FOSL Website Translator Updated

We recently updated our website automated translator.  Click the flags on the upper right on the home page to translate the site into Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian), French, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. 

www.FOSLga.org

Summer Reading Program Finale: Adventure Around the World

Today’s Summer Reading Finale featured an adventure around the world for the kids (age 3 to 10) without leaving the library!   

The kids learned about 10 famous landmarks and made crafts from different countries. 

Remember Kids, you have until July 31st to complete your summer reading challenge and win prizes for reading!  

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

August Author Event Details: An Afternoon with Michelle Braxton

Author Event: An Afternoon with Michelle Braxton

Sponsored by The Friends of Smyrna Library and Smyrna Public Library
Sunday, August 18, 2024
3:00-4:30 pm
Reed House, 3080 Atlanta Rd SE, Smyrna, GA 30080

Click Here to Register for Free Tickets at Eventbrite
* Age 18 & Older *

Event Description:

The afternoon kicks off with a cooking demonstration with author and blogger Michelle Braxton in Smyrna's historic Reed House. Ms Braxton will make two fresh summer salads. After the tasting, enjoy a conversation with Michelle Braxton and Smyrna Public Library Director Mary Wallace Moore. The event includes snacks and fun summer mocktails. Books will be available for purchase courtesy of A Cappella Books, and a book signing will follow. Pre-purchased books are also available.

Tickets:

Free admission, but reservation tickets are required.
Click Here to Register for Free Tickets at Eventbrite

Pre-purchase a copy of her book Supper with Love: Vibrant, Delicious, and Comforting Plant-Forward and Pescatarian Recipes for Every Day through A Capella Books.

Speaker Biography:

Michelle Braxton is the author of the cookbook, Supper with Love. She is also the creator, writer, recipe developer, and photographer of Supper with Michelle, a blog she founded in 2014 as a way to spread the joy she finds in plant-forward and pescatarian cooking. Preparing every meal with love, she hopes that by sharing her fresh, vibrant, comforting, and veggie-enthusiastic recipes, others can pass on a little bit of that love, too. A firm believer in balance for both food and life, Michelle strives to incorporate as many seasonal, wholesome, and natural ingredients as possible into her dishes. Michelle has contributed to projects like Klancy Miller's For the Culture: Celebrating Black Women and Femmes in Food and Wine and Chitra Agawa's Brooklyn Delhi: Khanna Collective Recipe Zine as well as partnered with brands such as Cuisinart, Kroger Company, and Zwilling J.A. Henckels. Michelle lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Enjoy her popular blog:

https://www.supperwithmichelle.com/

To follow the author on her social channels, see below:

https://www.instagram.com/supperwithmichelle/

https://www.facebook.com/supperwithmichelle

https://www.pinterest.com/supperwmichelle/

https://www.threads.net/@supperwithmichelle

https://www.tiktok.com/@supperwithmichelle

Todd DeFeo Joins the Friends of Smyrna Library Board of Directors

Todd DeFeo joined the Friends of Smyrna Library Board of Directors during last week’s monthly board meeting. 

Bio:

Todd DeFeo has written several railroad histories and is an avid traveler, photographer and amateur historian; he is the founder of The DeFeo Groupe and publisher of Railfanning.org. He believes libraries, including the Smyrna Library, are integral to understanding our histories and telling our communities’ stories, and he is looking forward to contributing his efforts to our city.

The FOSL Board of Directors now has 15 members – 4 Officers and 11 Directors. We are excited to have a fully staffed board so that we can increase our community engagement, fundraising, program sponsorship, and volunteer recruitment.

Welcome New FOSL Board Member, Kevin Howard

Kevin Howard recently joined the Friends of Smyrna Library Board of Directors.

Bio:

As a father, engineer, and STEM educator who has been living and working in the city of Smyrna for the last 24 years, Kevin Howard is pleased to join the board to help support the Smyrna library and further its positive impact on our diverse and vibrant community.

Thank you for volunteering!

Summer Reading Program Event: Arthur Atsma, Magician

Thank you, Arthur Atsma, for the amazing magic show you put on for the kids today.  

Today’s show was geared for 3 to 7 year olds. They were mesmerized and really enjoyed the fast-paced, sleight of hand magical comedy show with lots of audience participation, laughs, and fun.

Arthur Atsma is a unique combination of sleight of hand comedy magician, electronic musician/composer, educator, and inspirational speaker.

His ability to diversify his performances for all audiences makes Arthur Atsma one of the most sought-after clean comedy performers in North America!

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

FOSL Provides $1,000 Grant to Expand Graphic Novel Collection

The Friends of Smyrna Library recently provided a $1,000 grant to expand the library’s collection of graphic novels.  They are now available to be checked out! 

Graphic novels are a popular choice for kids who enjoy reading for fun, and they appeal to readers of all ages and skill levels. They are particularly attractive to younger readers who might be hesitant to pick up traditional books, providing a bridge from picture books to chapter books. 

Additionally, graphic novels can be a valuable resource for struggling readers, helping to expand vocabulary and develop essential reading skills.

Sunday Lecture: The Chattahoochee River Line

Thank you, Phil Ivestor & Guest Presenters, for today’s very informative presentation on the Chattahoochee River Line during the lead up to the Civil War Battle of Atlanta.  Mr. Ivestor is the President of the Concord Covered Bridge Historic District.  

