मेरा मानना ​​है कि” (I believe).

And Mira continued to write, “I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe.” Because she did.

As the student walked up to the girls they unashamedly cowered in the confines of the library where they’d first read about, expressed and discovered their talents. One last time Analise wrote, “Creo.” Piruva wrote, “ मेरा मानना ​​है कि.”(I believe) And  as the gunman walked up to Mira, for the first time she spoke. “I forgive you.” she said.

Information On The Affordable Care Act At Your Library

Many of us are now attempting to navigate new and unfamiliar territory within the Affordable Care Act. But did you know that the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System has many resources here to help you understand your options? Our government information librarians have put together links to all kinds of resources you may need as you start the process of selecting insurance for yourself and your family. To get started, visit our web site and follow the steps below.

From the home page, look under the Books & Materials tab and click on Government Information. From here, scroll down and click on Health - Insurance and Providers. Here you will find valuable resources and tools to answer your questions, provide you with the necessary provider information, and to help get you started in the Marketplace.

In addition to the below information about Insurance, you can also find a wealth of general health information through the library's website as well. Some other topics covered under our Government Information tab are listed below. We hope this helps all of our patrons make informed decisions about the health and safety of themselves and their families!

Health - General Health and Safety

Health - Home and Community Health - Medicines and Herbals Health - Sports Injuries, Exercise Health - Workplace and School

Health - Insurance and Providers

Use the HealthCare.gov portal to learn about changes brought about by passage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act and to access an online tool that helps find the best healthcare option for you. Also links to a tool to compare care in different facilities. Encuentre ayuda local. Federally-funded health centers. Pay what you can afford, based on your income. Fulton County residents can take advantage of the Board of Commissioners'Prescription Discount Drug Card. Cardholders can also save on pet prescriptions. Search a Georgia medical provider's license at the Composite State Board of Medical Examiners search page. Look for Facility Compliance Reports at the Georgia Office of Regulatory Services page. Make sure the facility performing your mammogram is certified. Seniors and their caregivers can find listings of services from the U.S. Administration on Aging's Eldercare Locator or the National Institute on Aging'sdirectory of organizations. Elders unsure of what benefits they are eligible to receive can use the National Council on Aging's Benefits Checkup. Medicare and You, the basic booklet on the Medicare program. Georgia's PeachCare for Kids program and Georgia Families program.

Cookbooks For Cooler Weather

Just as the official first day of Fall comes around every year, it seems that this post about fall cooking has become an annual event as well! As of September 22, Fall is here, and with that first breath of cooler air many of us start to crave those warm comfort foods that go hand-in-hand with the season. Soups, stews, chili and the like are all starting to sound pretty good now that it's no longer over 100 degrees every day! So why not get a head start on filling up your recipe box this fall by checking out some wonderful cookbooks from your local library branch? Here's a few suggestions, just to get your mouth watering:

The Big Book of Soups & Stews: 262 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food, by Maryana Vollstedt

Grandma Jo's Soup Kettle: 100 Hearty and Healthy Soups, Stews, Gumbos, and Chowders, by JoAnna M Lund

Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons, by Nava Atlas

The Ultimate Chili Cookbook: History, Geography, Fact, and Folklore of Chili, by W.C. Jameson

Soup, by Diane Rossen Worthington

Beyond Gumbo: Creole Fusion Food From the Atlantic Rim, by Jessica B. Harris

Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: 700 Great Slow Cooker Recipes, by Phyllis Pellman Good

As always, you can check the library's catalog for these and other titles to check out or place on hold. Happy cooking!

Check Out The Zoo Pass!

With fall and cooler temperatures fast approaching, and with the added excitement of two twin panda cubs born this summer at Zoo Atlanta, the coming months are a perfect time to check out the Zoo Pass from your local library! The Zoo Pass is actually a DVD that explores the history of Zoo Atlanta and highlights some of it's animal residents. Once you've watched the DVD simply return it to the branch it came from and get your receipt for admission to the zoo. Using the pass is simple and all you need is a valid library card to get started. Instructions for checking out and using the pass are below, so search the catalog to see if your branch has a pass available today!

Accessing the Zoo Pass

Adults with a valid library card may check out the Zoo Pass at any of the 33 branches of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System (excluding Auburn Avenue Research Library). One Zoo Pass will be available for checkout per branch.

The Zoo Pass is not available for self-checkout. Patrons should check out the Zoo Pass at the library front desk.

The Zoo Pass may be checked out only once per year, per card and household. The pass may not be renewed or reserved (sorry, can't place holds on this one!)

Return your Zoo Pass to the location of checkout, and you will receive your receipt for admission to the Zoo. The overdue fine will be $1.00 per day, maximum $10.00. The fee for a lost pass is $30.00.

Enjoying the Zoo Pass

Present your Zoo Pass receipt and your library card at the Zoo Atlanta front gate for admission.

The Zoo Pass is good for a family of four. The pass is valid for general admission only and may not be used for special events, including but not limited to Boo at the Zoo, Brew at the Zoo and Love in the Zoo.

We hope you enjoy your trip to Zoo Atlanta thanks to this wonderful partnership with Georgia Public Library Service!

2013 Hugo Award Winners Announced!

In the midst of all of the excitement that takes place here in Atlanta during DragonCon, where all things science fiction and fantasy, including comic books, gaming, literature, art, film and music convene, the prestigious Hugo Awards were announced. Named after Hugo Gernsback, a famous magazine editor who did much to bring science fiction to a wider audience, the Hugo Awards have been presenting awards of excellence in the genres of science fiction and fantasy literature since 1953. On Sunday, Septemeber 1, the 2013 list of winners in all categories was selected. All winners and their works are listed below, so take this list to the library catalog and lose yourself in other worlds! 

BEST NOVEL : Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas, John Scalzi (Tor)

BEST NOVELLA: The Emperor’s Soul, Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon Publications)

BEST NOVELETTE: The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi, Pat Cadigan (Edge of Infinity, Solaris)

BEST SHORT STORY: Mono no Aware, Ken Liu (The Future is Japanese, VIZ Media LLC)

BEST RELATED WORK: Writing Excuses Season Seven, Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler and Jordan Sanderson

BEST GRAPHIC STORY: Saga, Volume One, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM: The Avengers, (Screenplay) & Directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios, Disney, Paramount)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM: Game of Thrones, Blackwater, Written by George R.R. Martin, Directed by Neil Marshall. Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (HBO)

BEST EDITOR, SHORT FORM: Stanley Schmidt

BEST EDITOR, LONG FORM: Patrick Nielsen Hayden

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST: John Picacio

BEST SEMIPROZINE: Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke, Jason Heller, Sean Wallace and Kate Baker

BEST FANZINE: SF Signal, edited by John DeNardo, JP Frantz, and Patrick Hester

BEST FANCAST: SF Squeecast, Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Seanan McGuire, Lynne M. Thomas, Catherynne M. Valente (Presenters) and David McHone-Chase (Technical Producer)

BEST FAN WRITER: Tansy Rayner Roberts

BEST FAN ARTIST: Galen Dara

JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER: Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2011 or 2012, sponsored by Dell Magazines (not a Hugo Award).