Sunday, October 9, 2022, 3:00pm – 5:00pm
Auditorium
The Saucers Will Keep Their Secrets – UFOs as Cosmic Art. Talk will feature artists Tex Crawford and David Metcalf with UFO author and expert Greg Bishop, host of Radio Misterioso and author of Project Beta, A is for Adamski, and It Defies Language!. Reception 3-5 for gallery show Visions From The Outside, which opened in the Bogue Gallery Oct 2.
Tuesday, October 18, 2022 4:00 p.m. (for teens)
Wednesday, October 19, 2022 6:30 p.m. (for adults)
Multi Purpose Room C
Aiki means the defender blends without clashing with the attacker, then goes on to dominate the assailant through the application of internal strength or Ki energy to effect techniques. Blending with an attacker’s movements allows the Aiki practitioner to control the actions of the attacker with minimal effort. Long time aikido instructor John Smartt will be in the Athens-Clarke County Library to explain and show us how Aikido is the Way of Harmony. Free and open to the public.
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Auditorium
Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez is hosting a listening session on August 11th at 6pm to discuss and address community and individual safety concerns facing Athens. All community members are invited to attend and encouraged to participate. Community input and experiences are essential components of creating change within the justice system and in building a safer community.
July 31 – September 18, 2022
Bogue Gallery
Several Athens artists presented a panel program at the Athens-Clarke County Library in honor of Black History Month earlier this year. Each discussed aspects of their lives as artists, their inspirations, their identities as local artists of color and as part of the wider arts community. The Library’s Bogue Gallery is now showcasing these creatives with a multi-media show titled “Community Views Through the Eyes of Five Artists.”
Featured are photographer Kidd Fielteau, fashion designer Tabitha Fielteau, painter / muralist Broderick Flanigan, multi-media artist Par Ramey, and painter Mykiesha Ross. The exhibition opens Sunday, July 31, in the Bogue Gallery, with an opening reception and brief artist talks, to be given in Multipurpose Room A at 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 24, 2022, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
Auditorium
The Athens-Clarke County Library, Heritage Room and the Athens Historical Society bring you: Lost Athens, presented by Beth and Steven Brown. In the extensive North Side Urban Renewal project Athens lost hundreds of homes, as well as businesses, churches and even streets that had been part of the community life since Athens’ earliest days. We will discuss the history and development of the area from Lickskillet to The Bottom, then survey the lost structures, drawing upon rich photographic documentation in the Hargrett Library. As we stroll in this through this interactive program we’ll meet some of the many Athenians who called the area home during its history.
Beth Brown retired from the Griffin-Spalding School System in 2006 and moved to Athens to join the Athens-Clarke County Library in 2008 as Information Services and Heritage Room Librarian. She attended the Georgia Archives Institute in June of 2015 and served on the Athens Historical Society Board from 2015 to 2019. In January of 2019, she retired from the Heritage Room.
With degrees from Ohio State and the University of Michigan, Steven Brown came to Athens in 1979 to to join the UGA Libraries faculty at the Science Library. In 2000 he joined the Hargrett Library as Head of University of Georgia Archives and Records Management, completing the Georgia Archives Institute. In 2008 he semi-retired, but continued with Hargrett, focusing on reference work with University and local history. He served as historian on the Athens Historical Society Board of Directors from 2013 to 2019.
On November 30, 2019, Beth and Steven, enriched their research collaboration by getting married in the back yard of their Clarke County home, Greater Mayhem.
If you’ve missed a few of our programs, or would like to revisit some of them, here is a basketful of videos from programs and special events from the last year!
The Path to Silence: Japan’s Christian Century and Beyond
Walt Mussell is an award-winning author who writes both historical fiction and historical fantasy primarily set in medieval Japan, an interest he gained during the four years he lived there. The Path to Silence: Japan’s Christian Century and Beyond details Japan’s Christian history, focusing primarily on 1549-1650, a time when Japan had over 300 thousand Christian converts who were driven underground under penalty of death. The title refers to Silence, the book on 17th century persecution by Japanese author Endo Shusaku, which was released as a Scorsese movie in 2017.
African American Visual Artists in Athens: A Panel Discussion
This program was recorded at Athens-Clarke County Library on February 23, 2022—it is a panel discussion with prominent local African American artists about their places in the art world, their own artistic journeys, and what it means to be a black artist in Athens, Georgia.
The panel includes Broderick Flanigan, Kidd & Tabitha Fielteau, Par Ramey, and was moderated by Lemuel “Life The Griot” LaRoche and Mykeisha Ross.
https://youtu.be/YWzH64KdWR0
Library Stories: Why I Love My Library
Terry Kay, Charlotte Thomas Marshall, Gail Karwoski, Judge Lawton Stephens, Wanda Culpepper, Grady Thrasher, Garrett Boyd and Hannah Love talk about why they love Athens-Clarke County Library!
Micropoetry: The Deer’s Bandanna, a New Poetry Book by David Oates
Oates works mainly in the Haiku mode, but he also read some of his non-Haiku verse, and talked about the traditions of Japanese poetry.
Mr Oates has 30 years experience teaching writing. He hosts the “Wordland” radio show on WUGA in Athens GA. He is the author of two other collections, Drunken Robins and Shifting with My Sandwich Hand, and over 100 of his poems have been published in magazines. He is the emcee of Athens Word of Mouth Poetry. Oates received his master’s in creative writing from the University of Illinois—Chicago.
Mindfulness with Dr Rich Panico
A talk by Dr Rich Panico on what “mindfulness” truly entails and if it’s a good fit for YOUR life. Or, conversely, can you find a way to learn a useful form of mindfulness that meets you where you are these days and takes into account who you currently are and the “you” that you are shooting for.
Rich Panico is a physician and board certified Psychiatrist who recently retired from medicine after 48 years of clinical practice. The last 20 years of his practice he utilized mindfulness meditation, therapeutic yoga and lifestyle interventions in the treatment of patients with chronic medical conditions and concurrent psychiatric disorders who were treatment failures or had achieved partial benefit from standard treatment.
Athens-Clarke County Library presents Apollo 11: The Wonder of the Unprecedented, July 20, 1969
Athens-Clarke County Library celebrates the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing on Saturday, July 20, 2019 with talks by Dr Loris Magnani from the University of Georgia, who gives a talk about the future of manned space exploration; and Dr David Cotten of the University of Georgia Small Satellite Research Laboratory, who gives a presentation of the NASA award winner CubeSats program.
https://youtu.be/nG89YF8bUjQ
Radiance: Photography by Matt Brewster
Local artist Matt Brewster discusses his photography with a slide talk in the Appleton Auditorium of Athens-Clarke County Library. Brewster is known for his beautiful landscape and interior photography, and in particular his aerial/drone photos. His exhibition, Radiance: Photography by Matt Brewster, was on display in the library’s Quiet Gallery during the months of September and October 2021.
Esperanza: Celebración de la Herencia Hispana
Biblioteca y Centro Educativo de la Comunidad Pinewoods (The Pinewoods Library & Learning Center) is a branch of Athens Regional Library System and is located at 465 US Highway 29N, in a neighborhood called Pinewoods Mobile Home Trailer Park, Lot G-10 in Athens, Georgia.
Speakers include Deborah Gonzalez: Fiscal del Distrito Occidental; Lizette Guevara: Líder del barrio J.J. Harris Prosperity Zone; Teter Carillo: Arstesana Latinx
Furthermore: The Art of Lisa Freeman
A talk by local artist Lisa Freeman about her exhibition in the Quiet Gallery at Athens-Clarke County Library.
Freeman’s art has shifted from painting to a focus on assemblage art using found objects. Drawn to discarded objects and photographs, She is a collector, and Freeman’s art brings to light the “mystery of the forgotten.” By collecting objects, both the familiar and the unusual, and assembling them together, Freeman is asking us to look—to truly look—and, hopefully, to see. You can see examples of her work here: http://www.artbylisafreeman.
Listening In The Dark VIII: Plague of The Lousy Arachnids
Featuring Evan Michael Bush, Bob Deck, Joy Ovington, Eddie Whitlock, and Candace Wiggins
If you haven’t already been creeped out enough by the Jorospiderfestation in your yard, please tune into our eighth annual Halloween Storytelling for Grownups (From a Safe Distance). You’ll be treated to the scariest tales, some original, by Listening in The Dark veterans Evan Michael Bush, Bob Deck, Joy Ovington, Eddie Whitlock, and Can Wiggins.
Imagination Squared: Pathways to Resilience
A talk by Christina Foard, who will talk to you about Imagination Squared, a social experiment she devised within the Arts in Medicine program at the University of Florida Health Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida, which she repeated in Athens, Georgia. She distributed 5″ wood squares as a common platform for the public to modify and return at key cultural institutions around the city, introducing the project to universities, high schools, museums, after school programs, and art groups. Public participants had to agree to donate their completed square, and in exchange, the entire collection would be displayed together publicly. The entire collection of squares is permanently installed at the Athens-Clarke County Library in Athens, Georgia.
Teens Present Fashion History
Jess Patrick talks about the history of fashion, from the 1590s to the present. Recorded September 21, 2021 at Athens-Clarke County Library, Athens Georgia.
Giving Voice to Linnentown Book Launch
Giving Voice to Linnentown is a compelling true story about a young Black girl’s family that lived in a thriving small Black community called Linnentown. Written by Hattie Thomas Whitehead, the book describes her early childhood years in the 1960s, and how her life and the lives of other Linnentown families changed the moment the City of Athens and The University of Georgia entered into an Urban Renewal (UR) contract. As a result of UR, Linnentown properties were taken for the university’s expansion, residents were forced to move, and families were separated. Decades later, Hattie Thomas Whitehead chronicles life in Linnentown and her leadership role in seeking justice on behalf of Linnentown and its first descendants. Her goal is to give voice to a once vibrant and thriving community that was erased.
9/11 Memories: 20 Years After
Nineteen Athens Georgia residents talk about their memories of September 11, 2001, twenty years later.
The Power of PINES
This video is a quick, fun look at how PINES operates.
PINES (Public Information Network for Electronic Services) is a program of the Georgia Public Library Service, the public library automation and lending network for 300 libraries and affiliated service outlets in 51 library systems covering 146 counties (51 of the 60 library systems in Georgia). PINES creates a statewide “borderless library” that provides equal access to information for all Georgians. Georgians with a PINES library card have access to materials beyond what is available on their local shelves and enjoy the benefits of a shared collection of 10.6 million books and other materials that can be delivered to their home library free of charge. If you are a resident of Georgia, you are eligible to receive a free PINES library card.
Susan Pelham Collage Workshop
Monroe Artist Susan Pelham showed her work in the library’s Quiet Gallery during the months of July and August 2021. She gave a talk on her work and led a workshop in the art of collage at Athens-Clarke County Library on Monday, July 19. Ms Pelham graduated from Florida State University in 1963 with a degree in Fine Art; her major was in Painting with a minor in Art History. Twenty years later she spent three months in London updating her Art History at Sotheby’s Styles in Art course.
Athens Streets & Neighborhoods with Gary Doster
Though they have changed much over the years, the streets of Athens, Georgia, hold centuries of history in just their names alone. Historical researcher Gary Doster delves into the streets and neighborhoods of the Classic City, revealing previously unreported stories from its past. Sponsored by Athens Historical Society and Athens-Clarke County Library Heritage Room. Recorded July 18, 2021
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium / Quiet Gallery
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Artist Talk/Reception Saturday, March 12 • 3:00 pm
Exhibition March 12 – May 8, 2022
Athens-Clarke County Library is proud to exhibit the work of artist Anthony Salzman in the Quiet Galley. The exhibition will run from March 12 through May 8, 2022, and Salzman will give a slide talk in the Appleton Auditorium on Sunday, March 12 at 3 pm.
Fr. Salzman: “Icons are the images that are ‘Windows to Heaven’. They give us a peek at life transformed by the Light and Love of God. In icons there is the presence of the Holy Spirit that transcends the mere physical world, or should we say, leads us beyond just the material stuff. The source of light is from within, the expression is ‘in the world but not of the world’, the perspective is reverse – coming out to wrap the viewer in a new dimension of existence which is the holiness of God.
“Whimages are whimsical images that happen in the early hours before the day begins. Bursting from the artistic energy of Fr. Anthony and his zest for life, Whimages reflect to us what we know and what we feel. They can make us laugh and cry, blush and confess, ponder and consider, but most of all rejoice in God’s creation. Whimages try to capture the moment of truth where what is Divine and what is human brush up against each other.”
Fr. Anthony Salzman is a painter, a printmaker, a graphic designer, and a priest. He has studied Modern Expressionist Art at the University of Minnesota and Byzantine Iconography in Thessaloniki, Greece. He stands at the Altar of St. Philothea Greek Orthodox Church in Watkinsville, and he rejoices with his wife Christine, their sons and their families.
The artist talk and exhibition are free and open to the public. For further information, visit www.athenslibrary.org/
Exemplar (The life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá)
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Sunday, March 27, 2022 • 4:00 pm
Please join us for Exemplar, a film sponsored by the Bahá’ís of Athens/Clarke County and Athens-Clarke County Library on Sunday, March 27 at 4:00 pm in the Appleton Auditorium.
Exemplar follows the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the profound effect He had on people both past and present. A sense of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s unique function as a shelter, a shield, a stronghold for all humanity is captured in vignettes of some of the souls whose lives were transformed for the betterment of society through their association with Him. The film reflects a few of the universal principles embodied, both in word and deed, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—principles that animate a global movement of individuals, communities and institutions striving to emulate His example in service to humanity.
For more information, visit www.athenslibrary.org/athens or call the Athens-Clarke County Library at (706) 613-3650. The Athens-Clarke County Library is located at 2025 Baxter Street, Athens. Masks are required in the library.
Thursday, February 24, 2022 • 7:00 pm
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Please join us at Athens-Clarke County Library on February 24 at 7:00 pm for a talk by author Walt Mussell.
Mussell discusses Catholic missionary efforts in Japan during the mid-16th through mid-17th centuries, better known as Japan’s Christian Century. The Path to Silence: Japan’s Christian Century and Beyond focuses primarily on 1549-1650, a time when Japan rose in just over 60 years to have over 300 thousand Christian converts, only to see the religion driven underground about 30 years later under penalty of death. The title refers to Silence, a fictionalized account of an apostatic priest who helped the government persecute Christians. The book, written by Japanese author Shūsaku Endō, on 17th century persecution was released as a Scorsese movie in 2017.
Walt Mussell is an award-winning author who primarily writes historical fiction with a focus on medieval Japan, an interest he gained in the four years he lived there. He often refers to his work as “Like Shogun, but the heroine survives.” When he was unpublished, his works won the inspirational fiction categories in the Maggie, Lone Star, and Great Expectations writing contests. He finally became a published author when his first novel, The Samurai’s Heart, won a publishing contract through Amazon’s Kindle Scout program. He has since self-published The Samurai’s Honor, a prequel to The Samurai’s Heart. His newest work, A Second Chance, was released in August 2021. He lives in the Atlanta area, with his wife and two sons, working for a well-known corporation and writing in his spare time.
