Inclusive Illinois Week

Posted on April 7, 2014 by LK

By this time of the academic year, you’ve probably heard about Inclusive Illinois on campus. Inclusivity is a pretty big deal around the University of Illinois. It’s so central to the University as an institution that campus events are scheduled each semester to demonstrate the University’s commitment, celebrate its achievements, and educate the campus and community about diversity and inclusivity.

Sticky notes describing how students are committed to an Inclusive Illinois

Inclusive Illinois Day installment in September at the School of Social Work

If you missed Inclusive Illinois Day last semester, you can check out our blog post explaining exactly what Inclusive Illinois is all about. Also, take a look at photos of Inclusive Illinois Day events across campus.

This week, there are a lot of great events to raise awareness and celebrate inclusivity and diversity here at University of Illinois. From the FashionAble Fundraiser at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts to the Celebration of Women art exhibit or the Illini baseball tailgate and game, there is an Inclusive Illinois event for everyone! Be sure to check out the next installment of the Chancellor’s Lecture Series on Diversity and Cultural Understanding given by best-selling author and activist Zach Wahls.

Today, you’re invited to join the first #ManyVoices Conversation at locations across campus and share what an inclusive community means to you. The #ManyVoices organizers will be waiting to hear your story at the following locations and times:

9am-11am: Business Instructional Facility
11am-2pm: Henry Administration Quad Side
11am-1pm: Beckman Cafe
3pm-5pm: Activities Recreation Center

For more information and a full calendar of events, go to the Inclusive Illinois website. You can also sign the online pledge to make your commitment to an Inclusive Illinois.

Mom Movies

Posted on April 3, 2014 by CN

This weekend (April 4-6) is Mom’s Weekend! Are you ready for all moms, all the time? Here’s a round-up of official Mom’s Weekend resources, as well as some mom-themed movies you can watch in your downtime, whether your mom is visiting this weekend or not.

The UGL can help!

Your first stop in Mom’s Weekend planning should be consulting the official Mom’s Weekend site. It’ll give you an overview of what’s happening, so you can get an idea of what kind of events you want to attend. When it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty and plan your agenda, the Mom’s Weekend calendar will provide you with more details about times, locations, and prices. It has every single campus event you and your mom could possibly dream of.

Those will give you all the basic information you need. For extra credit, you can dig into the Daily Illini’s Mom’s Weekend Guide, for interviews and background on the scheduled events (as well as potential alternative plans). You can also find more information about the U of I Mom’s Association, who help plan and coordinate Mom’s Weekend, on their new official site.

The events that are lined up will be a lot of fun, but your mom (and you!) will probably want to rest at some point. For when you’re just hanging out, here are some movies and shows about moms that you can watch together. And if you don’t have a mom visiting you this weekend, grab a friend’s mom. They like to watch movies, too.

Gilmore Girls Seasons 1-7 starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel
Brave starring Emma Thompson and Kelly MacDonald
The Namesake starring Tabu and Kal Penn
Terms of Endearment starring Shirley MacClaine and Debra Winger
Mommy Dearest starring Faye Dunaway
Stepmom starring Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts
The Waterboy starring Adam Sandler and Kathy Bates
Freaky Friday starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan

What’s your favorite mom movie to watch? By that we mean your favorite movie to watch with mom, or your favorite movie with a mom in it. Let us know in the comments, and have a good weekend!

An Excuse to Play with Your Food

Posted on March 31, 2014 by CN

It’s no joke – the annual Edible Book Festival is happening again on April 1st. This is your chance to show your creativity in culinary codex* crafting – read on to find out how.

A huge brownie decorated to resemble a book cover.

A tasty rendition of an Encyclopedia Brown(ie) book by Christine Jenkins

The Edible Book Festival is a worldwide celebration that brings food and books together. It’s observed every year on or around the April 1st birthday of famed French food philosopher/ writer Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. He made books out of food by writing about food, and the Edible Book Festival puts a twist on this: participants make books out of real, actual food. That’s why they’re called “edible!” Books made for the festival can be inspired by books, or resemble a book physically by having text or pages.

If you’re wondering what kind of creations people make for this festival, you can look at the UIUC Library’s gallery of festival entries from past years. The UIUC Library has held an Edible Book Festival event every year since 2006, and their galleries are full of artfully created reproductions, re-imaginings, and puns on popular books. After the galleries inspire you to participate in this year’s festival (which they undoubtedly will), use this online form to register and bring your skills to the table. A panel of judges will determine winners in many different categories, and you might win a prize!

If you don’t have time to register for the festival, you can still bring an entry; preregistration just helps the library plan the event. And if you don’t have time to make an edible book this year, all Champaign-Urbana folks are welcome to participate by admiring and eating the books that do get made!

