Celebrate Black History Month

The University of Illinois works hard to foster an atmosphere of diversity and inclusiveness. And all through the month of February, many organizations are hosting events to celebrate and honor Black History month.

vingtage photograph in round frame

Portrait of Maudelle Tanner Brown Bousfield courtesy of University Housing at Illinois

One of the coolest announcements recently was the board of trustee’s decision to name a new dorm after the first black woman graduate, Maudelle Tanner Brown Bousfield. Ms. Bousfield graduated in 1906 and went on to teach high school math. She also became the first African-American principal in Chicago’s public schools in 1928. The new dorm, which will be called Bousfield Hall and open in Fall 2013, will be located on the corner of First and Peabody.

But that’s not all! Check out some of the awesome events coming up this month:

Feb 4     An Evening with Keith Boykin: A Celebration of Black LGBT History Month

Feb 9     Sweet Honey in the Rocks

Feb 23     Black and Latino Male Summit

Feb 27     Culmination Celebration (Sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation)

And that doesn’t even begin to cover it. Several groups have on-going presentations and series throughout the month. The Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center has a “Food for the Soul” series featuring some great topics for the month. And Inclusive Illinois has countless events happening, too.

And don’t forget about the Library. This month, there is a display on the first floor of the Music and Performing Arts Library for Black History Month, and on the second floor, they’re exhibiting hip-hop and rap materials, including recordings. Stop by, check it out, and learn something new!

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IRL @ the UGL

We at the UGL like to think of ourselves as being pretty comfortable with technology. This Web 2.0 thing? We’ve got it down. But we also understand that sometimes, even the most tech-savvy person gets a hankering for the old-fashioned. Sometimes it’s nice to see a pin-board with actual, physical pins in it. The opportunity to take a break from the seemingly endless computer screens in your life and spend time gazing at cheery paper snowmen is one you may be glad to take.

A paper snowman greets you from a glass display case.

“Well hello! Welcome to the UGL!”

To fill this occasional craving for the traditional, and to make the physical space of the library more visually interesting and informative, there are several displays in different parts of the library for you to enjoy. The themes change every month to keep things fresh and appropriate to the season – this month, the staff and student workers/elves have put together some holiday-focused displays to help boost your spirit during finals. We’ll give you a preview here on the blog, but you should really come in and check them out in person!

DVD cases surrounded by beautiful paper snowflakes.

UGL employees bust out their mad snowflake-makin’ skills, just for you.

Right when you enter the UGL from the plaza, this happy little case is ready to suggest some seasonal movies for you. If you’re interested in a title you see inside this mini-winter wonderland, just ask at the circulation desk, and we can fetch it for you! Then you can take it home and get just as cozy as you wanna.

Cookbooks with glorious pictures of baked goods await you.

We completely understand, but do try not to drool on the glass.

There are tons of food-themed ‘holidays’ in December. We’re not really sure how official ‘National Chocolate-Covered-Anything Day’ is, but that’s not going to stop us from celebrating it! To help you get in the culinary groove, we’ve got some cookbooks lined up in the display upstairs near the circulation desk, full of delicious holiday treats for you to make and share (or hoard). Come gaze upon these tasty cakes and be inspired.

Downstairs are where to find the suggestion binders.

We made a concerted effort to find books that are qualified to be suggested, and now we’ve got whole binders full of suggestions.

The food theme continues in the lower level! Just beyond the media collection, we’ve got more cookbooks picked out in our Y-shaped display. These aren’t necessarily holiday-specific; we’ve pulled together a wide range of cuisines and food types for you to choose from. Moroccan food? Totally covered. Any and every kind of soup? Right here. In addition to the cookbooks, you’ll find binders of suggested titles from a variety of different genres on top of the display. Pick ’em up, leaf through them, carry them around to help you locate the books on the shelf – just please return them when you’re done, so someone else can find a good read after you!

Diversity Bulletin Board with information about lots of different holiday traditions.

Celebrate ALL the traditions!

