Diversity

Category: Diversity

“A Stone of Hope” Exhibit is Back in the Mudd Library

A Stone of Hope: Black Experiences in the Fox Cities returns to the second floor of the library through February.

We’re so honored to welcome back the exhibit, A Stone of Hope: Black Experiences in the Fox Cities, for the remainder of Black History Month (February). This exhibit explores Black history in the area, dating from the 1700s to present times.

Learn more about this exhibit, or see the complete digital version at the History Museum’s Stone of Hope webpage.

Community members are encouraged to look at the digital exhibit on the History Museum page, as the library is still only open to current LU students, faculty, and staff, due to Covid-19.

We hope everyone takes the opportunity to view this important exhibit, and learn about the contributions of and challenges faced by Black residents and visitors to the Fox Cities.

Black Lives Matter Summer Reads Titles

For our annual summer reads coffeehouse this year, we decided to focus on books that educate and explore Black American experiences. The books that we had discussed are available on our summer 2020 coffeehouse guide (linked below). Take a look to read about the wide range of non-fiction, fiction, poetry, film, and websites that were shared.

Black Lives Matter Summer Reads Recommendations

There are a variety of ways to get these materials!

  • Your local public library- physical books: Many are doing curbside pickup. If you live in the Appleton area, here’s information on how to get items from the Appleton Public Library.
  • Local public library- eBooks: Many public libraries provide access to one or more eBook databases. Look at your local library’s website for databases such as Overdrive, Hoopla, or EBSCO eBook Collection.
  • From the Mudd Library: If you’re on campus, or faculty/staff who live in the area, requested books can get delivered to your campus SPC or office! Just log in to your library account, find the item you’d like in the library catalog, and click request to access the request form. Here’s a video that demonstrates how to request an item from the library catalog!
  • If you’re able to purchase these titles, you can support an independent Black-owned bookstore by shopping at Harambee Books.

Diversity Resources Guide

Looking for even more resources? This guide contains a selection of diversity-related materials that are available in the Mudd Library, as well as related databases and other online resources.

Contact your friendly reference librarians if you need any assistance in locating these titles, or navigating the library resources. We’re here to help!

The Mudd is Everything!

The Mudd Library isn’t just a place to study, or to search for and gather materials.

Libraries offer so much more, and the Mudd is no different!

  • Print and Copy Shop

Printing projects and papers and presentations, oh my!

We have everything you need to put the finishing touches on your papers and projects. Make copies, print your paper, or use the scanner. We have a universal phone charging station if you’re running low. We have staplers, tape, paper clips, rulers, and all kinds of other accoutrements to help you polish your assignments and hand them in with pride.

  • Academic Support Station

Do you need another primary or secondary source to support your argument? Looking for an open-source photo to add to your slides or for the proper citation for your paper? The reference librarians are here to help you find what you need and engage in the best and most thorough research possible. We aim to help you feel confident and supported as a student researcher.

  • Information Kiosk

Curious about what’s happening on campus? Looking to find local thrift stores, coffee shops, or parks? Not sure when that concert starts tonight? Stop by, we’ll  help you find out!

  • Social Hot Spot

All of your friends are here! Hang out on the first or second floor to discuss, debate, and collaborate. Chat, vent, laugh, share. Sometimes just sitting next to someone who is working as hard as you are can be the most valuable resource. Snap some pics or make a vid! Then get back to that group project! Pull up a whiteboard and teach each other what you’ve learned. Ask someone out on a study date. The options are endless.

Learning, together.

  • Safe, quiet, peaceful haven

The third and fourth floors are meant for quiet study. They also make a great place to read, reflect, daydream, or nap. Write that paper! No one will barge in just as you get in your groove. Or, if you’ve been in your groove and need a little break, stop down to the first floor to nurture yourself with a cup of tea. Text your mom and then get back at it. The library is for everyone, and everyone is welcome here and treated with respect and dignity!

Getting productive while enjoying the peace and of the fourth floor.

What do you need?

Academic support?

A quiet place to get some work done?

A place to belong?

We’re here for you!

Refugee Symposium Resources in the Library

Sign with a title that reads Lawrence University is hosting the symposium, Seeking Refuge: Local and Global Perspectives, from November 4 through November 6, 2018. This symposium is meant to bring awareness of the global issue of the refugee crisis by hosting discussions with community featuring guests with a wide range of backgrounds in helping refugees and who are refugees themselves. The schedule for the symposium can be viewed on the Refugee Symposium webpage.