The details of this year’s events:

Schedule for the Edible Book Festival on Tuesday, April 1, 2014

8-10 am – Participants drop off edible entries at the University YMCA (located at 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign)
10-11:30 am – Judging and photography
11:30 am – Public viewing begins
12:15 pm – Welcome and judges’ commentary
12:45 pm – Eating of books!

Cookies shaped and decorated to resemble illustrations from a children's book

Mary Dubb’s ‘Extra Yarn’ illustration cookies

More details of the UIUC festival can be found on the official UIUC festival website. There’s also a Facebook page, for more inspiration and updates. We can’t wait to see what you make!

*A codex is a specific form that a book can take. Librarians use a lot of different words for books. It’s kind of our thing.

Get Some Doggone Hugs!

Posted on December 9, 2013 by CN

The UGL has gone to the dogs – therapy dogs, that is. Two therapy dog events are scheduled in the library during finals week to help you de-stress and finish this semester strong. Read on to find out the details and to meet the hard-working pups who make it all happen!

Sam will accept your adoration.

Sam the Alaskan Malamute has been to events at the UIUC libraries before, but he keeps coming back to see all his favorite people, and to please his loyal fans. Sam is a master of chilling out and napping, and will be pleased to teach you his stress-free ways, which he has been working on quite diligently for all of his 8 years.

Raven thinks the UGL is delicious!

Raven the Standard Poodle is also a library event veteran. Though her schedule is very busy with catching Frisbees and chasing tennis balls, she’s always happy to make time and come to the libraries for some petting. She’s 7 and a half, and prefers the company of adults like herself, since they are the best at the aforementioned petting.

Black Labrador retriever with soulful eyes

Neo looks expectant because he hears you give belly rubs, which are his favorite.

Neo the Labrador Retriever is 7 years old, and he hasn’t been to the UIUC libraries before, but he spends a lot of time at Carle Hospital and helping children in schools through the R.E.A.D. program. He’s also been given the Helping Hand award by the Champaign Fire Department for his help with crisis response. We’re sure he’ll be a big hit with all our students as well.

You don’t need a telescope to see how cute Tycho is.

Tycho the Boxer is a 9-year-old lover of cat food and new friends. He spends his days encouraging violin students by singing along, and playing with two Cornish Rex cats (from whom he steals the cat food). He also accompanies the violin students to performances at nursing homes, other libraries, and fundraisers.

These wonderful canine companions will be available on the following days:

Thursday, December 12th, from 2-4 PM in Grainger Engineering Library (Raven, Sam, and Neo)
Monday, December 16th, from 2-4 PM in the Undergraduate Library (Raven, Sam, Neo, and Tycho)

While you wait for the big dog days to arrive, you can follow the UGL’s Therapy Dog Pinterest board to read up on therapy animals and how they help various people. The dogs (and the library!) look forward to seeing you there!

Happenings at the Library

Posted on October 28, 2013 by CN

You’ve been to office hours and gotten research help. You’ve gotten your cover letter critiqued. Maybe you’ve even attended one of the Indian cinema screenings. But do you really know about everything the library has going on? There may be more than you think. Here’s a selection of library events coming up soon that you may find interesting.

The steps to UGL and a beautiful blue sky.

Most of these events aren’t at the UGL, so you don’t have to worry about going through those pesky doors.

For those of you taking challenging science classes, the Funk ACES library is hosting a series of workshops to help you get to know databases that may be useful to you. Web of Science, Agricola, PubMed and Sociological Abstracts will all be explained to you, and you’ll be ready to tackle that research head-on. They will be held in room 509 of the ACES library on various days at various times – for the dates and times of specific workshops , check out this poster or the library calendar of events.

If you missed getting your flu shot at the UGL week before last, fear not! There are more free flu shot clinics in libraries coming up. Here are a few for the next two weeks:

Grainger Library – Wednesday, October 30th, 3:30-6:30 PM
Undergraduate Library – Tuesday, November 5th, 1:30-4:30 PM
Grainger Library – Thursday, November 7th, 3:30-6:30 PM

More information about locations and costs can be found on McKinley’s flu vaccine information page.

Have you been to the Music and Performing Arts Library? If you haven’t yet, you can take a tour today, October 28th, starting at 5 PM. The music library has lots of resources for dance, theater, and music – but you don’t have to be studying those things to make use of them! Take the tour and find out what they can offer you.

Visit the Rare Book and Manuscript Library before December 13th to check out their exhibit on the idea of ‘life on the moon’ in science and in literature. They have examples of writing about the moon dating back to ancient Rome, as well as artifacts from the Apollo 16 mission. They have a moon rock. It’s encased in a translucent pyramid. It is the coolest thing you will see in your life. You should check it out, and learn some stuff while you’re there! There are also a series of moon-themed events throughout November in connection with the exhibit, including a storytelling event and moon viewing. Find a complete list of the events and details about them on the See You On the Moon website.

