(Updated) Video Games

Since our games have circulated quite well over the past couple of months, we have expanded to include both PS4 and Xbox One titles. You may still check them out for 7 days and can renew them one time. All you need is a library card and you are good to go! Check out our current collection of games below.

Wii:

Angry Birds: Star Wars

Donkey Kong Country Returns

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two

Just Dance 2014

Just Dance 3

Just Dance 4

Just Dance: Disney Party

Kirby’s Return to Dreamland

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

LEGO Batman

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean

LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga

LEGO The Lord of the Rings

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

Mario Kart Wii

Mario Party 9

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Super Mario Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Paper Mario

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Wii Sports Resort

Zumba Fitness: Join the Party

Xbox 360

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham City

Battlefield 4

Call of Duty: Ghosts

Dark Souls

Dark Souls II

Fallout 3

FIFA Soccer 13

Forza Motorsport 4

Halo 4

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Just Dance 4

LEGO Lord of the Rings

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes

LEGO Movie Videogame

Minecraft

MLB 2k13

NBA 2K14

NCAA 14

Portal 2

Rayman Legends

Sonic Generations

Titanfall

XCOM: Enemy Within

Xbox One

Forza Motorsport 5

Madden NFL 25

Titanfall

PS3

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham City

Battlefield 3

Call of Duty: Ghosts

Darksiders II

Dynasty Warriors 7

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

inFAMOUS  Collection

Killzone Trilogy Collection

Lego Marvel Super Heroes

Madden NFL 13

MLB 13: The Show

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Story 3

NBA 2K14

NCAA 14

Portal 2

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013

Rayman Legends

UFC Undisputed 3

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

PS4

FIFA 14

inFAMOUS: Second Son

Need for Speed: Rivals

Make sure to stop by the Teen Department and pick one up!!

Daniel

Program Spotlight: Teen Writing Group

Like to write? Looking for an audience with which to share your work? Need everyone to know that you are the next big thing in literature? Then the Teen Writing Group is (maybe) for you!

Every second and fourth Wednesday of the month, we gather students together to build writing skills and provide feedback to one another. Each meeting generally consists of 10 or so individuals who have a variety of writing interests and styles. So whether you’re working on the best prose for your poetry or pounding out thick fantasy tomes, you will find a captive audience from among your peers!

Our next meeting is this Wednesday (February 26, 2014). Make sure to stop by!

Daniel

Teen Programs at the Library in the Forest

(Michael Glenwood)

Well, it’s a little late in posting this (and writing on this blog in general), but I am going to try to post more often. At this time I really want to let everyone know what programs we have coming up during the month of February. Since we are almost halfway through the month, some of them have already occurred, but we still have some awesome events remaining and want to see each of you there!

February 2014 Teen Programming

·         Writing Group – February 12, 2014 from 4:00-5:30

o   Like to write? Looking for an audience with which to share your work? The Teen Department is offering a writing group where teens can build writing skills and provide feedback to one another. Snacks served.

·         Open Gaming – February 14, 2014 from 4:00-5:30

o   Come to the library and enjoy awesome video games on the Wii and Xbox 360. We will also have board games to play with fellow teens! Snacks served.

·         Anime Night – February 18, 2014 from 5:30-7:30

o   Join us for an evening of anime, where the audience decides what we watch and, we have some great snacks to eat!

·         Studio 1221 – February 19, 2014 from 4:00-5:30

o   Cookie Wars! We will be having a cookie decorating contest. Come and make a work of art…or just eat the mess that results!

·         Open Gaming – February 21, 2014 from 4:00-5:30

·         Writing Group – February 26, 2014 from 4:00-5:30

o   Come to this month’s second meeting of the Teen Writing Group to build writing skills and receive feedback on your work. Snacks served.

·         Super Smash Bros. Tournament – February 28, 2014 from 4:00-5:30

o   Who will reign supreme in this battle royal of epic proportions? Come, dominate the competition, and fight to win a Gamestop gift card! Snacks served.

If you need more information, don’t hesitate to call Daniel at 205.979.3683 or dtackett (at) bham.lib.al.us.

Stay Warm!

Daniel

Extended Library Hours and Study Breaks

Well, it is that time of the year again. A time that brings joy to some and sorrow to others. A time of both giving and receiving. A time of reflecting on lost time and bemoaning procrastination…

If you think I mean Christmas, you are very wrong. No, it is EXAM TIME!

Yep, we all knew it was coming, yet most of us decided to push our studying far into the future with the hope that we will absorb the information through some kind of data osmosis.

Regardless of your situation, the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest has you covered. We will be staying open an extra hour (until 9:00 p.m.) and providing study breaks so that you can take some time off the grind and get some food before cramming once more!

Check out this video for some more information!



Daniel

October Happenings

It feels really odd to say that it is already October (especially since I am posting this on September 30…). Time’s ebb and flow seems to always be against us. When we want to savor moments, they quickly dissipate, and when we want move on to more pleasant things (e.g. my time in the dentist chair this morning), the minute hand simply refuses to move.

