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Important Notices
Kings Heath Library is closed until Thursday 9 February 2012 at the earliest, due to a broken boiler.
Sutton Coldfield Library closed until further notice
Sutton Coldfield Library has closed due to urgent building works. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused. Your library card can be used at any Birmingham community library. The nearest to Sutton are Mere Green Library, Boldmere Library, Erdington Library, Walmley Library and Wylde Green Library.
Please e-mail your comments on any aspect of the library service to
libraries@birmingham.gov.uk or fill in this feedback form
Find out What's New in Birmingham Libraries
National Libraries Day 2012
We will be marking National Libraries Day on Saturday 4 February with Family Fun in Centre for the Child and activities for adults - the Birmingham Poet Laureate and Young Poet Laureate will lead poetry activities, the Book Doctors will be on hand to diagnose your reading needs and staff from the Health Exchange will be offering free blood pressure checks.
eBook service launched for National Libraries Day
We are pleased to announce that our Downloadable eBooks service is now available for members of Birmingham Library and Archive Services. Details of the Downloadable eBooks.
Central Library changes
Six New 'Faces of the Library of Birmingham'
Six new 'Faces' join the 11 already chosen for the ‘ Rewriting the Book ’ campaign. This aims to find 26 people whose inspirational stories reflect the diverse ways in which libraries can change lives. A group of Library of Birmingham Faces - old and new - visited the site and met Councillor Mike Whitby.
Holocaust Memorial Day 2012
Each year on 27 January we remember the events of the Holocaust. Our Young Poet Laureate, Damani Dennisur read his poem First They Came at a special ceremony at the Town Hall. We have created a reading list for young people and a list of informative websites on the subject. Some of our previous adult and young Poets Laureate have also written commemorative poems over the years to mark this important day.
Big City Read
Birmingham Libraries are delighted to announce that Birmingham has been chosen by Transworld Publishers (in partnership with The Reading Agency) to be the destination for their ‘Big City Read’.
Find out more about the Big City Read. Author S J Watson is appearing in the Library Theatre on 29 February 2012.
Gigglefest
Gigglefest is back! Now in its fourth year, Birmingham’s very own Comedy Festival for Kids will be hijacking Centre for the Child from 11-18 February for a week of downright comedy carnage and blatant buffoonery. Not to mention the very best in stand up comedy and perky performance for kids! For more details, go to www.birmingham.gov.uk/gigglefest
Boulton and Watt on new £50 note
Boulton and Watt are most famous for the invention of the steam engine, but they also ran the Soho Mint in Birmingham, manufacturing currency for the UK and around the world. Find out why they are appearing on the new £50 banknote.
Birmingham Poet Laureate 2011-12
The Birmingham Poet Laureate 2011-12 is Jan Watts. The announcement was made on National Poetry Day 2011.
Jan will be writing and performing poems in the city throughout the next year.
The Library of Birmingham - Rewriting the Book
Latest news about the Library of Birmingham, including a recent aerial photograph of the site, showing how the building is developing.
Aston Library
Archives Searchroom
It is now essential to book an appointment to use the archives searchroom before your visit. We offer two sessions each day on Wednesdays, Thurdays and Fridays between 10am – 1pm, 2pm – 5pm. Appointments can be made by email at: archives.appointments@birmingham.gov.uk or by telephone : 0121 303 2468
Visit the Virtual Library - visit the library in the library!
The Library of Birmingham opens in summer 2013 but you don’t need to wait until then to walk round it. We’ve built the library in Second Life, an online virtual world and you – or your avatar – can visit the building now and have your say on how you’d like to use the service in the future.
Find out more about the Virtual Library
Downloadable e-audiobooks
This service is now available again for library members. Download talking books for your PC, iPod or MP3 player at any time. Please follow this link for further details - Downloadable eAudiobooks
Keep Birmingham Working
This is a broad partnership initiative, delivered through libraries, to help people in Birmingham find work, start a business, learn new skills or become self employed.
Your local library is a community hub that can help you back into the world of paid employment, or be your own boss and upgrade your skills through its range of services. Find out more about our Library Work and Enterprise Clubs.
Silent Movie Scores Collection
Preparations for the move to the new Library of Birmingham have uncovered what could be the UK's largest collection of silent movie scores, including a unique Charlie Chaplin theme tune.
The collection consists of 500 scores and parts for use with silent movies. It is representative of the entire oeuvre of silent movie music between 1915 and 1929, the golden age of the silent movie, and reveals what audiences at the time were listening to. Find out more about the Silent Movie Score Collection.
New ! Take part in the Silent Movie Animation Challenge
Online Language Learning
Our new Online Language Learning service is for all library members. Just set up your account on a library computer, then access it anywhere.
Fly through the Library of Birmingham
New computer-generated video tour of the Library of Birmingham by architects Mecanoo. Click to see -video tour of the Library of Birmingham.
Ancestry
Ancestry Library Edition is available FREE on computers in Birmingham Libraries. Trace your family history using records from England, Wales and Scotland censuses 1841 to 1901, UK parish and probate records and now incorporating the complete General Register Office index of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales from 1837 to 2005.
Now includes British Army WW1 Medal Rolls Index cards 1914 - 1920
New addition National Index of Wills and Letters of Administration (Probate Calendar) from 1861 to 1941. Find out how much your ancestors left in their will and to whom.
Your Digital Library
You can use many online reference books without even coming to the library, as long as you have a library membership card. Click on this link to see what's available outside libraries - www.birmingham.gov.uk/websitesathome
Online Resources
Websites to help you with the Driving Theory Test and Life in the UK and British Citizenship tests are now available to library members both on library computers and computers outside libraries. Follow this link - Driving Theory Test and Go Citizen.
Computer Booking
Netloan Computer Booking System
This is now operating in most Birmingham libraries.There's no more queuing for computers, but please remember to bring your library card number and PIN to book a session. In response to your comments your allowance is now 6 hours per week. Find out more about changes in Netloan
Shakespeare
Midlands Historical Data
www.midlandshistoricaldata.org/
This project is making digital copies of rare books, maps, photographs and documents about the West Midlands for viewing online. It's free to use on computers in Birmingham Libraries. The site has Birmingham electoral registers for 1912/13, 1918 (absent voters list), 1920, 1925, 1930/31 and 1935/36 - fully searchable by name - which makes it a useful source for family history research.
Creation Zone
This amazing website at www.creation-zone.co.ukcontains over 3,000 images from the Early and Fine Printing Collection, the Parker Collection of Children's Books and Walsall Leather Museum. Browse for hours among the beautiful pictures in the Image Bank or use the Advanced Search to choose by theme, style and texture. And don't miss such treasures as the Aubrey Beardsley illustrations for Le Morte d'Arthur.
Maps of Birmingham
Map prints for sale
You can now order copies, colour or sepia, of many of the historical maps of Birmingham from the Archives and Heritage Service in the Central Library. These are A3 high definition prints on quality matte paper, cost £8 each (Postage and packing free).
Credo Reference
An online reference library that gives you access to a huge range of information, including encyclopaedias, dictionaries and books of quotations, plus a range of specialist subjects. You can search all these sources with one keyword search. Available on your home or office computer too, if you are a member of Birmingham Libraries.