The book sale ends February 4th. So you have a few more days to get to the downtown branch of the Birmingham Library and scope out the books. The deal is you pay $6 and get an official library re-usable tote to stuff with as many books as you can. The only catch is that your selection is restricted to the “overstock” carts outside of the bookstore. So the books inside the shop (still priced only 50 cents to $2) are off limits.

You can expect lots of Clancy, King and Wouk out on the carts, but there are lots of other things too. Two carts are crammed with newer kids’ books.

Just inside the Friends of the Library shop is the new merch room with lots of branded shirts, mugs cups and bags. It’s worth checking out as well.

So go check out the tracks and sign up, I’d love to meet some of you out there. Saturday takes place at the BJCC and teh Sunday line-up is at Samford. The WordPress faithful here in Birmingham really is a neat crew. I’m thankful for these annual events where I can soak in some new things.

Also, during the year, they have some WordPress meet-ups with most updates going out with #wpbham on Twitter. I haven’t been able to make one in a loooooooong time, but they always sound like fun. So check those out too.

Hope to see you in a week!

In keeping with the self-published push, they have also invited Liz Reed, of the Birmingham Arts Journal, to lead a 90-minute discussion/orientation for people wanting to get published. The event is called “Every Writer Needs an Editor“. It is free, but they’re asking that you click through that link to reserve a spot, so they can make sure they have enough seats.

The event runs from 2p.m. until midnight, this Sunday, at the BottleTree. If you buy your tickets early, $20 gets you in the door (it’s $25 at the door) where you’ll hear musicians playing coves of their “desert island” songs. All proceeds got to DISCO, which is a creative writing program for students. Fostering future creative writers is a great way to honor Stevens, who has influenced so many writers since his time.

What: Stranded: A Day of Desert Island Music
When: Sunday, Nov. 13, 2 p.m. to midnight
Where: Bottletree Café, 3719 Third Ave. S.
Cost: $20 advance, $25 at the door (purchases can be made at thebottletree.com or by emailing tickets@desertislandsupplyco.com)
Information: (205) 201-0826, desertislandsupplyco.com

All proceeds from ticket sales benefit DISCO.

Katherine Linn was there and had some great prints. Many are local landmarks with a subset sporting vibrant colors.

Justin Banger was also there. This was my first time seeing Justin’s prints. They were very well-done and the subject matter will keep you staring for quite a while. Lots to think about, besides technique.

Debra Riffe was also there this weekend. She had a new print of Amos Kennedy, that was fantastic! When I asked about it she said it will never be for sale. The Amos Kennedy Print is pulled from a small 50 print run she did as a birthday gift for Kennedy. She says she got to keep one and Kennedy got the rest. I would have loved to have this one to hang by my Kennedy posters. Oh well.

I also found out, at the show, that Georgia-based artist Sarah Rishel is retiring. She’s been churning out intaglio prints for 30+ years and says she’s ready to explore something else. Tip: I’ve emailed her to see if I can get the etching that a print I bought was pulled from. I hear she is in the habit of selling plates. So if you’re lucky enough to have one of hers on your wall, it may be worth seeing if you can buy the etching. How neat would that be to display them side-by-side?

There were a couple of other paper-artists and printers that I didn’t get to visit. I hope they all come back next year.

It caps out at $10. So if you have $11 in fines, you will need to bring 10 cans and $1. For that you’ll get your overdue library fines erased, help some people in need and get a warm smile from a friendly librarian.

I hear the folks over in Monroeville, AL are pretty excited about this and are already planning ways to corner the market on the Peck stamp. On the 29th, they are hosting a ‘stamp release party’ and debuting their new postmark proclaiming Monroeville as the “Literary Capital of Alabama”.

The next item in my feed yesterday was coverage of this week’s Books in Browsers 2010 summit, where the Internet Archive showed off what they have dubbed the Reading Desk 2.0. Basically, it’s an antique church reading desk hacked together with a massive touchscreen eBook reader display.

I guess technically the video isn’t focusing so much on the features of a desk as it is the functions of a desk, but it’s interesting how integrated displays, etc. never came up in the discussions, in what they see as being needed from a desk, to help accomplish our reading, tasks, work, etc.

The discussion and tidbits being passed along on Twitter, via the #bib10 hashtag is worth following all day today and worth going back and reading yesterday’s feed. It sounds like it’s been a GREAT event dolling out plenty of practical experience and numbers for those in publishing to consider.

First, Vestavia Hills library has shut down as they are moving to their new building (slated to open in early-November) so they are toting books outside to a tent and selling what they can. It’s being organized by volunteers, so they start selling sometime between 9a-10a and stop sometime around 6p. It all depends on their help. But be prepared to stay. There is no organization. So a child’s book will be stacked on a business book sitting next to a computer programming text book. But if you love to sort through new and dusty books. This is for you. They bring out new boxes every couple of hours, so the selection changes.

Ex-library books (hardback and paperback) are $.50. Donated hardbacks are $1 and donated paperbacks are $.50. Magazines are $.10. You can also pay $5 and fit as much as you can into a grocery sack.

The sale started yesterday and runs through all of next week.

Second, is the Whistle Stop Festival, out in Irondale. The library, has been culling their collection and taking donations for weeks and is setting up tables alongside the usual festival fair, from 9a-4p. I have not heard of the prices yet, but if they follow their usual price schedule, hardbacks will be a dollar and paperbacks will be $.50. Traditionally, they have not made a distinction between donated and ex-library.

Third, this weekend 2nd & Charles (which BBJ mentioned earlier this week) is supposed to open Saturday morning. The Books-A-Million crew had an invite-only preview party last night. I didn’t get to go, but have seen some photos. It’s in a vacated Goody’s department store and is massive. Very cool looking, too. I haven’t seen prices yet, but they will be buying books, cd’s, dvd’s, videogames, etc. all day, every day too. Hopefully they will make their open date.

I have fun this weekend and do tell about any loot you score!