Art Projects from Recycled Books

The idea of recycling or changing materials that are no longer used into new and more useful projects has gained in popularity in recent years. Although books are made up mostly of paper which can be recycled, it is often difficult to get recycling companies to take them because of the adhesives that are used for binding. This Fall semester the students in Dr. Joana Hyatt’s Art Foundations II class worked on this problem by using their creativity to design and make art projects out of worn and discarded books. They came up with some very original and creative projects that are now on display in the glass case at the entrance of the Al Harris Library.

Come visit the Library and see the variety of projects that are on display! Maybe you will get ideas for creating your own art projects from old books. Also, if you search the web, you will find images of many types of projects created from books.

Check Out the Audiobooks

When you are traveling over the holidays, there's nothing better than having the opportunity to enjoy listening to an audiobook. The Al Harris Library owns an extensive collection of audiobooks, and they are available for you to check out. Take a look at the collection of classics located in the small glass case that is southeast of the building's entrance. Any of these books can be checked out by asking for assistance at the Circulation Desk. Many more audiobooks are located on the shelves near the coffee machine at the south end of the library.

Check out something from the collection today and listen to an entertaining and informative book. This is a good way to take a break from your studies as the semester is reaching conclusion or as a great escape before the a new semester begins.

Film Franchises

The Al Harris Library is home to a diverse collection of television series and films. For the months of November and December, we have chosen to feature examples of famous film franchises.

Film franchises can represent well-crafted examples of escapist entertainment, or provide a well told narrative that is expanded and enriched with each additional installment. The best film franchises have been able to achieve both of these distinctions.

Films selected for this display are varied and encompass a wide range of genres including: Drama, Space Opera, Fantasy, and Cliffhanger Serials. These films have helped shape the cultural landscape of cinema and continue to be viewed for their unique contribution to film studies and film audiences.

Film Franchises represented in this display include:

• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
• The Godfather Trilogy
• The Star Wars Trilogies
• The Indiana Jones Trilogy
• The Harry Potter Saga
• The Rocky Collection

The President Is Shot

On November 21, 1963, President John Kennedy flew to Texas to give several political speeches. The next day, as his car drove slowly past cheering crowds in Dallas, shots rang out. Kennedy was seriously wounded and died a short time later. Within a few hours of the shooting, police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald and charged him with the murder. On November 24, another man, Jack Ruby, shot and killed Oswald, thus silencing the only person who could have offered more information about this tragic event. The Warren Commission was organized to investigate the assassination and to clarify the many questions which remained.

President Kennedy's death caused enormous sadness and grief among all Americans. Most people still remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Washington for the President's funeral, and millions throughout the world watched it on television.

As the years have gone by and other presidents have written their chapters in history, John Kennedy's brief time in office stands out in people's memories for his leadership, personality, and accomplishments.

Take a look at the books on the Kennedy display in the Al Harris Library and select something to read about the life and experiences of the president who was killed 50 years ago. Another excellent source of information about the man is the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.

National Book Awards Finalists for 2013

The National Book Award began in 1950 when a consortium of book publishing groups sponsored the 1st annual National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner 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. The event has now become the most important event on the literary calendar.

Today the National Book Awards are sponsored by the National Book Foundation and continue to recognize the best of both established and emerging writers. They recognize achievements in four genres: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature. The winners, selected by five-member, indpendent judging panels for each genre, receive a $10,000 cash award and a crystal sculpture.

The National Book Award Finalists are announced in October and the National Book Award Winners are announced in November. For more information on the National Book Awards, go to http://www.nationalbook.org.

Come check out the National Book Award Finalists display at the Al Harris Library! When the 2013 winners are announced on November 20, the display will be updated with winner information.

Emily Dickinson Archive

An open-access website for the Manuscripts of Emily Dickinson has just been made available for use by Houghton Library at Harvard University.
     The archive makes high-resolution images of Dickinson's surviving manuscripts available in open access, and provides readers with a website through which they can view images of manuscripts held in multiple libraries and archives.
     Only a handful of Dickinson's poems appeared in print during her lifetime and none under her own name; those few poems were sent to publishers by friends, and she did not have an opportunity to review them before they were printed. At her death in 1886 Dickinson left behind a wealth of writings that had never been printed: hundreds of manuscript poems in her personal effects, and hundreds more poems and letters sent to her correspondents.
     Dickinson’s manuscript page is the focus of Emily Dickinson Archive. A search of the full text or first line from a poem produces images of all the manuscript versions of the poem.

 
     This archive is an amazing resource that provides for scholars an opportunity to closely study the work of this great American poet.

Celebrating Our Freedom to Read

Many libraries, including the Al Harris Library, will be celebrating Banned Books Week and the freedom to read during the week of September 22-28. Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.  For more information on banned and challenged books, go to the American Library Association's web page on Banned and Challenged Books. 

Come to the Al Harris Library and see our display of just some of the hundreds of books that are banned or challenged in the United States each year.  Let's  celebrate our freedom to read!