Preceding the talk, a related film will be screened in the Appleton Auditorium at 2:00 pm.
Both programs are free and open to the public. Masks are required in the library. For further information, visit www.athenslibrary.org/
Athens-Clarke County Library presents virtual program for Black History Month, February 22
ATHENS, Ga. – In celebration of Black History Month, the Athens-Clarke County Library will host a virtual program about the life of Vivian Harsh, Chicago’s first black professional librarian on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 2:00 p.m.
In her tenure as director of the George Cleveland Hall Library branch, Harsh recognized the need for library services on Chicago’s south side, the heart of the city’s African American community. Under her leadership, the library drew literary and cultural icons of the period including Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Huston, and Gwendolyn Brooks
An avid collector of African-American history, she travelled and collected books and resources for her “special collection”. The resources first accumulated by Harsh have grown into what is today known as the Vivian G Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature, the largest of its kind in the Midwest and currently located at the city’s Carter G Woodson Regional Library.
Athens-Clarke County librarian Martha Kapelewski will introduce the program, a video presentation of a conference talk given at the ACRL/NY 2020 Symposium: Democracy and Libraries, with a brief character sketch of Harsh and her place in history.
This virtual event is free and is presented by the library and Reflecting, Sharing, Learning. Free registration is required at athenslibrary.org/events. Call (706) 613-3650, or visit www.athenslibrary.org/athens for more information. The Athens-Clarke County Library is located at 2025 Baxter Street, Athens.
Thursday, February 24, 2022, 2:00 pm
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Please join us at Athens-Clarke County Library on February 24 at 2:00 pm for a screening of the Scorsese film Silence in the Appleton Auditorium. The film stars Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver and Liam Neeson. In the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
Intent on investigating the truth behind Father Cristovão Ferreira’s abrupt end of correspondence, the devout Portuguese Catholic priests, Sebastião Rodrigues and Francisco Garupe, set off to Japan in 1633. In great disbelief, as the rumors of Ferreira’s apostasy still echo in their minds, the zealous Jesuit missionaries try to locate their mentor, amid the bloodshed of the violent anti-Christian purges. Under those circumstances, the two men and the Japanese guide, Kichijiro, arrive in Japan, only to witness firsthand the unbearable burden of those who have a different belief in a land founded on tradition. Now—as the powerful Grand Inquisitor, Inoue, performs hideous tortures on the brave Japanese Christians—Father Rodrigues will soon have to put his faith to the ultimate test: renounce it in exchange for the prisoners’ lives.
The screening is free and open to the public. Masks are required in the library. For further information, call 706 613 3650. The Athens-Clarke County Library is located at 2025 Baxter Street, Athens.
Thursday, February 24, 2022, 2:00 pm
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Please join us at Athens-Clarke County Library on February 24 at 2:00 pm for a screening of a period film about priests who journey to a foreign land to rescue one of their own.
The screening is free and open to the public. Masks are required in the library. For further information (including the film title), call 706 613 3650. The Athens-Clarke County Library is located at 2025 Baxter Street, Athens.
Exhibition: January 7, 2022 through March 6 • Quiet Gallery
Athens-Clarke County Library, 2025 Baxter Street, Athens, Georgia, 706-613-3650
Please visit the library for an exhibition of Athens artist Elinor Saragoussi during January and February in the upstairs Quiet Gallery.
Ms Saragoussi uses a variety of media including illustration, soft sculpture, and large-scale installation to build a fantastical personal world in which she strives to inhabit and hopes to give others the opportunity to escape their reality for a moment or two. Her work uses playful, bright, and accessible imagery / mediums to investigate the complex and often melancholic thoughts and emotions that often float through the mind. This juxtaposition of the playful and dark translated through detailed craft creates something that feels special and is best experienced in person, something that cannot be replicated in a virtual environment.
Saragoussi is an artist and musician from Denver, Colorado, and is now based in Athens, Georgia. She graduated with a BS in biology from the University of Colorado in 2014. Over the past four years, she has shown work in and around Georgia at art spaces including the Albany Museum of Art, Bascom Center for Visual arts, Lyndon House Arts Center, and Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation. Her 2020 installation “Escape Plan” was acquired by the Albany Museum of Art in 2021 and she has received honors such as the Shelter Projects Grant from the Willson Center for Humanities & Arts and a grant from the Judith Alexander Foundation.
The exhibition is free and open to the public. Masks are required in the library. For further information, visit www.athenslibrary.org/rslathens, or call 706 613 3650. The Athens-Clarke County Library is located at 2025 Baxter Street, Athens.
Cold Verse 2021: December Poetry
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650
Premiere: Sunday, December 12, 2021
Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, or another winter holiday, it’s time again for meditations on the month of December. A host of local and regional poets recite their favorite seasonal verses, including original works.
Bob Ambrose, Jr. is an environmental engineer retired from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development. He has been writing poetry since 2009 and has been active in the Athens, Georgia Word of Mouth community. Bob has been featured reader at events in Athens, Cincinnati, and Austin. He posts on his blog site “Reflections in Poetry.” His first book of poetry, “Journey to Embarkation,” was published in 2016 and is available at Avid Bookshop.
Donna O’Kelley Butler serves as the Branch Supervisor of the Bogart Library, where she entertains and enlightens hundreds of patrons, school children and teachers with her renditions of folktales, legends, myths and historical tales.
Michelle Castleberry is a writer and therapist living in Oconee County. She owns and operates Four Directions Counseling, LLC.
Bob Deck is a native Georgian but he also was career US Navy, moving 11 times in 20 years, living in Greece, Italy and Diego Garcia. He enjoys reading, exercise, and working at the Bogart Library.
Tammy Gerson may be a retired librarian, but she keeps busy with a multitude of projects. Besides her love of reading all genres, she participates in a contemporary musical ensemble at her synagogue. She loves drumming, cooking, and having fun with her Maltipoo, Luna. Tammy lives in Athens with her husband, and has two children and three grandchildren.
Alice Mohor was born and raised in New Jersey, but has lived in Athens since 1972. She taught in several Clarke County schools. Alice wrote a rhyming poem to open and close each of her elementary physical education lessons, and continues to write and has published two books of poetry.
Theresa Price, Executive Assistant to the Director of ARLS, says: “The holiday season is my favorite time of year! As an elementary school student in an inner city public school, we celebrated ALL holidays. Back then I had no idea what celebrating the Holiday Season inclusively meant. I’m happy and honored to work in a space that strives to represent and include everyone, in every way. Happy Holidays!!”
Clela Reed is the author of seven collections of poetry. Recently Silk (Evening Street Press, 2019) won the Helen Kay Chapbook Prize and then the 2020 Georgia Author of the Year in chapbook competition. A Pushcart Prize nominee, former English teacher, and Peace Corps volunteer, she has poetry published in many journals and anthologies.
Theresa Rice has served as a creative consultant to artists, writers, and arts organizations. She has done all manner of writing, from press releases to novels, catalog copy to short stories. She loves old fashioned poets like Emily Dickenson, Robert Frost, e.e. cummings, and Walt Whitman. Theresa works in the ACCL Children’s Department.
Grady Thrasher was an Atlanta attorney for more than 30 years before he retired to Athens and his farm in Watkinsville in 2003. Grady is a published children’s book author—he was 2008 Georgia Author of the Year for Children’s Picture Books in 2008 and 2011. Grady and his wife Kathy Prescott, aka Sunnybank Films, have produced Athens in Our Lifetimes and other films.
Eddie Whitlock retired this year from managing the Library Store and coordinating volunteers for the Athens-Clarke County Library. He is the author of two books: Evil is Always Human (2012) and POTUS of the Living Dead (2014). He is currently working on a sequel to his first novel.
Come join us at Athens-Clarke County Library on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 5, for an afternoon of beautiful music, storytelling and crafts as we celebrate the different facets of the season.
You can visit the Appleton Auditorium and hear local storytellers spinning tales about Hanukkah and Christmas at 2:00 p.m., listen to the The Green Flag Band performing Christmas music at 3:00 p.m., and in Multipurpose Rooms B & C we will be creating holiday crafts at 4:00 p.m. with which you can decorate your home.
You’ll hear a pair of festive tales beginning at 2:00 p.m. David Oates will read A Child’s Christmas in Wales, by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, an anecdotal reminiscence of a Christmas from the viewpoint of a young boy, portraying a nostalgic and simpler time. Lizz Bernstein will read Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric A. Kimmel, featuring the prominent Jewish folk hero and trickster figure Hershel of Ostropol.
Enjoy a free, festive Live! @ the Library concert at 3:00 p.m. featuring The Green Flag Band, an Athens-based acoustic music ensemble that stays close to the heart of traditional Irish and other Celtic music. The band features Carl Rapp on fiddle, Dave Coons on guitar and vocals, Ken Ross on accordion, and Julia McDermott on hammered dulcimer and vocals.
Following the concert, you’re invited to Multipurpose Rooms A & B to make holiday crafts presented by Michaels, while supplies last.
Live at The Library is sponsored by The Friends of Athens-Clarke County Library. The programs are free and open to the public. Masks are required in the library.
Listening in The Dark VIII: Plague of The Lousy Arachnids
Evan Michael Bush • Bob Deck • Joy Ovington • Eddie Whitlock • Candace Wiggins
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650
If you haven’t already been creeped out enough by the Jorospiderfestation in your yard, please tune into our eighth annual Halloween Storytelling for Grownups (From a Safe Distance). You’ll be treated to the scariest tales, some original, by Listening in The Dark veterans Evan Michael Bush, Bob Deck, Joy Ovington, Eddie Whitlock, and Can Wiggins.
Watch the video on YouTube.
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Evan Michael Bush has lived in Athens for over 16 years as a librarian, storyteller, musician, artist and collector of midnight tales. He was the creator of October Country, an evening of supernatural horror and suspense, and was the chair and organizer of the Stitching Stars Storytelling Festival here in Athens.
Bob Deck is a native Georgian but he also was career US Navy, moving 11 times in 20 years, living in Greece, Italy and Diego Garcia. He enjoys reading, exercise, and working at the Bogart Library.
Joy Ovington has enjoyed a lifetime of working in all aspects of performing and holds an MFA from the Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory for Professional Actor Training. Favorite roles include Witch #3 in MacBeth and Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. She enjoys choir singing and working with theatre companies around town.
Eddie Whitlock recently retired from Athens-Clarke County Library, where he managed the Library Store and coordinated volunteers. He is the author of two books: Evil is Always Human (2012) and POTUS of the Living Dead (2014). He is currently working on a sequel to his first novel.
Candace Wiggins first published in the online crime zine, “Hardluck Stories”; while writing art and movie columns for various newspapers and working at CNN, TBS and Reuters. She has stories in anthologies from Planet X Publications, including “The Phantasmagorical Promenade”; “Strange Stories From the Sea”; “Test Patterns: Weird Westerns”; and many others. She’s had stories published in The AWA Collective straight outta Athens, Georgia and co-wrote a script, “Eidolon”.
Furthermore: Art by Lisa Freeman
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Artist’s Talk: Sunday, November 14, 2021 • 3:00 pm • Appleton Auditorium
Exhibition: November 7, 2021—January 2, 2022 • Quiet Gallery
Please join us at the library for an exhibition of local artist Lisa Freeman during the months of November and December in the Quiet Gallery. She will give a talk about her work on November 14 at 3:00 pm in the auditorium.
Freeman’s art has shifted from painting to a focus on assemblage art using found objects. Drawn to discarded objects and photographs, She is a collector, and Freeman’s art brings to light the “mystery of the forgotten.” By collecting objects, both the familiar and the unusual, and assembling them together, Freeman is asking us to look—to truly look—and, hopefully, to see. You can see examples of her work here: http://www.artbylisafreeman.
Freeman was born in Canada, grew up in the Midwest, and landed in Georgia as a teenager. The constant shifting left her feeling a bit like an outsider cloaked in invisibility. Armed with the powerful resource of observation, Freeman watched and witnessed the human spectacle, taking visual notes and collecting—always collecting—along the way. Lisa Freeman works from her home studio in Athens,Georgia.
The exhibition and Artist’s Talk are free and open to the public. Masks are required in the library. For further information, visit www.athenslibrary.org/
Listening in The Dark VIII: Plague of The Lousy Arachnids
Evan Michael Bush
Bob Deck
Joy Ovington
Eddie Whitlock
Candace Wiggins
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Premiere: Thursday, October 28, 2021
If you haven’t already been creeped out enough by the Jorospiderfestation in your yard, please tune into our eighth annual Halloween Storytelling for Grownups (From a Safe Distance) beginning on Thursday, October 28. You’ll be treated to the scariest tales, some original, by Listening in The Dark veterans Evan Michael Bush, Bob Deck, Joy Ovington, Eddie Whitlock, and Can Wiggins.
Again this year we be online only, with the program accessible from the Reflecting, Sharing, Learning web page (www.athenslibrary.org/
Evan Michael Bush has lived in Athens for over 16 years as a librarian, storyteller, musician, artist and collector of midnight tales. He was the creator of October Country, an evening of supernatural horror and suspense, and was the chair and organizer of the Stitching Stars Storytelling Festival here in Athens.
Bob Deck is a native Georgian but he also was career US Navy, moving 11 times in 20 years, living in Greece, Italy and Diego Garcia. He enjoys reading, exercise, and working at the Bogart Library.
Joy Ovington has enjoyed a lifetime of working in all aspects of performing and holds an MFA from the Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory for Professional Actor Training. Favorite roles include Witch #3 in MacBeth and Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. While not working in Library Administration, she enjoys choir singing and working with theatre companies around town.
Eddie Whitlock manages the Library Store and coordinates volunteers for the Athens-Clarke County Library. He is the author of two books: Evil is Always Human (2012) and POTUS of the Living Dead (2014). He is currently working on a sequel to his first novel.
Candace Wiggins first published in the online crime zine, “Hardluck Stories”; while writing art and movie columns for various newspapers and working at CNN, TBS and Reuters. She has stories in anthologies from Planet X Publications, including “The Phantasmagorical Promenade”; “Strange Stories From the Sea”; “Test Patterns: Weird Westerns”; and many others. She’s had stories published in The AWA Collective straight outta Athens, Georgia and co-wrote a script, “Eidolon”
Radiance: Photography by Matt Brewster
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650
Slide Talk: Saturday, September 4 • 3:00 pm • Appleton Auditorium
Exhibition: September 4—October 24, 2021 • Quiet Gallery
Please join us on Saturday, September 4 at 3:00 pm, as local artist Matt Brewster discusses his photography with a slide talk in Appleton Auditorium. Brewster is known for his beautiful landscape and interior photography, and in particular his aerial/drone photos. His exhibition, Radiance: Photography by Matt Brewster, will be on display in the library’s Quiet Gallery during the months of September and October.
