By Alaina Denean Deshazo | The Selma Times-Journal

Lunch at the Library is back at the Selma and Dallas County Public Library, this time celebrating Alabama’s bicentennial set to take place in 2017.

The first lunch, to be held Thursday, Nov. 3 at noon, will feature author Dr. Edwin C. Bridges and his book, “Alabama: The Making of An American State.”

“Dr. Bridges is making one of his debuts here with his brand new book. I think this is going to be not only informative but extremely readable history of our great state,” said Becky Nichols, library director. “It is full of some amazing photography and archeology information that I think is going to make Alabama history come to life for those that maybe are not even history buffs. We’re very excited.”

Nichols said the library is already celebrating the milestone for the state, and they plan to continue the celebration into next year with more authors that have written about the history of Alabama.

“We are excited because this is the official history of Alabama as we approach our 2017 bicentennial celebration,” Nichols said. “We’re just excited to have somebody as interesting and well informed about Alabama as Dr. Bridges.”

Lunch at the library has been going on for nearly 23 years, offering people in the community a chance to get together and meet others, while also meeting authors and learning about a variety new books.

“Lunch at the Library is great fellowship and great fun for a lot of people. We bring together many different people from many different walks of life that are interested in a certain topic such as history,” Nichols said. “The fun is just the opportunity to come together, hear about good books and be able to talk to authors about their book.”

In February 2017, the library will host Thom Gossom Jr., author of “Walk On: A Memoir My Reluctant Journey to Integration at Auburn University and A Slice of Life: Life Stories.”

In March 2017, local historian Alston Fitts will speak about his book, “History of Selma and Dallas County” to continue the bicentennial celebration.

Thursday’s Lunch at The Library will be at Noon and tickets are $8.

Tickets include a lunch and autograph session with the author. Books will be available for purchase.

For more questions or to register, call the library at 874-1725.