November is National Diabetes Awareness Month

Statistics from the Diabetes Institute Foundation reveal that 30.3 million people, or 9.4% of the U.S. population, have diabetes.  This disease impacts all social, economic, and ethnic backgrounds.  November is Diabetes Awareness Month and World Diabetes Day is celebrated globally on November 14 to raise awareness about both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.  This year’s focus is on the link between diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  Adults with diabetes are nearly twice as likely to die from heart disease or stroke as those without diabetes. This is because over time, high blood glucose from diabetes can damage the blood vessels and the nerves that control the heart. Developing or maintaining healthy lifestyle habits, such as developing a better diet, becoming more physically active, and learning ways to manage stress, can help prevent or better manage diabetes. For more information about diabetes and its prevention and treatment, please go to https://www.diabetes.org/diabetes or https://www.diabetesresearch.org/diabetes-statistics. 

Come and see a display of the library's many resources on diabetes at the Al Harris Library!  You can check out a book and learn more about this disease that affects so many Americans.   

National Book Awards 2019

Sponsored by the National Book Foundation, the National Book Award winners are selected in five categories:  Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People's Literature.  This annual award began in 1950 when a consortium of book publishing groups sponsored the 1st annual National Book Awards Ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.  The goal was to enhance the public's awareness of exceptional books written by fellow Americans and to increase the popularity of reading in general. 

On October 8, 2019, the National Book Award finalists for each category were announced, and the winners will be announced on November 20.  If you would like to find out more about the National Book Awards or if you want to watch the awards ceremony live on November 20th, please go to http://www.nationalbook.org. 

Come and check out the National Book Award Finalists display at the Al Harris Library and see if you can predict the winners!  The display will be updated with winner information when it becomes available. 

Network maintenance on Thursday and Friday of Fall Break '19

The library's website and online databases may be unavailable on Thursday, Oct. 17th and Friday, Oct. 18th. From SWOSU ITS Director Karen Klein: 

This Thursday and Friday, while the campus is closed for Fall Break, ITS will be performing maintenance to our network system. Work will be performed over the two-day period throughout both days. There will be service disruptions which will affect email, PX, Colleague UI, Self Service, phones, web site -- including Single Sign On and access to any applications there -- as well as any other services where network connectivity is required. While we will try to minimize the disruption, there will be outages so please be aware if you try to access any of these systems, you may experience service disruptions or no connectivity at all.

Thank you, and have a wonderful Fall Break!

Karen Klein
Director, Information Technology Services

Honey Bees

Honey bees and beekeeping have sparked considerable interest for years, but have recently gained renewed popularity among those individuals who want to have beehives in their backyards.  People take up beekeeping as a hobby for a variety of reasons, such as the pleasure of harvesting and eating the honey, an increased interest in eating foods high in antioxidants, a fascination with the social characteristics of bees, and as a means of adding to their income with profits from honey sales. 

Honey bees help plants grow by serving as important pollinators for flowers, fruits and vegetables. Bees transfer pollen between the male and female parts, allowing plants to grow seeds and fruit.  In the wild, bees build their own hives, usually in a hollow tree trunk or another sheltered place.   However, a backyard beekeeper will need to provide a beehive and do some work to maintain the bee colony and easily harvest the honey.

To learn more about bees, pollen, and beekeeping, come to the Al Harris Library and check out some of the books that we now have on display until the end of October.