Brewster grew up in Winterville and is a graduate of the University of Georgia. He started Marigold 84 as a fun photography site in 2015 that focused on highlighting small towns and scenic areas from around Northeast Georgia. The popularity of this site led him to create a start-up business, Marigold Solutions, in May of 2016. He started doing drone photography in 2017, which was really popular with his commercial clients, but even with his increase in business he still makes time to provide photography and video services for his hometown Marigold Festival. You can see more of Matt’s photography HERE.
The exhibition and slide talk are free and open to the public. Facial masks are required in the library.
Imagination Squared: Pathways to Resilience
A Slide Talk by Christina Foard
Athens-Clarke County Library • 2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650
Slide Talk: Wednesday, August 18, 2021 • 7:00 pm • Appleton Auditorium
Art Installation: Second Floor Computer Area Arch
Join us in the Appleton Auditorium on Wednesday, August 18 at 7:00 pm for a slide talk about the library’s recent art installation, Imagination Squared: Pathways to Resilience.
The piece is a social creativity project created and curated by Christina Foard. It offered free wood squares for the Athens community and UGA faculty and students to modify as they considered the meaning of resilience in their life or research. The resulting stories, symbols, and sounds to redefine resilience from 2018-2020 are collected and permanently installed on the Second Floor Computer Area Arch as a gift back to the city of Athens.
Christina Foard received a BFA at the University of Cincinnati and an MFA at the University of Georgia. She spent the first 10 years of her career in non-profit program management and new-media production in Alexandria, VA, and later shifted into arts administration roles at The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens and running the Arts in Medicine Program at UF Health Jacksonville. Foard’s paintings (cfoard.com) have been represented in galleries around the US since 2010 and are held in several private and public collections nationally and internationally. Foard’s long-term interest in art as a connector and stage for community conversations fueled several social ecology projects over the past 10 years. Foard relocated with her partner and their five children to Athens, GA in 2014 and currently teaches painting at UGA in the Dodd School of Art.
The installation and slide talk are free and open to the public. Face masks are required in the library.
ACCL Film Series: American Graffiti
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Wednesday, August 11, 2021 • 7:00 pm
It’s the last night of summer in 1962 in a small southern California town in pre-Vietnam America, the evening before best friends and recent high school graduates, Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve Bolander (Ron Howard), are scheduled to leave town to head to college back east. Curt, who received a lucrative local scholarship, is seen as the promise that their class holds. But Curt is having second thoughts about leaving what Steve basically sees as their dead end town. They, along with their friends Terry (Charles Martin Smith) and John (Paul Le Mat), cruise the streets while a mysterious disc jockey (Wolfman Jack) spins classic rock’n’roll tunes. Steve’s high-school sweetheart, a bratty adolescent and a disappearing angel in a Thunderbird provide all the excitement they can handle.
The film has been highly influential and launched the film career of Director George Lucas, as well as actors Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Suzanne Somers, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Bo Hopkins, Kathleen Quinlan, Wolfman Jack, and others.
This film is rated PG. The screening is free and open to the public.
We regret that the concert by Voices of Truth scheduled for August 1 has been cancelled but will be rescheduled for a date in the near future. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Live @ The Library: Voices of Truth
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Sunday, August 1, 2021 • 3:00 pm
Live @ The Library returns with a free afternoon concert by acclaimed gospel group Voices of Truth.
Voices of Truth has been an Athens fixture for over 40 years. They have been based out of several locations through the years, including First A.M.E., Hill First Baptist Church, Timothy Baptist Church, and others.
The choir was begun in 1979 by James R. Smith, who remains its director to this day. Smith was born and raised in Athens during the Jim Crow era and was a student at the Tuskegee Institute during the civil rights movement. He then moved back to Athens, where he eventually founded Athens Voices of Truth. They have performed contemporary gospel, traditional hymns, spirituals and beautiful anthems across the Southeast.
Athens Voices of Truth differs from a typical gospel choir in that they sing anthems, spirituals and hymns, along with both traditional and contemporary gospel music. The choir also includes members from multiple denominations, a rarity among church-based singing groups.
This free performance is a part of Live @ The Library and is sponsored by the Friends of the Athens-Clarke County Library.
Stories Told: Artist’s Talk/Workshop by Susan Pelham
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Artist’s Talk/Reception: Monday, July 19 2021 • 6:30 pm Multipurpose Room B
Exhibition: July 7—August 29, 2021 • Quiet Gallery
Monroe Artist Susan Pelham will be showing her work in the library’s Quiet Gallery during the months of July and August, and will be giving a talk on her work and leading an all-ages workshop in the art of collage in Multipurpose Room B on Monday, July 19 2021 at 6:30 pm. Ms Pelham graduated from Florida State University in 1963 with a degree in Fine Art; her major was in Painting with a minor in Art History. Twenty years later she spent three months in London updating her Art History at Sotheby’s Styles in Art course.
Lately, Susan’s interest in art has shifted from painting primarily in oils to exploring mixed media collage. Her collages often develop themes from Renaissance painting to 20th century folk art, but always with playful visual puns.
Ms Pelham: “Magic Realism of the 1940s in painting intrigued me when I was a student at FSU. I liked the work of Cadmus, Tooke, Albright, and Hopper. Only recently have I begun to explore Magic Realism in my own work. Often nursery rhymes, Haiku, Limericks, and children’s camp songs inspire the subject of a collage.“
The exhibition and Artist’s Talk/Workshop are free and open to the public.
Being There
Athens-Clarke County Library • Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650
Thursday, July 15, 2021 • 6:30 pm
The ACCL Film Series returns to the library with Jerzy Kosinski’s brilliant adaptation of his novel Being There. The film will be screened on Thursday, July 15, at 6:30 pm in the Appleton Auditorium. In one of Peter Sellers’ final films, he portrays Chance the gardener, a simple man who unwittingly rises to a position of great influence in politics and business. The film also stars Shirley MacLaine, Melvin Douglas, and Jack Warden, and was directed by Hal Ashby. The 1979 film received many awards, including the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (Douglas), and Golden Globes for Best Actor (Sellers) and Supporting Actor (Douglas).
Peter Sellers, who died in 1980, was an English film actor, comedian and singer. He performed in the BBC Radio comedy series The Goon Show, and became known to a worldwide audience through his many film roles, among them Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series of films.
This film is rated PG. The screening is free and open to the public.
Athens-Clarke County Library is opening the Quiet Gallery to visitors again, and our first post-pandemic exhibition is My Aging Face: A Conversation on Aging, Beauty and Redefining Norms for Women Over 40. The exhibit, curated by artist Allyn Rippin, features photos of women over 40 who posted close-ups of their faces on Instagram, along with short descriptions telling what they saw, and what they would like others to see.
The #myagingface project is part of the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Program in partnership with Arts Midwest. This year’s selected book is Roz Chast’s graphic memoir, “Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?”
The exhibition runs through June 30, and is free and open to the public.
Become a Dementia Friend
Liz Schulze, Athens Community Council on Aging
Athens-Clarke County Library
www.athenslibrary.org/rslathens
706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, May 26, 2021 • 2:00 pm
Register for Zoom presentation at
https://athenslibrary.libcal.com/event/7724004
Free and open to the public
Dementia Friends is the biggest ever initiative to change people’s perceptions of dementia: it aims to transform the way we think, talk and act about the disease. This talk by Liz Schulze at 2:00 pm on May 26 will help you learn about dementia and the small ways you can help. From telling friends about the program to visiting someone you know living with dementia, every action counts.
Liz Schulze is the program coordinator for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program based out of the Athens Community Council on Aging. Ms Schulze and representatives advocate for the rights of long-term care residents by monitoring conditions and working to resolve resident complaints in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and personal care homes.
Ms. Schulze has degrees in Organismal Biology and Gerontology. She has prior experience as a caregiver for older adults in their home and long-term care facilities as well as Medicaid case management. She lives in Athens with her husband and two young children.
Providing a Voice for a Child Through Foster Care
Emily Dant & Arden Bakarich
Athens-Clarke County Library • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650
Online Class/Workshop: Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 2:00 pm
Zoom link: tinyurl.com/38vukvt2 (No registration is required)
Please join us online at 2:00 pm on April 28 for a talk by Mss Emily Dant & Arden Bakarich of Clarke Oconee CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children). They will talk about their organization and foster care, and the Zoom audience will be able to interact with them.
There are approximately 270 children in foster care in Clarke and Oconee counties. These children can be placed far from home, outside their school district, and away from friends. Navigating these changes and many more associated with foster care would be difficult for anyone especially a child. CASAs are able to provide stability and advocacy as a child moves through foster care. Providing a voice for a child means developing a relationship with them and remaining up to date on their life. CASAs help tell a child’s story in their own words.
Program Coordinator Emily Dant and Advocacy Coordinator Arden Bakarich have been with Athens Oconee CASA for several years, both starting as interns with Children First Inc. Emily began in 2016 and was named Program Coordinator in 2019; Arden was hired in 2018 with a focus on recruitment. Both enjoy teaching volunteers and community members about what it means to provide a voice for a child in foster care.
The library is once again partnering with PBS; mark your calendars now for an exciting documentary event! “Hemingway,” a three-part, six-hour documentary film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, paints an intimate picture of the writer—who captured on paper the complexities of the human condition in spare and profound prose, and whose work remains deeply influential around the world—while also penetrating the myth of Hemingway the man’s man, to reveal a deeply troubled and ultimately tragic figure. The film also explores Hemingway’s limitations and biases as an artist. The film will air on WGTV in three parts, April 5, 6 and 7 at 8 p.m. each night.
You can join an hour-long discussion with the filmmakers on April 8 at 8:00 pm by registering at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dRecA2cKTE6pbgyXGnF1Vw. Availability is limited.
See more videos about Hemingway here: https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/hemingway/events/
Revisit—or discover for the first time—some of his iconic works at the library! Place holds at https://libraryaware.com/29RFNB, via the PINES mobile app or call us at 706-613-3650.
The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Premiere: February 16 and 23, 2021 at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings)
This moving four-hour, two-part series from executive producer, host and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, traces the 400-year-old story of the Black church in America, all the way down to its bedrock role as the site of African American survival and grace, organizing and resilience, thriving and testifying, autonomy and freedom, solidarity and speaking truth to power. The documentary reveals how Black people have worshipped and, through their spiritual journeys, improvised ways to bring their faith traditions from Africa to the New World, while translating them into a form of Christianity that was not only truly their own, but a redemptive force for a nation whose original sin was found in their ancestors’ enslavement across the Middle Passage.
The series features interviews with Oprah Winfrey, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Bishop Michael Curry, Cornel West, Pastor Shirley Caesar, Rev. Al Sharpton, Yolanda Adams, Rev. William Barber II, BeBe Winans, Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, and more.
Please also enjoy these videos from the ACCL Library video archives:
A STORY UNTOLD
”A Story Untold: Black Men and Women in Athens History 40th Anniversary Edition” with Michael Thurmond, Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County, Georgia.
RICHARD ALLEN, AME FOUNDER
A talk about Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church by his great-great-great-great-grandaughter Yvonne Studevan.
50 YEARS OF SERVICE
A conversation at the East Friendship Baptist Church with Pastor James Hendrick, Minister of Music Brenda Bellinger, & Athens historian Milton Leathers (Part 1 of 4).
VOICES OF TRUTH
A selection of songs by the Athens Voices of Truth Gospel Choir (part 3 of 4).
REV AR KILLIAN
Rev AR Killian Interviewed by his biographer, Earnest Thompson. Rev Killian reminisces about Athens in the 50s and 60s, during the days of segregation in Athens, and his involvement in the era-defining integration of the University of Georgia.
VIVIAN HARSH: A VOICE FROM THE PAST WITH LESSONS FOR TODAY
A talk by ACC Librarian Martha Kapelewski about Vivian G. Harsh, first African American to be a branch manager in the Chicago Public Library System.
At the end of an eventful year, please join us for meditations on the month of December and its attendant holidays. Cold Verse features a host of local and regional poets reciting their favorite verses, including many original compositions.
Joe Alterman studied music at New York University, where he received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Jazz Piano Performance. Alterman has performed at many world-renowned venues including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Birdland and New York’s Blue Note, where Alterman has opened, many times, for Ramsey Lewis. Alterman has released four critically-acclaimed albums, his most recent being 2018’s “More Cornbread”.
Bob Ambrose, Jr. is an environmental engineer retired from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development. He has been writing poetry since 2009 and has been active in the Athens, Georgia Word of Mouth community. Bob has been featured reader at events in Athens, Cincinnati, and Austin. He posts on his blog site “Reflections in Poetry.” His first book of poetry, Journey to Embarkation, was published in 2016 and is available at Avid Bookshop.
Donna O’Kelley Butler serves as the Branch Supervisor of the Bogart Library, where she entertains and enlightens hundreds of patrons, school children and teachers with her renditions of folktales, legends, myths and historical tales.
Michelle Castleberry is a writer and therapist living in Oconee County. Next year, she will open her own telemental health practice and hopefully improve her gardening.
Bowen Craig is a local writer and publisher. Co-founder of Bilbo Books Publishing and author of Keeping Away from the Joneses, Hitchhiking with Salmon and A Look to the Future Through the Eyes of an Eighty-Year-Old Pirate. He co-founded a local arts website with another writer and former library employee, Mark Katzman. He also runs a “high intellect comedy” essay website called Heretic Picayune, inspired by Nikola Tesla, Heretic Picayune is a home for articles which go against the grain of current thinking.
Bob Deck is a native Georgian but he also was career US Navy, moving 11 times in 20 years, living in Greece, Italy and Diego Garcia. He enjoys reading, exercise, and working at the Bogart Library.
Tammy Gerson may be a retired librarian, but she keeps busy with a multitude of projects. Besides her love of reading all genres, she participates in a contemporary musical ensemble at her synagogue. She loves drumming, cooking, and having fun with her Maltipoo, Luna. Tammy lives in Athens with her husband, and has two children and three grandchildren.
Juliana Gray’s third poetry collection is Honeymoon Palsy (Measure Press 2017). Her fiction has appeared in Hobart, and her humor writing has been featured in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. An Alabama native, she lives in western New York and teaches at Alfred University.
Japhy Mitchell is a poet and librarian who lives with his dog Tarkovsky. His poems have been published in several online and print publications, including Scissors & Spackle, First Literary Review East, streetcake, and more.
Alice Mohor was born and raised in New Jersey, but has lived in Athens since 1972. She taught in several Clarke County schools. Alice wrote a rhyming poem to open and close each of her elementary physical education lessons, and continues to write and has published two books of poetry.
Jay Morris is an Athens native currently based in Atlanta, GA. While in Athens, he was heavily involved in the poetry scene — often reading at events hosted by Athens Word of Mouth, Spoken Word UGA, and various community organizations. Jay also co-founded and hosted the Goetry Open Mic series at Go Bar before moving to Atlanta. He finds that yoga, cooking, writing, listening to music, and video chatting with friends have helped breathe a little light into life while sheltering in place.
David Oates has 30 years experience teaching writing. He hosts the “Wordland” radio show on WUGA in Athens GA. He is the author of two collections, Drunken Robins and Shifting with My Sandwich Hand, and over 100 of his poems have been published in magazines. He is the emcee of Athens Word of Mouth Poetry. Oates received his master’s in creative writing from the University of Illinois—Chicago.
