Recommended Spring 2023 Reading List

Featured Book

Olive Kitteridge
by Elizabeth Stout

Other Recommended Reading Selections

A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND by Timothy Egan

BRAIDING SWEETGRASS by Robin Wall Kimmerer

DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid

GREENLIGHTS by Matthew McConaughey

HANG THE MOON by Jeannette Walls

HEART BONES by Colleen Hoover

HELLO BEAUTIFUL by Ann Napolitano

HOMECOMING by Kate Morton

I WILL FIND YOU by Harlan Coben

IT ENDS WITH US by Colleen Hoover

IT STARTS WITH US by Colleen Hoover

NEVER NEVER by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

PINEAPPLE STREET by Jenny Jackson

REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt

ROMANTIC COMEDY by Curtis Sittenfeld

THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO by Taylor Jenkins Reid

TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA by Brandon Sanderson

UGLY LOVE by Colleen Hoover

VERITY by Colleen Hoover

SOURCE: NY Times Bestseller Lists

3/30/2023

Nicholas Wallingford Chapter of the Colonial Dames XVII Century Book Grant

Nicholas Wallingford Chapter of the Colonial Dames XVII Century awarded a grant that was used to expand the heraldry resources in the genealogy collection and add a few other titles too.  Check out the new books to learn about how coats of arms and other armorial bearings are created, described, and regulated.

Thank you, Nicholas Wallingford Chapter of the Colonial Dames XVII Century!

Thank You, Mayor Norton and Smyrna Fire Department

Thank you Derek Norton - Mayor, City of Smyrna and Smyrna Fire Department for an amazing second installment of the Mayor's Reading Club. Fire Chief Brian Marcos and the fire fighters of Fire Station #1 hosted a reading of "Firefighter Flo" by Mayor Derek Norton on Thursday, March 16.

After story time, participants learned about turnout gear and fire safety, toured the 75-foot ladder truck, and took turns sitting in Smyrna's antique fire truck. 

What a fantastic day! The Mayor's Reading Club is a statewide initiative to encourage literacy and civic engagement. Thank you, Georgia Municipal Association for starting the program!

Play Ball !!! Pickleball Added to "Smyrna Strong" Collection.

Smyrna Library added a Pickleball Set to its "Smyrna Strong" collection this week. The set includes four paddles, 2 indoor pickleballs, 2 outdoor pickleballs. You can check out this kit and other fitness equipment at Smyrna Library. Smyrna Parks and Recreation has indoor and outdoor locations for playing Pickleball at the Community Center and Tolleson Park. Thanks go to a library regular who suggested the Pickleball kit for the Smyrna Strong collection.

Sunday Lecture Presented: Regina Rambo Benson - Marietta’s Lady of Firsts

Thank you to Christa McCay of the Marietta History Center for the engaging and informative lecture on Sunday, March 5, about Regina Rambo Benson. And thank you to all the Rambo cousins who attended as well! What a fun afternoon.

Lecture Summary:

Marietta History Center’s Collections Manager, Christa McCay discussed the life of Marietta’s Regina Rambo Benson. Mrs. Benson was an early supporter of women’s equality and was one of the few women to drive a car in the 1910 Georgia Good Roads Tour. She ran for political office during the 1930s when few women did. Learn about a true legend and inspiration to many!

Presenter:  Christa McCay holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Masters’ Degree in Heritage Preservation with an emphasis in Public History from Georgia State University. She monitors and maintains the City of Marietta’s entire collection of historical artifacts.  Christa has presented at state, regional and national conferences about her work with the collection.  She has been recently awarded with the Georgia Museum Professional of the Year from the Georgia Association of Museums.  

The Sunday Lecture series is sponsored by the Friends of Smyrna Library.

"Old Crack Story" Pantings by Chinemerem Omeh Opens at Smyrna Public Library Art Gallery

The March/April 2023 Art Gallery exhibit has opened – Paintings - Old Crack Story by Chinemerem Omeh.  Mr Omeh’s exhibit is on display through April 30. The Art Gallery is located on the 2nd floor of the Smyrna Public Library.

Art Gallery exhibits are organized by the Friends of Smyrna Library.

