Spring 2021 Library Services: Online, In-Person, & In-Between [Updated Fri., April 9]

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Your Durham Tech librarians are here for you, virtually and in-person at the Main Campus and Orange County Campus Libraries.

A very important reminder: If you’re coming anywhere on any of the Durham Tech campuses, you need to wear an effective face covering over both your nose and mouth the entire time you’re on campus. Masks are available at the Library desk and other locations on campus for those who need them. 

Durham Tech Library Spring 2021 Schedule for April 12-16. Virtual library services are available from 8:30-5:00 Monday through Friday, but if chat is offline, please contact the Library via phone or email. The Main Campus Library plans to be open Monday through Thursday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. The Orange County Campus Library plans to be open Monday from 11:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Virtual services are available on Friday from 8:30 to 5:00. Appointments are preferred for both campuses. To make an appointment, email the general library email account (library@durhamtech.edu) or call 919-536-7211 extension 1631. Before coming to campus, everyone should complete the Durham Tech Daily Check-In form to get the current code word. Face coverings over the nose and mouth are required the entire time you are on campus. Expect to show a photo ID and have your temperature taken at the Library check in desk. Hours may change during the week as required for the College's COVID response plan. Please check the library homepage or call the library before coming to campus. Updates will be posted and sent out to the college community. Library chat (ChatStaff) is staffed by Durham Tech Librarians Monday through Friday during business hours. Library staff are available through email as well. Students, faculty, and staff may request appointments at the Northern Durham Center, Orange County Campus, and Main Campus at alternate times through the library email account (library@durhamtech.edu). We will try our best to work with you.

We want to encourage you to stay online if you are able. The Center for Academic Excellence has awesome tutoring available for technology help and you can always chat with or email your librarians. Need a computer, Chromebook, or internet at home? Check out the Computer and Internet Assistance page to get started requesting help. 

If you feel sick, have been tested for COVID and are waiting for the results, or have been exposed to COVID, please stay home. Give us a call (919-536-7211, extension 1631) or send us an email (library@durhamtech.edu) to see how we can help you remotely. 

Welcome to the Durham Tech Library.

If you do need to come to campus when we are open, you will be required to complete the Durham Tech Daily Check-In form to get the daily code word. When you arrive in the library, you will be required to check in at the library desk with a photo ID (student ID preferred) for contact tracing and you will give the daily code word and have your temperature checked. Quick trips are encouraged.

We are currently operating at a 25 person maximum capacity, and our downstairs areas are closed (study areas, downstairs computer lab, and book stacks). If the Library is at maximum capacity, you’ll be asked to wait outside until someone leaves. When health conditions improve, the maximum occupancy will increase. 

Well, what can you do and what can we help you with through virtual and in-person library services? 

Read more ABOUT LIBRARY SERVICES

Waterfalls and Wildflowers

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 Are you planning a trip to see some waterfalls? Want to find some wildflowers nearby those waterfalls? The library can help!

We have several guidebooks to waterfall hikes in North Carolina and the surrounding areas. You read that right, these guidebooks are to WATERFALL hikes. Not boring hikes where you just look at trees, or mountains, or gorges. Waterfalls are where it’s at.*

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April is Poetry Month!

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April is National Poetry Month!

National Poetry Month, April 2021. Celebrating 25 years. The 2021 poster was designed by twelfth grader Bao Lu from Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, New York, who was the winner of the 2021 National Poetry Month Poster Contest, and features lines by U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. "There is nowhere else I want to be but here. I lean into the rhythm of your heart to see where it will take us." Image is an impressionistic painting of a young man floating (or falling) over the telephone lines of a three or four lane road with houses lining the sides. A red-orange-pink ball hovers below his left foot. A yellow hand on a crossing sign is illuminated. The colors are vibrant on a wash of black, white, gray, and tans that make up the scene.

Last year, we did a blackout poetry Crafternoon, and this year we’d like to ask you:

Who is your favorite poet?

What’s your favorite poem?

Let me (Meredith Lewis) know by 5:00 this Friday, April 16 either via email (lewisma@durhamtech.edu) or Teams chat for a chance to have you favorite poem made into this year’s Durham Tech Library Poetry Month bookmarks.

(I’m going to tell you a secret: If you send me a poem or poet that you’d just think would make a good bookmark, I won’t hold it against you and no one is fact-checking what “favorite” means in this context. A short to mid-length poem with vivid imagery is ideal.)

Click through to see previous Durham Tech Library Poetry Month bookmarks and print your own (which are designed to be colored in if you so desire). 

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New Spanish Language Collection available in the Durham Tech Libraries

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Thanks to grant funding from the Durham Tech Foundation, the Durham Tech Library now has a brand-new Spanish Language Collection!

Close up of some book spines with the new ESPAÑOL (Spanish) stickers on them

Containing nearly 300 titles in print (100 of them brand new!) at the Main Campus Library and over 300 new ebooks/audiobooks available via the Dogwood Digital Library, the Spanish Language Collection is now available to all Durham Tech students, staff, and faculty. 