Joy Ovington has enjoyed a lifetime of working in all aspects of performing and holds an MFA from the Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory for Professional Actor Training. Favorite roles include Witch #3 in MacBeth and Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. While not working in Library Administration, she enjoys choir singing and working with theatre companies around town.
Clela Reed is the author of seven collections of poetry. Recently Silk (Evening Street Press, 2019) won the Helen Kay Chapbook Prize and then the 2020 Georgia Author of the Year in chapbook competition. A Pushcart Prize nominee, former English teacher, and Peace Corps volunteer, she has poetry published in many journals and anthologies.
Theresa Rice has served as a creative consultant to artists, writers, and arts organizations. She has done all manner of writing, from press releases to novels, catalog copy to short stories. She loves old fashioned poets like Emily Dickenson, Robert Frost, e.e. cummings, and Walt Whitman.
Lorraine Thompson is the Head of Drama at Athens Academy in Athens, Ga. In addition to being a theatre educator, she is also a published playwright, storyteller, and actor. She LOVES sweaters.
Eddie Whitlock manages the Library Store and coordinates volunteers for the Athens-Clarke County Library. He is the author of two books: Evil is Always Human (2012) and POTUS of the Living Dead (2014). He is currently working on a sequel to his first novel.
Take a look at the video of our 2020 Listening in The Dark VII: Spooky Stories for Grownups – a brand NEW virtual program, featuring scary stories from Tracy Adkins, Bob Deck, Joy Ovington, Eddie Whitlock, and Candace Wiggins! You can find it HERE.
And while you’re at it, check out a new video of our Halloween program from 2018 HERE!
Listening in the Dark rises once again from the grave to celebrate its fifth birthday at Athens-Clarke County Library. Librarians and special guests will curdle your blood with original and traditional horror stories: Bogart Librarian Donna Butler will freeze you to the bone, Athens-Clarke County Library volunteer Coordinator Eddie Whitlock will read an original short story, retired librarian Jacqueline Elsner will have you on the edge of your seat, and actor and library friend Kelly McGlaun Fields makes chill bumps come up.
Listening in the Dark rises once again from the grave to celebrate its fifth birthday at Athens-Clarke County Library. Librarians and special guests will curdle your blood with original and traditional horror stories: Bogart Librarian Donna Butler will freeze you to the bone, Athens-Clarke County Library volunteer Coordinator Eddie Whitlock will read an original short story, retired librarian Jacqueline Elsner will have you on the edge of your seat, and actor and library friend Kelly McGlaun Fields makes chill bumps come up.
Listening in The Dark VII: (From a Safe Distance)
Tracy Adkins
Bob Deck
Eddie Whitlock
Candace Wiggins
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Premiere: Thursday, October 29, 2020
It’s not easy coming up with a program scarier than everyday life, but if you’d like a distraction from the pandemic, please tune into our seventh annual Halloween Storytelling for Grownups (From a Safe Distance) beginning on Thursday, October 29!
Athens author Candace Wiggins tells her original rural southern ghost story “Haint;” Tracy Adkins will read a selection from her book, Ghosts of Athens: History and Haunting of Athens, Georgia; ACCL Library Store Manager Eddie Whitlock will tell a spooky original tale; and Bob Deck from the Bogart Library tells “Ave Maria,” the story of a disembodied soprano.
This year we be online only, with the program accessible from the Reflecting, Sharing, Learning web page. We’ll also be posting videos from the last two years’ Offerings, Listening in The Dark VI: Revenge of The Creeps, and Listening in The Dark on Haunted Hill.
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Tracy L. Adkins is the author of Ghosts of Athens: History and Haunting of Athens, Georgia (2016). She is currently working on a sequel, More Ghosts of Athens, as well as the upcoming book, Ghosts of Asheville (2020). She is an enthusiastic member of the board of the Friends of the Winterville Library. Other hobbies include writing narrative fiction, poetry, screenplays, and software instructions.
Bob Deck is a native Georgian but he also was career US Navy, moving 11 times in 20 years, living in Greece, Italy and Diego Garcia. He enjoys reading, exercise, and working at the Bogart Library.
Eddie Whitlock manages the Library Store and coordinates volunteers for the Athens-Clarke County Library. He is the author of two books: Evil is Always Human (2012) and POTUS of the Living Dead (2014). He is currently working on a sequel to his first novel.
Candace Wiggins first published in the online crime zine, “Hardluck Stories”; while writing art and movie columns for various newspapers and working at CNN, TBS and Reuters. She has stories in anthologies from Planet X Publications, including “The Phantasmagorical Promenade”; “Strange Stories From the Sea”; “Test Patterns: Weird Westerns”; and many others. She’s had stories published in The AWA Collective straight outta Athens, Georgia and co-wrote a script, “Eidolon”.
Home Safety for Seniors: 10 Easy Steps
Dana Dollar-Wynn, Sage Key Interiors
Athens-Clarke County Library
Multipurpose Room B • 2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, February 19, 7:00 pm
We all would like to be independent and stay in our own homes as long as possible. On Wednesday, February 19 at 7 pm, Dana Dollar-Wynn will show us 10 Easy Steps to staying safe at home. She will discuss simple, easy, and effective things that older people and their families can do around their home to improve safety, focusing on fall prevention. Topics will include staying safe by improving lighting, decluttering and removing obstacles in our homes, bathroom and kitchen safety, and the products that can help us on a daily basis.
With many years of experience in the interior design field, both retail and self-employed, Dollar-Wynn graduated from The University of Georgia in 1994 with a B.A. in Interior Design, and is the current owner of Sage Key Interiors (incepted in 2016) and Wynn Design, 2007-2010. She is also an accredited Certified Aging in Place Specialist (C.A.P.S.) and is an active member of many area professional organizations. She resides in Jackson County with her husband and two children.
The event is free and open to the public.
Selma
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Wednesday, February 12, 2020 • 6:30 pm
Athens-Clarke County Library presents the award-winning film Selma on Wednesday, February 12, at 6:30 pm, in the Appleton Auditorium. It is the story of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by Dr Martin Luther King Jr and others, leading up to the historic confrontation on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Selma depicts Martin and Coretta King, Ralph Abernathy, Hosea Williams, Andrew Young, John Lewis, President Lyndon Johnson, and other key figures in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, along with Alabama Governor George Wallace and FBI Director J Edgar Hoover, in a retelling of a crucial period in American history.
The film won best picture of the year in 2015 from the African-American Film Critics Association, The BET Award, the NAACP Image Award, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Selma won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
The screening is free and open to the public.
Unimpaired: Georgia Artists with DisAbilities
Athens-Clarke County Library
Multipurpose Room A/Quiet Gallery
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Reception: Multipurpose Room A, Saturday, February 8 • 3:00 pm
Exhibition: Quiet Gallery, February 8—March 28, 2020
Approximately fifty award-winning pieces of art from disabled artists across Georgia will be on display at Athens-Clarke County Library from February 9 through March 28, 2020. The exhibit includes paintings, photographs, clay pottery, mosaics, textiles and other media. Ten Best of Show, fifteen Distinguished Merit, and twenty Honorable Mention awards were given to the pieces in the exhibit.
Theresa Shields, Georgia Artists with DisAbilities chair, stated that “the non-profit organization continues to be an avenue that allows hundreds of disabled artists to achieve recognition and commercial opportunities for their unique pieces of art… we are proud to be an advocate for the disabled in communities across Georgia and honored to put their art on display every year for the public to see and enjoy.”
Georgia Artists with DisAbilities Inc. was founded in 1985 by the Pilot Clubs of Metro Atlanta and is supported by Georgia District Pilot Clubs. The mission of Pilot International is to transform communities by developing youth, providing service and education, and uplifting families.
The mission of Georgia Artists with DisAbilities is to provide avenues through which Georgia artists with disabilities can display their artistic accomplishments in all disciplines of the arts, and to create public awareness of the artistic skills these artists have developed by overcoming the obstacles of their disabilities.
After the closing at the end of March, the exhibit will travel to Conyers, and then to other locations throughout Georgia.
The reception and exhibition are free and open to the public.
Live, Learn and Love
All Your Life Until You Die
Dr Subodh Agrawal
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium • 2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, January 29, 7:00 pm
On Wednesday, January 29, at 7:00 pm, Athens cardiologist Dr Subodh Agrawal will tell us how Americans can increase longevity and live a healthier, more connected lifestyle while reducing healthcare costs and improving quality of life. He will talk about identified factors that can contribute to longevity and health, including diet, exercise, lifestyle, and others.
Dr Agrawal received his medical degree from Sawai Man Singh Medical College and has been in practice for more than 20 years. He is founder of The Human Yoga Project whose focus is increasing longevity and living a healthier more connected lifestyle. He is an Interventional Cardiologist at Athens Heart Center, and he developed the Doctors Accountable Care Organization which seeks to implement better independent practices that work for the patients and physicians while setting an example of true, patient-oriented service to those that follow.
Downton Abbey
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Thursday, January 2, 2020 • 2:00 & 6:30 pm
If you’ve missed this beloved film, now is your chance to see it for free in the Athens-Clarke County Library in the new year!
In 1927 the Crawleys and their intrepid staff prepare for the most important moment of their lives: a royal visit from the King and Queen of England, which unleashes scandal, romance and intrigue that leaves the future of Downton hanging in the balance. Written by series creator Julian Fellowes and starring the original cast, this grand cinematic experience will have you cheering for your favorite characters all over again. It will be showing twice, at 2:00 pm, and again at 6:30 pm.
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium • 2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650
Friday, December 27, 2019 • 1:00 pm
Need some decompression following the Christmas season? Round up the kids and come to the library on Friday, December 27 for The Muppet Christmas Carol!
The Muppet Christmas Carol is guaranteed to put you in a holiday spirit that will stay with you forever. Enjoy the spectacle of Kermit the Frog as Bob Crachit, Miss Piggy as Emily Crachit and Michael Caine as Scrooge, in a retelling of the classic Dickens tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, miser extraordinaire. He is held accountable for his dastardly ways during night-time visitations by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and future.
The film screening is free and open to the public.
Sharing Our Vision
Librarians as Artists/Artists as Librarians: The ARLS Staff Art Show
Athens-Clarke County Library
Quiet Gallery
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
December 1, 2019—January 26, 2020
Reception Sunday, December 8 • 3:00 pm (Multipurpose Room C)
Athens-Clarke County Library is proud to present the work of our talented staff members from around the region during the months of December and January. The works on display will include paintings, drawings, collages, photographs, fiber pieces, sculptures, conceptual art and other media.
Librarians/Artists showing their work are Susan Best, Celia Brooks, Van Burns, Lynette Caseman, Claire Clements, Robert Clements, Olivia Conti, Jennie Evans, Robin Fay, Destiny Ferguson, Racheal Griffin-Jackson, Ashley Hardigree, Frank Jackson, Martha Kapelewski, Sarah List, Jean Mead, Jamie Mendenhall, Lisa Moncrief, Deirdre Murray, Dan Ragogna, Theresa Rice, Aleta Turner, Tatiana Veneruso, and Eddie Whitlock.
A reception with light refreshments will be held at 3:00 pm on Sunday, December 8. Everyone is invited!
The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.
Live at The Library & Holiday Cheer
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium, Multipurpose Rooms B & C
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Sunday, December 1 • 2:00 – 5:00 pm
Seasonal Storytelling 2:30 pm, Appleton Auditorium
The Green Flag Band 3:00 pm, Appleton Auditorium
Holiday Craft Making 2:00 – 5:00 pm, Multipurpose Rooms B & C
Come join us at the library on Sunday afternoon, December 1, for an afternoon of beautiful music, storytelling and crafts as we celebrate the different facets of the season. You can visit the Appleton Auditorium and hear The Green Flag Band performing Christmas music, local storytellers spinning tales about Hanukkah and Christmas, and in Multipurpose Rooms B & C we will be creating holiday crafts with which you can decorate your home.
At 2:30, you’ll hear a pair of festive tales: A Child’s Christmas in Wales, by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, and read by Steven Elliott-Gower, an anecdotal reminiscence of a Christmas from the viewpoint of a young boy, portraying a nostalgic and simpler time; and also Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric A. Kimmel, told by Lizz Bernstein, and featuring the prominent Jewish folk hero and trickster figure Hershel of Ostropol.
The Green Flag Band is an Athens, Georgia-based acoustic music ensemble that stays close to the heart of traditional Irish and other Celtic music. The band features Carl Rapp on fiddle, Dave Coons on guitar and vocals, Ken Ross on accordion, and Julia McDermott on hammered dulcimer and vocals.
In Multipurpose Rooms B & C, Athens-Clarke County Library staff and volunteers will be teaching seasonal crafts for kids and adults you can learn and create on the spot, such as bow tying, ornament making, and assembling an inexpensive present. Enjoy a complimentary beverage and snack with us and observe the holiday of your choice, or all of them! The craft demonstrations will be handled by library staffer Lisa Moncrief, RSL Board Members Wanda Culpepper and Lois Brown, and library supporters Denise Burns and Betty Mogilski.
Mindfulness and Creativity: Is mindfulness for you?
Dr Rich Panico
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, November 20, 2019 7:00 pm
There has been a lot of hype and some early research on mindfulness and its uses in our culture. Dr. Rich Panico will offer guidance to people sifting through the plethora of information and research currently available on mindfulness and its varied programs, teachers, and approaches. Examining the historical, cultural, and contemporary scientific/clinical development of mindfulness makes an excellent starting point for those who are interested in learning more. Dr Panico will look at some of the more commonly available mindfulness disciplines to help you decide if the practice of mindfulness is useful for you.
Rich Panico is a physician and board certified Psychiatrist who recently retired from medicine after 48 years of clinical practice. He is a practitioner of meditation and classical yoga which he learned from his mother and brothers around 1966. Dr Panico practiced medicine in a variety of private and public settings including as medical director of the central intake unit of the Georgia Department of Human Resources A&D unit, medical director of Advantage Behavioral Health Systems, division chief of psychiatry at Athens Regional Medical Center, and founder and medical director of the Athens Regional Mind Body Institute. Over time, his interests shifted from clinical applications to an interest in meditation that cultivates human “flourishing” and the creative process. He currently teaches mindfulness meditation, drawing and pottery making to small groups using meditation, poetry and visual art as a central feature in the learning process.
Film Noir Confidential!
Born to Kill & Gun Crazy
November 6 & 19
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Born to Kill • November 6 • 7:00 PM
Gun Crazy • November 19 • 7:00 PM
Join us in November for two film noir classics in the newly refurbished and upgraded Appleton Auditorium! On Wednesday, November 6, we will present Born to Kill, directed by Robert Wize and starring Claire Trevor and Lawrence Tierney, the story of a calculating divorcée who risks her chances at wealth and security with a man she doesn’t love by getting involved with the hotheaded murderer romancing her foster sister.
On Tuesday, November 10, see Gun Crazy, starring Peggy Cummins and John Dall, directed by Joseph H. Lewis. A well meaning crack shot husband is pressured by his beautiful marksman wife to go on an interstate robbery spree, where he finds out just how depraved and deadly she really is.
