It’s time for another showcase of the newest books in the Orange County Campus collection.
Click through to see novel nonfiction about birds, life stories, education, fast shipping, and meditations on life and fresh contemporary, historical, political thriller, mystery, and fantasy fiction (including two series).
Continue Reading →Dig deep while reading narrow by completing a microhistory for the Read Great Things 2021 Challenge.
The most important question: What the heck is a microhistory?
A microhistory is a narrowly-focused, in-depth examination of a certain subject or individual over time. Some microhistories focus on illuminating the life and impact of a lesser-known group, event, or individual. Others dig deep into a subject or object to trace its historical, social, and/or other (economic, cultural, psychological, medical, etc.) impacts. A microhistory isn’t necessarily a short book– it can dig deep on a narrow topic over many pages.
A HUGE THANK YOU to Courtney Bippley (who loves microhistories) for compiling book lists of lots of things we have available. Click through to see some of the books (ebooks included!) that you can get through Durham Tech and for some reading lists from around the internet of additional options.
Continue Reading →Thanks to everyone who sent me your favorite poem!
This year’s poetry month bookmarks contain some nature poems, some poems about peeking at other people’s houses (consensually), an ode to James Baldwin, and several more.
Click through to download previous years’ and 2021’s Durham Tech Library Poetry Month bookmarks, which include Joy Harjo’s “Ah, Ah,” Danez Smith’s “little prayer,” Kay Ryan’s “Sharks’ Teeth,” Stanley Kunitz’s “Halley’s Comet,” Rita Dove’s “My Mother Enters the Work Force,” Karl Shapiro’s “The Living Rooms of My Neighbors,” an excerpt from Amanda Gorman’s “In This Place (An American Lyric),” Ellen Bass’s “The Thing Is,” Terrance Hayes’s “[Seven of the ten things I love in the face],” and David Whyte’s “Horses Moving on the Snow.”
The file is a pdf, so you can print your own (and color them in, if that’s your thing).
Continue Reading →In addition to almost being Earth Day, it’s time for April’s Crafternoon!
Current students can pick up a spring flower kit that includes a seed packet of flowers, a small bag of potting soil, a ceramic pot, and a set of paints and brush to decorate your pot in one of two places: 1) in the Main Campus Library or 2) at the Food Pantry’s outdoor pickup location (outside of Phillips). Kits are first come, first served.
Send us pictures of your painted planters to library@durhamtech.edu
Crafternoons are a collaboration between the Student Government Association and the Library.
April is National Poetry Month!
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).
Continue Reading →Thanks to grant funding from the Durham Tech Foundation, the Durham Tech Library now has a brand-new Spanish Language Collection!
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).
It’s time for another make-at-home Crafternoon adventure!
The Student Government Association and the Library are giving out tie dye kits to current students, which include three colors (blues, yellows, and reds), gloves, and some rubber bands. You’ll provide your own shirt, bag, pants, scarf, hat, whatever you want to dye (in cotton, polyester, or blended fabric). If you would like one, email us at library@durhamtech.edu and we’ll schedule a time for you to pick it up. You can also drop by the Food Pantry outdoor pickup while they’re open to pick up a kit as well.
Can’t make it to campus to pick up a kit or want to buy your own? We’re using this kit from Michael’s– you can choose from Rainbow, Shark, Mermaid, and Unicorn if you’re buying your own. Or explore the many other options available on the web.
Keep reading for a few tips, tricks, and design ideas from around the web.
Continue Reading →Reader, I confess: I’ve never read Jane Eyre. I had a profoundly bad experience with another Brontë sister in high school that has biased me against the other Brontës. Fair? Nope, but sometimes reading isn’t fair when there are lots of other choices out there.
However, I did recently read Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye about a orphan-turned-governess (with some life experience in between) who keeps coming across the opportunity to murder folks. She picks up a copy of Jane Eyre and is compelled to confess her life story and misdeeds. She’s not arbitrarily murdery, but–shucks–it just keeps happening.
So let’s do this WWR thing–
Title: Jane Steele
Author: Lyndsay Faye
Genre: Historical Fiction (takes place in Victorian England)
Available at the Orange County Campus (PS 3606 .A96 J36 2016)
Read Great Things 2021 Categories: A book that takes place outside the continental United States; A book about family; Choose your own category–A book inspired by another book; A book recommended by Durham Tech Library staff (our favorite category)
Continue Reading →Tune into yourself with books that will help you with your self-care goals through the Read Great Things 2021 Challenge.
Self-care can be about taking care of yourself in many ways: emotionally, spiritually, creatively, physically, or mentally.
Keep reading for some suggestions based on what your own self-care goals might look like, including some suggestions contributed by your Durham Tech community.
Continue Reading →March 1-5, 2021 is Open Education Week!
North Carolina, like many states, is moving towards making Open Educational Resources a valid alternative to traditional publisher-controlled teaching resources.
Today’s blog post will acquaint you with some of the things NC has been doing with OER and hopefully get you thinking about how you might use them to customize your course content (and make life simpler for students!).
Check it out!
Continue Reading →