Well today is my birthday! Happy Birthday to me, and all the other July birthdays out there. I do tend to claim the entire month of July as my time to celebrate. I know my birthstone, birth flower, Zodiac sign, and Chinese Zodiac sign—Ruby, Larkspur, or Water Lily, Cancer the Crab, and Fire Horse respectfully. I've looked up celebrity birthdays that share the day (Gustav Klimt, Former President Gerald Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge), and many other myriad things connected to it (Bastille Day). What I never expected was planning a Zoom birthday party last year, and what to do as a follow-up post-COVID today.
What's a librarian to do? Research of course!
Would you be surprised to know we have literally thousands upon thousands of books about birthdays? In addition to books with a birthday theme, we have cake making, horoscope, zodiac, and natal birthday books. You can download or stream birthday songs galore on Freegal and hoopla, or make a playlist of favorites to spin. I dug deeper and found classes you can take in party planning, card making, cake decorating, guitar (or ukelele) lessons, (for singing the Happy Birthday Song), also books about the history of said Happy Birthday Song, and birthday traditions around the world, as if your day wasn't already special enough!
Now for what to do and where to go now that restrictions have eased? Well, the library can help there too. Our Explore L.A. program is back up and running. You can make reservations up to three months in advance, and we anticipate adding passes to even more attractions over the next few months, so stay tuned!
Planning a trip? We gotcha there too. Research your next great adventure even if it's just a walking tour of Downtown Los Angeles or the beach. There are databases of Maps and Travel to get lost in as well.
There's also plenty to do even if you are not ready to fully venture out. Our Summer Reading Challenge is in full swing, and there's still time to get into the L.A. BioBlitz Challenge. To search our calendar for specific days of online events, go to our Calendar of Events page, and explore your options day by day. You'll find lots of things to do without leaving your room, and a few things you can view online or in-person such as the fantastic Life on a String: The Yale Puppeteers and the Turnabout Theatre exhibit.
Below is a list of my favorite birthday-themed books and music. Enjoy, and Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Recommendations
