Category Archives: Focus on a Topic

Focusing on Mental Wellness for Mental Health Awareness Month and Beyond

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Today is the last official day of Mental Health Awareness Month.

Since taking care of your mental health is a year-long, lifelong process, just focusing on it for one month is obviously not enough, but as with all health awareness days or months, in order to be effective, the focus should not just be on short-term knowledge, but on long-term interventions for change.

Awkward Yeti comic with two characters, Heart and Brain (anthropomorphized organs). Brain is staring at a smartphone with an energy bar above his head reading "Mental Health" slowly draining over three panels from yellow to orange to red, denoting a low "battery". In the final panel, Heart takes Brain outside for a walk, leaving the phone behind, and the Mental Health energy bar is increasing in charge and turning green.

While most folks find value in treating themselves to short-term relaxing activities*, when that no longer becomes effective or if problems persist, sometimes what we’re really seeking is a mindset shift. While we can do research to empower ourselves, it’s also okay to ask for help.

*And you should if it helps you! Don’t devalue short-term joys!

If you need to talk to someone, Durham Tech has resources for students and employees. The Employee Assistance Program (ENI) provides up to 8 free visits for a variety of interventions, including mental health. Students can contact Durham Tech’s Counseling Services, including the 24-hour Be Well hotline (833-434-1217). For emergency mental health needs for everyone, including suicidal thoughts, Hope4NC is available by calling or texting (same number, but text “hope”), and the national mental health crisis line can be reached by calling 988 (though you may also want to be informed about other options, available at the very end of the linked article: NPR’s Life Kit– “Social media posts warn people not to call 988. Here’s what you need to know”).

If you have a healthcare professional you trust, you can and should also talk to them. There is no shame in asking for help. Brains are tricky things, and we’re all still recovering in our own ways from the tumult of the last few years.

If you’re also ready to do some of your own mindset shifting and reframe or restructure some popular notions of health and wellness culture, keep reading. The Durham Tech Library has some books for you.

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What You Could Be Watching, Listening to, and Reading for AAPI Heritage Month

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Reminder: Durham Tech will be closed Monday, May 29 for Memorial Day. Have a nice long weekend and remember to incorporate some *real* self-care into your daily practices.

NPR Podcast- California Love: Season 2, KPOP Dreaming

The previous link is to an article and an episode of NPR’s Code Switch that talks about self-care with psychiatrist Pooja Lakshmin, who just published a new book . Also in honor of AAPI Heritage Month and related via the NPR podcast/audio breadcrumb trail, check out the KPOP Dreaming podcast, about growing up Korean-American during the 90s, music, family history, and identity. Oh, and loving KPOP.

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Established in 1977 to elevate, highlight, and celebrate Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States, May was chosen to commemorate the first documented Japanese immigrant from 1843 and the completion of the transcontinental railroad in May 1869, which used many Chinese laborers. A rather broad term, Asian/Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island).

pbs asian americans documentary series (2020)

PBS has an excellent video playlist of their various documentaries for AAPI Heritage Month available for free. Films on Demand has the entire Asian Americans (2020) series in their AAPI playlist (off-campus, log in using your Durham Tech username and password).

Interested in reading some excellent books in all sorts of genres by Asian American and Pacific Islander Americans?

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Dogwood Digital Collection, May 2023

Keep reading to see some of our selection available or check out our physical displays of memoirs, fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, and cookbooks at the Orange County Campus, downstairs at the Main Campus, or ebooks and audiobooks online through Dogwood Digital Library (add us to your Libby app and sign in using your Durham Tech username and password).

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National Library Week: Right to Read Day

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National Library Week is April 23-29, 2023, a time celebrate our nation’s libraries, library workers’ contributions, and promote library use and support. This year’s theme is There’s More to the Story.

Today is Right to Read Day, a call to action to fight back against censorship to defend, protect, and celebrate your right to read freely.

Right to Read Day: Protect Your Right to Read, April 24, 2023

The American Library Association has also released its most challenged books of 2022 as part of its State of American Libraries 2022 report [link to webpage containing pdf]. ALA documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago and nearly doubling the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. While other instances of book challenges or removals may have occurred, these are the ones reported to the ALA.

In 2022, 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship.