Biography:

Omeh Chinemerem is a Nigerian artist, born in Enugu, Nigeria. He holds a BA in fine and applied arts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he majored as a painter. Currently based in Atlanta, Georgia, US.

Omeh started drawing and painting at the age of five. Unable to fully read and write, drawing naturally became a means to express himself. He found a voice and identity in drawing and painting.

His yearning for change amidst harsh realities makes expressing pain, peace, depression, hope, deception, and love inevitable in his work. His artistic dispositions were met with dissuasion from peers, teachers, and his parent because to become an artist was an impossible way to earn a decent living. That dissuasion only made his love of art stronger and has informed it.

Omeh has since, been in numerous group shows in Nigeria. In 2016, his work "Nma Ndu" won, best painting in a group exhibition, themed "Dream's alive" Enugu state in Nigeria.

In 2019, he participated in a group show in New York represented by Agora Gallery, where he introduced his body of work "Crack story" to the world. With the show, "Crack story" the artist informed us of his basic philosophy. Inspired by the crack texture of the earth during the harmattan season in his hometown, he used them through the body of work(crack story) as metaphors speaking to a desire for restoration and hope for better days. His technique involved a rough and heavy application of dead caked color mixed with linseed oil. The cracks, however, have become an identity in his works.

Exhibitions

• Solo exhibition "Old Crack Story" Smyrna public Library 2023

• ArtFields 2023 South Carolina

• N'Namdi contemporary Fine Art group show Miami, FL 2023

• Collectors and Cocktail ACA Galleries New York 2023

• Mason Fine art group show, Miami Circle, Atlanta Georgia 2023

• "Reflection in time" collaborative show Carther Fine Arts New Jersey 2022

• "Senses", a collaborative group show Peters St. Atlanta Georgia 2022.

• "Reflection in Time" Carther Fine arts, a collaborative show New Jersey 2022.

• Black Art in America head quarter opening exhibition Atlanta Georgia 2022.

• ''All the world's stage'' International juried exhibition Cape Cod Museum of Art Massachusetts 2022.

• 15th Figurative show Hillard gallery Kansas city Missouri 2022.

• ''Surface'' Highlighting the use of textures held D'Art Center Norfolk Virginia 2022.

• "Red dot Miami" represented by Agora gallery Mana Wynwood Miami FL 2021

• Summer showcase Agora gallery 2019

https://www.chinemeremomeh.com/

Reclaimed Wood by Richard Herklotz Opens at Smyrna Public Library Display Gallery

The March/April 2023 Display Gallery exhibit has opened – Reclaimed Wood by Richard Herklotz.  Mr. Omeh’s exhibit is on display through April 30. The Display Gallery is located on the 2nd floor of the Smyrna Public Library.

Display Gallery exhibits are organized by the Friends of Smyrna Library.

Artist Statement:

I was born in Glen Ridge N.J. and grew up in the small town of Basking Ridge, N.J. I graduated from Ridge High School in 1966, attended Davis and Elkins College in Elkins W.V. for 2 ½ years. I entered the Air Force in April of 1969, after basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas, I served at Travis AFB, California and Yokota AFB, Japan, during the Vietnam conflict. I was stationed at Dobbins AFB in 1971 and met Elaine in 1972 while there. We married in July of 1973 and remained in Georgia.

I have always enjoyed working with wood, building several items for our first house. I inherited most of my father’s power tools. Among those tools was a Sears lathe and a few turning chisels. I experimented with the lathe and was able to turn some nice pieces from wood found in the firewood pile or limbs fallen from trees in the yard. I now have a much better Poolewood lathe and am able to turn larger and more intricate pieces.

Turning has become a joy for me. It is fascinating to watch as an ugly piece of log becomes a thing of beauty as spins on the lathe. Most of the wood (90%) I use comes from the Cobb county area. Many pieces are where I have seen a pile of limbs left by the road for the city or county to get. Friends and co-workers have brought me pieces of eastern red cedar, wild cherry, crab apple and other woods from the North Atlanta area, Tennessee, South Georgia and even Oregon. I still have a few pieces of black walnut from my father-in-laws farm in Tallapoosa, Ga.

You can reach him at herkit@bellsouth.net