Adults

It's time for books and blitzes at Hoover Public Library!  Football Family Fun is coming to the Plaza on Saturday, August 5, 2023 from 1-4 p.m.  Test your skill with a football toss, a football video game, or play the blast-from-the-past electronic tabletop game!  Make a paper football then challenge your family and friends to a friendly round of flick football. Draw your perfect helmet on a wooden ornament to take home.  Sign up for fantasy football for a chance to play with your friends and against your librarians this season.  Don't have an NFL team to pull for?  No problem, we have a quiz to tell you which team you are most suited for.  You'll also have a chance to use your personal knowledge (and research skills) to fill out a football trivia quiz.  Each finished quiz will be an entry into a grand prize drawing.  You don't have to register to be part of the fun.  And you don't have to be a seasoned football fanatic!  All interest/knowledge levels are welcome, even newbies!  Grab one of these new football books while you're here!  There's something for everyone.

Hoover Public Library is partnering with Hoover-AHEAD to host their Third Annual Juneteenth Celebration on Saturday, June 17, 2023!  There will be lots of things happening in several different parts of the library throughout the day.  We'll have plenty of clear signage to help direct you once you're here, but don't wait until you arrive to plan out your day!  Use this sneak peek to make sure you don't miss the moments that are most important to YOU as you celebrate freedom.

Summer Reading is almost here!  Sign-up for the reading part of the program begins Thursday, May 25, 2023.  Just drop by any kid, teen, or adult service desk to pick up a paper reading log.  You can also keep track of your reading online via Beanstack.  Then, the very next day, we'll have our HUGE Summer Reading Kickoff Carnival!  This year's theme is All Together Now, so we want everyone to join us on Friday, May 26, 2023 from 1-4 p.m. for tons of fun that celebrates our community.  There will be A LOT happening both inside and outside the building, so here's a breakdown to help you navigate.

We got a bit derailed in January, but we're back on track to resume my monthly KJ's Reader Getaways!  In case you don't know, these are casual excursions for adults who love kid lit and want to talk about it!  The next one will be Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 4 p.m.  We'll meet at Santos Coffee on Brocks Gap Parkway for tasty treats and delicious book talks.  I know we'll talk about recent award winners, plus a couple of reading challenges we have going on at the library -- Newbery 100 and Black History Month Book Bingo.  But we'll also talk about whatever YOU want to talk about!  And I'll have ARCs to give away, too!

Mark you calendars for these upcoming dates (fingers crossed, of course):
Friday, March 11, 2022 at 4 p.m. - Baba Java Coffee
Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at 4 p.m. - Bluff Park Ice Cream Shoppe

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18.5% of the population can trace their lineage to Latin America or Spain, and that population is growing, especially in Alabama. The Hispanic culture is rich and vibrant and in the Birmingham area, is celebrated annually during the Fiesta! On Saturday, September 26th, from noon to 8 pm in Linn Park downtown, the 19th annual festival will be held. Since its inception in 2003, Fiesta has served as a bridge, celebrating the culturally diverse traditions of Latin America’s various Spanish-speaking countries right here in Birmingham. This family-friendly event is a great way to celebrate the very diverse Hispanic culture right here in Birmingham.  For more information, check out the event at https://fiestabham.com/  If you are unable to attend, perhaps you have time to take up a great book - fiction, nonfiction, memoir - there are plenty of new, great titles that should peak your interest. So, whether you choose to sit home with a great book or get up and dance at Fiesta!, !Celebrando a Pura Vida!

Aye, Matey!  For those of you captivated by the daring doings of dastardly pirates, you might turn to Jack Sparrow's "Pirates of the Carribean". For me, I enjoy reading about pirates, real and fictional.  September 19th is officially "Talk Like a Pirate" Day, so you get to explore your inner pirate.  For tips on actually learning the jargon, you can go to the library's website and it will lead you to Mango Languages.  Not only can you learn Mandarin or Spanish, there is also a free unit on learning to talk like a pirate!  There's ship jargon and salutations that will have you unrecognizable from Captain Hook!  If you want to play a pirate-inspired adult board game, try Pirate Fluxx : the ever-changing pirate card game. We've got plenty of movies and other books to fill your pirate-shaped heart.  Yarr, shiver me timbers and see you around the deck!

The steady rise in the publishing industry for Amish popular fiction, whether it be a romance or a mystery or thriller, has been going on since the mid-1990's and doesn't seem to be slowing down.  The three most successful authors of Amish fiction—Beverly Lewis, Cindy Woodsmall, and Wanda Brunstetter—have sold over 30 million books! What has been the impetus for such a surge in a sub-genre?  Is it a desire to escape the hyper-technological nature of today's world or is it a reach for a more simple time where stories end heroically and romance is not such a complicated path to bliss?  One blogger postulates that in writing about the Amish, we are delving into a subculture that still has taboos and there is a mystery surrounding customs and beliefs.