The film screenings are free and open to the public.
Live @ Athens-Clarke County Library:
Lydia Brambila, November 3, 2019
The Friends of Athens-Clarke County Library invite you to a free Live! @ the Library concert featuring singer-songwriter Lydia Brambila on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 3:00 p.m. Brambila writes haunting folk songs in the spirit of Sibylle Baier, Elyse Weinberg, and Linda Perhacs right here in Athens. Lydia’s debut album Migraineur is a sparse collection of meditations on monastic figures, natural phenomena, and the impact of music on migraine: “To know that singing could feel like healing was revelatory. I wanted to make an album that reflected what that feels like: hiding in the dark, feeling powerless and alone, and still being able to find lasting and beautiful things in that space.” Lydia’s second album, Ars Apparatus, and an accompanying zine of lyrics and photographs will be released in December 2019.
Listening in The Dark VI: Revenge of The Creeps
Tracy Adkins
Jacqueline Elsner
Kelly McGlaun-Fields
Eddie Whitlock
Candace Wiggins
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, October 30, 7:00 pm
Listening in the Dark VI: Revenge of The Creeps: An Evening of Spooky Stories for Grownups will take place on Wednesday, October 30 at 7 p.m. in the Appleton Auditorium. Join us… if you think you can handle it! Librarians and other literary types will curl your hair with original and traditional horror stories: Ghosts of Athens author Tracy Adkins will read shocking segments from her book, Athens-Clarke County Library volunteer Coordinator Eddie Whitlock will convey an original scary short story, Kelly McGlaun-Fields returns with an unearthly tale, Candace Wiggins delivers an eldrich original piece and retired librarian Jacqueline Elsner tells a ghostly narrative. Other spirits may appear.
Tracy L. Adkins is the author of Ghosts of Athens: History and Haunting of Athens, Georgia (2016). She is currently working on a sequel, More Ghosts of Athens, as well as the upcoming book, Ghosts of Asheville (2020). She is an enthusiastic member of the board of the Friends of the Winterville Library. Other hobbies include writing narrative fiction, poetry, screenplays, and software instructions.
Jacqueline Elsner enjoyed over forty years of library storytelling before her retirement from the Athens Regional Library System in 2014. Occasionally she now tells Appalachian and Cherokee stories and sings ballads to guests at the Len Foote Hike Inn in Amicalola Falls State Park, GA. Her CD Ballad of The Bones: Byron Herbert Reece Poems Sung as Ballads helps preserve and promote the legacy of Georgia’s mountain poet.
Kelly McGlaun-Fields is an artist and actor who has appeared on screen, film & stage, locally with Rose of Athens and Town and Gown, and entertains children as Grandmother Goose. She is a doll collector, and is retired from the GA Department of Human Resources.
Eddie Whitlock manages the Library Store and coordinates volunteers for the Athens-Clarke County Library. He is the author of two books: Evil is Always Human (2012) and POTUS of the Living Dead (2014). He is currently working on a sequel to his first novel.
Candace Wiggins first published in the online crime zine, “Hardluck Stories”; while writing art and movie columns for various newspapers and working at CNN, TBS and Reuters. She has stories in anthologies from Planet X Publications, including “The Phantasmagorical Promenade”; “Strange Stories From the Sea”; “Test Patterns: Weird Westerns”; and many others. She’s had stories published in The AWA Collective straight outta Athens, Georgia and co-wrote a script, “Eidolon”.
Athens Rising 2: Transmittance Film Screening
Not Rated but PG equivalent: Contains mild language
Runtime: 102 minutes
James Preston
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Tuesday, October 22, 7:00 pm
“We will transmit this City, not only not less, but greater and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.” – The Athenian Oath
Athens-Clarke County Library presents a special FREE showing of the new film Athens Rising 2: Transmittance on October 22 at 7:00 pm. Local filmmaker James Preston will be on hand to introduce the film and take questions from the audience afterwards.
In his second Athens Rising documentary, Preston looks at the creative class in Athens, GA through the lens of our unique organizations & institutions, the artists they inspire, the community we build, and our collective potential. Athens Rising 2: Transmittance “captures the hope, the drive, the power, and the love of this fault-line riven, beautiful, and flawed city.” – Brent Temple
Subjects include ATHICA, Avid Bookshops, Canopy Studio, The Lyndon House, Nuçi’s Space, The Wild Rumpus, Chef Peter Dale (Condor Chocolate, Maepole, The National, Seabear), and the work of Mokah & Knowa Johnson (AADM, Athens in Harmony, Athens Hip Hop Awards). The film features music from Claire Campbell, Murk Daddy Flex, White Rabbit Collective, Foreign, and Annie Leeth.
Athens, GA: Inside/Out
Film Screening & Panel Discussion
Vanessa Briscoe Hay
William Orten (“Ort”) Carlton
Bill Cody
Bob Hay
Arthur Johnson
Paul Butchart
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, October 16, 6:30 pm
Please join us at the library for a very special evening on October 16: We will present a screening of the iconic film Athens, GA: Inside/Out at 6:30 in the Appleton Auditorium. The film documents the Athens music scene during its nascent era during the early- and mid-1980s, and features vintage footage of legendary bands The B-52s, R.E.M., Pylon, Love Tractor, as well as Howard Finster, Ort, Jim Herbert, and many more.
Producer Bill Cody will be on hand to introduce the film, and he will bring some clips with him from Athens, GA/Thirty Years On…, the sequel to Inside/Out – an update featuring not just music, but also the new political landscape, the beginnings of racial reconciliation downtown, and strong women.
Following the screening, we will have a panel discussion featuring some of the people in the original film: Vanessa Briscoe Hay (Pylon), Bob Hay (Squalls), Arthur Johnson (Bar-B-Q Killers), Ort, and others, moderated by local music historian Paul Butchart.
The program is free and open to the public.
Tracing History:
Rubbings of Monumental Brasses from Medieval England
Nancy Kissane
Athens-Clarke County Library
Quiet Gallery
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Exhibition • Quiet Gallery • October 13—November 24, 2019
Gallery Talk • Quiet Gallery • Sunday, October 13 • 3:00 pm
Medieval churches throughout Great Britain, Scotland, and Europe contain a range of treasures which provide unique and interesting artifacts of excellent craftsmanship. Of particular interest are engraved brass plaques, since they were laid down inside of the churches as portraits in memory of the deceased. Memorial brasses are tombstones that were engraved on brass plates and laid into stone.
Are you interested in seeing a true reproduction of a medieval knight’s armor? Monumental memorial plaques are found on churches beginning in 12th century England. Rubbings are done on site at these churches and they depict knights, priests, women in full regalia and costumes of the times. Mrs. Nancy Kissane lived in England in 1969, where she did rubbings from various churches in Cambridgeshire.
Brass rubbings are a method of reproducing, on paper, monumental brasses found across Western Europe. These reproductions are made by taping a large piece of paper across the brass, then rubbing carefully and smoothly with a piece of heelball, a hard wax mixed with lampblack, across the entire brass. This action transfers the texture of the image onto the paper.
Time, erosion, and even theft have caused restricted access to some of these monumental memorial plaques. Come see these beautiful and unique rubbings at the Athens-Clarke County Library and see a piece of history, immortalized in these beautiful plaques, from a long time ago.
Athens in Our Lifetimes
Recalling the Evolution of Our Town Over The Last Six Decades
Kathy Prescott, Grady Thrasher, Matt DeGennaro
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Saturday, September 28 • 2:30 pm
Athens in Our Lifetimes is a documentary about the lives and times of Athenians during the last six decades, detailing the twists and turns our town has taken over the years, and providing an oral history of Athens from the 1960s until now. Athens residents, producers and directors Kathy Prescott and Grady Thrasher, along with photographer and digital editor Matt DeGennaro, trace the evolution of Athens as a community, told by ninety Athenians from different walks of life interviewed about their experiences living here.
Prescott, Thrasher & DeGennaro first worked together on The World’s Smallest Airport, a film about Grady’s family who developed an aerial circus at Athens-Ben Epps Airport in 1945, and became nationally known as they toured up and down the east coast. Prescott and Thrasher’s company is Sunnybank Films, and they later hatched the idea for Athens in Our Lifetimes, which was released in 2017. It is having its premiere ACC Library screening on September 28 at 2:30 pm, and Grady and Kathy will be on hand to introduce the film and answer questions from the audience.
Bridge to the Second Century:
The Athens Art Association, 1919–2019
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium/Quiet Gallery
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Artists’ Talk/Reception Sunday, August 11 • 2:30 pm
Exhibition August 10 – October 5, 2019
Athens-Clarke County Library is pleased to welcome an exhibition of the current membership of the Athens Art Association during its centennial year. The show will be in the Quiet Gallery from August 10 through October 5, and several of the artists will gather in the Appleton Auditorium on August 11 at 2:30 to talk about their work, and about the history of the Art Association. A reception will follow.
The Athens Art Association is a non-profit organization established in 1919 for the advancement of visual arts in Athens, Georgia. Athens Art Association supports local artists by creating opportunities to exhibit their art and network with other artists and everyone that loves art and volunteering in festivals, demonstrations, and special events. Early members include founder Laura Blackshear, Millie Dearing, Sally Goodwin, and Lucy Stanton. Lamar Dodd joined the group in 1937, and was a frequent contributors to events and lectures.
The Athens Art Association volunteers at art festivals, sponsors awards at juried shows, and donates to local educational institutions. The Athens Art Association supports local artists by creating opportunities for exhibitions and networking with other artists and everyone that loves art, no matter where they are in their artistic journey.
The exhibit will feature work of 45 current members such as Alice Pruitt, Connee Flynn, Margaret Agner, Yvonne Studevan, Bob Clements, Hildegard Timberlake, and Harold Rittenberry who have both ended the organization’s first century and represent the beginning of the second century. The show is organized and curated by Christine Langone, an Emerita Professor in Leadership Education at UGA. This is part of a year long series of exhibitions by the Art Association at the Georgia Museum of Art, Lyndon House Arts Center, State Botanical Garden, and at other locations.
Word Magic: A Poetry Workshop
David Oates, Host of “Wordland” on WUGA FM
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
August 17 (Multipurpose Room C)
August 24 (Multipurpose Room B)
August 31 (Multipurpose Room A)
3 Saturdays, 3–5 pm
Always wanted to try your hand at poetry?
David Oates will lead this workshop with examples from his own and others’ work and exercises to help you get into the flow of writing poems.
Mr. Oates has 30 years experience teaching writing, has had three books published, and his work has appeared in many magazines He is the host and producer of “Wordland” on WUGA FM. Oates received his master’s in creative writing from the University of Illinois—Chicago.
The classes are free and open to the public, however seating is limited so please call (706) 613-3650, extension 343, or email vburns@athenslibrary.org to register.
Aikido Workshop: The Way of Harmony
The World’s Only Non-Violent Self-Defense Art
John Smartt
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Monday, July 15 • 2:00 pm Multipurpose Room C
Monday, July 29 • 6:00 pm Multipurpose Room B
John Smartt of Aikido Center of Athens will teach a workshop on the art of Aikido in the library’s Multipurpose Room C on Monday, July 15, at 2:00 pm and again in Multipurpose Room B at 6:00 pm on Monday, July 29. He will go over the three pillars of basic aikido training: mind-set, vitality, physical technique; he will also go through some basic vitality exercises and demonstrate some light physical techniques that illustrate the mind-set of aikido: non-resistance, right relationship, engagement, balance, letting go, and win/win follow through. These programs are for all ages!
Aikido is a modern Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Ueshiba’s goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attacker from injury. Aikido is often translated as “the way of unifying (with) life energy” or as “the way of harmonious spirit”.
John Smartt spent time in Tokyo while he was in the Army, and he began studying Aikido in late 1968. After leaving the Army, John continued studying Aikido along with Zen and Katsugen Undo. In 1975, John was awarded a teacherʼs certification by Sensei Michio Hikitsuchi, Aikido Master and close personal disciple of Aikidoʼs Founder, Osensei Morihei Ueshiba. Back in the USA, John founded and operated New School Aikido in California for almost three decades, maintaining the spirit of Aikido while devising a curriculum suited for the USA’s more violent society. Mr. Smartt also taught Women’s Self-defense at The University of the Pacific in Stockton, Ca. for 10 years. He holds black belts in three different Aikido systems. Here in Athens, John has been teaching at OLLI and the Winterville Community Center as well as doing private lessons.
Micropoetry: A Reading and Signing for the Publication The Deer’s Bandanna, a New Poetry Book by
David Oates, Host of “Wordland” on WUOG FM
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Saturday, June 29 • 2:30 pm
Please join us in the Appleton Auditorium on Saturday afternoon, June 29 at 2:30 for a reading by Athens poet and author David Oates from his new book The Deer’s Bandanna. A signing will take place immediately afterwards.
Oates works mainly in the Haiku mode, but he will also read some of his non-Haiku verse, and talk about the traditions of Japanese poetry.
Mr Oates has 30 years experience teaching writing. He hosts the “Wordland” radio show on WUGA in Athens GA. He is the author of two other collections, Drunken Robins and Shifting with My Sandwich Hand, and over 100 of his poems have been published in magazines. He is the emcee of Athens Word of Mouth Poetry. Oates received his master’s in creative writing from the University of Illinois—Chicago.
Quilts and Watercolors by Elizabeth Barton
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium/Quiet Gallery
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Artist Talk/Reception Saturday, June 1 • 2:00 pm
Exhibition June 1 – July 28, 2019
Athens-Clarke County Library is proud to exhibit the work of artist Elizabeth Barton in the Quiet Galley. Elizabeth has had three quilts displayed in the stairwells at ACCL for several years, on permanent loan to the library. The exhibition will run from June 1 through July 28, 2019, and Elizabeth will give a slide talk in the auditorium on Saturday, June 1 at 2 pm. A reception will follow.
Elizabeth Barton was born in York, England, and was educated in England and the U.S.A. She obtained her Ph.D in clinical psychology and moved to Athens, GA in 1984. Whilst working in the health service at the University of Georgia, she began to make quilts, focusing on Art Quilts with the encouragement of an NEA grant in 1995. Her quilts have been included in many national quilt shows and “all media” art shows. They are in various private and public collections including Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta.
Since taking early retirement from the university she has focused on art: making quilt wall hangings and watercolor and acrylic paintings. She has taught all over the USA, and in Canada, France and England. She has published two books on designing quilts and on working in a series.
The artist talk/reception and exhibition are free and open to the public.
Family Caregiving: Four Keys to Making a Difference
Randall Christian, Retirement Income Certified Professional
Elder Care Planning Council of Northeast Georgia
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Tuesday, May 21 • 6:00 pm
A caregiving plan ultimately impacts all generations of your family. It’s never too late to start:
ACCL is proud to bring you Family Caregiving: Four Keys to Making a Difference on Tuesday, May 21 at 6 pm – A special workshop to help you prepare personally financially, medically, residentially and legally to be a caregiver, where you will learn:
Mr Christian is a 34-year veteran of the financial services business and a member of the third generation of a family owned company. He specializes in helping middle class Boomers, Seniors & the Elders of our community, especially war Veterans and their spouses, coordinate such financial issues as retirement income planning, Social Security, accumulation, financial protection, lifetime income and long term care funding. As the Director of the Elder Care Planning Council his big picture planning helps to coordinate the needed services of aging, by connecting the family with vetted resources.
