Gaiman, Neil. 2001. American Gods: A Novel. New York: W. Morrow.
Brought to you by the twisted imagination of Neil Gaiman, this tale draws from old world mythology and pits it against new gods in a modern world, all taking place on a road trip through the American Midwest. It’s delightful, if only a little bloodthirsty.
-Library staff
October is Archives Month and the Archives & Special Collections are celebrating!
We continue our Behind the Archives Door series with talks on October 1st and 15th by Amy Fisher, Professor of Science, Technology and Society who will discuss our 18th century rare books on electricity and Beau Beausoleil, curator and poet of The Al-Mutanabbi Book Arts Exhibit. All talks begin at 4:00 p.m. outside of the Archives & Special Collections on the second floor of the Collins Library.
On October 25th from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. the Archives & Special Collections will hold an Open House, feel free to stop by and browse the collections! At the end of the Open House we will formally “seal” our 125th Anniversary time capsule!
Finally, we have a small exhibit featuring material from the Doug Edwards papers on display near the circulation desk (check back Thursday for more details)! This exhibit was curated by student archivists Maya Steinborn ’14 and Morgan Ford ’17.
So many people have expressed interest in the You’ll Like Tacoma poster so we wanted to provide a bit more information!
The Tacoma Public Library has a postcard of the iconic image in their collection and you can find it online at:
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/postcard/postcardfull.asp?db=1426
The Washington State Historical Society has a copy negative from what looks to be another copy of the same postcard: http://collections.washingtonhistory.org/details.aspx?id=111866
We have checked with the Public Library and none has found who owns the original photo or negative.
This Tacoma promotion was seen on the lake shore at the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition (AYPE) in Seattle. This fair took place from June to October, 1909 at the site of the present-day University of Washington campus. It featured the commerce and culture of the Pacific Northwest, Alaska/Yukon, and the Pacific Rim regions, and was meant to be both edifying and entertaining.
In November of 2012, Jessica Spring, designed and printed the modern rendition of the You’ll Like Tacoma poster in her studio on Yakima Avenue.
The sculpture in the Study Commons is this year’s Library Art Award winner!
On September 27, 1963 President John F. Kennedy visited Tacoma and gave a speech on education and conservation at a joint convocation held by Presidents R. Franklin Thompson of the University of Puget Sound and Robert Nortvedt of Pacific Lutheran University. Speaking to a crowd of 20,000 that included students, faculty, and politicians, President Kennedy stated, “Those of you now in school must prepare for leadership. You must make sure the United States maintains its responsibilities. We all want to see this country continue to grow.”
Among those at the event was The Trail’s editor, who went on to become mayor of 
Tacoma, Bill Baarsma. Our Summer Research Fellow interviewed Bill this summer about President Kennedy’s visit and the recording is in the Archives & Special Collections.
To see more of President Kennedy’s visit to Tacoma, visit:
The Trail’s coverage of Kennedy in Tacoma
Photographs of Kennedy in A Sound Past
Kennedy’s speech from the JFK Presidential Library and Museum
Press copy of Kennedy’s speech from the JFK Presidential Library and Museum
A story from The News Tribune: The day President Kennedy came to Tacoma
Pacific Lutheran University’s Guide to President Kennedy’s visit
Amongst our rare book collection is a translated book of short poems written by poet, mathematician, and astronomer Umar Khaiyám in the eleventh century. The poems (four-liners called rubáiyát or quatrains) are very mystical, a quality attributed to Khaiyám’s roots in Sufism, a mystical and somewhat transcendentalist sect of Islam. Sixteen richly colored illustrations in the book depict daily rituals and life in Persia. Alongside the English translation of each poem is a French translation, making this book an interesting read for students studying foreign languages or poetry in the Creative Writing program.
Here are a few examples of the style and content of Khaiyám’s poems:
(60)
Every Heart illuminated by the Light of Love, frequenteth the
Shrine of its Illuminator. He, whose Name is written in
Love’s Book, is free from Hope of Heaven, and from Fear of
Hell.
–
Chaque coeur que (Dieu) a éclairé de la lumière de l’affection,
que ce coeur fréquente la mosque ou la synagogue, s’il a
inscrit son nom dans le livre de l’amour il est affranchi et des
soucis de l’enfer et de l’attente du paradis.
(103)
Tell me, o Lover o’ me, what of worldly Riches have I been
able to acquire? None. What of Time past away is left to
me? None. I am Joy’s Torch; but, when its Light is
quenched, I am no more the Torch of Joy. I am Jam’s Cup;
but, being broke, I am no more the Cup of Jam.
–
Dis, ami, qu’ai-je pu acquérir des richesses de ce monde?
Rien. Que m’a laissé dans la main le temps qui s’est écoulé?
Rien. Je suis le flambeau de la joie; mais une fois ce flambeau
éteint, je ne suis plus rien. Je suis la coupe de Djèm, mais
cette coupe une fois brisée, je ne suis plus rien.
To seek out your own interesting archival finds, visit us on Wednesdays from
1:00 – 7:00 p.m. or Thursdays from 9:00 – 11:30 a.m.
By Maya Steinborn
Looking for digital tools to enhance your research efforts? Bamboo DiRT is a digital humanities initiative that helps you match your needs to specific tools. From creating a mashup to organizing your research, from visualizing data to analyzing texts, Bamboo DiRT will find you the online tools that you need!
– Contributed by Peggy Burge, Humanities Librarian
PHOTOS: 11 Infamous Book Burnings In History
Eighty years ago today, 40,000 people gathered in the Opernplatz in Berlin to witness one of the most famous book burnings in history. Books by authors including Heinrich Mann, Bertolt Brecht and Karl Marx, as well as Ernest Hemingway, Jack London and Thomas Mann were burnt at a Nazi gathering on May 10th 1933 attended by Joseph Goebbels, according to the website of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. The burning was a coordinated action by the Nazi German Student Association’s Main Office for Press and Propaganda, which they called a “cleansing” (Säuberung). Students marched in torchlit parades through university towns before burning “upwards of 25,000 books” throughout Germany. That night came to symbolize the vile nature of the Nazi regime. In 1995, an underground memorial featuring empty bookshelves visible from above was installed in the square in Berlin where it took place. Rebecca Knuth, author of Burning Books and Leveling Libraries: Extremist Violence and Cultural Destruction, told CBC News in 2010 that book burnings “are highly symbolic. When you destroy a book you are destroying your enemy and your enemy’s beliefs.” That night in Berlin was just one event of a timeline of significant book burnings in history.
Maybe you’ve seen it, but who doesn’t want to see it again and again! The “Star Wars Trilogy” is here at Collins! Enjoy a Friday movie night with the Dark side.
Nineteen years after Anakin Skywalker is seduced by the dark side and transforms into the evil Darth Vader, his son Luke Skywalker is thrust into the struggle against the evil Empire. Follow as Luke and twin sister Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Yoda and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, lead the Rebellion to bring balance back to the force.
