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BPL News & Information Programs

Celebrate 100 Years of Lifelong Learning at Bexley Public Library!

By Library Director Ben Heckman

Bexley Public Library is excited to be celebrating our 100th birthday this year, and we are honored to share this once-in-a-lifetime birthday with the wonderful community we’ve been honored to serve for more than a century. While April marks the start of our many celebratory festivities, we invite you to join us for the host of engaging authors, talented musicians, inspiring artists, and more that will join us throughout the year.

Our centennial music journey begins this month with an enchanting piano concert by Tony Hagood. Join us on Sunday, April 14 at 3 pm when Tony performs the music of George Gershwin in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Rhapsody in Blue.

On Thursday, April 25 at 6 pm the festivities continue with birthday cake, Johnson’s ice cream, and samples of Bexley Pizza Plus’s new centennial pizza. At 7 pm, we’ll be treated to an enlightening discussion with author and professor Roosevelt Montás, who will explore the lasting influence of the Great Books, how they still have the power to change lives, and why they matter now more than ever.

Find these and more centennial activities and events on our website at BexleyLibrary.org/100Years. We can’t wait to celebrate with you!

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Online Resources Programs

Discover and Preserve Your Past at the Library!

by Local History Librarian David

With holidays and family gatherings right around the corner, let Bexley Public Library be your place to discover family history and preserve your memories – for free! We have special genealogy programming this October in honor of Family History Month, and we invite you to explore the tools in our Memory Lab. 

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Bexley History Programs

Celebrate Bexley’s 115th Birthday at the Library!

By Local History Librarian David

August 10 is Bexley Day, the day Bexley was established as an incorporated village with its first charter in 1908. For the second year, the Bexley Public Library, in partnership with the Bexley Historical Society, are celebrating Bexley’s birthday with an honorary program and cake. This year, Historical Society Trustee, Larry Helman, will present on how the community developed over time. Join us for the event at 7 PM on Thursday, August 10 in the library auditorium. It will also be an opportunity to learn about a new effort to mark and recognize those houses of 100+ years in age. 

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Programs

Happy Jewish Heritage Month!

By Associate Librarian – Readers’ Advisory Specialist Debbie

This year the Bexley Library is one of 29 libraries across the country chosen to participate in the Yiddish Book Center’s “Stories of Exile” Reading Group!

The Yiddish Book Center is in Amherst, Massachusetts and was founded by Aaron Lansky, who started collecting Yiddish books when, as a college student, he and his classmates had trouble finding Yiddish books to read.  They realized that since Yiddish wasn’t spoken by the current generation, Yiddish books were being thrown away – and it was happening at an alarming rate.  Aaron Lansky’s adventures saving Yiddish books and the founding and evolution of the Yiddish Book Center are chronicled in his wonderful book Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books.

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Programs Recommendations

Five Ways to Celebrate Toni Morrison Day!

by Public Service Associate Juliana

Happy Birthday, Toni Morrison! Mark your calendars! February 17th is Toni Morrison Day, and there’s no better time to immerse yourself in her work. Read, watch, listen, or attend, there are myriad ways to honor Morrison’s legacy.

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Programs Recommendations

Vampires In the Library!!

by Public Service Associate Juliana

//image still from official trailer, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

I was never a vampire reader, no Dracula, The Queen of the Damned, or Salem’s Lot. My preferred medium for vampire lore has always been film. With that said, I have always been drawn to movies based on books. Interview with the Vampire based on the Anne Rice novel and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust based on the novels written by Hideyuki Kikuchi, are two of my favorites. I recall staying home sick from school in the early 2000s watching Vampire Hunter D for the umpteenth time. I paused on a favorite scene and decided to draw the still, copying exactly what I saw on the screen. When I wrote about the experience in the journal I had to keep for art class, my teacher commented that I had “experienced the healing power of art.” I’ve returned to this thought many times throughout my life, the idea that art can heal. And now with that connective tissue, I forever equate vampire movies as a kind of magic medicine.

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Bexley History BPL News & Information Programs

Let’s Celebrate Family History Month!

by Public Service Associate Juliana

The U.S. has commemorated Family History Month every October since 2001 when Congress passed a resolution for its annual observance. Did you know that here at the Bexley Public Library we have our very own Memory Lab for preserving photos, documents, and audiovisuals into a digital format? The lab features a photo scanner, VHS converter, slide/negative scanner, and more. Come cross something off your to-do list this October and preserve your family’s history for future generations. 

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Bexley History Programs

Celebrate Bexley Day

by Local History Librarian David

Bexley, 1872

Bexley Day, which falls on August 10, 2022, marks the 114th anniversary of the first council meeting of the Village of Bexley. This year Bexley Public Library, in partnership with the Bexley Historical Society, is celebrating Bexley Day with the program, Mapping Bexley From Wilderness to Village.

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BPL News & Information Programs Recommendations

Summer Gardening

by Public Service Associate Owen

Other than the shock of spring, summer is far and away the most verdant time of year. It is the perfect time to get the overalls on, find your gardening gloves and trowel, and spend hazy days in the garden. If you’re the sort of person who finds fulfilment on your knees in the soil, or even if you simply appreciate a good house plant, then this blog is for you! I’d like to highlight our extensive plant and gardening section here at the library, as well as shout out a fantastic event we’re having here involving plants and gardening that you won’t want to miss!

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Programs Recommendations

50 Years of Title IX

by Adult Services Manager Whitney

I grew up in the 80s, and wasn’t aware of Title IX until I was an adult. But with the 50th anniversary of Title IX last Thursday, I’ve been hearing more stories that make me realize that lack of awareness proves the law’s success: things have changed so much I’ve been able to take it for granted. Unlike Linda Logan, CEO of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, when I was in school there were multiple sports available to girls, rather than zero. Unlike Stephanie Hightower, I was aware of girls who had received sports scholarships, rather than being the first one. And unlike Sue Ramsey, who graduated from Bexley High School in 1974, I didn’t have to make my own field hockey uniforms in Home Economics.