This collection is a complement to our Spanish language courses (SPA) at Durham Tech and provides a variety of reading material by some of the Spanish-speaking world’s most celebrated authors and some books in translation, including collections of short stories, poetry, and children’s books. 

There’s something here for everyone! Keep reading for more information about our print titles, our digital titles, and our new and updated Library Resource Guides (LibGuides). 

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Out Loud in the Library with Tayari Jones

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The final Library Fest Podcast is out now! 

Out Loud in the Library: Durham Tech Library Podcast

I was honored to interview three amazing, influential, and accomplished people for Out Loud in the Library and Library Fest– Gordon C. James, Volkan Alkanoglu, and Tayari Jones. You can find the first two interviews at the links below. 

I Am Every Good Thing

Gordon C. James interview with Out Loud in the Library.

Purple sculpture from above.

Volkan Alkanoglu interview with Out Loud in the Library.

However, this blog post is to highlight the interview I did with Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage, Silver Sparrow, Leaving Atlanta, and more. I highly recommend reading at least one (or all!) of her books. She’s a great writer who approaches stories with a real grounding in character.

  • Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
  • Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
  • An American Marriage by Tayari Jones book cover

Listen below as we discuss research, typewriters, happy mail, and what it was like to discover her book being read in the wild. 

Make sure you sign up for the Morning Call with Tayari Jones at the Library Fest website. And, check what else is going on as well. Chances are you’ll find something interesting!

Happy National Library Workers Day!

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It’s still National Library Week! 

Today is National Library Workers Day, a day for library staff, users, and administrators to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers. 

Here’s your current Durham Tech Library team, including Julie, Brian, Tracey, Courtney, Charles, Rachel, Susan, Stephen, Najib, Lorell, and Meredith. 

Don’t forget to enter our National Library Week “Why I Love My Durham Tech Library” Drawing to win some sweet library prizes! Fill out our form by 5:00 on Wednesday, April 7 letting us know why you love your Durham Tech Library or Durham Tech Library staff.  

What We’re Reading: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet

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Check out Durham Library Fest’s Lunch Meetup with Brit Bennett on Tuesday, April 6 from 1:00 to 2:00. 

Keep reading for a What We’re Reading review of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and check it out from the Durham Tech Library either online as an audiobook through Dogwood Digital Library or on Main Campus).

This book was read by Julie Humphrey, Durham Tech Library Director. 

Title: The Vanishing Half

Author: Brit Bennett

Genre: Literary fiction; historical fiction; generational fiction

Read Great Things 2021 Categories: A book about family; A book recommended by Durham Tech Library staff (our favorite category)

Twin African American sisters in the 1960’s run away from their small Southern town as teenagers in order to start new lives. A few years later, one returns to their hometown while the other pursues a life passing as a white woman. This character-driven and compelling novel spans generations with the twins and their daughters telling a deeply complex story of identity, race, gender, tragedy, abuse, loneliness, and motherhood.

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A Drawing! And Happy National Library Week!

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Enter our National Library Week “Why I Love My Durham Tech Library” Drawing to win some sweet library prizes! Fill out our form by 5:00 on Wednesday, April 7 letting us know why you love your Durham Tech Library (or if you just like us– honestly, we know love is a strong feeling). 

white ceramic coffee mug with tan cork bottom and white plastic lid, navy blue face mask with black elastic ties, and a bookmark peeking out, all with Read Great Things logos on them

Four faculty/staff and four students each will be eligible to be entered in a drawing to win a cork-bottom coffee mug (complete with lid!) and a mask from our previous Read Great Things Challenge prizes. 

You’re also welcome to let us know how the library has helped you or why you love your Durham Tech Library without entering in the drawing.

Alumni and community friends are welcome to enter, too, but priority for prizes goes to our current students, faculty, and staff. Winners will be contacted on Monday, April 12. Everyone who fills out the form is eligible to get a bookmark. 

Out Loud in the Library: Durham Tech Library Podcast

In addition to National Library Week, it’s also Durham County Public Library’s Library Fest. Our library podcaster Courtney Bippley has interviews with several of their featured presenters, including one that dropped on Saturday with artist Volkan Alkanoglu.

April 4-10, 2021 is National Library Week– an opportunity to celebrate our nation’s libraries, library workers’ contributions and promote library use and support.

Welcome to your Library! National Library Week, April 4-10, 2021

National Library Week launches with a special report from the American Library Association (ALA): “The State of America’s Libraries Report: Special Edition”

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Out Loud in the Library with Gordon C. James

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Have you heard about Library Fest yet? It’s next week! And as a partner of Library Fest, the Durham Tech Library was able to talk to three of the special guests that will be at Library Fest. 

Out Loud in the Library Logo, Library Fest Logo, and pictures of upcoming podcast guests.

Today’s interview is with Gordon C. James, artist and illustrator. He’s illustrated multiple award-winning books, including I Am Every Good Thing and Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. 

  • Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut
  • I Am Every Good Thing

Hit play below to listen to our conversation! 

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