FOSL Sponsors Black History Month Celebrations at Smyrna Public Library

The Smyrna Public Library will offer two exciting programs for children, families, and adults in celebration of Black History Month. Thanks to the generous donation and support from the Friends of the Smyrna Library, these programs are free of charge and are open to the public. No reservations are necessary to attend. Both programs will be held in the first floor meeting room of the Smyrna Public Library.

On Saturday, February 23rd, the library will host a storytelling program for children and families from 11:00 AM- 12:00 PM. The Cobb Cluster of the Southern Order of Storytellers, members of the Kuumba Storytellers, and the youth Tattle Tales group will be featured. Children and adults alike will share stories about notable African Americans and African dolls will be featured at the program as well. Storyteller Margaret Edinburgh says, "We can preserve our history by preserving the art of storytelling." These storytellers will educate and entertain while also paying homage to important figures in black history. Edinburgh will be joined by storytellers Esther Culver, Amy Johnson, and Mama Koku, as well as by several youth storytellers. This program will be fun for the whole family!

On Sunday, February 24th from 2:00-4:00 PM, the library will offer a special Black History Month program for adults featuring two speakers, Ms. Robin Washington Banks and Mr. Charles Black. This program, also sponsored by the Friends of the Smyrna Library, is open to the public and will offer light refreshments.

Ms. Robin Washington Banks, educator and author, is the great-granddaughter of Booker T. Washington and the daughter of a Tuskegee Airman. Her great-aunt was also one of the co-founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first African American sorority. Ms. Washington Banks focuses on promoting the philosophies of her great grandfather. "It has become my life's work to keep my great grandfather's legacy alive by doing things that will draw attention to his philosophies and his work." Ms. Washington Banks' presentation, "Colors, Character and Choices," will include stories about her family and will highlight character as a powerful tool in bringing our diverse nation together in harmony.

Mr. Charles Black is a professional actor on stage, screen, radio, video and television, a Special Correspondent for The Atlanta Inquirer newspaper, and a community activist. Mr. Black served for many years on the Executive Committee of the Atlanta Branch of the NAACP of which he is a Life Member. While attending Morehouse College, Mr. Black was one of only eight students taught by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mr. Black served as chairman of the Atlanta Student Movement in the 1960s, where he implemented the desegregation plan for lunch counters in Atlanta, negotiated desegregation of all theaters and movie houses in Atlanta and negotiated desegregation of Grady Hospital. He will focus on "Hidden Heroes of History" and will share his experiences as a civil rights figure in Atlanta.

New Kids Catalog Launched

The Smyrna Public Library has a new kids' catalog!  

Kids and adults, meet Scout the dog, who will help you along you way in finding the perfect book!  As part of our Scout catalog kick off, we're raffling off several plush Scouts. Stop by the library to use the new computer and to complete a Scout activity sheet.  Drop your completed activity sheet in the Scout raffle box and you could win a Scout of your very own!  

Winners will be drawn on March 1st.

10th Murder Goes South Festival Held Today

The 10th Murder Goes South... a Festival of Readers and Writers of the Southern Mystery, was held today. FOSL thanks the writers, moderators, volunteers and attendees who made it a success.

WRITERS:

TONY BURTON, writer, educator and publisher. His novels include Blinded by Darkness and A Wicked Good Play. He edited Seven by Seven and Crime and Suspense Anthology: 2005-2006.

LEE KELLY’s work in the medical and pharmaceutical industries was put to good use in her novel Vengeance in Blood.

BRANDON MASSEY, published his original novel Thunderland in 2002. He has since published a number of thrillers including The Other Brother, Twisted Tales, Dark Dreams and Covenant.

JOESEPH MORGAN, author of Blood Beneath My Feet: The Journey of a Southern Death Investigator, was Senior Investigator, Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, Atlanta, GA for 14 years. He investigated 200 - 300 deaths per year.

MIRANDA PARKER, writes fun, feisty, redemptive stories about “bad girl” gone good. Her iconic character Kensington Dafina is featured in her comic romance suspense novels.

CHERYL RITZEL, works include Runner’s High and Beginner’s Luck. She is a teacher who is also pursuing a Private Investigator Certificate.

FRAN STEWART, a free-lance editor, has written many novels which include Violet as an Amethyst and A Slaying Song Tonight. Her mystery series, Biscuit McKee, is set in a small town in Georgia.

LESLIE TENTLER’s Midnight Caller is a finalist in the 2012 International Thriller Awards for Best First Novel. It is the first book in her Chasing Evil Trilogy.

JO ANN COOK is a Smyrna resident who has written short stories, poetry, children’s books and novels which includes her southern mystery, entitled Murder, Magnolias and Mansions.
MODERATORS:

KAREN KIRKPATRICK KENNEDY has been an active member of Sisters in Crime for many years. She has served as president, vice president, treasurer and more for the Atlanta Chapter. She has written several mysteries, has an agent she loves and respects, and looks forward to the day one of her books sells.