Removing a book from a collection due to inaccuracies, age, or condition (something libraries often do in order to provide the best resources to their users) is different than banning or requesting to ban a book– most books that are challenged because they represent marginalized communities, have “profane” or “offensive” language or content, or disagree with someone’s political, religious, or social viewpoint. In 2022, books containing LGBTQIA+ content were the top challenged materials. Self-selection and choosing to not read a book because you disagree with it is different than requesting to remove it from a collection so no one can read it.

Keep reading for ways that you can advocate for libraries, including how to read some of 2022’s most challenged books and decide for yourself.

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Invest in Our Planet!: Earth Week 2023

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Earth Day everyday poster with image of planet Earth as plant-- a tree sprouts from the top
Earth Day Poster by Travis Morgan

Celebrate locally! Durham’s Earth Day Festival is on Sunday, April 23 from 12:00 to 5:00 PM at Durham Central Park. Raleigh’s community Earth Day event will be on Friday, April 21 from 5:00 to 10:00 PM at Dix Park. Orange County has several events planned, including Earth Day Celebration Carrboro, taking place on Saturday, April 22 from 3:30 to 6:00 PM in the Carrboro Town Commons.

Climate change is a huge issue and can make a lot of folks feel helpless.

So–What can you do?

While there’s no quick fix, you can always educate, advocate, and adapt (in addition to the traditional reduce, reuse, recycle).

Keep reading to find out more!

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2023 Durham Tech Library Poetry Month Bookmarks!

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Durham Tech Library's 2023 Poetry Month bookmarks: "Everything is Exactly the Same as it Was the Day Before” by Ina Cariño, “Allowables” by Nikki Giovanni, "Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale" by Dan Albergotti, "[after Ross Gay’s 'A Small Needful Fact' and Jay Ward’s 'Ars Poetica in Which the Dead Child is Renamed as a Flower']" by Durham's first Poet Laureate (2022-23) DJ Rogers, and “What It Looks Like To Us and the Words We Use” by current US Poet Laureate Ada Limón
Click on the image to go to the 2023 Durham Tech Library Poetry bookmark pdf file.

2023’s poetry month bookmarks have “Everything is Exactly the Same as it Was the Day Before” by  Ina Cariño, “Allowables” by Nikki Giovanni, “Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale” by Dan Albergotti, “[after Ross Gay’s ‘A Small Needful Fact’ and Jay Ward’s ‘Ars Poetica in Which the Dead Child is Renamed as a Flower’]” by Durham’s Poet Laureate (2022-23) DJ Rogers, and “What It Looks Like To Us and the Words We Use” by current US Poet Laureate Ada Limón.

The file is a pdf, so you can print your own (and color them in, if that’s your thing). Print 2-sided, short edge. Cardstock is recommended.

Bookmarks and bookmark sheets will be available for pick up at the Main Campus Library by Thursday and are currently available at the Orange County Campus Library.

Click through to download Durham Tech Library Poetry Month bookmarks from 2022, 2021, 2019, and 2017, which include poems from Jackie Shelton Green, Amanda Gorman, Terrance Hayes, Mary Oliver, Kay Ryan, Danez Smith, Rita Dove, Ellen Bass, and more!

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International Women’s Day: #EmbraceEquity

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March 8 is International Women’s Day (IWD). This year’s theme is #EmbraceEquity to get the world talking about Why equal opportunities aren’t enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.

Inclusion should be intersectional and is for all ages. We can all be allies to #EmbraceEquity.

Available in the Main Campus Children’s Collection (PZ 7.2 .J64 Int 2019)

(Wait, what does intersectionality have to do with IWD? All forms of inequality are mutually reinforcing and must therefore be analyzed and addressed simultaneously to prevent one form of inequality from reinforcing another. Want to learn more about intersectionality? Check out the Center for Intersectional Justice for more information.)

Closing gender gaps has broad multi-generational benefits for societies, including economic benefits and increased investment in education, health, nutrition, and housing.

Keep reading for a streaming video to learn more about women in global history, information about the UN Women’s DigitALL campaign (and some books from the library to explore that topic further), and how to support and #EmbraceEquity for International Women’s Day and every day.

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Celebrating OER Week at Durham Tech

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March 6-10 is Open Education Week!

Open Educational Resources (OER) are high-quality educational materials that are available for free in the public domain and can be retained, reused, revised, remixed, and redistributed under Creative Commons licensing. These materials can be textbooks, research documents, or instructional tools, among other things.

Durham Tech has already awarded stipends for OER adoption to almost 20 instructors, and the OER Task Force is pleased to announce Spring 2023 stipends for instructors using open educational resources!

