Summer Reading Program Event: Friends at the Farm

Tsunami, Spike, and Cloud from Our Giving Garden brought their humans to the Smyrna Public Library to teach the kids about how they all work together on the farm.  The weather was great so the visit was conducted on the new library patio.

Thank you to the team at Our Giving Garden for today’s delightful and informative program about the important roles animals play in our food system and environment.

About Our Giving Garden:

Our Giving Garden is a 501c3 nonprofit farm and education center with a mission to interrupt poverty through fresh food access, education, and greenspace access. We have grown and donated over 10,000 pounds of fresh produce since 2016 and are just getting started! Join our mission by volunteering, donating or sponsoring us for events!

Learn more from the website.  

The 2024 Summer Reading Program is sponsored by the City of Smyrna, the Friends of Smyrna Library, and Dairy Queen, Spring Rd.

Summer Reading Program: Read With a Buddy

 

Summer Reading Program: Adventure Passport

 

Summer Reading Kick-off: Big Ideas Bubble Party

Adventure Begins At Your Library is the theme for this year’s Summer Reading Program.  The adventure began this morning with bubbles, reading, and fun. The kick-off event started with an amazing half-hour Bubble Show, followed by a half-hour of Bubble Play!

Smyrna Public Library staff were on hand to answer parents’ questions about the reading challenge, registration, programs, and how to use Beanstack.

We are off to a great start for a wonderful 2024 Summer Reading Program.

The 2024 Summer Reading Program is sponsored by the City of Smyrna, the Friends of Smyrna Library, and Dairy Queen, Spring Rd.

FOSL Underwrites Additional Book Purchase for Summer Reading Program

The Friends of Smyrna Library have been a sponsor of the Summer Reading Program since 1990. We provide funding for reading prizes, weekly events, and more. We recently made an additional $2,500 donation to Youth Services to buy new children’s books.  They arrived today and will be very popular with the kids this summer.

Your support of the Friends of Smyrna Library through Book Donations, Shopping our FOSL Bookstore & Book Sales, and Membership Donations enable our underwriting of library purchases and event sponsorship.  Donations are accepted at the Circulation Desk on the first floor.  Thank you for your donations!                

Sunday Lecture: Smyrna in the 60s

This afternoon’s Sunday Lecture featured some fun time traveling.  Local historian Dr. William Marchione pulled all the Smyrna headlines and newsmakers from the 1960s into a nostalgic look at Smyrna's past layered with historical perspective. 

This lecture was made possible by an indexing project spearheaded by Dr. Marchione and conducted by Friends of Smyrna Library volunteers. For over a year, volunteers have pored over Smyrna Herald newspapers to create the first index of this valuable resource. The group celebrated the completion of the 1960s with this lecture.

Photo: The former Smyrna Public Library was constructed on the south side of King Street south of the Smyrna Memorial Cemetery in 1961.   

Speaker Bio: Dr. William Marchione is the author of A Brief History of Smyrna, Georgia.

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

2024 Summer Reading Program Announced: Adventure Begins at Your Library

Early registration for the Smyrna Public Library 2024 Summer Reading begins on May 17.  The program starts on May 22 and ends on July 31.  This year’s theme is Adventure Begins at Your Library.  

Children and teens, ages 0-18, can read and log minutes in the Summer Reading Challenge. Use the library's Beanstack online platform to earn virtual badges and win prizes.

Adults can also participate by using Beanstack to log books read throughout the summer. Earn online badges and a prize for completing the adult challenge.

Learn about the program at the Smyrna Public Library website.

The 2024 Summer Reading Program is sponsored by the City of Smyrna, the Friends of Smyrna Library, and Dairy Queen, Spring Rd.

Transformations Exhibit Opens in Art & Display Galleries

The May/June 2024 Art and Display Gallery exhibit has opened – Transformations by Elizabeth Mobley (glass), Mausi (mixed media), and Stella Spyrou (photography).  

The exhibit is on display through June 30.  The Art Gallery and Display Gallery are located on the 2nd floor of the Smyrna Public Library.

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

Artist Statements

Elizabeth Mobley

I  work with glass because it's challenging - and because no two pieces are the same. Also, glass can be massive and dense, but at the same time delicate and fragile.

I keep going back to my favorite subjects: landscapes, seascapes and animals - imagining depth, texture and lighting to project images in glass.

The results depend upon my technical skills, patience and sometimes luck. If I'm successful, there is wonder. If not, the piece will be melted and reborn into something new.

Mausi (Sharon Brown)

Mausi started drawing from a very young age. Her first drawing was of JFK as seen on black and white TV. And from this point on, she never stopped drawing, painting and creating different types of art. Mausi is a multi media artist working with watercolor, pencils, charcoal, acrylics, pastels, textile and natural products to create drawings, paintings, and 3-d structures. She finishes most of her work with artistic framing and embellishments.

She graduated from the Western Kentucky University with an Associated of Arts degree in Fine Arts. She never stopped learning and improving her artistic knowledge and talents.

Stella Spyrou

I have always been taking pictures in my spare time but I became more serious about photography after I retired from an IT Senior Manager position at a pharmaceutical company.

I joined the Sweetwater Camera Club in Douglasville, GA and participated in many of the monthly competitions winning from Honorable Mention to 1st place several times. My winning images were published in the Chapel Hill News and Views (a local publication) and displayed at The Photo Spot in Douglasville, GA. In addition, many of my images were displayed at various local art exhibits. One of them, Evening at the Port,  won 3rd place in November 2013 at the  NOVAS (National Open Visual Arts Show) sponsored by the Cultural Arts Center in Douglasville, GA.