The Elder Care Planning Council of Northeast Georgia is a not-for-profit alliance that provides a forum for a panel of experts in the field of senior aging services to educate and advise the public. Each specialist maintains his or her own practice or business and only uses the resources of the ECPC to support senior aging education in the community.
Richard Allen, Black Founding Father
A talk by Yvonne Studevan
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, February 27 • 7:00 pm
Join us Wednesday, February 27 at 7:00 pm, for a talk about minister, educator and writer Richard Allen, who was born into slavery on February 14, 1760, and later converted to Methodism and bought his freedom. Fed up with the treatment of African-American parishioners at the St. George Episcopal congregation, he eventually founded the first national black church in the United States, the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was also an activist and abolitionist whose ardent writings would inspire future visionaries. Allen helped found the Free African Society, a non-denominational religious mutual-aid society dedicated to helping the black community. A century later, scholar and NAACP founder W.E.B. Du Bois called the FAS “the first wavering step of a people toward organized social life.” Helped by his wife, Sarah, Allen also helped to hide escaped slaves, as the basement of his church was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
V. Yvonne Studevan hails from Yeadon, Pennsylvania. A graduate of Cheyney State University with a Bachelor’s of Art in Education, and Georgia State University where she received her Master’s of Education. As a retired educator, Yvonne spends her time traveling, painting, and serving on various community boards. In addition she spends time researching family history and the legacy of her great-great-great-great-grandfather, the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen. Yvonne resides in Athens with her husband, Dr. Russell Studevan.
This program is co-sponsored by the Association for The Study of African American Life and History.
Paintings by Debbie Stewart
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Reception: Multipurpose Room C, Saturday, May 4 • 2:30 pm
Exhibition: Quiet Gallery, May 4 – 25, 2019
The Athens-Clarke County Library Quiet Gallery is pleased to present the work of Winder artist Debbie Stewart.
Stewart was born in Atlanta. She showed promising talent as an artist early on, but she took another path. After more than 30 years as a nurse, she has resumed painting.
Her work reflects her love of the world we live in from landscapes, waterfronts, florals, street scenes and portraits. She strongly respects and admires our Native American brothers and sisters and also incorporates her love of horses in her work. She says “I want my art to reflect my love for the world we live in, from the vastness of the oceans and deserts to the lines on a warrior’s face, or the petals on a flower.”
Please join us in Multipurpose Room C on Saturday, May 4 at 2:30 for a reception with light refreshments, and the Quiet Gallery on the library’s second floor will open the exhibition, which will run through May 25.
The reception and exhibition are free and open to the public.
On Loan From The Universe:
The Creative Spirit of Tex Crawford
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium/Quiet Gallery
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Slide Talk/Reception: Sunday, February 10 • 2:30 pm
Exhibition: February 1 – March 24, 2019
The Athens-Clarke County Library Quiet Gallery is proud to present the work of artist Tex S. Crawford during the months of February and March.
Crawford is a self-taught artist who lives in Hull, Georgia and transforms all types of reclaimed and found materials into a wide array of whimsical creations. “Art saved my life, I just want to share it with the world!”
Tex loves to create and to inspire others to create “So that they may feel the magic and nourishment of creation for themselves! Everything I create is on loan from the universe, I’m very grateful for each and every creation I’m granted!”
Tex has exhibited his art at many venues over the past few years, most recently at the Quinlan Visual Arts Center in the Folk Art Show, and in The Great Folk Art Parade at the Steffen Thomas Museum of Art.
Please join us in the Appleton Auditorium on Sunday, February 10 at 2:30 to hear the artist talk about his work. A reception with light refreshments will follow, and the Quiet Gallery on the library’s second floor will open the exhibition, which will run through March 24. Crawford will also teach a children’s art workshop at the library at 11:00 on Saturday, February 9.
If you can Conceive It Today It Can Be Built: A Walking and Virtual Tour of Architecture Classical, Traditional, Modern and Beyond
Dr Robert Alan Black
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, January 30 • 7:00 pm
The architecture in Athens ranges from houses to professional buildings to commercial to religious to university buildings. The greatest percentage are classical or traditional in design, but some modern architectural designs can be found sprinkled throughout. Dr Robert Alan Black will explore samples of the many types of structures in Athens, as well as modern architecture found on the 6 continents being designed and built today.
Dr Black is a Creative Thinking Consultant in Athens, having studied with Dr E Paul Torrance, and receiving his PhD in Educational Psychology. Alan has five degrees, including a BS in Architectural Design, MAs in Interior Architecture and Visual Communication, and an MEd in Guidance and Counseling.
He has worked from draftsman to associate to project architect to owner of his own architectural consulting firm in Athens, Georgia. Prior to moving to Athens he worked for a mix of firms in Michigan and Florida, including the award winning firm Gunnar Birkerts & Associates.
Since 1976 he has traveled internationally to 93 countries and 49 US states always seeking out examples of excellent design wherever he has gone. As a speaker, trainer of consultant he has worked in over 40 states and 50 countries. During his varied career he has also been a news writer, a cartoonist, a graphic designer, and a college professor.
Join Together: A Multiethnic Afternoon of Peace, Music & Holiday Crafts
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium, Multipurpose Room B
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Saturday, December 1 • 1:30 pm
Come join us at the library on Saturday afternoon, December 1, at 1:30 pm for an afternoon of beautiful music and crafts as we celebrate the different facets of the season. You can visit the Appleton Auditorium and hear artists performing seasonal music, and in Multipurpose Room B we will have demonstrations of different seasonal crafts you can learn and create on the spot, such as bow tying, ornament making, and assembling an inexpensive present. Enjoy a complimentary beverage and snack with us and observe the holiday of your choice, or all of them!
The JFK Assassination and The CIA
Donald E Wilkes, Jr., Professor of Law Emeritus
University of Georgia
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Thursday, November 15 • 7:00 pm
The assassination of President John F Kennedy happened in November of 1963, yet Questions remain unanswered 55 years later about the circumstances of his death: Did the CIA obstruct an official government investigation of the assassination of JFK? Did the CIA itself (or rogue agents) assassinate Kennedy?
Please Join us at the library for this very special talk by Donald Wilkes, professor of Law Emeritus from the University of Georgia, who has researched the Kennedy assassination all his adult life, and will present new information and unravel some of the mystery surrounding this complicated and difficult topic. Come to the Appleton Auditorium at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 15 for the lecture, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Donald E. Wilkes, Jr., a law professor at the UGA School of Law for 40 years, is now an emeritus professor there. He is the author of over 300 published works, including 5 books, 14 law review articles, and numerous other scholarly writings. He has studied the JFK assassination for over 35 years and published more than 50 articles on the assassination. This is his third public speech on the topic at the library.
Shifting Shapes: Collaborations with Nature
Sculpture by Barbara Odil
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium/Quiet Gallery
2025 Baxter Street
Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650
Artist Talk/Reception Sunday, November 18 • 2 pm
Exhibition November 18, 2018 – January 12, 2019
Barbara Odil is a respected local artist, and we are proud to show her work here in the Quiet Galley. The exhibition will run from November 18 through January 12, 2019, and Barbara will give a talk in the auditorium on Sunday, November 18 at 2 pm. A reception will follow.
The sculptures of Barbara Odil are created from fallen wood gathered from forests, deserts, seashores and gardens. The shape of the wood inspires her, and she enters into a creative collaboration with the organic form she finds in nature. After the initial cleaning and curing process, Barbara intuitively responds to each piece of wood, often spending several days holding, examining, and silently communicating with it. When the vision for the sculpture has become clear, the materials and the artist begin the creative dance.
Odil’s work and her spiritual practice both deeply honor and celebrate the Earth and all her inhabitants. As her life and spiritual practice evolve, her work continues to grow and change. Her intention and inspiration remain constant, love and respect for all of life. She strives to honor that in her work and the way she lives.
Donna O’Kelley Butler • Jacqueline Elsner
David Oates • Joy Ovington • Eddie Whitlock
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Monday, October 29, 7:00 pm
Listening in the Dark rises once again from the grave to celebrate its fifth birthday at the library on Monday, October 29 at 7:00 pm!
Listening in the Dark on Haunted Hill: An Evening of Spooky Stories for Grownups will take place on Monday, October 29 at 7 p.m. in the Appleton Auditorium. Join us… if you dare! A quartet of librarians will chill your blood with original and traditional horror stories: Bogart Librarian Donna Butler will be on hand, Athens-Clarke County Library volunteer Coordinator Eddie Whitlock will read an original short story, ACCL Operations Manager Joy Ovington returns, and retired librarian Jackie Elsner will have you on the edge of your seat. Library friend David Oates regales us this year, and others may join the throng.
Donna O’Kelley Butler has been telling stories of one sort or another her whole life. Currently, she serves as the Branch Supervisor of the Bogart Library, where she entertains and enlightens hundreds of patrons, school children and teachers with her renditions of folktales, legends, myths and historical tales. One or two of them MIGHT just be true!
Jacqueline Elsner enjoyed over forty years of library storytelling before her retirement from the Athens Regional Library System in 2014. Occasionally she now tells Appalachian and Cherokee stories and sings ballads to guests at the Len Foote Hike Inn in Amicalola Falls State Park, GA. Her CD Ballad of The Bones: Byron Herbert Reece Poems Sung as Ballads helps preserve and promote the legacy of Georgia’s mountain poet.
David Oates has 30 years experience teaching writing, has had three books published, and his work has appeared in many magazines He is the host and producer of “Wordland” on WUGA FM. Oates received his master’s in creative writing from the University of Illinois—Chicago.
Joy Ovington has enjoyed a lifetime of working in all aspects of performing and holds an MFA from the Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory for Professional Actor Training. Favorite roles include Witch #3 in MacBeth and Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. While not working in Library Administration, she enjoys choir singing and working with theatre companies around town.
Eddie Whitlock manages the Library Store and coordinates volunteers for the Athens-Clarke County Library. He is the author of two books: Evil is Always Human (2012) and POTUS of the Living Dead (2014). He is currently working on a sequel to his first novel.
The event is free and open to the public.
Attacking Within: A Case of Emotional Abuse
A One-act Play by Carol Nimmons and Panel Discussion
Athens-Clarke County Library • Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Sunday, October 28 • 2:30 pm
On Sunday afternoon, October 28, at 2:30, the Athens-Clarke County Library is proud to present a new one-act play, Attacking Within: A Case of Emotional Abuse by Oconee County playwright Carol Nimmons. The actors are Lorraine Thompson, Drama Department Head at Athens Academy, and Ralph Stephens, the President of Friends of Athens Creative Theatre.
This play is based upon the real-life experiences of a mother as she struggles to overcome her feelings of inadequacy, and illuminates the long-term effects of emotional abuse upon the victim and those closely associated with the victim. The play developed as a result of a mother witnessing the effects emotional abuse had upon her daughter, the victim; her grandchildren and herself through a period of 10 years. The husband, whom the daughter later divorced, was the instigator. Many parties, including governmental agencies, were involved, some very willing to help, some quite indifferent. The play will be followed by a panel discussion/question-and-answer session with Pat Peterson of Project Safe; Yvonne Davenport, author & former DFACS worker; and psychologist Carolyn Barnes.
This program is free and open to the public.
The Solar System: Providing Solar Energy for your Home
Warren McPherson with Gerd Schroth & Joel Huff
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, September 19 • 7 pm
Have you had enough of stratospheric power bills? Perhaps you’ve thought about gathering your own energy from the sun or the wind, cutting your costs, and going a bit green in the bargain. Is it time to cut the cord?
Wednesday evening, September 19 at 7:00 pm, Warren McPherson, Director of Athens Montessori School, will talk about how he added solar arrays to the school, achieving significant savings and breaking even in a short period of time; he will also give you advice on how to do this to your own home. Solar experts, Gerd Schroth and Joel Huff, will be on hand to give hard info on what you need to do to make your own house more energy effective.
Warren McPherson founded Athens Montessori School over 40 years ago. Warren is a graduate of Cornell University and the Washington Montessori Institute where he received his Montessori certification. More recently he received a Masters of Early Childhood Education from Kennesaw State University. He has served as President of the Morton Theatre, Arts Oglethorpe Trustees, and Athens Area Arts Council. Warren is passionate about creativity in education, theater and organic gardening.
Athens Montessori School is a Clarke County Green School and has received awards and recognition from many organizations, including: National Wildlife Federation Schoolyard Habitat, Odum Greenfest Awards, Home Depot Youth Garden Grant, Garden Earth Naturalist Grant, Keep Athens Clarke County Beautiful Grant, Friends of Barnett Shoals Award, Hands on Athens, Agribility, and Rivers Alive.
Athens-Clarke County Library is the recipient of a grant from EBSCO Industries which allowed us to install the new solar array next to the building, which you can see from our parking lot.
Come on by the library Saturday from 2 to 4 and meet Alex Burns, James Burns, Patrick Dean, Abby Kacen, Missy Kulik, David Mack, Scott Stripling, Devlin Thompson & Klon Waldrip; have some punch & cookies and peruse some original art & zines!
Word Magic: A Poetry Workshop
David Oates, Host of “Wordland” on WUGA FM
Athens-Clarke County Library • Multipurpose Room C
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Tuesday, August 28 – Thursday, August 30 • 6–8 pm
Poetry is a tradition going back thousands of years, predating written text, to ancient Sumeria, India, Japan and Africa. Poetry uses forms and conventions to suggest differential interpretation to words, or to evoke emotive responses, using devices such as assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm. Whether you prefer sonnets, haiku, or slam poetry, you’ll enjoy Word Magic: A Poetry workshop with accomplished Athens poet David Oates. Oates returns to ACCL to lead this poetry workshop with examples from his own and others’ work and exercises to help you get into the flow.
Mr. Oates has 30 years experience teaching writing, has had three books published, and his work has appeared in many magazines He is the host and producer of “Wordland” on WUGA FM. Oates received his master’s in creative writing from the University of Illinois—Chicago.
Life The Griot: Knights to Kings – A Journey to Ethiopia
Lemuel LaRoche
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium • 2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Thursday, August 2 • 5 pm
The Athens-Clarke County Library and Chess and Community invite the public to a free screening of the documentary Knights to Kings: A Journey to Ethiopia at the Athens-Clarke County Library on Thursday, Aug. 2, at 5:00 pm.
The film follows eight teenaged boys from Athens and surrounding counties as they journey to Ethiopia, led by Athens poet and community activist Lemuel LaRoche, also known as Life The Griot. This documentary speaks to the core of positive youth identity and community intervention.