Regardless, it is October and that means, YOU GUESSED IT, more programs at the Teen Department!

Here’s the lineup for this month:

Teen Advisory Group – October 2, 2013 from 4:30-5:30

o   Make your voice known by helping the library decide what books, movies, music, and video games the Teen Department should buy and what programs we should offer to fellow teens! Snacks served.

·     Open Gaming – October 4, 2013 from 4:00-5:30

o   Come to the library and enjoy awesome video games on the Wii and Xbox 360. We will also have board games to play with fellow teens! Snacks served.

·         Teen Writing Group – October 9, 2013 from 4:00-5:30

o   Come to the Teen Writing Group where you can build writing skills, receive feedback on your work, and discover the intricacies of the publishing world by speaking with authors. Snacks served.

·         Open Gaming – October 11, 2013 from 4:00-5:30

o   Come to the library and enjoy awesome video games on the Wii and Xbox 360. We will also have board games to play with fellow teens! Snacks served.

·         Anime Night/Sushi Chef – October 15, 2013 from 5:30-7:30

o   Always wanted to know how to make real sushi? Come to the library and marvel at one of our librarian’s awesome talents! You will, of course, 
get to eat the creations and decide what we watch.

·         Teen Writing Group – October 16, 2013 from 4:00-5:30

o   Come to this month’s second Teen Writing Group 
to build writing skills and receive feedback on your work. Snacks served.

·         Super Smash Bros. Tournament – October 18, 2013 4:00-5:30

o   Who will reign supreme in this battle royal of epic proportions? Come, dominate the competition, and fight to win a Gamestop gift card! Snacks served.

·         Teen Art: Pumpkins – October 23, 2013 from 4:00-5:30

o   Who can create the scariest, most fearsome pumpkin known to man? Come and transform pumpkins from an innocent orange plant into the most terrifying vegetable of all! Snacks served.

·         Terrifying Tales – October 31, 2013 from 6-7:30

o   Think storytimes are just for kids? Join the Teen Department as Darrell Revel displays his dramatic talents and tries to scare us all as we eat 
delicious s’mores!

You don’t have to sign up for any of these beforehand, so make sure that you come by for an awesome time!

See you there.

Daniel

Book Recommendation – The Cadet of Tildor

I like to consider myself a connoisseur of fantasy novels. I've literally read hundreds of fantasy novels that range from urban settings to medieval and magical worlds. Within each of these sub-genres, there are more books than I could read even if I devoted the rest of my life to trying to accomplish the task, though that doesn't seem like too bad of a way to go.

Invariably, we have to make reading decisions based upon popularity and reviews. Whether we would actually enjoy them or not, those that fall short of our arbitrary “pre-read” standards must fall by the wayside, while others that our friends rave about get the metaphorical nod. This is especially true in Young Adult literature, where I often want to cringe at the popularity of certain series that contain little to no literary merit and weep at the lack of attention a particularly enjoyable work receives.

This brings me to The Cadet of Tildor by Alex Lidell, my fantasy book recommendation for this blog post and a novel that deserves more attention than it is receiving.

The summary: “having already survived six years at the Tildor’s top military academy, Sixteen-year-old Renee De Winter is determined to graduate, training day and night to compete with her male classmates. When the boys overpower her parries, she works harder.  When a bully sabotages her gear, she fights without it.  But when an underground crime group captures her mentor for its illegal gladiatorial games, she must choose between her career and her conscience.  Determined to penetrate the group’s inner circles, Renee will leap from academia to the crime filled streets, pick up a sword, and weigh law against loyalty.” (Taken from Lidell’s website)

The good: we have a strong, yet at times beat up, heroine who picks up a sword in order to defend her country and must make difficult moral choices regarding whether the lawful decision is actually the right decision. Add in a splash of magic, struggling familial relationships, and a little romance, and we have a pretty decent first novel.

The bad: we have some of characters that are not well developed, a few relationships that are assumed more than clarified, a magic system that is not fully explained, and no map of the country in which the characters live. The last two are just pet peeves of mine.

Anyway, it is very rare that YA fantasy literature deals with real world issues, especially when the main character is female. This alone makes this novel well worth the read in the midst of hundreds of other novels that simply are not.

Check it out in the teen section.

Daniel

Apocalypse Now

I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed, but the flood of apocalyptic books, movies, and T.V. shows since the Hunger Games came onto the scene has often made me wonder why there aren't zombies walking down the street with me. Or aliens beaming me on board their mother ship. Or societal breakdowns occurring, forcing individuals to turn on one another…

All joking aside the new fad has produced a plethora of good and bad novels to potentially read. Since no one all the time in the world, especially in a dystopian world, we decided to make some bookmarks that you can pick up in the Teen Department, which list the books the library has that fall along these “end of the world” themes. They are listed in descending order of what I enjoyed the most.

Take a look!

Some of them are still a work in progress, but these will let you know what we have and what we like if Derek or I are not behind the desk.

Let us know what you think!

-Daniel