Spring Reading List & Featured Book

Featured Book

Before I Go

by Colleen Oakley

Other Recommended Reading Selections

A Spool Of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

American Sniper by Chris Kyle

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Believer by David Axelrod

Crash And Burn by Lisa Gardner

Data And Goliath by Bruce Schneier

Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs

Desert God by Wilbur Smith

Easy Love by Kristen Proby

Fifty Shades Darker by E. L. James

Fifty Shades Freed by E. L. James

Gray Mountain by John Grisham

H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald

It's What I Do by Lynsey Addario

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Mean Streak by Sandra Brown

Motive by Jonathan Kellerman

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

Obsession In Death by J. D. Robb

One Night: Unveiled by Jodi Ellen Malpas

One Wish by Robyn Carr

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Private Vegas by James Patterson

Prodigal Son by Danielle Steel

Quiet by Susan Cain

Ruby by Cynthia Bond

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

Spring Chicken by Bill Gifford

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

The Assassin by Clive Cussler

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Escape by David Baldacci

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

The Immortal Who Loved Me by Lynsay Sands

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Son by Jo Nesbo 

Total Control by David Baldacci

Compiled by FOSL Volunteer

FOSL Announces 85 Volunteer Opportunities

FOSL announced 85 volunteer opportunities today as part of its 2015 Volunteer Service Program.  The roles include leadership positions, program committee support, technical jobs, teen service hours and help with the Jonquil Festival book sales.

The Board of Directors is being expanded and candidates for 7 new positions are being sought.  Individuals who sign-up for program committees will have the option to lead them or participate as a contributor. Immediate technical needs include graphic artistry and technical writing. Many of the roles being filled can be performed independently from home. This gives people with busy schedules who want to volunteer new ways to contribute much needed assistance.

FOSL encourages and supports community service for college-bound teens. Depending on your student's community service requirements we can develop a service program for him or her. Duties can include: computer research and documentation development,
working during the Jonquil Festival book sales, co-managing a FOSL event, social
media promotion and more.

The annual Spring Jonquil Festival book sale is April 25 and 26. 60 Volunteer jobs are available.

FOSL is 100% staffed by dedicated volunteers. Their participation ranges from weekly duties in the library to once a year support for an event to ensure its success. We value each and every hour of their support.

Thank you for your volunteer interest! Please click this link to see the job postings.

FOSL Co-Sponsors Visit By Acclaimed Children’s Illustrator & Author James Ransome

Acclaimed children’s author & illustrator James Ransome appeared tonight at the Smyrna Public Library.  Mr. Ransome discussed his work and demonstrated how he creates illustrations for children's books.

Tonight’s program was sponsored by King Springs Elementary PTA and the Friends of Smyrna Library.  Mr. Ransome presents at King Springs Elementary school tomorrow.

About James Ransome:

James Ransome is an award-winning illustrator of dozens of children's picture books. He is also the author of books such a New Red Bike!, My Teacher and Gunner, Football Hero. Ransome has received both the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration and the IBBY Honor Award.

He lives in Rhinebeck, New York with his wife Lesa Cline Ransome, a writer of children's books. They have collaborated on a number of books together including Satchel Paige, Light in the Darkness, and Freedom's School. 

Smyrna Public Library Presents “Women of the Dust Bowl”

The Smyrna Public Library presented “Women of the Dust Bowl” this afternoon.

This afternoon’s event included live interpretations of real women who lived through the Dust Bowl. Attendees also enjoyed the music of Woody Guthrie and refreshments in the Smyrna Library Meeting Room. 

The event also showcased the "Dust, Drought and Dreams Gone Dry" traveling exhibit and antique cars from the 1930s that were on display in the parking lot.

Learn more about upcoming Dust Bowl program-related events by clicking here. 

Smyrna Public Library to Screen “The Dust Bowl’, a film by Ken Burns

To compliment the ongoing “Dust, Drought and Dreams Gone Dry” exhibition, the Smyrna Public Library will be screening Ken Burns’ documentary “The Dust Bowl”. The dates are:

Part 1

Sunday Mar. 15, 2015

3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Part 2

Sunday Mar. 22, 2015

3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

The movies are free of charge and will be screened in the downstairs meeting room.

"Dust, Drought and Dreams Gone Dry" Traveling Exhibit Opens in Display Gallery and Reading Room

"Dust, Drought and Dreams Gone Dry" features twenty colorful, illustrated panels about the Plains area before, during and after the Dust Bowl occurred.

The exhibit uses nineteenth and twentieth century images and quotations, memories of the Dust Bowl from oral histories and recent scholarly analysis.

Be sure to check one of Smyrna Library's many books and materials for further reading about The Dust Bowl. The exhibit is on display from March 7, 2015 to April 15, 2015.

Oils & Acrylics by Barabara Ali Opens in Art Gallery

Barbara Ali studied art in high school and in college. While earning her degree at Earlham College she was chosen to participate in studies abroad where she studied the works of many master artists. She lived for several years in Paris as well as in the south of France. Her strongest influences have been the impressionists, realists and surrealists. The influences of European artists continue to be evident in her work.

Barbara's works reveal a fascination with the intricacies of the world around us. She is inspired by the small things in life and the beauty that can be found even in ordinary things. Having grown up in a rural setting Barbara has a deep love of nature and she taps into that relationship in her work. She often works Plein Air, allowing the sights and sounds of the outdoors to influence her pieces.

Barbara is drawn to a diverse range of subjects which allows her the freedom to express many thoughts and many moods. Her subjects range from a vase of flowers to a simple "moment in time" to imaginary worlds where the viewer creates his own storyline. Her gallery consists of portraits, still lifes and landscapes, as well as imaginative pieces.

Barbara's works have been shown in both national and local exhibitions.