Congratulations to Justin Blount

 

Congratulations to Justin Blount, winner of Smyrna Library's #MoneySmartWeek giveaway.

Bookstore Clearance Sale Starts Today

After many book sale attempts not all of our quality books have found a good home frown emoticon Therefore… a CLEARANCE SALE is in order!!!

After the book sale shut down today we organized approximately 600 interesting books ranging in price mostly from 50 cents to 75 cents with a few up to $3. We have a great collection of fiction, non-fiction, self-help, cooking and home/craft books on sale in our bookstore in the Smyrna Public Library. Turn left at the Circulation Desk when you enter from the parking lot. Many are almost new with no library stamps. This is a great opportunity to economically build out your home library!

As soon as these books are sold we have another 350 to back fill them! If you are a book collector please stop by our bookstore on a regular basis. The hours are:

MON – THU 10 am to 8 pm
FRI 10 am to 6 pm
SAT 10 am to 5 pm
SUN 1 pm to 6 pm

Annual Spring Book Sale Concludes

The final tally for the Friends of Smyrna Library annual Spring Jonquil Festival book sale held this weekend is $1,148. 

This week’s crazy weather did cause some challenges – books outside at a festival and rain are NOT a good combination… It also messed up many of our regular book sale volunteers’ schedules. Fortunately for us, so many people were able to rework their availability so a skeleton crew could help us this week and make our sale a success. Special thanks to: Bill, Bruce, Chris, Cindy, Jackson, Jeff, Joan, Malrey, Lawrence, Louisa, Mary D, Mary W., Mary Ann, Phil, Sam, Susan B, Susan R, Susan S

We had lots of new teen and pre-teen volunteers which was just awesome! BIG THANKS to Sadie, Katrina, Katra, Zora, Jack and Dillon!!! You did a wonderful job and we look forward to seeing you at our next event.

FOSL Donates $2500 for Library Staff Development

The Friends of Smyrna Library approved a $2,500 donation to augment the Library Staff Development and Continuing Education budget. This contribution is to help fund new training programs that were not announced prior to the annual city budgeting cycle. Please note that the City of Smyrna funds staff development very well.

This is another example of how your book sale purchases and membership dues help us fulfill our mission of supporting and enhancing the library! Adding the extra level of support for the staff like this is especially gratifying for our organization!

FOSL Funds Summer Fun for the Kids!

The Friends of Smyrna Library approved funds to purchase a Cotton Candy Machine for children’s events at the library. We are eager to give it a test drive very soon during the Summer Reading Program! 

This is another example of how your book sale purchases and membership dues help us fulfill our mission of supporting and enhancing the Smyrna Public Library!

Professor Albert Way Presents Keynote Lecture

Kennesaw State University Professor Albert Way presented the keynote lecture for the 6-week long "Dust, Drought & Dreams Gone Dry" series of events held at the Smyrna Public Library in March and April. 

Dr. Way discussed  "A Southern Dust Bowl? Soil Erosion in the South". He examined how soil erosion in the Southeast US was actually more severe than in the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl Era.  The presentation included tracing the historical roots of the problem back to the 1700s and how it started being effectively resolved starting in the 1930s.

Photo (l to r): KSU Professor Dr. Albert Way, Smyrna Library Director Mary Moore, KSU Professor Dr. Kay Reeve

Biography:

Albert G. Way received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Georgia and joined the faculty of KSU in 2011. He teaches classes in recent U.S. history, Georgia History, and Environmental History. Dr. Way’s research interests focus on the environmental and agricultural history of the American South. He is the author of Conserving Southern Longleaf: Herbert Stoddard and the Rise of Ecological Land Management (University of Georgia Press, 2011), and The Art of Managing Longleaf: A Personal History of the Stoddard-Neel Approach (with Leon Neel and Paul Sutter, UGA Press, 2010). He is currently working on a book-length project tentatively titled Not Naturally a Grass Country: Environment, Plant Genetics, and the Quest for Agricultural Modernization in the Humid World, which examines the use of scientific expertise to transform agricultural landscapes in the American South and other humid regions. He has received fellowships from the Smithsonian Institution and the Institute for Southern Studies at the University of South Carolina.

Professor Kay Reeve Conducts Movie Discussion

Kennesaw State University Professor Kay Reeve led a discussion on Ken Burns’ film “The Dust Bowl” today. The discussion was held at the Wolfe Adult Recreation Center at 884 Church Street in Smyrna. Professor Reeve started out by introducing scenes from “The Dust Bowl” and discussed places and events in the film in a historical context.  

Biography:

Kay Reeve is a Professor of History and History Education. She received her B.S. in Secondary Education (History & English) from Texas Tech University and taught at the high school level before returning to earn her MA in European History from Texas Tech University, and her PH.D in American History from Texas A&M University. Prior to coming to KSU in 1991, she taught at Auburn University and Auburn University at Montgomery.

Her specialty is the History of the American West, with special emphasis on the roles played by geography, environment and diversity in the history and culture of the region. She has published studies on aspects of the art and literary colonies in Northern New Mexico and, most recently, an article in the Journal of the West on interdisciplinary approaches for teaching the history of the West with literature, film, and fine art, as well as traditional scholarly sources. She also teaches the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, America to 1890, and courses in the American Studies and the MED programs.