Help for Your Food Budget

We understand that times are tough for everyone. Well, the library offers a lot of ways to help your household budget. One of those ways is having a great cookbook collection that can help you save money in the kitchen. Some quick money-saving tips:

-Buy food in bulk when possible
-Freeze leftover fresh foods
-Pack a lunch more during the workweek
-Omit meat from dinner one or two nights a week

Here are just a few titles we have that can help you implement these tips:

There have been several stories in the media recently that offer budget-conscious recipes. Last week Good Morning America ran a series called $15 Dinner Dare. Each day an anchor revealed a list of ingredients to a visiting chef, who then had to prepare a delicious meal live on-air.

This week on NPR's All Things Considered they are airing a series called "How Low Can You Go"? It is a supper challenge where cooks across the nation have to come up with a meal for a family of four that's healthy, easy and delicious - all for $10 or under.

Finally, the Food Network has a new show hosted by Sandra Lee, the home and style expert best-known for her show and magazine "Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade". Sandra's Money Saving Meals premieres on May 10th at 11am central time.

And if you are still feeling stressed and just need some comfort food, look no further. The title says it all…..

From the Kindle Screen to the Big Screen

Doesn't it seem that lately more and more movies coming out have already been successful - as books? And so it continues..... Angelina Jolie has just been cast in the lead role of Dr. Kay Scarpetta in a movie based on Patricia Cornwell's best-selling series. Julia Roberts and Richard Jenkins are both set to star in a big-screen adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.


Here are a few coming out on DVD within the next couple off months - go ahead and reserve your copy today by clicking on the picture:




Movies Coming To Theaters Later This Year:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- July 15th, 2009

Julie and Julia - August 7th, 2009

The Time Traveler's Wife - August 21st, 2009

The Lovely Bones - December 11th, 2009

And if you like to talk and compare books with cinema, come join us at our book club in June and July! June's book we will be discussing is Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper, whose movie adaptation is being released in theaters on June 26th, 2009. July's book selection is No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, the first book of a popular series by Alexander McCall Smith. HBO is currently airing a TV series based on the books. Call us at 951-1415 or leave a comment if you would like more information about our book club.

Happy Viewing/Reading!

National Karaoke Week

Happy Karaoke Week! April 19th-25th is National Karaoke Week, so you still have a few more days to get out there and celebrate with a song! Whether you are a karaoke lover or hater (come on, don't hate!), Don't Stop Believin': how karaoke conquered the world and changed my life is a wonderful read. From Publishers Weekly:

What some condemn as an aesthetic crime is actually the most direct form of music appreciation that now exists, contends this indulgent tribute to a dubious art form. Entertainment journalist and karaoke connoisseur Raftery celebrates the medium as both a democratization of our overprofessionalized entertainment culture and a kind of therapy that transforms shamed self-consciousness into brazen, talentless self-acceptance. He traces the industry's history from its early struggles to cajole club goers into making spectacles of themselves to its rise as mockery-proof nightlife mainstay. Raftery vividly evokes the boozy, semimelodic pathos that makes karaoke a profound group-bonding rite, while acknowledging—nay, toasting—its tackiness. The result is an entertaining, exuberant homage that's anything but off-key.

And all karaoke doesn't have to be sung in the proper key. Know any pre-teens or teens? In June we will be having "American Un-Idol" here at the library as part of our Summer Reading Programming for teens. Click here for more information.

Rock on! :)

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day is a day that was formed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. In 1970 when the first Earth Day took place, more than 20 million people took part in the celebrations. Now, almost 30 years later, more than a half a billion people participate in Earth Day events. Earth Day is the only event celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities. [sources: EPA and Wikipedia]

Earth Day Events this week around Birmingham:

April 22nd - Free Vehicle Emissions Check

Alabama Partners for Clean Air

April 22nd - Earth Day Parade

Auntie Litter

April 26th - Earth Day at the Gardens

Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Here is a brief list of websites that promote being "green", helping the environment, organic living and sustainability:

Green Resource Center for Alabama

Grow Alabama

Tree Hugger

National Geographic Green Guide

Earth Day Network

Environmental Protection Agency

Enjoy and Go Green!!!