Many faculty members may already be using OER in the classroom without even realizing it, so check out the detailed guide to OER (Durham Tech OER LibGuide).

To be eligible to receive a stipend, you must be a Durham Tech instructor who is 1) already using OER in your classes this semester and 2) who did not receive a stipend for OER in Fall 2022. Only one stipend will be awarded per instructor.

The deadline to apply using the stipend application form is Friday, March 31st by 5pm. Once the deadline has passed, the task force will evaluate the applications using the 5 R’s of OER (Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix, and Redistribute – see the link for a detailed guide to OER for more info on these Rs).

Keep reading to learn more about OER and faculty should look for more communication from the OER Taskforce in the coming weeks!

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Read Across Durham Tech!

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Tuesday through Saturday of next week (March 7-11) are Durham Tech’s Inclement Weather Make-Up Days (aka “Not Spring Break”), and since we haven’t had inclement weather, there will be a break in classes.

March is National Reading Month and this year, Thursday, March 2 (today!) has been designated Read Across America Day.

We get that sometimes when you’re in school or teaching that it can be hard to budget time, energy, and attention for reading if it’s not your go-to, but we believe that everyone who wants to be a reader can be.

Awkward Yeti comic "Heart Tries Reading". Heart and Brain are anthropomorphic organs having a conversation. Brain is reading a book and says, "Heart, come read with me." Heart responds, "Oh fine, I'll look at your boring books." When Heart looks at the book, he sees various exciting scenes: A knight, a pirate ship, and an undersea-scape. Heart appears from behind the book and says, "THAT'S reading?!" and Brain responds, "Yep. Sorry to bore you."

To challenge yourself and join our quiet society of readers at Durham Tech, check out the Read Great Things Challenge, the Library’s annual category-based challenge, now in its 6th year. You can “win” with 5 strategically-chosen books.

In honor of Read Across America Day and National Reading Month, there are a few things that the Durham Tech Library would like to remind you about reading and your reading self–

  • Like other skills we learn, you can become a better reader through practice.
  • Like other habits we develop, you can work reading into your daily schedule by adding it with intention.
  • Do you like podcasts? Try audiobooks!
  • And on that note: Audiobooks and graphic novels are books and “count” as reading, too!
  • Not every book is for every person and that’s okay. Don’t yuck someone else’s favorites.
  • No read shaming! You’re allowed to dislike things without making others feel bad about liking them (and vise versa).
  • Being a slow reader is not a sign of moral failure or a lack of intelligence. Being a fast reader doesn’t mean you’re a better person in some existential way, either.
  • And an occasionally controversial take: If you’re reading something for fun and you’re just really, really not feeling it, you can put it down. [We mostly just have to push through and finish assigned reading. Such is life and college.]

Keep reading to learn more about the in-person AND online reading collections available through your Durham Tech Libraries.

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Small Steps to Improve Heart Health for Heart Month (February)

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We may be reaching the end of February and American Heart Month, but we can pump out a month-end blog post.

(That pun was weak. I know. Let’s not talk about it, okay?)

Take charge of your heart health. Take small steps to prevent heart disease and stroke. millionhearts.hhs.gov/livetothebeat

This year’s theme is “Live to the Beat,” which aims to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in Black adults ages 35 to 54 by taking small steps to address key risk factors such as hypertension, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar.

Some tips?

  • Get moving! Just 10 minutes a day to get started can have a positive impact! [YouTube video: “Move More for a Healthy Heart”]
  • Know and watch your cholesterol levels! Adding more fiber and reducing saturated fats can reduce cholesterol levels or help keep healthy levels in check! [YouTube video: “Keep Your Cholesterol In Check”]
  • Work with your doctor or medical professional! Having a qualified medical professional’s advice can be invaluable to keeping your heart healthy! [YouTube video: “Rx for a Healthy Heart”]
Common Heart Attack Warning Signs: Pain or discomfort in chest; Lightheadedness, nausea, or vomiting; Jaw, neck, or back pain; Discomfort or pain in arm or shoulder; Shortness of breath (American Heart Association infographic)

It’s also helpful to review the common signs of a heart attack and know that these symptoms may differ between men and women.

If in doubt, get help. Minutes matter.

Keep reading for some Library resources to learn more about the heart and circulatory system, including a virtual 3D model of the circulatory system for those pursuing health science degrees or those just heart-curious.

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