Category Archives: Book Lists

Grow Your Career (Or Your Home!) With These New Construction & Trades Books

Posted on by

Durham Tech’s Building, Engineering, and Skilled Trades classes offer a variety of hands-on, skill-building courses that include carpentry, plumbing, HVAC, and more. These classes can result in rewarding and lucrative careers. For example, in May 2021, The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated an electrician’s median wage as $22.75 an hour vs. $18.45 for all occupations. That’s shocking!

Students can get a jump start on a career and education in Construction & Trades using library resources, including new books on updated electrical standards, plumbing, or home renovation. We also offer an online research guide for Construction and Industrial Trades that contains additional resources.

If you are unable to visit or are short on time, you are in luck as we also offer a whole host of videos on various trades. For example, Durham Tech students can access videos on plumbing, carpentry, and electrician work through Films-on-Demand.

Keep reading to see our full selection of new construction and trades books!

Continue Reading →

Local Voting Resources: Early Voting Ends Tomorrow!

Posted on by
Voting Resources

On November 8, North Carolinians will cast their ballots for the 2022 midterm elections. Non-presidential elections often see fewer than half of the total eligible voters cast their ballot during midterm elections, according to North Carolina’s State Board of Elections.

If you are reading this and will be at least age 18 by election day, you can make an impact by being an informed and engaged citizen and casting your ballot in November, or during the early voting period (October 20 – November 5).

Remember, you can still register to vote during the Early Voting period, which includes today (November 4th) and tomorrow! That means if you still haven’t registered to vote, you can still visit your local polling place on Saturday and register.

Register today, but keep reading this post for more books to stay informed, as well as links to local county sample ballots and other voter information.

Continue Reading →

Books for Chills, Thrills, & the Fall Season

Posted on by
Books for chills, thrills, & the fall season. Recommended by Durham Tech Librarians.

Happy Fall Break, everyone! We’re celebrating the season of pumpkin spice and spooky tales with a list of books you can enjoy, preferably with a mug of hot cocoa and a nice blanket.

We know spookiness isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so we’ve included some lighter fare for those who enjoy the cozier side of autumn. Continue reading for seasonal recommendations of graphic novels, audiobooks, and print books.

Psssst…don’t forget, we’ll be painting pumpkins for Crafternoon later this month! Join us on October 25th on the Orange County Campus and the 26th on Main Campus. We provide the pumpkins, and you provide the creativity!

Continue Reading →

Join us for Wearable Art (& Books for Modifying Clothes!)

Posted on by
Wearable art! Plus, books to keep you fashionable after the free craft events this week!

It’s Wearable Art Week for Durham Tech Libraries: We’re hosting two crafternoons on two different campuses for students and staff to make wearable art, either with provided tote bags or with shirts or shoes from home that could use a vibrant paint brush or two to look funky and fresh. Why throw an old shirt away when you could dazzle it up with some of our fabric paint?

The first Crafternoon will take place on Orange County Campus on September 27th at 11:30 AM. A second one will be held for students at Main Campus on September 28th at 1:00 PM. Find out more on the school’s event page.

If you need inspiration or want to take the practice further and start modifying or mending more clothes at home, we have some books for you. Ditch that mall trip you’ve been putting off and click continue to see the list:

Continue Reading →

Banned Books Week: 2022

Posted on by

Since its inception in 1982, Banned Books Week has stood as an an important week of awareness and advocacy against library and book censorship.

Celebrate Banned Books Week, September 18-24, 2022. American Library Association

2021 and 2022 have seen an unprecedented rise in attempted book bans across schools and libraries in America piloted by advocacy groups, some having taken place in nearby counties. Started in the 1980s as an awareness campaign by the cooperation of the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom and the publishing community, Banned Books Week seeks to advocate for freedom by drawing attention to books that have been challenged for removal in library and school collections. It also reminds us of historical banning or removal of texts.

Celebrating Banned Books Week reminds us of the power of words. 

Click through to read more about Banned Books Week, including the books that were most frequently challenged in 2021.

Continue Reading →

Reproductive Rights Reading List

Posted on by

Nearly fifty years ago, in 1973, the Supreme Court legalized the right to abortion access through Roe v. Wade. This past June, the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling.

To learn more about this very current event, the Durham Tech Library has developed an informational reading list on the history of abortion in America, the Roe v. Wade ruling, and resources about women’s health and health care, abortion, and reproductive rights.

Click through to explore our resources and learn more for yourself.

Continue Reading →

Body Parts: Microhistories of the Physical Self

Posted on by

Unlike many of our health science folks, I was academically an English major (and then an education major and then a library science major), so my formal education surrounding anatomy and physiology is lacking. Maybe that’s why I love books about the human body so much, especially microhistories that dig deep into particular anatomical aspects.

Or maybe I remember The Magic School Bus and then the Futurama tribute episode fondly, both of which were inspired by the 1966 science fiction classic film The Fantastic Voyage.

Ms. Frizzle and Liz, the class chameleon, winking at each other from the animated children's television show The Magic School Bus

Maybe this is your genre, too? If so, check out some of our collection of books about body parts and systems and learn more about your insides and outside, too!

Continue Reading →

Pride in Our Collection

Posted on by

June is LGBTQIA+ PRIDE Month!

Pride library display at the Main Campus-- Check it out at the front of the Main Campus Library!
Pride display at the Main Campus Library

As President Joe Biden states in this year’s Pride month proclamation:

This month, we honor the resilience of LGBTQI+ people, who are fighting to live authentically and freely. We reaffirm our belief that LGBTQI+ rights are human rights.

As we celebrate and honor members of the LGBTQIA+ community and the work of activists, we recognize the hard-fought achievements of the past and the urgency of supporting LGBTQIA+ rights today.

Read on to learn more about Pride and check out our Pride recommendations.

Continue Reading →

New Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. Collection Books

Posted on by
Dr. Phail Wynn, Jr. at the college’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Dr. Phail Wynn, Jr. at the college’s 50th anniversary celebration.

2022 marks the 15th year of the Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. Collection at Durham Tech Library’s Main Campus. After retiring, Dr. Phail Wynn Jr., president of Durham Tech from 1980 to 2007, made a great investment in Durham Tech Libraries to create a new, special collection: The Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. Collection.

The Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. Collection touches upon social responsibility and civic engagement, including topics such as ecology and environmental studies, fighting poverty, cultural awareness, appreciating diversity, global citizenship, teaching tolerance, and promoting world peace.

We continue the development of this very special collection with brand new materials every year.

Today, we highlight a few new beautiful additions to the collection, including the gorgeously illustrated The Atlas of a Changing Climate and new resources on personal sustainability in titles like Can I Recycle This? and Simply Sustainable.

Generous users can always contribute to the legacy of Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. by donating to the Dr. Wynn Jr. Memorial Funds, which includes The Dr. Phail Wynn, Jr. Library Endowment, or by coming into the library and checking out a new book from the collection!

a large satellite image of the united states, a map of hurricane sandy is visible as it runs into the east coast
A vibrant, illustrated page detailing the breadth of Hurricane Sandy from the book The Atlas of a Changing Climate, now available in the Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. collection

Keep reading to see our full selection of new Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. Collection titles!

Continue Reading →