Book briefs

Authors Symposium set for Saturday

Meet 20 local authors of African American heritage and those who have written about the African American experience during a free African American Authors Symposium scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road. For more information, call 507-3458.

Betty Bunch to sign memoir

"Vintage Vegas" columnist Betty Bunch plans to sign copies of her book "High Heels and Headdresses: Memoirs of Vintage Vegas Showgirl" at 1 p.m. Saturday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. For more information, visit highheelsandhead dresses.com.

Meet the author of ‘The Pirate’s Eye’

Stephanie Marie Harrold plans to sign her young adult novel "The Pirate’s Eye" from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at It’s A Grind Coffee House, 7250 S. Durango Drive.

Mob Month in last week at library

The Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, is in the last week of Mob Month. "From Medellin to the Mob: Meet Ronin of the Underworld Kenny ‘Kenji’ Gallo" is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. today. For more information, visit lvccld.org.

SUNRISE COFFEE CO. ON SUNSET ROAD HOSTS OPEN MIC NIGHT WEDNESDAYS

Sunrise Coffee Co. welcomes poets and poetry fans to participate in its open mic night starting at 7 p.m. every Wednesday at 3130 E. Sunset Road.

Book Festival sends out call for art

The Vegas Valley Book Festival invites artists from Southern Nevada to submit qualifications to create a suite of three original artworks as the official posters for the festival, planned for Nov. 1-3. The artworks will celebrate the festival, the Vegas Valley Children’s Book Festival and the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival.

Members of the festival’s steering committee and employees (and their families) of the city of Las Vegas, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District and Nevada Humanities are not eligible. There is no entry fee. The selected artist will receive an honorarium of $1,500. The deadline to apply is Feb. 10. Request an application via email at info@vegasvalley bookfestival.org. For more information, visit vegasvalleybookfestival.org or call 229-5431.

BMI series to feature Blake Butler

Blake Butler, author of "There is No Year, Ever," and "Scorch Atlas," is scheduled to speak as part of the Black Mountain Institute’s Nevada Emerging Writers Series at 7 p.m. Feb. 8 in Greenspun Hall Auditorium at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. For more information, visit blackmountain institute.org.

Writers group to welcome Mystery writer MOrgan St. James

Morgan St. James, author of "Writers’ Tricks of the Trade: 39 Things You Need to Know About the ABCs of Writing Fiction" and co-author of the Silver Sisters Mystery series, is scheduled to speak at a meeting of the Las Vegas Writers Group at 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Tap House, 5589 W. Charleston Blvd. The meeting fee is $5. Visit meetup.com/Las-Vegas-Writers for details. For details, visit meetup.com/las-vegas-writers.

Library to welcome business writer

Author Phil Simon is set to meet the public and sign copies of his business book "The Age of the Platform" from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday in the lobby of the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway.

Authors to sign Alzheimer’s and Dementia book

Mary Shapiro and Kim Boyer plan to sign copies of their updated edition of "Alzheimer’s and Dementia: A Practical and Legal Guide for Nevada Caregivers" from 9 to 11 a.m. today at the Cottages of Green Valley, 2620 Robindale Road.

Ms. China plans poet interview

Ms. China plans to interview poet Keith Brantley from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 25 at the West Las Vegas Library, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd. Visit lvccld.org for details.

Henderson Writers Group meets Mondays

The Henderson Writers Group meets from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. Mondays. Meetings are at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at 4550 S. Maryland Parkway on the second and fourth Mondays and at Saxby’s Coffee Lounge, 72 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway in Henderson, on the first, third and occasional fifth Mondays. Meetings are typically canceled on holidays. Visit henderson writersgroup.com for more information.

Meetings are open to the public.

Las Vegas Writers Conference scheduled for April 19-21

The Las Vegas Writers Conference is scheduled for April 19-21 at Sam’s Town, 5111 Boulder Highway. Registration for the full conference is $450 or $500 at the door. One-day registration also is available.