The screening will be followed by discussion on youth engagement and youth identity in Athens. Attendees will meet local non-profits and community programs that focus on youth development in the Athens area. This event aims to bring the community together to celebrate and support positive youth development, dialogue and initiatives.
This free program is sponsored by Reflecting, Sharing, Learning and is a family friendly event. Families with teens are encouraged to attend.
About Chess & Community
Founded in 2012, Chess and Community (CC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to developing leadership and promoting the success of youth in Athens-Clarke County, Ga., and surrounding areas. CC’s mission is to impact youth in the areas of academic enrichment, civic engagement and critical thinking, using chess as a learning modality.
Oh Canada! A Timely Travelogue with Mark Willis
Athens-Clarke County Library
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Tuesday, July 24, 7:00 pm
Our neighbor to the north, which has been much in the news lately, is a beautiful and vast country. Canada shares an 8,890 km border with the United States, the longest border in the world not patrolled by military forces; the overwhelming majority of its population lives within 300 km of the border. Canadians have crafted a model multicultural society, welcoming immigrant populations from every other continent. In addition, Canada is home to a wealth of natural resources and intellectual capital.
Join us at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, July 24, in the library’s auditorium for a talk by Mark Willis on Canada’s 10 provinces and 3 territories as well as a brief history of the “Great White North.” Its majestic countryside, along with major cities and culture will be shown in slides that depict a country of rugged variety with many colorful attractions.
Mark was born in Seattle, but grew up in the Midwest. He met his wife Hilde as an undergraduate at the University of Kansas, and later was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam era. After serving two years, he returned to Chicago, where he completed a graduate degree. Mark worked for Morton Salt for thirty years; then he and Hilde settled to Athens in 2007 and have enjoyed the University town atmosphere, the warmer winters and the friendly folks! Mark’s hobby is doing botanical watercolors.
Alex Burns, Patrick Dean, Abby Kacen, Missy Kulik, David Mack, Scott Stripling, Devlin Thompson, Klon Waldrip, and Joey Weiser
Athens-Clarke County Library • Quiet Gallery
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650
July 15 – September 15, 2018
The library is proud to present an exhibition of Athens-based cartoon artists in the Quiet Gallery from July 15 to September 15. Artists represented are Alex Burns, Patrick Dean, David Mack, Scott Stripling, Devlin Thompson, Klon Waldrip, and Joey Weiser.
Alex Burns studied art at the University of Georgia and Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has been a graphic designer in Atlanta and Athens since 1980, and was the editorial page cartoonist for Creative Loafing for 18 years.
Patrick Dean graduated from UGA with a BFA in Graphic Design. His comics and illustrations appeared weekly in Athens’ Flagpole Magazine for a decade and have been published in Legal Action Comics, Typhon, The Comic Eye, Vice Magazine, and The Oxford American Magazine.
Abby Kacen is an illustration artist from Chicago now residing in Athens, GA after studying drawing and animation at the University of Georgia. Inspired by punk rock, tattoos, cute cats and bright colors with illustrations that try to portray just how weird everyday life can be.
Missy Kulik is an illustrator, cartoonist, zine maker, artist, and crafter. She started making comics in grade school, and her first zines were self published in 1990. Her comic called Tofu Baby appears in the Flagpole each week since 2006 and is popular with children and adults.
David Mack spends most of his time drawing and making things. His illustrations and comics have been featured in various publications; Mack has enriched Flagpole’s pages with his weekly take on life in Athens. Now, David has collected these comics into a fat little book entitled ATHENS, GA.
Scott Stripling is a self-taught artist, illustrator, and cartoonist living currently in Athens, Georgia. Beyond the work he publishes as Shoot The Moon Comics, his work can be seen in Gigantic Sequins, Hobart, The Atomic Elbow, and elsewhere.
Devlin Thompson is a cartoonist, and comic pusher, perhaps best known for being the proprietor of Bizarro Wuxtry at Clayton & College in downtown Athens. and for his appearance in HATE #15. Married w/two dogs. No tattoos.
Klon Waldrip has lived in Athens since the ’80s. During the day he maps the stormwater infrastructure of Conyers; At night he writes about film and art for Diaboliquemagazine.com. Klon publishes a video store-themed zine called Late List, and is a featured artist in Printsploitation magazine.
Joey Weiser is the author of the Eisner Award-nominated Mermin graphic novel series from Oni Press. His comics have appeared in several anthologies including SpongeBob Comics, and the award-winning Flight series. His first graphic novel, The Ride Home, was published in 2007 by AdHouse Books. He is a graduate of the Savannah College of Art & Design.
We present for your viewing pleasure a half-dozen videos from recent programs at Athens-Clarke County Library: Moms Demand Action: The Georgia Peach Quilt, Hidden Treasures: A Virtual Tour of the Public Gardens of Athens, Organizing Chaos: The Art of Gunnar Tarsa, Yesterday’s Visions: Warren Manning Master Plan 1925, Lieutenant Flipper’s Trial, and My Vietnam Decision: A Roundtable Discussion.
Shannon Lawhon from the Athens Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America group discusses The Georgia Peach Quilt, a collaborative effort by volunteers in Georgia. The finished quilt was displayed in the library’s Quiet Gallery with photographs of participants along with their own words on why they picked up a needle and thread and began this journey.
Dr Wilf Nicholls, retired Director of the Georgia State Botanical Garden, leads us on a virtual tour of many of Athens’ public gardens. Athens is home to America’s first garden club and has a number of beautiful gardens that are open to the public, although you might not know that some of them are there.
A slide talk by Athens artist Gunnar Tarsa on his artistic journey. The talk was accompanied by an exhibition of Tarsa’s work in ACCL’s Quiet Gallery, which featured Tarsa’s drawings and paintings, focusing on his intricate images, rendered small and large.
Yesterday’s Visions: Warren Manning Master Plan 1925 – the ACCL Heritage Room’s Beth Whitlock and Steven Brown from the UGA Special Collections Library discuss the Manning Master Plan for Athens in a presentation for the Athens Historical Society.
Lieutenant Flipper’s Trial, an original one-act play is performed by its author, Bob Rogers, a former U.S. Army Captain and combat leader during the Vietnam War. The play is about the first African American graduate of West Point. It dramatizes his 1881 court martial and talks about the controversy about whether Lt. Flipper was treated fairly.
This program features a variety of perspectives, including those who went to Vietnam because they thought it was their patriotic duty, and those who resisted the draft on moral grounds. Moderator Dr James D. Marshall is a retired Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia. The program is one of a series of events co-sponsored by BoomAthens Magazine and Reflecting, Sharing, Learning.
The Cobb Brothers in Athens
Milton Leathers and Sam Thomas
T.R.R. Cobb House • 175 Hill Street • Athens, Georgia
Sponsored by Athens-Clarke County Library • 706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, June 27, 6:00 pm
Come to the T.R.R. Cobb House on Wednesday, June 27 at 6:00 pm for a walking tour of one of Athens’ most distinctive homes, with talks by curator Sam Thomas and Cobb descendant Milton Leathers.
Thomas and Howell Cobb, sons of Athens settlers John and Sarah Cobb, were among the most illustrious citizens Athens produced in the Civil War era. Thomas was a stoic, aloof and religious man, who was a co-founder of the University of Georgia School of Law, and distinguished himself as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. He married Marion Lumpkin, daughter of Joseph Henry Lumpkin, first Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, who gave them the house as a wedding gift.
His older brother Howell was a gregarious man, who loved life and spending time with his friends and family. He was Governor of Georgia, and served as US Secretary of the Treasury and Speaker of the House of Representatives. He and his brother were both ardent secessionists, and Howell was a brigadier general in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
Despite their differences, the brothers maintained a great affection for one another. This program will tell the story of Thomas and Howell Cobb and their relationship with Athens, and the “Pink Lady” house.
Milton Leathers is a seventh-generation Athenian, and is the great-great-grandson of Howell Cobb. Milton and his wife Kammy raised their four children in the Hill Street home built by Howell Cobb. Milton has been a Russian translator in the US Army; a high school teacher on Oahu; President of LM Leathers & Sons and Erwin & Co, Inc; and an English Teacher in China. He is past President of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation and a former board member of the Athens Historical Society. Milton loves to entertain with stories of his hometown and its denizens, many learned from his grandmother, Camilla McWhorter Erwin.
Sam Thomas has been Curator of the TRR Cobb House for the Watson-Brown Foundation since 2006, and before that he was the Curator for the Culture and Heritage Museums in York County, South Carolina for fifteen years. He has been the Vice-President of the South Carolina Historical Association; Vice-Chairman of the Confederation of South Carolina, Local Historical Societies; Executive Board member of the Scotch-Irish Society of the USA; and the newly-elected President of the Athens Historical Society. Sam served as a technical advisor on the film The Patriot, and is the author of many scholarly articles and books, including “The Legion’s Fighting Bulldog” with Coach Vince Dooley. Both Sam and Milton contributed to the massive volume, “The Tangible Past in Athens Georgia.”
Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services (GLASS) has brought its first touring, photography-based art exhibition to Athens. “Just Kids” will be on view at the Athens-Clarke County Library’s Quiet Gallery through Sunday, July 8.
“Just Kids” is the brainchild of photographer Ryan Johnson, a former community support specialist at the Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD) at Georgia State University. Through his work with CLD, Johnson discovered his love for telling life stories through photography, mixing a documentary and portraiture style to give viewers a front-row seat to stories of families and their loved ones who have an intellectual or developmental disability. Among the 16 portraits included in “Just Kids” are those depicting a handful of families that are members of the Chattahoochee Valley Down Syndrome Association.
Kilauea: Earth’s Most Active Volcano
Dr David Dallmeyer, UGA Geology Professor Emeritus
Athens-Clarke County Library • Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Thursday, June 7, 1:30 pm
Kilauea is one of five large shield volcanoes that comprise the island of Hawai’i. The Island is part of a chain of Pacific volcanic islands and seamounts that extend more than 3,700 miles to the Aleutian peninsula. Kilauea has been continuously active since 1983, erupting lava sourced from a permanently sited, deep-mantle magma hot spot. The recent 2018 volcanic activity has been spewing clouds of ash and smoke over the Puna area.
This program will describe the origin of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain, and take a look at the history of volcanic activity in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Eruptive styles and lava flow characters will be illustrated with video and a representative suite of Kilauea volcanic rocks on display for examination.
David Dallmeyer is Emeritus Professor of Geology at the University of Georgia, and a member of the Environmental Ethics Faculty. His teaching and research have focused on the processes and chronology of mountain building and plate tectonics with fieldwork on all continents. He organized several research expeditions in cooperation with the U.S. Antarctic Research Program and also has directed research programs in the British Isles, West Africa, China, Greenland, Svalbard, Norway and the Andes of Chile and Peru. David served as director of a United Nations (UNESCO) project that included organization of research excursions to Norway, Spain, Mauritania, France and Japan. He is a frequent presenter for The Osher Lifelong Learning Program at the University of Georgia (OLLI@UGA).
The program is one of a series of events co-sponsored by OLLI@UGA and Reflecting, Sharing, Learning. The program is free and open to the public.
Here’s a bouquet of new videos for you from past programming: A December musical smorgabord in Join Together; a host of creepy librarians telling tales in Listening in The Dark IV; Horticulturalist Dr Allan Armitage regales with stories from his book Of Naked Ladies and Forget-Me-Nots; Athens community organizer and poet Life The Griot onstage; A discussion on Dementia’s effect on families co-sponsored by BoomAthens Magazine; Dr. Subodh Agrawal on increasing your health and quality of life as you grow older; and a quick look at Athens artist Gunnar Tarsa in the act of creation. Live long and prosper!
Athens community organizer, activist, teacher and poet Lemuel LaRoche, AKA Life The Griot onstage in Athens-Clarke County Library’s Appleton Auditorium; Life is a social worker, poet, chess enthusiast, and activist on a mission. His inspirational words entertain and touch thousands with a simple truth: if we want to see better, then we have to do better.
Mr LaRoche is the founder and executive director of Chess and Community Conference, Inc., a nonprofit youth empowerment organization dedicated to developing strategic leadership skills in young people. Known in the communities that he serves as Life the Griot, he fuses chess with conventional therapeutic methods to curb impulsive behavior amongst youth with delinquent pasts. Life has over fifteen years experience in adolescent and community development and brings a fresh innovative approach to counseling.
The full-length documentary Life the Griot, directed by Matt DeGennaro and produced by Kathy Prescott & Grady Thrasher, may be seen HERE.
Athens artist Gunnar Tarsa gave a slide talk on his artistic journey in the Appleton Auditorium at Athens-Clarke County Library on Tuesday, April 10. The talk accompanies an exhibition of Tarsa’s work.
The second annual multiethnic holiday music program at Athens-Clarke County Library, recorded on December 10, 2017. The concert features Hanukkah music performed by Mamie Fike Mills, Pete Hayek & Paul Wolpianski; Winter Solstice music by Moonblown (Corey Powell, Jim Grimes & Lachele Foley); and Christmas music using the poetry of Byron Herbert Reece by Jacqueline Elsner.
A lecture at Athens-Clarke County Library in Athens, Georgia by Dr. Subodh Agrawal on how Americans can increase longevity and live a healthier, more connected lifestyle while reducing healthcare costs and improving quality of life. He talks about identified factors that can contribute to longevity and health, including diet, exercise, lifestyle, and others.
Dr Agrawal received his medical degree from Sawai Man Singh Medical College and has been in practice for more than 20 years. He is founder of The Human Yoga Project whose focus is integrating healthy philosophies into everyday life to increase longevity and live a healthier more connected lifestyle. He is an Interventional Cardiologist at Athens Heart Center, and he developed the Doctors Accountable Care Organization which seeks to implement better independent practices that work for the patients and physicians while setting an example of true, patient-oriented service to those that follow.
Creepy stairwells and critters that lurk in the wee hours of the night… It’s October. Halloween is here, and this year it’s not just for kids! The Athens-Clarke County Library invites you to the fourth annual spooky stories program for adults recorded October 26, 2017. You’ll enjoy the thrill of spine-tingling tales performed by your Athens Regional Library System staff, including Evan Michael Bush, Donna O’Kelly Butler, Jacqueline Elsner, Joy Ovington, and Eddie Whitlock.
The Friends of the Athens-Clarke County Library present an evening with award- winning author and horticulturist Dr. Allan Armitage on Thursday, Dec. 2, at 7:00 p.m., in recognition of his new book, Of Naked Ladies and Forget-Me-Nots: The stories behind the common names of some of our favorite plants.
Of Naked Ladies and Forget-Me-Nots: The stories behind the common names of some of our favorite plants is a “delightfully” Book cover.humorous collection of stories that engages readers and plant enthusiasts of all ages. With 96 stories, photos, and indices, Armitage unfolds the mysteries behind some of the “wackiest” common names for plants.
Born and raised in Canada, Dr. Allan Armitage is an internationally renowned writer, speaker, and researcher. Armitage has traveled the world sharing his passion for plants. He has lectured throughout the United States and Canada in addition to countries in Europe, South America, New Zealand, and Australia. Publishing 16 books and countless academic papers and articles, Armitage is honored most by the respect that he receives from his colleagues.
