Tag: Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library

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We Are Family

CREDIT: Chang Wei Ong | dreamstime.com

Ever wonder if your great-great-great grandfather was a timber-shivering pirate? Or if your great-great-aunt twice-removed was the first Bolivian female physicist? Wonder no more. The Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library is offering free genealogy courses during the month of May.

At 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, beginning and experienced genealogists are gathering for the free two-hour programs. The first two sessions covered the basics of genealogy and record searches. On May 20th, African-American and Native-American genealogy will be discussed. The final class on May 27th will explain how to work with military records and how to join a heredity society once you have unearthed your ancestry.

The resources at the library make this kind of in-depth research possible, with microfilm and more than 20,000 print genealogy materials. Along with these great resources, the library has compiled and indexed Shelby County records from births to marriage licenses to funeral-home documents, which will come in handy when you go to lay flowers on the grave of your long-lost Elvis-impersonating polygamist cousin.

Genealogy Workshops at the Benjamin L. Hooks Library, Tuesdays at 7 p.m. through May 27th. For more information, call 415-2742.

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Brent Taylor Donates Papers to Library for “Future Generations”

Outgoing City Council member Brent Taylor will donate documents he’s accumulated while serving on the council over the past 12 years to the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library.

Taylor retires from the council at the end of his term on January 1st. Elected at 27 years old in 1995, Taylor was the youngest member ever elected to the Memphis City Council.

Taylor’s papers will be stored on the library’s fourth floor, along with document collections from Mayor E.H. Crump, school board member Maxine Smith, and state representative A.W. Willis.

“It is my hope that future generations of library visitors will view my documents and benefit from inspecting the body of work that I contributed to and compiled while serving on the legislative body,” said Taylor.

Dang. We were kind of hoping for a Brent Taylor Presidential Library kind of thing. Oh well.

In other news, retiring councilman Edmund Ford announced that he is leaving his extensive watch and automobile collection to the federal government.

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The Literary Nightlife

Any month is a good month to support your neighborhood branch of the Memphis Public Library. But this November, the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, at 3030 Poplar, is a great place to be.

There’s a performance by Alaskan storyteller and fiddler Ken Waldman on November 13th, a showing of the Scandinavian film Mother of Mine (this month’s offering in the library’s “Wider Angle” film series) on November 14th, and free classes on computer basics for adults throughout the month.

But to start the month, the Central Library is not only the place to be, it’s the place to give. “After Hours,” the Foundation for the Library’s annual fund-raising gala, is Saturday, November 3rd. For $100 per person ($700 for a table of eight), guests will be treated to cocktails and dinner (catered by Another Roadside Attraction), live music (including a performance by the Memphis Men’s Chorale), and a silent auction — so keep your voice down, this here’s a library. Not so silent during “After Hours”: the night’s keynote speaker — political satirist and author Christopher Buckley (pictured).

If you don’t know Buckley’s titles (No Way To Treat a First Lady, Washington Schlepped Here, and, most recently, Boomsday), surely you know the movie Thank You for Smoking starring Aaron Eckhart and Robert Duvall. It was based on Buckley’s book of the same title. And maybe you know another Buckley book: The White House Mess, which was a work of fiction. The current White House mess isn’t fiction, it’s a fact. And surely Christopher Buckley has some words to say on the subject. That’ll be fine. It’s “After Hours.”

“After Hours,” the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, Saturday, November 3rd, 7-11 p.m. For reservations or more information, call 415-2834.