Collins Unbound

This week’s blog post about Black History Month highlights collections of images in the ARTstor Digital Library. Some of the excellent resources on the African American experience are documented by photographs, paintings, illustrations, cultural objects, sculpture, and prints from museums, archives, and private collections.

To commemorate the 1963 March on Washington, I have compiled a collection of 34 photographs from ARTstor. The powerful images show the faces of demonstrators who gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, and demanded civil rights and economic equality for African Americans. You can also get a sense of the size of the crowds which numbered some 250,000, one of the largest demonstrations in Washington, DC.

In addition, Wallace Weston has created a folder of 52 images by prominent African American artists. Among the works, you’ll find a painting by Jacob Lawrence, mixed media by Betye Saar, and a photograph by Gordon Parks.

–Lori Ricigliano, African American Studies Liaison Librarian

This recent blog post on Salon.com, “Bring back shushing librarians,” pleads to bring back shushing librarians. Ah — what a concept! The grim-faced, dour librarian controlling and patrolling the learning environment for the sake of peace and quiet. The librarian who is unapproachable and generates a feeling that only the silent are welcome here. We have read the Pew Report as well and we understand.

Modern life is complicated; libraries and cultural organizations, particularly in the public realm, are struggling with ways to reach diverse populations. We think libraries can do both. The best in library design offers a combination of active, engaging and creative spaces — spaces that do promote social interaction where discussion (noise?) becomes part of the communication experience. These libraries may indeed prove to be training grounds for the real world, where most employers want individuals who can communicate, work in groups, and think creatively. But most libraries still have havens of refuge, contemplation and reflection, and it is important to offer both types of spaces.

Today’s librarians are more than just the gatekeepers of sacred books. Please, lose the shushing stereotype — and recognize the importance of reaching out to diverse users. We can be respective of private contemplative spaces and welcoming at the same time.

What is noise to your ears, just might be music to ours.

Check out this article from USA TODAY about a website helping readers find and buy books they like!

Website for readers launches Tuesday

Carter G. Woodson

February is Black History Month. This annual tradition celebrates the history and achievements of African Americans. It began in 1926 when Dr. Carter Woodson, noted educator and scholar, established Negro History Week. He wrote, “If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.” In addition to educating the general public, Woodson believed that “Just as a thorough education in the belief in inequality of races has brought the world to the cat-and-dog stage of religious and racial strife, so may thorough instruction in the equality of races bring about a reign of brotherhood through an appreciation of the virtues of all races, creed and colors.”   Woodson chose the month of February for the celebration because it marks the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery, and Frederick Douglass, the noted African American abolitionist. In 1976, Black History Week became Black History Month. This year’s theme commemorates the 150^th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln and the 50^th anniversary of the March on Washington when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Check out the featured resources listed in the library’s African American Studies subject guide for background information about Black History Month, the Emancipation Proclamation, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the March on Washington.

Sources:

Aguiar, Marian. “Black History Month.” Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Second Edition. Ed. Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates Jr.. New York: Oxford UP, 2008. Oxford African American Studies Center.

“Black History Month.” Encyclopedia of African American Society. Ed. Gerald D. Jaynes. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2005. 118-19. SAGE knowledge. Web.

Pencak, William. “Negro History Week/Month.” In Encyclopedia of African American History 1896 to the Present, Oxford University Press. (, n.d.).

– By Lori Ricigliano, African American Studies Liaison Librarian

Read about our Literary Cats in Collins Library!

This week’s “Feline Fridays” series presents a change of pace: Distorting the Law: Politics, Media, and the Litigation Crisis  (Call No.: KF380 .H35 2004), doesn’t actually feature a cat.  But author Bill Haltom indicates that his cat, Mr. Χάρυβδις (or Mr. Charybdis), provided occasional assistance during the research of the book.

This Tacoma author visited Collins library 4 years ago! His book, once banned, is now a movie with a fall release planned! Read more.