The Birmingham Pledge

• I believe that every person has worth as an individual. 
• I believe that every person is entitled to dignity and respect, regardless of race or color. 
• I believe that every thought and every act of racial prejudice is harmful; if it is my thought or act, then it is harmful to me as well as to others. 
• Therefore, from this day forward I will strive daily to eliminate racial prejudice from my thoughts and actions. 
• I will discourage racial prejudice by others at every opportunity. 
• I will treat all people with dignity and respect; and I will strive daily to honor this pledge, knowing that the world will be a better place because of my effort.

Source: http://birminghampledgefoundation.org/

Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819-March 26, 1892)

The Library of Congress holds the world's largest collection of Walt Whitman manuscripts. The current transcription campaign covers a large subset of his writings, including poetry, personal letters, and other documents.

Whitman worked as a school teacher, printer, newspaper editor, journalist, carpenter, freelance writer, civil servant, and Union Army nurse during the Civil War, but he is best known as one of America's most famous poets.

HAPPY 200th BIRTHDAY!!
To help celebrate the 200th anniversary of Whitman's birth, please consider participating in the transcription project. For more information, please visit: https:crowd.loc.gov/.

Cinco de mayo

Cinco de mayo obelisk, San Antonio

Cinco de mayo, or the fifth of May, commemorates the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867). A relatively minor holiday in Mexico, in the United States Cinco de mayo has evolved into a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations. Cinco de mayo traditions include parades, mariachi music performances and street festivals in cities and towns across Mexico and the United States. (source: www.history.com)

Spring Fling in Gilbertown!!!

(Click on photos to enlarge)

April 18th is Poem in your Pocket Day!

Image used with permission of Galway.net. Poetry... is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what was seen during a moment. - Carl Sandburg

The idea is simple: select a poem you love and carry it with you to share with friends, family, and colleagues throughout the day. Here are a few ways to celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day. Text a poem to a friend Add a poem to your e-mail footer Try to compose a poem in your free time Include a poem with your letter to a friend or loved one Visit the poetry display in the library Post a poem on your social networking page Make copies of a poem to give to your friends

April is National Poetry Month

	Academy of American Poets Bartleby Great Books Online Modern American Poetry National Poetry Month Poem Generator Poetry Center Poetry Daily Poetry Foundation Poetry Society Poetry Society of America

National Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Lutzie 43 Foundation	43 Key Seconds
Phillip Lutzenkirchen's Story	Take the Pledge

National Library Week (April 7th-13th)

During National Library Week,
fines will be waived for overdue items!!!

"The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke

Read by Sophie Okonedo

Happy Pi Day!!!

 3.1415926...

Can I have a small container of coffee?

Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th (3/14) around the world. Pi is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant - the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter - which is approximately 3.14159. Pi Day is an annual opportunity for math enthusiasts to recite the infinite digits of Pi, talk to their friends about math, and to eat Pie.

Woman of the Year Award!

Miss Margaret Taylor, born 90 years ago today, was honored with a 90th birthday and Woman of the Year celebration on Monday, March 11th at the Gilbertown Campus Library. In addition to being a long-term employee at the library, she has worked for Black Creek Baptist Church and several charitable organizations, including Baptist Campus Ministries, Choctaw County WMU, Hospice, Leadership Choctaw, St. Jude, and the Veterans Auxiliary. Way to go, Miss Margaret - you make us proud!!

 

 

March is also National Craft Month!

Displayed handicrafts were hand made 

by DeeDee Baggett and Kim Coale

March 8th is International Women's Day!

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. International Women's Day has occurred for well over a century, with the first​ ​IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

March is Women's History Month!

Women's History Month display in Leigh Library

(display by DeeDee Baggett)

Genghis Khan Invades Downtown Mobile!!!

Discover the man behind the legend in the blockbuster exhibition
experienced by over a million people around the world.

Now through April 28th at the Exploreum

John F. Kennedy on Diversity

If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

African-American History Month

Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot 

(display by DeeDee Baggett)

Cultural Legacy of African-Americans

(display by DeeDee Baggett)

Happy Birthday Dr. King!

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  (photo from the Library of Congress)

Civil Rights Memorial Dr. King on Biography.com Encyclopedia of Alabama I Have a Dream speech King Center (Atlanta) Letter from a Birmingham Jail M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial  Museum of African American History & Culture National Historical Park Selma to Montgomery March

"So many books, so little time..."

New books display in Leigh Library on Brewton Campus

Display: DeeDee Baggett                      Quote: Frank Zappa

Welcome to Spring Semester!