Finally, if you go to the main library to get some quiet studying done, make sure to check out the Audubon Folio display near the main info desk. Starting on Halloween we’ll have a spooky raven on display to help set the Halloween mood.

We hope to see you there!

Indian Cinema at 100: Film Festival

Posted on October 21, 2013 by QLB

As you’ve probably noticed, the glass display case at the entrance of the UGL has changed (if you haven’t noticed, go take a look!). Hopefully it’s caught your eye and if you’ve taken a closer look, you’ll see it’s for the Indian Film Festival.

Film Festival Display Photo attribution: Courtesy of Quetzalli Barrientos

So, what exactly is the Indian Film Festival? The Indian Film Festival is about observing 100 years of Indian cinema. The purpose is to “examine the origins, evolution, growth, and productivity”. With a showing of eight films, there is a variety for everyone. This is not your typical “Bollywood” movie. They are films that explore social issues through cinema. Issues such as arranged marriages, homosexuality, war, and other culturally dominant beliefs are shown in these films.

For a complete list of films and showing times and other information, visit the official website, Past.Present.Future: Indian Cinema at 100.

All of the films will be screening in the Knight Auditorium at the Spurlock Museum. Since we are all poor and struggling college students, you should know that all the showings are free! Aside from movie showings, there will also be a few other events going on through December 1^st.

The symposium will be on October 31^st from 1 to 5 PM at the Coordinated Science Laboratory, which is located right on the engineering quad. This symposium will consist of distinguished professors from all over the country, and the guest of honor is Onir, the director of “I am” and “My Brother…Nikhil”. For those who are unfamiliar with Onir, he is a director, editor, producer, and philanthropist. His film, “My Brother…Nikhil” became the first mainstream Indian film to deal with the issue of AIDS and same-sex relationships.

Director Onir. Photo Courtesy of “Bollywood Hungama”

For those who cannot make the symposium, the next night, November 1^st at 6:00 PM, there will be a reception with director Onir as the guest of honor. After the reception, there will be showing of his movie, “I Am.”

We encourage you to go to any movie that interests you and if you enjoy them, you might also want to attend the Corey Creekmur talk which will take place on December 9^th at 8:00 PM. This talk will take place at the second floor of the Levis Faculty Center. The speaker, Corey Creekmur from the University of Iowa, will be speaking about historical Hindi colonial films.

This film festival is a great opportunity to go out and see new films, learn more about another culture, or find out more about the issues portrayed in these films. So, grab a friend and make it a movie night!

Inclusive Illinois: Events around campus

Posted on September 23, 2013 by QLB

Inclusive Illinois Day is just around the corner. By now, you might have heard about this event – but what exactly is it? Inclusive Illinois Day is about providing a climate of inclusiveness not only on for the students, but the staff and faculty. Its goal is to “heighten awareness and engagement about issues of identity and importance of examining and respecting differences,” since “diversity is the foundation upon which we live and learn.”

image of Foellinger auditorium from top of quad

Imagine the quad filled with every kind of person imaginable all being friends. That’s inclusive.

We are lucky to be in diverse campus surrounded by people from different parts of the world and from various backgrounds. Every single one of us has had different life experiences and it is important to not dismiss those who have experiences things we have not.

Everyone brings something to the table, so what does being inclusive mean to you? Getting to know people who have a different background can be eye-opening and life-changing. You can always learn from being surrounding by a diverse group of people with different experiences.

So, what kinds of events are available on campus? Well, starting this week there will be various lectures, events, and activities. The main ones being the Chancellor’s lecture, where Dr. Alan Goodman will speak on the topic of “Race is a myth: Racism is real.”

There will also be education stations at various libraries.

The Main Library, at the small service desk in the north south hallway
The Undergraduate Library, on the upper level near the entrance
The Funk ACES Library, on the second floor near the elevator entrance
Grainger Library, on the first floor near the circulation desk

Stop by these education stations to learn more about Inclusive Illinois and the Library Diversity Committee, and to share your own stories and thoughts about inclusiveness!

There are many events for all interests. For more information, go to the Inclusive Illinois website and take a look at their calendar of events going on around campus. You can also sign the online pledge to make your commitment to an Inclusive Illinois. Remember, we all have the power to make a difference and to learn from others.

Celebrating Inclusive Illinois: Latin America and the Caribbean

Posted on September 19, 2013 by CN

Next Wednesday may be Inclusive Illinois Day (which you can read more about here), but no matter what day it is, it’s always enriching to learn about people, especially all the different cultures and histories that they can represent. If you’ve been wanting to learn more about Latin American and Caribbean cultures, you’re in luck – there are tons of events and resources available from the library and elsewhere in the CU that can expose you to new knowledge.