The detailed presentation, attended by a standing room only crowd of 70, covered the troop movements & strategy in advance of the 1864 River Line Battles and the Shoupade Line that ran for six miles from present day Vinings to Smyrna to Mableton near 285.  

Letters from solders to their families were also discussed.  The locations of the 10 remaining Shoupades in the River Line Historic Area were mapped; 3 of which are accessible to the public.

On display were a Shoupade model, battle artifacts, a large map of the River Line Historic Area, and copies of Mr. Ivestor’s book. 

Mr. Ivestor was joined by Roberta Cook and Julie Schrodt from The River Line Historic Area.  Ms. Cook is the nonprofit’s Executive Director and Ms. Schrodt serves as the Secretary.  They elaborated further on the Shoupades and discussed the organization’s mission related to historic and environmental preservation.

Learn more about Concord Covered Bridge Historic District at their website.

Learn more about The River Line Historic Area at their website.           

Summer Book Sale Volunteers Needed

Our upcoming Summer Book Sale requires a lot of planning and volunteers.  We have 100 volunteer opportunities to prepare for, set up, conduct, and break down the Summer Book Sale between Saturday, August 3 and Sunday, August 11.  

Opportunities are available for adults and students (6th grade and up).  Light duty work is also available during each shift. 

Volunteer duties include sorting books, pricing books with colored price dots, organizing boxed books, sale set up, keeping sale area organized during the sale, assisting shoppers, and sale break down.   

Book Sale Duties  

We use Sign-Up Genius to manage volunteer participation.  It’s easy to use and will email you a reminder a couple of days before your volunteer shift.  If something comes up and you cannot make a shift all you have to do is remove your name from the shift so another volunteer can sign-up.        

Sign-up to Volunteer 

Thank you for volunteering!

WANTED DONATIONS: Gently Used Children’s Books, Magazines, and Puzzles

We are currently soliciting gently used Children’s Books (Board, Picture, EZ Reader, Early Chapter, etc.), Children’s Magazines (Highlights, Scholastic, etc.), Graphic Novels, Young Adult, and Puzzles.  

These donations will be used as reading challenge prizes, added to the library collection, or sold in our Summer Book Sale on Saturday, August 10 and Sunday, August 11.  The sale proceeds will benefit the library.  

Donations are accepted at the Circulation Desk in the Smyrna Public Library during business hours and are requested before August 9.  Thank you for supporting Smyrna Library Kids and Friends of Smyrna Library fundraising.

Save the Date! Upcoming Author Event

Save the Date! Upcoming Author Event An Afternoon with Michelle Braxton

This event is free and requires registration to secure your reservation.

Learn more and register at https://foslga.org/_awithm.htm

More details will be published soon.

 

Smyrna Library Kids Have Read Over 120,000 Minutes So Far This Summer!

Wow!  These are the metrics as of July 1 for Smyrna Library Kids participation in the Summer Reading Program.  The kids have almost 4 weeks left until the challenge ends.  Our Smyrna Library Kids summer reading goal is 200,000 minutes.

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

Pâte de verre & Fritography (Fused Glass Art) by Ann Tewelow Opens In Display Gallery

The July/August 2024 Display Gallery exhibit has opened – Pâte de Verre & Fritography (Fused Glass Art) by Ann Tewelow.  Ms. Tewelow’s exhibit is on display through August 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:

“The beauty of glass with the depth of its reflective qualities and colors has always held a deep fascination for me.” Upon retirement she took up pate de verre and fritography  (methods of art using fused ground glass) and has since added mosaics, etching and sandblasting to her repertoire. She says, "All these mediums have allowed me a wide range of creativity."

Pâte de verre is a sophisticated glassmaking technique that involves creating intricate designs from a paste of crushed or powdered glass that is fired in a kiln to fuse the particles into a solid piece.

Fritography is a glass art technique that uses frit, which is finely crushed or powdered glass, to create vibrant and intricate patterns or images. It is also fired in a kiln. 

Collage Art by Atlanta Collage Society Exhibit Opens In Art Gallery

The July/August 2024 Art Gallery exhibit has opened – Collage Art by Atlanta Collage Society.  The Society’s exhibit is on display through August 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.

Artist Statement:

Five artists representing the Atlanta Collage Society are now on display through August 30 in the Smyrna Public Library Art Gallery on the second floor.

Collage refers to both the artistic technique of arranging and gluing pieces of various materials onto a supporting surface and to the resulting artwork. Collage is one form of mixed media. It first became popular in 1912 when Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque were innovating Cubism in their painting. Some say Picasso was the first to use collage in his oil paintings.

Because it combines material elements and visual culture, collage creates an exploratory and evocative process for both the artist and the viewer.

Pictured L to R: Cynthia Frigon, Jane Kelley and Ellen Kierr Stein. Not pictured: Jeff Rackley and Aaron Whitmoyer.

www.AtlantaCollage.org

Summer Reading Program Event: Talewise presents Science Heroes and the Adventure of the Lost Treasure

Thank you, Talewise, for today’s interactive and adventurous science show for the Smyrna Public Library Summer Reading Program!

Science and stories collided in this all new, interactive STEM show. The attendees were led on a treasure-hunting adventure deep within the jungle!  The audience helped the performer act out the tale, as they used the events in the story to explore several exciting science concepts: air pressure, energy transfer, physical vs. chemical changes, and more. 

Everyone had fun experiencing the fusion of science and stories!

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