VR BARTKOWSKI is a native Californian now living in Atlanta. Winner of the 2012 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Colorado Gold for Mystery, and a finalist for both the 2012 Claymore and Daphne Du Maurier Awards, VR’s short fiction has appeared in Mysterical-E, Spinetingler, and Vine Leaves Literary Journal. At present she is researching her third novel while pondering a fourth. VR is a member of both Mystery Writers of America and Sisters-in-Crime.

Mary W. Moore Hired as Smyrna Public Library Director

The Smyrna City Council voted 7-0 last night to hire Mary W. Moore as Library Director.  She is replacing Library Director Michael Seigler who retired on December 28 after 18 years of service in that role.

Mary was the sole finalist for the position after a 6-month candidate search and extensive interviews. In joining the Smyrna Public Library she leaves her role as an award-winning adult services and reference library manager for the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library system in Huntsville, Alabama.

Please join the Friends of Smyrna Library in welcoming Mary to Smyrna!

Art Evokes Emotion by Kevin Rucker Opens In Art Gallery

"Ever since I can remember, I have always loved to draw. In one of my earliest memories as a child, I drew a 'friend' on the garage wall with green chalk. At a very early age, my mother encouraged me to create. In the summers of my youth, she would provide me with reams of notebook paper to draw on. My life has been devoted to art."

Kevin Rucker’s remarkable, imaginative illustrations have gained this award-winning Atlanta artist an enthusiastic following. By combining detailed 2-D and 3-D images with abstract concepts, Kevin creates illustrations that appeal to traditionalists and modernists alike. As Kevin says, "Art evokes emotion. When I am creating, I am at my best."

Originally from New York, Kevin began his formal art education with a degree in Commercial Design and then went on to earn his Bachelor of Science degree (with a minor in Visual Arts) from the State University of New York at New Paltz. After moving to Atlanta in 1997, Kevin earned a degree in Computer Animation from the Art Institute of Atlanta, achieving many honors as a student. He was then invited to join the faculty as a 2-D and 3-D animation instructor.

Kevin went on to a distinguished career as a Graphic Artist, Illustrator, and Creative Director. The quality and creativity of his work has attracted numerous public and private commissions, with past clients including Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, and Visa.

As an artist, Kevin has won numerous excellence awards and produced illustrations that have had global influence. Working as a commercial designer for over 20 years has now afforded him the opportunity to pursue his creative passions full-time. Kevin reflects:

"...I have considered myself extremely lucky to have had such talented and patient art teachers and invaluable opportunities to make a living doing what I love. I feel very privileged that God has given me such a gift. Of course, I give Him all the credit."

In addition to his expertise in illustration and graphic arts, Kevin Rucker is an avid woodworker and accomplished 3-D mural artist.

Memory and Metaphor by Joyce Vroon Opens In Display Gallery

I have recently enjoyed working in collage as a way of recycling and recombining the bits and pieces of our lives into a new form conveying new meaning. The collage artist treasures the qualities of materials, and the eye continually searches for possibilities in papers, objects, or images that can be used in unexpected ways. As we are living in a society that is striving to become paperless, some of these materials are threatened to extinction, making them even more cherished.

One becomes a collector-- finding value in both the cast off items as well as the treasures in the clutter of our lives. There is satisfaction in organizing this ephemera as well as in the delight at seeing an unexpected outcome.

Within this exhibit the work takes many forms using various metaphors. The theme “Homage Collage” provides a way to celebrate and pay tribute to loved ones through photographs and other memorabilia. Travel collages weave together souvenirs and images. Musical experiences are portrayed through tickets to events. Twigs collected on mountain walks are worked into a nature series. Newspaper snippets create a social commentary on the loss of one’s home in “Foreclosure.” Stamps and pens represent the demise of letter writing in “A Lost Art.” Images of ice cream recall the pleasures of childhood and a simpler time. Keys are used to unlock meaning, to link to the past, and to open new doors.

In creating collage one can be challenged to introduce elements of the past into a modern art form or to reflect on the experiences of the present in a deeply personal way.

Winter 2013 Reading List

The Friends of Smyrna Library recommend the following books for the winter reading season. This season’s featured book is Broken by Karin Slaughter.

A Wanted Man by Lee Child

America Again by Stephen Colbert

An Irish Country Wedding by Patrick Taylor

Betrayal by Danielle Steel

Defending Jacob by William Landay

Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley

Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Help, Thanks, Wow by Anne Lamott

Hide by Lisa Gardner

In The Garden Of Beasts by Erik Larson

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Into The Woods by Kim Harrison
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Live by Night by Dennis Lehane

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Mad River by John Sandford

NYPD Red by James Patterson

Phantom by Jo Nesbo

Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander

Rise of the Governor by Robert Kirkman

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

Sleep No More by Iris Johansen

The Bone Bed by Patricia Cornwell

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling

The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

The Forgotten by David Baldacci

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Racketeer by John Grisham

The Sentry by Robert Crais

The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

The Twelve by Justin Cronin

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich

Wild Swans by Jung Chang

Winter of the World by Ken Follett

Compiled by FOSL Volunteer