If you’ve never been to Champaign’s Art Theater Co-op, you’re missing out. They show great movies, and you can get a student discount for most movies if you show your I-Card. Starting this Friday, in collaboration with the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, they’re holding the annual Latin American Film Festival. There are seven different Latin American documentaries and films to choose from, playing over the entire weekend – or you can go see them all! Check out the trailers on the Art’s website.

You can also tune in on the small screen (a television, if you have access to one) to watch ‘Latino Americans,’ PBS’s original miniseries celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs September 15th through October 15th. A new segment airs every Tuesday night.

Too busy with homework to go see a movie or watch TV? If you’re studying in the library, you can always take a short study break to check out the Unity in Diversity exhibit on the first floor of the main library, curated by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies Library. It features just a few of the wide-ranging resources that the library contains on Latin American studies. Or, if you have an afternoon free, mosey over to the Spurlock Museum to check out their Folk Art of Latin America exhibit.

And if you still can’t get enough, you can grab one of these movies or books by and about Latin American or Caribbean people on your way home from the library. Opportunities abound!

A Tree Within by Octavio Paz (translated by Eliot Weinberger)

Fruit of the Lemon by Andrea Levy

At the Bottom of the River by Jamaica Kincaid

Viva para Contarla (Living to Tell the Tale) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Country Under My Skin: A Memoir of Love and War by Gioconda Belli

Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges (translated by Andrew Hurley)

La Sirga directed by William Vega

The Devil’s Backbone directed by Guillermo del Toro

Celebrate National Library Week

Posted on April 15, 2013 by HJL

It’s time to show your UGL love, dear readers. This week is National Library Week–a time to highlight the value libraries contribute to their communities. The theme for this year’s week-long library love fest is “Communities matter @ your library.”

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It asks us to take a week out of our crazy-busy year and consider how much libraries contribute to our lives as students and as community members. Here at the UGL, we work hard to offer you the space, materials, and helpful staff you need to be successful as students and in the future.

If you want to bask in the library love this week, there are a lot of things you can do to explore different libraries on campus. Start with our library bucket list. Other things to consider?

Check out “The James Bond Theme: Music to Live, Die, and Love Another Day” Exhibit at the Sousa Archives.
Attend the Savvy Researcher Workshop on using the library after graduation to learn how you can continue to use library services after graduating from this fine institution.
Scope out the Rare Book & Manuscripts Library’s “Casino Royale and Beyond: Sixty Years of Ian Fleming’s Literary Bond” Exhibit where you can see different editions of the first James Bond novel, as well as letters, reviews, photos, and more.

Also consider saying thanks to the library workers you encounter on Tuesday, April 16, which is National Library Workers Day. And on Thursday, April 18, it’s Support Teen Literature Day, so stop in to the Center for Children’s Books or the Education library’s Children & Young Adult Lit Collection.

There are so many ways libraries impact our lives every day, so this week, take some time to say thanks. Let us know your favorite things about #ClubUGL in the comments or share your UGL love with us on Facebook or Twitter (#libraryweek) or visit our Library Love board on Pinterest.

Eat This Blog

Posted on March 28, 2013 by CN

Candied Voltaire Cake made of various confections.

Sweet, sweet literature. (cake by Glen C. Davies)

If you’ve been looking for the perfect way to feed your mind and your belly at the same time, why not participate in this year’s Edible Book Festival?

The International Edible Book Festival is a world-wide event, begun in 2000, that allows participants to celebrate both their literary and culinary culture—to ‘eat their words’ and let others eat them, too. The Urbana-Champaign community has been taking part in the festivities since 2006, and this year’s local festival is just around the corner. If it sounds like your cup of tea, register your entry now and get ready to celebrate!

Here are the basics of what’s going on:

What: Bascially, take a book, and make an edible version of it—it can be a direct visual representation, or a clever play on words, or something in between. A panel of judges will award prizes in different categories, and then everyone gets to chow down!

When and Where: Monday, April 1st, at the University YMCA (1001 S. Wright S.)

2013 Festival - Monday, April 1st, 1001 S. Wright Street, and a cake in the shape of the Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein

Nom nom nom nom nom

Who: Anyone from the Urbana-Champaign community can participate! This year’s panel of judges includes Jennifer Bechtel, a local filmmaker; Cleda Wang, the Resident Director of the University’s Residence Halls, and Edie Stotler, a retired business professional, community volunteer, and lifetime “foodie.”

Why: Because food and books are fun things to share!

All the information you could ever need about this year’s festival can be found at the official festival webpage, so head on over there if you have questions, need more information, or just want to browse the galleries of previous years for inspiration! If you want to check out the literary origins of your favorite entry, we’ve assembled a Pinterest board for just that purpose. You can also visit the festival’s Facebook page to find out more, or just share your enthusiasm. We hope to see you there!

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