First Sunday Lecture: Philip Ivester, Concord Covered Bridge Historic District Board President, Presents

Thank you for coming out yesterday for the wonderful lecture by Phil Ivester about the Concord Covered Bridge. What a fun afternoon! Big thanks to Phil for sharing his knowledge and time with us and to the Friends of Concord Covered Bridge Historic District for all they do to preserve this bridge and its history.

Speaker: Philip Ivester, Concord Covered Bridge Historic District Board President Sunday's talk focuses on the obscure history of the iconic Covered Bridge. Are you curious about its history? Want to see what the bridge looked like a hundred years ago when the mill pond was still intact? Want to know how many cars should go through on each turn? Smyrna-native Philip Ivester, serves as CEO of Kennesaw-based Energy Management firm. His degree is in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech, but he is passionate about Smyrna history, having grown up in the historic Martin Luker Ruff house near the Concord Woolen Mill, Grist Mill, and Covered Bridge. Over the years he has done extensive research into the history of 19th-century communities known as Concord, Millgrove, Nickajack, and Tillman. He is President of the Friends of the Concord Covered Bridge Historic District and Treasurer of the Smyrna Historical Society. Sunday Lectures are sponsored by the Friends of Smyrna Library.

FOSL Celebrates Teen Volunteer Service

Tonight our teen volunteers sorted almost 2,300 K’NEX parts into eleven 207-piece kits that once again match the instructions.  These kits are used for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) projects for kids.  If you have any 207-piece K’NEX kits that your family no longer needs please consider donating them to the Smyrna Public Library.  We have lots of spares to refresh and complete any sets with missing or damaged parts.   

THANK YOU, Teen Volunteers!

Modern Woodmen of America Donation

Zach Hiatt from Modern Woodmen of America stopped by Smyrna Library to drop off a $100 donation for the Friends of Smyrna Library today. The donation was in support of a Wonderbook collection for the children's collection. Watch for these special books to hit the shelves this fall.

Johnny Crawford to Present The Vietnam War: A Black Man’s Perspective

First Sunday Lecture Series
Johnny Crawford
The Vietnam War: A Black Man’s Perspective

Sunday, October 2, 2022
3:00-4:00 p.m.
Smyrna Public Library, Meeting Room

Speaker: Johnny Crawford, author of Vietnam Black Soldiers Portrait Project

The Vietnam Black Soldier Portrait Project's goal is to produce black & white portraits of Black Vietnam Veterans in 19 states and the District of Columbia. These portraits will represent a visual history of the 275,000 Black men and women who served in combat and supply services in all branches of the United States Military. The states include Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, New York, California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Johnny Crawford is the Vietnam Black Soldiers Portrait Project's founder and director and a visual storyteller and educator based in Atlanta, Georgia. He is from Jackson, Georgia. He taught photography at Grady High School, Marietta City Schools Adult Education Program, Clark Atlanta University, University of Georgia, Middle Georgia State University, and Mercer University. He was an award-winning staff photographer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for over 28 years. He has an M.A. in Photojournalism from Ohio University and degrees in Psychology and Public Relations from Morehouse College.

Free admission. Light refreshments will be served.

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

Thank You, Kiwanis Club!

Recently the Kiwanis Club dropped off a selection of new pictures books as donations for Smyrna Public Library's children's collection.

 Thank you, Kiwanis!

10 NEW Little Free Libraries In-Progress

Campbell High School Junior and soon-to-be Eagle Scout, Blair B., is building 10 “Little Free Libraries” for Smyrna Parks & Recreation for his Eagle Scout service project.  They will be installed across the city in our public parks.  The Friends of Smyrna Library salute Blair’s initiative and great community service.  He spent almost an hour this afternoon going through our book inventory and curated 3 big boxes of selections for the new “Little Free Libraries”.  Thank you, Blair!

Smyrna Museum and Smyrna Public Library Celebrate Smyrna's 150th Anniversary - 1872 to 2022

The History of Smyrna is featured in the Smyrna Public Library Art & Display 2nd Floor Galleries.  The photos in the Art Gallery are on display through October 31.  The photos in the Display Gallery are on display through December 31.

This exhibit is sponsored by the Smyrna Museum and the Smyrna Public Library