Dementia’s Effect on Families, a discussion following the showing of the film “Away From Her” at Athens-Clarke County Library on February 3, 2018. Ashley Young-Roesler from Arbor Terrace and Dr Lois Ricci from AARP participated, and the program was moderated by Betsy Bean from Boom Magazine, who facilitated the program and was co-sponsor along with Reflecting, Sharing, Learning.
Moms Demand Action: The Georgia Peach Quilt
Shannon Lawhon, Athens Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium & Quiet Gallery
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Slide Talk and Reception: Wednesday, May 2 at 7:00 pm
Exhibition in Quiet Gallery: May 1 through 31
Join us at the library on Wednesday, May 2 at 7:00 pm for a slide talk by Shannon Lawhon from the Athens Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America group, and a reception for and the opening of an exhibition of The Georgia Peach Quilt, a collaborative effort by Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America volunteers in Georgia. The finished quilt will be displayed in the library’s Quiet Gallery with photographs of participants along with their own words on why they picked up a needle and thread and began this journey.
The quilt is a part of the Mother’s Dream Quilt project and began last year by holding three quilting bees, in Athens, Atlanta, and Savannah. At the bees experienced quilters guided participants through the process of creating one square to contribute to the quilt. Participants came from all walks of life, and included survivors of gun violence who made squares in honor of loved ones killed by gunfire. The finished quilt is a memorial to lives cut short by gun violence, but also a symbol of hope that other families can be prevented from suffering unimaginable loss. Through The Georgia Peach Quilt, The Georgia chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America seeks to establish respectful community dialogue and build awareness of gun violence as a public health epidemic that can affect every Georgia citizen regardless of age, race, gender or socioeconomic status.
Shannon Lawhon is a frequent speaker for the Athens Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, of which she is a founding member and co-leader. After becoming a parent, Ms Lawhon felt a call to advocate for common sense gun measures. She is a quilter of 15 years and a professional photographer.
Hidden Treasures: A Virtual Tour of the Public Gardens of Athens
Dr Wilf Nicholls
Athens-Clarke County Library • 2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, April 18, 7:00 pm
Athens is home to America’s first garden club, so it’s no surprise that we have a number of beautiful gardens that are open to the public… although you might not know that some of them are there. Most are familiar with our superb State Botanical Garden of Georgia, but you may well have missed the Founders Memorial Garden tucked away on north campus. All of our house museums in Athens feature traditional garden designs of different eras and research goes on at the University of Georgia Trial Gardens. You can see all of these, and more, for free.
Join us in the Appleton Auditorium on Wednesday, April 18 at 7:00 pm for a virtual tour through many of our public gardens, led by Dr Wilf Nicholls, retired Director of the State Botanical Garden. A native of London, England, Dr. Nicholls served as director of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden in St. John’s, Canada before coming to UGA in 2010. Wilf has a B.Sc. in botany from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and a Ph.D. in botany from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada; his plant exploration has taken him across North America, southern Europe and even southern Siberia! He has been an ornamental plant breeder, published numerous articles in the scientific, horticultural trade and popular press, and remains dedicated to conservation and education.
The event is free and open to the public.
Slide Talk and Reception: Tuesday, April 10 at 7:00 pm
Exhibition in Quiet Gallery: April 1 through April 25
Athens artist Gunnar Tarsa will give a slide talk on his artistic journey in the Appleton Auditorium on Tuesday, April 10 at 7:00 pm. He will also create some artwork on the spot! The talk will be accompanied by an exhibition of Tarsa’s work, and there will be a reception with refreshments following the talk.
The exhibition may be seen in the upstairs Quiet Gallery, and will feature Tarsa’s drawings and paintings, focusing on his intricate images, rendered small and large. The exhibition will remain on view through April 25.
Tarsa was born in New Jersey and relocated to Lawrenceville, Georgia. He received his BFA with an emphasis in Drawing from the Lamar Dodd School of Art in Athens, GA which is where he currently lives and works. His methodology of working is through stream of consciousness actions and practiced instincts to hone his ability to create on the spot.
Mr Tarsa’s special guest in this exhibition is Andrea Murillo, who exhibits her sculpture in the display case in the gallery.
The event is free and open to the public.
My Vietnam Decision: Roundtable discussion led by Jim Marshall
Athens-Clarke County Library2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Saturday, April 7, 2:00 pm
Come to the library on Saturday, April 7 at 2:00 pm for a moderated, round-table discussion with several local men on the different choices young men had in the 1960s/70s, and the choices they made about going to war.
As the Vietnam war ripped apart Southeast Asia, it also eviscerated the American psyche and drove this country crazy with pain. To a generation of Americans, it is ancient history, as distant as World War II was to their parents; the war ended over 40 years ago, but it still smolders in the thoughts of those who remember it firsthand. This program will feature a variety of perspectives, including those who went to Vietnam because they thought it was their patriotic duty, and those who resisted the draft on moral grounds.
Moderator Dr. James D. Marshall is a retired Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia. He received his PhD in Language, Literacy, and Culture from Stanford University.
We are happy to present half a dozen new videos which are now online for your viewing pleasure! There are videos of two RSL programs from the last year: Athens Then & Now, and The Adventures of Making a Documentary of a Famous Dead Person, featuring Gary Doster and Dr John Campbell. There is also a video of the slide talk by artists James Barnes and Broderick Flanigan, a community discussion about Athens’ Confederate monument, a ceremony honoring Athens historian Charlotte Thomas Marshall, and the presentation of the Library of The Year award.
What a Difference 100 Years Can Make! Gary Doster shares his voluminous collection of photos and postcards of Athens in this video showing houses and scenes around town that no longer exist, followed by photos of what the location looks like now. It is a trip by postcard through the distant and more recent past, accompanied by reminiscences and commentary.
Dr John Campbell from the University of Canterbury discusses his adventures in the making of a documentary of a famous dead person – Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand’s acclaimed father of nuclear physics. Rutherford radically altered our understanding of nature by explaining radioactivity as the spontaneous disintegration of atoms, dated the age of the Earth, determining the nuclear structure of the atom, and became the world’s first successful alchemist by converting nitrogen into oxygen.
This video features artwork by James Barnes and Broderick Flanigan, along with their thoughts and commentary during a slide talk held at the library on December 17, 2017. James Barnes is a local artist who loves to draw—at McDonalds, at Starbucks, on the sidewalk, at the library. James carries his work hanging over his shoulder or rolled up in his backpack, alongside his pens. Broderick Flanigan grew up in Athens and has made a life as an artist, mentor, and activist. He advocates for the needs of low-income people in Athens, and he mentors teens with weekly art classes.
The Athens Historical Society presented the 2018 Augustus Longstreet Hull Award to Charlotte Thomas Marshall during their annual meeting. Marshall has edited and written many books and papers on Athens history. The award, which recognizes those who have contributed to recording and studying Athens history, was presented in the Richard B. Russell Library.
Mokah and Knowah Johnson, President and Vice President of Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement held a Town Hall meeting in the Appleton Auditorium of the Athens-Clarke County Library, following the events in Charlottesville, to discuss whether or not Athens’ monument should be removed. The video includes Milton Leathers’ reading of his grandfather Andrew Erwin Cobb’s speech before the 1924 Democratic National Convention.
Watch a video of the Library of The Year award ceremony honoring Athens Regional Library System. State Librarian Julie Walker presented the award to ARLS Director Valerie Bell: “I am especially pleased to congratulate the Athens Regional Library System on being selected as Georgia’s Library of the Year. The leadership team, staff and trustees of ARLS do a terrific job of working together to offer creative programming, thoughtful customer service, and strong community partnerships that benefit library users of all ages throughout the five counties they serve. This is a richly-deserved honor,” said Walker.
Life The Griot: The Poet/The Film
Lemuel LaRoche AKA Life The Griot
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium • 2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, February 28, 6:30 pm
On Wednesday, February 28, at 6:30 pm, Athens community organizer, activist, teacher and poet Lemuel LaRoche, AKA Life The Griot will be onstage at the Athens-Clarke County Library’s Appleton Auditorium. Life is a social worker, poet, chess enthusiast, and activist on a mission. His inspirational words entertain and touch thousands with a simple truth: if we want to see better, then we have to do better.
Life’s performance will be preceded by a screening of the 2014 documentary Life The Griot, directed by Matt DeGennaro and produced by Kathy Prescott and Grady Thrasher. This film chronicles one man’s effort to make an impact on the lives of as many youth as possible by activating change.
Lemuel LaRoche is the founder and executive director of Chess and Community Conference, Inc., a nonprofit youth empowerment organization dedicated to developing strategic leadership skills in young people. Known in the communities that he serves as Life the Griot, he fuses chess with conventional therapeutic methods to curb impulsive behavior amongst youth with delinquent pasts. Life has over fifteen years experience in adolescent and community development and brings a fresh innovative approach to counseling.
The Athens-Clarke County Library presents three opportunities this month for you to learn about the first African American graduate of West Point, Lt. Henry O. Flipper with the one-act play by author Bob Rogers, Lt. Flipper’s Trial.
The play will be performed by Rogers at East Athens Resource Center, Lay Park Resource Center, and Athens-Clarke County Library.
Born in Thomasville, Ga., Flipper was a former slave who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., in 1877. Flipper earned a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was the first nonwhite officer to lead the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Calvary Regiment. In 1880, Flipper distinguished himself in the War against Warm Spring Apache Chief Victorio. A year later, 25-year-old Flipper was tried for embezzlement of government funds. He was dismissed from the Army on June 30, 1882. Following his time in the army, Flipper was a civil engineer in El Paso, Texas, eventually retiring to Atlanta where he died in 1940. Flipper was pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 1999.
This play dramatizes the 1881 court martial and draws the audience into the controversy about whether Lt. Flipper was treated fairly before, during and after the trial.
The play will be performed by its author, Bob Rogers, a former U.S. Army Captain and combat leader during the Vietnam War in Troop A, 1/10th Cavalry. An audience discussion will follow each performance of the play, including discussion of Rogers’ book, First Dark, a Buffalo Soldier’s Story.
The play will be performed three times in Athens. Each performance is free and open to the public:
Thursday, Feb. 22, at 3:30 p.m. at East Athens Resource Center, 400 McKinley Drive, Athens.
Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:00 p.m. at Athens-Clarke County Library, 2025 Baxter Street, Athens.
Friday, Feb. 23, at 3:30 p.m. at Lay Park Resource Center, 297 Hoyt Street, Athens.
Saturday, February 3, 2018 • 2:00 p.m.
Appleton Auditorium
Join us for a film and discussion on dementia for this RSL program produced in cooperation with Boom! magazine.
Away From Her stars Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent and Olympia Dukakis. A man coping with the institutionalization of his wife because of Alzheimer’s disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man, Aubrey, a wheelchair-bound mute who also is a patient at the nursing home.
Panel discussion and reception to follow the film.
Aging and Longevity: A Guide to Living Longer & Better
Dr Subodh Agrawal
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium • 2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia
706 613 3650 x343
Thursday, January 25, 7:00 pm
On Thursday, January 25, at 7:00 pm, Athens cardiologist Dr. Subodh Agrawal will tell us how Americans can increase longevity and live a healthier, more connected lifestyle while reducing healthcare costs and improving quality of life. He will talk about identified factors that can contribute to longevity and health, including diet, exercise, lifestyle, and others.
Dr Agrawal received his medical degree from Sawai Man Singh Medical College and has been in practice for more than 20 years. He is founder of The Human Yoga Project whose focus is integrating health philosophies into everyday life to increase longevity and live a healthier more connected lifestyle. He is an Interventional Cardiologist at Athens Heart Center, and he developed the Doctors Accountable Care Organization which seeks to implement better independent practices that work for the patients and physicians while setting an example of true, patient-oriented service to those that follow.
Family Movie Day: World’s Smallest Airport
Athens-Clarke County Library
Appleton Auditorium • 2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, December 27, 2:30 pm
Ready to get out of the house after a long holiday season? Come visit Athens-Clarke County Library for our second annual Family Movie Day in the Appleton Auditorium on December 27.
Bring your children or grandchildren to see the film World’s Smallest Airport by Kathy Prescott & Grady Thrasher, Producers of Athens in Our Lifetimes. The film details the true story of the Thrasher Brothers Aerial Circus, which took place right here in Athens and Elberton. You won’t believe some of the stunts performed by the pilots and wing walkers! We’ll have some vintage aeronautical cartoons, a drawing for prizes, and light refreshments, plus some surprises. Join us for an afternoon of light-hearted fun for the family!
We managed to get caught partially up on our backlog of videos from RSL programming from the last few months, including three videos featuring Athens sculptor Harold Rittenberry.
Join Together: A Multiethnic Afternoon of Peace, Music & Holiday Crafts
Athens-Clarke County Library • Appleton Auditorium • Multipurpose Rooms B & C
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Sunday, December 10, 2:30 pm
Come join us at the library on Sunday afternoon, December 10, at 2:30 pm for our second annual Join Together: A Multiethnic Afternoon of Peace, Music & Holiday Gifts. it will be an afternoon of beautiful music and crafts as we celebrate the different facets of the season. You can visit the Appleton Auditorium and hear a concert featuring solo artists and groups singing Christmas carols, songs celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the winter solstice and more.
In Multipurpose Rooms B & C (adjacent to the Auditorium) we will have demonstrations of different seasonal crafts you can learn and create on the spot, such as bow tying, ornament making, and assembling an inexpensive present. Enjoy a complimentary beverage and snack with us and observe the holiday of your choice, or all of them!
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Coping Skills and Support
Paige Powell & Kelli McCain
Athens-Clarke County • Library Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Thursday, November 30, 7:00 pm
Athens-Clarke County Library, in cooperation with the Athens Community Council on Aging, is pleased to present Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, postponed from an earlier date, at 7:00 pm on Thursday, November 30.
Children are being raised by grandparents in greater numbers than ever before. According to the 2009 American Community Survey, approximately 102,000 grandparents in Georgia were responsible for raising their grandchildren. These new households represent a transfer of child-rearing responsibilities from an absent or incapacitated parent to an older adult.
Grandparent caregivers may also face a number of challenges, such as emotional, social, financial, and legal issues, as well as poverty, poor health, delaying retirement, inadequate housing, loss of personal freedom, and a host of other issues. On November 30 Paige Powell, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Program Director from the Athens Community Council on Aging, will give us some coping methods for this difficult role, and tell us about the resources available at the Council on Aging. She will be joined by Kelli McCain, ACCA Outreach Coordinator.
Mrs. Powell is a UGA graduate, and has done social work in the Athens area for nearly 10 years. Since 2009, she has been the Program Director for the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren program in Northeast Georgia and Barrow/Walton counties, where she implements services to intergenerational caregiver families. Ms. McCain is the current Membership Chair for the Emerging Leaders of the United Way of Northeast Georgia and has served as the Chairperson of the Northeast Georgia Business Advisory Council. She was the 2013 recipient of the Georgia Society of Association Executive’s Chair Award, and is a frequent speaker at community events.
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