Faculty scheduled to participate in the conference includes: authors Kirt Hickman, Eva Shaw, Randall Platt and Kathleen Shaputis; literary agents Mary Kole, Lauren Ruth, Rita Rosenkranz, Jeff Kleinman, Malaga Baldi and Angie Rasmussen; editors Chuck Sambuchino, Annette Rogers and Chris Roerden; and publishers Mark E. Cull, Bruce Bortz and Jo Wilkins.

For more information, visit lasvegaswritersconference.com.

SHARE POEMS AT HUMAN EXPERIENCE

Polish up a poem or two and try them out at Human Experience, a free spoken word event, from 7 to 9 p.m. Mondays in The Beat coffee shop at 520 Fremont St. inside Emergency Arts. For more information, visit lasvegaspoets.org.

FREE STORYCORPS TOOLKIT HELPS COLLECT MEMORIES

The national StoryCorps’ Memory Loss Initiative encourages people with memory loss to share their stories with loved ones and future generations. To make that task easier, a free step-by-step toolkit is available to download at storycorps.org/mli.

The Commemorate toolkit offers an individual reminiscence program that family members can initiate or memory loss care facilities can add to activities.

The initiative has collected more than 1,800 interviews with 180 partner organizations.

For more information, visit storycorps.org or call 646-723-7027.

ACCESS RECORDED BOOK PROGRAMS ONLINE

Too busy to get out to book programs? The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District has started posting videocasts and podcasts of many of its programs online. Selections available so far include: "An Afternoon with Tony Curtis," John L. Smith’s presentation "Amelia’s Long Journey: The Challenge of Writing What You Know," "Batman" movie producer Michael Uslan’s presentation at the 2009 Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, Jami Carpenter’s "ABCs of Editing" workshop and Brian Rouff’s "Getting Published: A Long Strange Trip." To access the programs, visit lvccld.org, select "Books, Movies & More" and then "Video and Podcasts."

The Black Mountain Institute has offered recordings of its programming since 2006. To access recordings of a gamut of writers from E.L. Doctorow to Alissa Nutting, visit blackmountain institute.org and select "multimedia."

FREE READ TO ME PROGRAM OFFERS STORIES ONLINE AND BY PHONE

Celebrity storytellers Oscar Goodman, Rita Rudner, Clint Holmes, Terry Fator, Carrot Top, The Scintas and others have donated their talents to the Clark County Education Association Community Foundation’s Read To Me program. Children can view more than 15 videos of celebrities reading books on the website at readtomelv.com. Stories also can be accessed by calling 240-2665.

Both databases are frequently updated with fresh stories. Parents and teachers can download lesson plans for each book on the website.

DOWNLOAD BOOKS and MORE FROM YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY

Virtual Branch websites make it easy to browse, check out and download digital books and more to a home computer for free. All patrons need is a valid library card and an Internet-connected PC.

Virtual Branch download websites feature a digital catalog of downloadable audio books, e-books, music and video titles.

Each site is meant to look and feel like the library’s main site, and it has many easy-to-use features similar to an online store.

Digital book downloads are borrowed just like print materials. Once patrons select the title or author they want, they follow the steps to check out and then download the title to their home computer.

Patrons can transfer most titles to portable media players, such as MP3 players, PDAs, Kindles or smart phones.

Each title that is downloaded has a designated lending period. When the title expires, it is automatically returned to the Virtual Branch, so there are no late fees.

For more information, visit search.overdrive.com.

ZINE LIBRARY OPEN IN EMERGENCY ARTS

Grab a cup of coffee and check out the independently crafted magazines at the Las Vegas Zine Library inside the Beat Cafe in Emergency Arts, 520 Fremont St.

The library is still small, more of a collection on display for reference and on-site reading than a checkout repository. Contributions of zines are appreciated. For more information, visit lvzinelibrary.blogspot.com.

Teen Writing Club plans meetings

A Teen Writing Club meets at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway. The club schedules meetings every other month. For more information, call 207-4260.