Grey Gardens

Grey Gardens is a documentary that was first released in the 1970s about relatives of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Edith "Big Edie" Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale were the aunt and first cousin of Jackie O. The two women lived together at Grey Gardens, a decrepit mansion in the East Hamptons, in squalor and isolation. The documentary inspired a Broadway musical by the same name and now, HBO has made an original movie starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange.

And because I couldn't possible come up with Grey Gardens information better than this fan does, here is an absolutely amazing blog you should check out. As the tagline says: Everything that touches Grey Gardens, Edith Bouvier Beale, and her daughter Edie.

So check out the documentary, or a book about the Bouviers, or watch the movie this weekend!

Grey Gardens premieres on HBO Saturday, April 18th at 7 pm central time.

Alabama Book Festival

It is time for the Fourth Annual Alabama Book Festival!

Frank Stitt (Bottega Favorita: A Southern Chef's Love Affair with Italian Food), Kathryn Tucker Windham (13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey), Nanci Kincaid (Eat, Drink, and Be from Mississippi), and Mary Pope Osbourne (Magic Treehouse Series) are just a few of the many authors that will be appearing. Click here for a complete list of authors.

Bring the kids out! All their favorite character's will be there - Arthur, Clifford, and Blue from Blue's Clues!

Visit the Alabama Center for the Book's website for more information.

Irondale Job Fair

The Greater Irondale Chamber of Commerce is hosting a job fair!

When: Friday April 17th from 10:00 AM-2:00 PM

Where: Pine Tree Country Club

Who: Anyone! It is free and open to the public!

All you need to do is bring your resume with references. There will be a variety of businesses there looking to fill full-time and part-time positions.

For more information call the Chamber @ 956-3104

We Shall Remain

Beginning Monday, April 13th, PBS will air a five-part series about Native history. From pbs.org:

It shows how Native peoples valiantly resisted expulsion from their lands and fought the extinction of their culture -- from the Wampanoags of New England in the 1600s who used their alliance with the English to weaken rival tribes, to the bold new leaders of the 1970s who harnessed the momentum of the civil rights movement to forge a pan-Indian identity. We Shall Remain represents an unprecedented collaboration between Native and non-Native filmmakers and involves Native advisors and scholars.
(photo: Bob Charlo)

To watch a preview, click here.

The schedule is as follows, with all episodes airing at 8pm central time:

April 13th - "After the Mayflower"
April 20th - "Tecumseh's Vision"
April 27th - "Trail of Tears"
May 4th - "Geronimo"
May 11th - "Wounded Knee"

National Library Week

From ALA's website:

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries - school, public, academic and special - participate.

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From Pat Ryan, Jefferson County Library Cooperative:

REDISCOVER YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY DURING NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK

(Jefferson County, Alabama) – National Library week is celebrating 50 years, as our public libraries countywide celebrate 30 years of cooperation. Due to the current recession, libraries have been in the national and local news more than ever.

Since August, more than 400 articles on the surge in library use have been published nationwide in magazines, newspapers, and on web sites.

Thanks to our funding partners - The cities of Jefferson County that fund their local libraries; the Jefferson County Commission; and funding from the Alabama State Legislature - residents of Jefferson County have world-class library service to help them weather this economic storm.

Your local public library is a tremendous public resource. Public libraries continue to be the best bargain in town.

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One of our very own library patrons here in Irondale was featured last week in the Birmingham News! She talks about how she has used the library to help her in her job search. Read her story here.

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All the Jefferson County Libraries are celebrating National Library Week by offering a $5 waiver for late fines.


So come in and visit the library!!!

Revisit Charles Dickens

PBS is about to start airing "Little Dorrit" on Masterpiece Classic.

Following in the triumphant footsteps of "Bleak House," "Little Dorrit"
tells the story of the Dorrit family and the rich array of characters they
encounter on their way from rags to riches and back again. Adapted by
screenwriter Andrew Davies, the lavish 8-hour miniseries stars Matthew Macfadyen, Tom Courtenay, Alun Armstrong, and a host of masters of Dickensian disguise.

If Little Dorrit isn't your favorite Dickens story, don't fret, we have many others to choose from. No matter what your age, we have a variety of Charles Dickens' books and adaptations. We also carry various DVDs:

Masterpiece Classic is also having a book giveaway. You could win a set of Charles Dickens' classics. Click here for rules and to enter the contest.

Watch Little Dorrit on APT starting this Sunday at 8pm.