The bulletin board in the lower lobby of the UGL is sponsored by the Library’s Diversity Committee, and each month it showcases diversity in a different area. For the month of December, we’ve got a festive round-up of winter holiday traditions from around the world. Curious about Wren’s Day, or Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian Lunar New Year? You can learn all about them, right here!

That’s what’s going on IRL at the UGL – we’re happy that you’re reading our blog, but we’d also be happy to see your faces in the library checking out our displays. Come on down and scope ’em out!

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Diverse Partnerships

Diversity Services Display is downstairs in the lower lobby of the UGL.

Whoever said there’s no such thing as a free lunch clearly hasn’t heard about the Lunchtime Discussion Series presented by the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Relations.

Throughout the semester, the OIIR–in partnership with the Asian American Cultural Center, the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center, La Casa Cultural Latina, LGBT Resources Center, Native American House and the Women’s Resource Center–provide nourishment for your body and your brain with lunch and meaningful discussion. Held throughout the semester from noon-1pm (events take place on all week days, so something’s bound to work in your sched), bring a friend or two (or meet some new ones) as a wide variety of topics and issues are discussed while you nosh on lunch.

The UGL is happy to work with the OIIR thoroughout the semester as one of our partner organizations. If you can’t make any of the lunches, stop by the Partners Desk on the upper level to chat with reps from the cultural houses and organizations and learn more about their missions and services. Watch the UGL Events Calendar for dates and times.

If any of this sounds appealing, you can also swing by the bulletin board display in the lobby of the lower level of the UGL (pictured above). It’ll be up the month of September and features QR codes linking to more info about the individual organizations, printed schedules of this semester’s lunches (including topics and locations), and books on campus diversity that you can check out!

(Pro tip: Keep your eye on that bulletin board, as each month a different display promoting multiculturalism and diversity is featured.)

 

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On Display @ the UGL

Ever wondered what’s up with that colorful bulletin board by the comfy chairs in the lower level lobby, or those big glass cases on the upper level near the new books? These displays offer you an opportunity to learn about something you didn’t know about while you kick back for a moment in the UGL, and they offer us the opportunity to show you some UGL resources that we think are pretty great. Kind of like this blog, but in 3-D real-life format!

Here’s what’s on display @ the UGL this month:

Pictures and readings about poets on a bulletin board

Five amazing poets! And more!

The lower level bulletin board, sponsored by the Library’s Diversity Committee,  showcases a multicultural/diversity awareness topic every month. This school year’s themes have included a timeline of LGBT history for LGBT History Month in October, and a historical look at Black Student Organizations and African-American Studies programs for Black History Month in February. This month’s theme is National Poetry Month, with a look at five American poets who come from diverse backgrounds and write about issues such as identity, ethnicity, and the immigrant experience.

Many titles about gaming are available.

Books for the amateur and advanced gamer!

The glass display cases on the upper level are currently showcasing gaming items! In April, we are holding a gaming career night at the UGL (more on that next week), which is part of our gaming initiative. The display features old consoles and games and awesome books on playing, creating, and programming video games of all sorts. This display case always features eye-catching displays – created by some of the insanely talented staff and student assistants – on a wide variety of topics to spark your interest!

Books about Buddhism are available at the UGL.

Become enlightened with books on Buddhism!

Finally, the small y-shaped bookcase on the lower level near the TV display features books on display surrounding a day, week or month of awareness (such as Eating Disorder Awareness week in February), or a topic of interest to the student assistants who create the display. This month, we’ve got books on Buddhism for Buddha’s birthday which is celebrated on April 8th in Japan, and April 28th, per the Chinese Lunar calendar, in other Asian countries. There are several other important Buddhist festivals that occur in April including Thai New Year (Songkran), Lao New Year (Pbeemai), and Burmese New Year Water Festival (Thingyan). Now’s your chance to read up on them @ the UGL!

As always, want to know more or have suggestions? Use the comments feature, tweet us @askundergrad, or Ask-A-Librarian!

 

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