One Book One Community 2021: The Yellow House: Events & Programs

A still from our Author Event with Sarah M. Broom & Margaret Wilkerson Sexton:

Scotlandville Branch - New discussion questions will be posted on a display each week in March, with materials provided for patrons to post their responses

Fairwood Branch - Monday, March 15 [Virtual]

Zachary Branch - 11am Friday, March 19

Main Library at Goodwood - 3pm Sunday, March 21

Carver Branch – 4:30pm Monday, March 29

Greenwell Springs Road Regional Branch - 6:30pm Wednesday, March 31 [Virtual]

Carver Branch – 4:30pm Tuesday, April 6 – The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

Virtual – 12pm Friday, April 16 lead by Dr. Robyn Merrick

Bluebonnet Regional Branch - 6:30pm Monday, April 26

Jones Creek Regional Branch - 5:30pm Wednesday, April 28

Shotgun House Art Canvas Miniatures: Grab & Geaux Craft - March 1-31 - Pride-Chaneyville Branch

Grab & Geaux Paper Rocket - Monday, March 1 - Fairwood Branch

20-Somethings Grab & Geaux: Infinity Photo Cubes - Monday, March 1 - Baker Branch

20-Somethings Grab & Geaux: Paracord Keychains - Monday, March 1 - Baker Branch

Photo Coaster Craft - 2:30pm Wednesday, March 10 - Eden Park Branch

Grab & Geaux Fleur de Lis Art - Tuesday, March 16 - Fairwood Branch

The Big Easy-and All that Jazz! New Orleans trivia session - 6:30-8pm Wednesday, March 24 - Jones Creek Regional

Teens Grab & Geaux: Fleur de Lis Notebooks - Thursday, March 25 - Fairwood Branch

Children's Saturday Shenanigans@theCreek: New Orleans Memory Game - Saturday, March 27 - Jones Creek Regional

20-Somethings Grab & Geaux: Popsicle Stick Bird Feeders - Tuesday, March 30 - Fairwood Branch

Interactive Display - April 1-30 - River Center Branch

Crescent City Qwiz: New Orleans trivia session - 6:30-8pm Wednesday, April 7 - Jones Creek Regional

20-Somethings Grab & Geaux: Mini Family Album - Wednesday, April 7 - Scotlandville Branch

Teens Grab & Geaux: Fleur de Lis String Art - Saturday, April 10 - Main Library at Goodwood

Children's Grab & Geaux/Saturday Shenanigan - Saturday, April 10 - Fairwood Branch

Children's Make & Takes - Friday, April 9 & Friday, April 23 - Scotlandville Branch

Check back soon for more programs...

Place: How Historic Resources Define Significance in Our Cultures (with LA State Museum & LA Office of Cultural Development)

Virtual – 12pm Thursday, March 11

► Watch the recording of this panel discussion on YouTube [click here]

From the buildings around us to the artifacts our ancestors leave behind, the places in which we live tell important stories. Join us on Facebook Live at 12 p.m. Thursday, March 11 as we discuss a few ways Louisiana highlights the spaces, structures, and cultural resources that help preserve the histories of our communities. Presenters: Rodneyna Hart, Division Director of the Louisiana State Museum; Nicole Hobson-Morris, Executive Director of the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation; Emily Ardoin, National Register Coordinator for the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation; & Maegan A. Smith, Archaeology Outreach Coordinator for the Louisiana Division of Archaeology. 

Have questions for our presenters? Email them to jmcdaniel@ebrpl.com

Make a Spring Basket with scented pine cones. Pick up your kit at Jones Creek Regional today!

DIY Oral History Workshop - 3pm Sunday, April 11 - Main Library at Goodwood

► Watch the recording of this presentation on the EBRPL YouTube Channel! [click here]

Tell your family’s story! If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to preserve the stories and memories of your friends and loved ones, this workshop will give you tools and tips you need.  Our resident expert archivist, Melissa Eastin, will explore what an oral history is and how you can start planning and recording your very own oral history project. 

Healing words: Telling stories and poems to find purpose again in the years after Katrina

One Book, One Community Panel, Baton Rouge Community College

April 25, 3:00-4:00 pm, Main Library at Goodwood

► Watch the recording of this program on the EBRPL YouTube channel! [click here]

Sarah M. Broom’s The Yellow House (2019) is a timely book about belonging and growing up, set in New Orleans on the eve of Hurricane Katrina. Inspired by the book’s themes, the panel of Baton Rouge Community College faculty add poetry, performance and reflection. Poetry read by Carrie Causey and a performance by Danielle Vignes offer a dynamic approach to healing. Professor Whitton, Dept. Chair, English and Humanities, discusses truth and perspective while challenging readers, and authors alike, to think about the purpose and meaning not only in memoirs but in life itself.

