Do you ever get down after reading the news?

 
Ever feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the climate crisis? 

Ever feel alone in worrying about the future?

Do you feel left out of conversations around sustainability and eco-consciousness? 

Join our reading circle!

In the spring 2022 semester, the Durham Tech Library will be hosting a reading circle for the book All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, an anthology edited by Dr. Ayana Johnson and Dr. Katherine Wilkinson about truth, courage, and climate solutions. The book tackles history, society, community, technology, intersectional feminism, climate change, climate solutions, and more. 

What is a reading circle?

It’s like a book club, but just for this book. We will be following guidance from the All We Can Save Project, a nonprofit working to build a feminist climate resistance. 

How long will it take?

10 weeks, with a meeting once a week. We will read essays and poems before each meeting and discuss them. The selections build on each other, so we highly suggest making it to at least 8-10 meetings. 

When does it start?

It will start at the end of January and run through March.

Why are you doing a reading circle for this book?

Because I think it’s an amazing book that can foster community, increase knowledge, and renew hope. Read more of my thoughts about the book on the Durham Tech Library Blog.

Does the Durham Tech Library have copies of the book?

Yes! We have print copies and an audiobook available. If we run out of copies, we can get more through interlibrary loan.

Who can participate?

Anyone! This is not limited to Durham Tech employees only. Students, family members, and members of the public are also invited. All ethnicities, gender identities, and ages are encouraged to attend. 

I’m interested! What next?

Fill out this interest form for more communication about the All We Can Save Circle. 

If you have any other questions or concerns, please reach out to me at bippleyc@durhamtech.edu. I hope to hear from you soon!

Join us on February 23rd at 2 PM in the Verizon room for a lively discussion about the book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly.

Book description from GoodReads:

Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts into space.

Among these problem solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Originally relegated to teaching math in the South’s segregated public schools, they were called into service during the labor shortages of World War II, when America’s aeronautics industry was in dire need of anyone who had the right stuff. Suddenly these overlooked math whizzes had shots at jobs worthy of their skills, and they answered Uncle Sam’s call, moving to Hampton, Virginia, and the fascinating, high-energy world of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory.

Even as Virginia’s Jim Crow laws required them to be segregated from their white counterparts, the women of Langley’s all-black West Computing group helped America achieve one of the things it desired most: a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War and complete domination of the heavens.

Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the civil rights movement, and the space race, Hidden Figures follows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, four African American women who participated in some of NASA’s greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades as they faced challenges, forged alliances, and used their intellects to change their own lives – and their country’s future.

The film based on this book has been nominated for three Academy Awards. Whether you’ve read the book or seen the movie, come discuss the good, the bad, and the award worthy aspects with the Durham Tech Library Book Club!

Hello, Durham Tech!

It’s time for the next Durham Tech Library Book Club pick! Make sure to stop by our libguide for information and a book club interest form!

The Library Book Club will be meeting on Thursday, December 1st, at 1 PM. The meeting will be held in the Schwartz room in the Educational Resources Center (Building 5).

This time we will be discussing Ms. Marvel, Volume One: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona. The first volume in a ground-breaking series that won the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics.

Kamala Khan is an ordinary girl from Jersey City — until she’s suddenly empowered with extraordinary gifts. But who truly is the new Ms. Marvel? Teenager? Muslim? Inhuman? Find out as she takes the Marvel Universe by storm! When Kamala discovers the dangers of her newfound powers, she unlocks a secret behind them, as well. Is Kamala ready to wield these immense new gifts? Or will the weight of the legacy before her be too much to bear? Kamala has no idea, either. But she’s comin’ for you, New York!

We have extra copies at the library circulation desk so come check it out!

The Durham Tech Library Book Club is having its first meeting for Fall 2016! It will be held in the Schwartz Room right outside the Main Campus Library at 1pm. Check out our libguide for more information.

We will be reading:

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over brainstorming in teams. Although they are often labeled “quiet,” it is to introverts that we owe many of the great contributions to society–from van Gogh’s sunflowers to the invention of the personal computer.

Passionately argued, impressively researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so. Taking the reader on a journey from Dale Carnegie’s birthplace to Harvard Business School, from a Tony Robbins seminar to an evangelical megachurch, Susan Cain charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal in the twentieth century and explores its far-reaching effects. She talks to Asian-American students who feel alienated from the brash, backslapping atmosphere of American schools. She questions the dominant values of American business culture, where forced collaboration can stand in the way of innovation, and where the leadership potential of introverts is often overlooked. And she draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to reveal the surprising differences between extroverts and introverts.

Perhaps most inspiring, she introduces us to successful introverts–from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Finally, she offers invaluable advice on everything from how to better negotiate differences in introvert-extrovert relationships to how to empower an introverted child to when it makes sense to be a “pretend extrovert.”

This extraordinary book has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how introverts see themselves.

Pick up a copy at the library, or find one on your own, and join us for discussion. Introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts are all welcome to attend!

Thinking about coming to the book club? There’s still time!

The Durham Tech Library Book Club meets on February 4th at 1:00 pm. The meeting will be held in the Schwartz Room in Building 5.

We’re reading Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and you can check out a copy from our library, or get your own copy elsewhere. Can’t finish the book in time? Come anyway! The more the merrier.

Not into non-fiction? Help us choose what fiction book to read next by voting in our online poll here. We have three great choices, let us know which one you want to read!