August @ Nashville Public Library
All events are free and open to the public

Society’s Child: An Afternoon with Janis Ian
Inspired by the sight of an interracial couple on a New Jersey bus she was taking to school, “Society’s Child” is the controversial song that catapulted then-fifteen-year-old singer-songwriter Janis Ian into the dynamic 1960s music scene alongside legendary artists including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. By the age of sixteen, Ian was a regular performer on the Greenwich Village folk scene, playing to a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall and nominated for a Grammy — all while living with her parents and younger brother in their Upper West Side apartment. Her 1975 hit, “At Seventeen,” an anthem of teenage angst performed on the first-ever episode of Saturday Night Live, earned five Grammy nominations and two Grammy awards. In her new memoir, Society’s Child: My Autobiography (Tarcher/Penguin), Ian takes readers on a candid musical, spiritual and emotional journey through her life and career, from her many Grammy awards and international performances to unsuccessful, abusive relationships, health crises and financial problems, a nine-year hiatus from the music business to study theater with Stella Adler, and her Grammy-nominated 1992 musical comeback, Breaking Silence. Ian reads and signs her autobiography and her new two-CD set, The Best Of Janis Ian: The Autobiography Songs, August 23 at 2 p.m. at Green Hills Branch Library, 3701 Benham Ave., 862-5863.

Lunchtime Concert Series
Enjoy your lunch and some hot music in the cool, tree-lined courtyard at the downtown library during the Lunchtime Concert Series, July 30-October 8. The popular free weekly outdoor music series features top local and national artists in a variety of musical styles. August performers include soulful Nashville favorite Jonell Mosser ( August 6); romantic Latin ensemble Serenatta ( August 13); Big Band dance ensemble Radio Daze ( August 20); and a cappella gospel by members of Take 6 (August 27). Each Wednesday from 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at Main Library, 615 Church St., 862-5800.

Thought Bubbles Out Loud
Graphic novels have emerged as a respected literary art form with a growing fan base. Hope Larson is one of hottest new voices on the comics scene. Author of the critically acclaimed Salamander Dream and Gray Horses, she received the Ignatz Award for Most Promising New Talent in 2006, and a Special Recognition Eisner Award in 2007. Her new book, Chiggers, was released this past June by Simon & Schuster. Erica Well, a graphic novelist and 20-year veteran of the comics industry, has worked for Milestone Media, Defiant Comics, Broadway Comics and DC Comics. Join Larson, Well and scholar and pop culture writer Dr. Jonathan Lampley, co-author of The Amazing, Colossal Book Of Horror Trivia, for coffee and discussion of this literary and artistic phenomenon. August 9 from 2-3:30 p.m. at Main Library, 615 Church St., 862-5853.

Movies @ Main: Silent Film Trilogy by Rex Harsin
Local filmmaker Rex Harsin, a graduate of the L.A. Film School, channels Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy for his playful modern take on silent film style. Join Harsin for a screening of his 21st century silent film comedies (A Hole in the Bucket, Classified Love, Girl Trouble) and a discussion about the creative process at this special local edition of Movies at Main. August 14 at 6:15 p.m. at Main Library, 615 Church St., 862-5853.

Fresh Produce: Paintings by Anita Woodcock Schmid
Summer is the time for fresh vegetables and fruit at the farmer’s market and the growth and production of new ideas. Gardener and artist Anita Woodcock Schmid uses the rhythms of these pursuits and their convergences to “connect with a deep reservoir of memories” about her Nashville upbringing, producing art with “a full array of positive emotions: delight, awe, gratitude and serenity.” A graduate of University of Tennessee with degrees in Art Education and Psychology and a minor in Fine Arts, Schmid worked as a counselor at Harpeth Hall and the University School of Nashville before returning to art. She has studied with noted local painter Charles Brindley for five years, and attends weekly painting sessions with the Benham Avenue Group. August 1-31 at Green Hills Branch Library, 3701 Benham Ave., 862-5863. Gallery hours: M-Tr 9:30-8, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 2-5. Artist reception: August 12 from 6-7 p.m. at the library.

Vintage Fountain Pens
Jim Holzemer has been collecting and restoring vintage fountain pens for the past 25 years, drawn to their quality workmanship and materials and the pleasure of reclaiming the past. Holzemer’s fountain pen collection dating from the 1920s-1940s will be on display August 1-31 at Green Hills Branch Library, 3701 Benham Ave., 862-5863. Gallery hours: M-Tr 9:30-8, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 2-5.

Prepare to Care: 10 Questions About Caring for Aging Parents No One Thinks to Ask
Caring for aging relatives can be emotionally, physically and financially draining. This seminar, hosted by Suzanne Lanier, president and CEO of Elder Resource Consultants, will help identify and anticipate common areas of elder need and present options. August 13 from 10-11:30 a.m. or August 21 from 6-7:30 p.m. at Green Hills Branch Library, 3701 Benham Ave., 862-5863.

The Ordeal of Dr. Trifulgas
French author Jules Verne, along with H.G. Wells, is known as the "father of science fiction," writing stories featuring space, air and underwater travel—and automobiles, television, skyscrapers and global telecommunications—a century before some of these inventions even existed. Best known for novels 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth, Verne also penned poems, plays and short stories. "The Ordeal of Dr. Trifulgas," adapted by Wishing Chair Productions, is his dark tale of a bitter old doctor who ignores the knock of a desperate patient one stormy night and lives to regret his decision. NOTE: Appropriate for ages 7 and older; running time: 30 minutes. Saturdays, August 23-October 11 at 2:00 p.m. in the Children’s Theater at Main Library, 615 Church St., 862-5800.

Cool and Crafty Lunch Hour: Pop Ups!
Create a new pop-up structure each week while you keep cool and refuel at these drop-in craft workshops for teens and adults. Bring your lunch and we’ll supply the rest! Tuesdays in August (5, 12, 19 & 26) from noon-1 p.m. in the Art Gallery at Main Library, 615 Church St., 862-5800.