Chair: Lisa Namikas, History, Baton Rouge Community College, Associate Professor

Presenter: Carrie Causey, "Poems from the Interior Landscape"

Associate Professor and poet, Carrie Causey, will read poems that explore how weather and landscape become vivid characters in individual and cultural memory. Storm, fog, creek—levee, river, delta-- a sense of place creates an interior landscape through which we can connect with ourselves and process loss.

Presenter: Danielle Vignes, “Hang It Out To Dry”: Performing Ethnography, Cultural Memory, and Hurricane Katrina in Chalmette, Louisiana

Dr. Danielle Vignes, Associate Professor of Speech at Baton Rouge Community College will read excerpts from “Hang it Out To Dry,” a solo performance about the washed away community and spun tales of Chalmette, Louisiana, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Performed since October 2006, the show tells the story of how multiple voices of lived experience can offer insight into the larger community. The performance depicts the struggles, hopes, and fears that many Saint Bernard Parish community members faced, years after the storm.

Presenter: Natasha Whitton, Storytelling or Mythmaking: Memoirs in an Age of Authenticity

Chair, Department of English and Humanities at Baton Rouge Community College, Natasha Whitton will discuss truth and meaning in narrative. In Sarah Broome's memoir The Yellow House, she tells the story of four generations of her New Orleans family using her own perspective and that of her mother as the primary sources. Her gaze includes family myths without always seeking out a final truth. Should memoir sacrifice narrative for authenticity or is the myth what moves the reader?

Black Baton Rouge Yesterday & Today: Looking Back to Effectively Move Forward - 3pm Saturday, February 20 - Virtual

► Watch the recording of this panel discussion on YouTube [click here]

Black Baton Rouge Yesterday & Today: Looking Back to Effectively Move Forward is a look at the rich history of the Louisiana capitol from the perspective of its Black community members. In the spirit of the Ghanian word Sankofa, co- Authors Dr. Lori Martin Professor at LSU and Chris Tyson, director of Build Baton Rouge and former Professor at LSU Law, will speak about the contributions made by Baton Rouge’s African- American citizens. Facilitated by Raymond A. Jetson of MetroMorphosis as part of BlackFutures: A Sankofa Series,  the organization’s city- wide celebration of the history of Black Baton Rouge.

Click here to download the PDF of Black Baton Rouge Yesterday & Today: Looking Back to Effectively Move Forward or go to metromorphosis.net/BlackFutures to learn more.

Pick up your Hurricane Safety Kits from the Jones Creek Regional Branch Library April 19th through April 30th!

Please call (225) 230-3751 to register and for more information...

Introduction to Ancestry.com Library Edition – MAIN – In-Person & Virtual – 6:30pm Tuesday, March 16

Resources for African-American Genealogy – MAIN – In-Person & Virtual – 10am Saturday, March 27

Overview of Digital Genealogy Resources – Bluebonnet Regional Branch – In-Person – 6:30pm Thursday, April 22

The Louisiana Housing Corporation offers FREE virtual events, including:

Certified Homebuyer Education Course (2-Day Webinar)

• February 9 & 11 at 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
• February 22 & 23 at 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.
• March 9 & 11 at 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
• March 23 & 24 at 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.
• April 6 & 8 at 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
• April 20 & 21 at 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.

PPC Sewing Co-op - Patchwork Animals. Dr. Doris Derby, 1970. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

From Home Maker to Culture Shaper: Black Women's Creative Legacy - 2pm Saturday, March 20 - MAIN & Virtual

► Watch the recording of this presentation on YouTube [click here]

Join Dr. Sharbreon Plummer as she takes us on a journey throughout history to uncover the connections between textiles, Black life and cultural memory. She will discuss her research which focuses on how quilting and fiber arts within the home served as one of the earliest forms of creative expression and cultural preservation for Black women—drawing parallels between how these stitches of the past inform present day artistry. About the Presenter: Dr. Sharbreon Plummer (Baton Rouge, LA) is an artist, researcher and storyteller who focuses on unearthing hidden histories of artistic expression in communities of color. Her upbringing in southern Louisiana informs her interest in how culture and ancestral memory act as influencers of personal expression and contemporary creative production. She currently serves as the Director of Advocacy and Artist Services at the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge.

Get Organized: Organizing Your Photos & Memorabilia - 2pm Tuesday, March 23 - Main Library at Goodwood

Register for an in-person seat in the Events Calendar at EBRPL.com [Click here]

Learn how to use the EMEND organizing method to organize your photos and memorabilia. This will address organizing physical photos, digital photos, and physical memorabilia. Join Louisiana's only Certified Professional Organizer, Alyssa Trosclair, as she discusses how the EMEND organizing method can help you tackle your clutter and your calendar to help you Get Organized in 2021!