The new 24 hour, 'live-chat' and email reference service from the People's Network. Ask your question in real time or request an e-mail reply. More details about Enquire.

Fines Amnesty ! Bring your books and CDs back between 26 April and 31 May and you won't have to pay any fines.

South Yardley Library re-opens ! After a long closure period for building maintenance, South Yardley Library has now opened its doors again.

National Year of Reading The National Year of Reading is now well underway. Find out what's happening in Birmingham Libraries, including the Young Readers Birmingham festival and Book Bash, a visit by author, Adele Parks and our Book of the Week. love libraries, love reading, free to join !

Young Readers Birmingham 17 - 31 May 2008 The full programme for this year's Young Readers Festival is now available online. There will be over 100 events across the city including Family Fun days at over a dozen libraries, the chance to meet famous authors such as Daren Shan and Melvin Burgess and of course the ever popular Bank Holiday Sunday Book Bash!

Design Team Shortlist for the £193 million Library of Birmingham In October 2007 the Leader of Birmingham City Council, Cllr Mike Whitby, unveiled proposals to deliver the Library of Birmingham on a shared site with the world famous Birmingham Repertory Theatre (The REP). This groundbreaking £193 million project will allow the library and REP to share a number of facilities to create a unique centre for knowledge, learning and culture. Find out more about plans for a new Library of Birmingham, including the announcement of the design team shortlist.

Archives and Local Studies - Important changes to our service The new integrated Archives and Heritage Service is now open on Floor 6 of the Central Library.

Midlands Historical Data 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.

How can libraries help refugees and asylum seekers ? We are currently contacting all local community groups which support refugees and asylum seekers. We would like to hear from you about your expectations of Birmingham libraries, provision of foreign language material and other useful resources for the refugee community. Please tell us what you think.

The History of Erdington Find out more about the History of Erdington including an online gallery of images from Erdington's past.

Wired up to Wellbeing in Yardley Libraries Older residents in Yardley constituency are being offered a series of hands-on IT sessions in local libraries to help them make the most of information technology in their lives.

A Shared History, A Shared Future This project celebrates 200 years since the abolition of the slave trade. Schools and community based groups have been exploring the ways in which slavery in all its forms throughout history has operated, and how it relates to our lives in Birmingham. The Liberty Box, a catalogued collection of resources, is now freely available in Birmingham libraries.

Bhangra The world's first book about British Bhangra music is published by Birmingham Libraries at £14.99. It offers a timely and accessible overview of some of the artists, songs, audiences and images of Bhangra Music in Britain and is based on the exhibition 'From Soho Road to the Punjab.

Brash at the Health Exchange BRASH - Birmingham Relationship and Sexual Health Service - offers free confidential advice on contraception and sexual health every Monday 1.30 - 4.00pm. Find out more about BRASH at the Health Exchange

Health Exchange Calendar There is now a full programme of activities taking place in the Health Exchange on Floor 5 of Central Library and in local centres. Subjects include Tackling Obesity, Healthy Eating and Stopping Smoking

Festivals of Our Lives is a Library Services at Home project based on interviews with seven of our library users. The project began in October 2006 and was completed in October 2007. It takes a personal look at Diwali, Christianity, Eid Ul-Fitr and Vaisakhi.

Neighbourhood Libraries Birmingham Libraries are opening brand new, self-service libraries in Community Centres and Leisure Centres around the City. They are convenient, easy to use and, above all, they are local. Cocks Moors Woods Neighbourhood Library, Hawkesley Neighbourhood Library , Kingsbury Neighbourhood Library and St Michael's Neighbourhood Library are all now open.

Expensive web sites free in the library . . . and at home if you're a member Birmingham Libraries subscribes to an increasing number of web sites to give you the information you need. If you have a library card, you can use these sites at home, work or college simply by typing in your card number. Sites include Times Digital Archive, Oxford English Dictionary, Naxos Music Library, COBRA business

Some popular pages on our site Local History menu | FAQs about Birmingham past and present | Photo Archive Historical maps of Birmingham | William Shakespeare | J.R.R. Tolkien Muslim places of worship | Hot topics | Resources for Transport Research Information for the Polish Community | Dance schools in Birmingham Pure Science | Websites for Family History

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.

Sir Laurence Olivier (1907 - 1989) 2007 marked the centenary of the birth of Sir Laurence Olivier, who is regarded as one of Britain's greatest actors both on stage and in film. Olivier started his theatre career at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre under the artistic direction of Sir Barry Jackson. See photographs of some of his early productions on our website and also on Floor 3 of the Central Library.

All things Harry Potter! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is now in Birmingham Libraries. Each library has a Large Print and CD audio book version available at the same time for those with difficulties reading standard print. Reserve the new Harry Potter book online now or catch up on any of the Harry Potter series you missed. You can also take a look at our pictures of the Harry Potter Sleepover in Centre for the Child.

Creation Zone just got simpler ! This amazing website at www.creation-zone.co.uk contains 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.

A Brief History of Austin and Longbridge Herbert Austin, founder of the Austin Motor Company, was born 8th November 1866 at Grange Farm, Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire. Find out more about the history of Austin and Longbridge.

The Arts, Languages and Literature staff research and update an enormous amount of local information - Theatre Groups, Art Galleries, Reading and Writing Groups, Dance Schools, Auctioneers, Booksellers, Photographic Societies and more besides - all of these in Birmingham. There is also a useful list of collections and other specialised material you can find in this part of Birmingham Central Library.

Birmingham Box Office Online We sell tickets for a variety of promoters, events and venues in the region through a secure networked box office system.Transactions are live, and credit card processing and seat allocation are undertaken while you are on-line.

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 £6 each (Postage and packing free).

Credo Reference (formerly known as xreferplus ) is an online reference library that provides you with 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.