The library is providing a variety of resources to support this symposium:

Seeking Refuge Research & Materials Guide
This guide contains links to many resources available in the library and online for those who would like to continue their enrichment about the topic of refugees. In addition to books, movies, and journals, the guide also contains links to our music databases to a selection of songs played at the refugee symposium concert.

Wood and glass display case containing images of refugees and resources.Display Exhibit:
The display contains powerful photographs and news headlines that illustrate the refugee plight, facts about refugees around the world, and tips for finding related resources in the library catalog and OneSearch.

Book Display:
All along the top of the newspaper and popular magazine shelf, we’ve placed a selection of library materials about the refugee experience. No need to search or go upstairs to find materials, just grab some books you’d like to read from this display and sit down to read them, or check them out at the circulation desk.

Your friends in the Mudd Library are glad to be supporting a symposium on such an important topic and to help with continuing the discussion.

Mudd Gallery Exhibit: Future Humour

 

Future Humour runs until November 20.

We love the Mudd Gallery! Having an art gallery in the library is a beautiful partnership, and one that truly embodies the essence of a liberal arts education.

Future Humour features digital photography captured in New York City and Appleton.

Supporting our students is an incredibly significant component of our mission, so it makes sense for us to offer space that allows burgeoning student artists the opportunity to curate, organize, and host their own gallery openings and exhibits.

It’s also a great resource for students working hard in the library, slogging away at their academic work. The gallery allows a meaningful, fulfilling, thought-provoking avenue through which to relax, unwind, and shift or gain perspective.

The Mudd Gallery’s latest exhibit is Future Humor by Yifan Zhang.

The artist shares color photography captured in New York City and in Appleton, creating a vibrant and interesting opportunity to compare and contrast these locations.

Zhang states, “Humour is elegant innuendo. Future Humour represents unforeseen conditions. I will let the images speak for themselves.”

The Mudd Gallery is located on the 3rd floor of the Seeley G. Mudd Library.

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The Mudd Visits The Center for Spiritual and Religious Life

As you know, the Mudd Library supports the entire Lawrence community. Because of this, we strive to connect with other departments on campus to learn more about their services, how we can best assist them, and to explore possibilities for collaboration.

Recently, we reached out to Lawrence’s Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, Linda Morgan-Clement, to welcome her to campus and to learn more about her work. She graciously invited us to The Center for Spiritual and Religious Life to check out the recently-renovated space and to hear more about the offerings of the center.

We happily obliged.

Mudd Library Staff with Reverend Dr. Linda Morgan-Clement in the beautiful living room at The Center for Spiritual and Religious Life.

It was a grey, icy morning the day we slowly made our way to Sabin House, but once inside the space we were suffused with warmth and comfort. The Center for Spiritual and Religious Life is filled with lovely colors and soft light. We took off ours shoes, as directed, and looked around the beautiful, comfortable first floor.

According to their website, “The Center for Spiritual and Religious Life is a welcoming place for curious, intentional, respectful engagement with persons of similar, different or no religious tradition, and for quiet personal reflection and spiritual practice.”

There’s a lovely meditation room, a cozy living room/meeting space, and a spacious community room with a kitchen, perfect for hosting group meals or even yoga classes. The downstairs bathroom features a foot wash station for Muslim guests.

To our delight, each of the spaces has its own library which corresponds to the space; the meditation room features brief works and poetry to foster centered reflection, whereas the living room houses classic religious texts and works meant for deep reading and to foster respectful conversation.

The second floor features the administrative offices for the center as well as a meeting room.

Linda explained that one of her many roles as the Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life is to offer one-on-one spiritual direction and guidance relating to important questions of meaning and purpose.

We loved visiting Sabin House and learning more about this great campus resource, and we highly encourage you to do the same. Visit their webpage to find out more about the center and to see the rich and timely offerings available to the Lawrence community.

Thank you so much for having us, Linda.

The Mudd Welcomes Natasha Trethewey to Lawrence!

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Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey will be at Lawrence November 1.

The Seeley G. Mudd Library is pleased to welcome poet Natasha Trethewey to Lawrence!

You can read more about Natasha and her work at the Poetry Foundation. Ms. Trethewey is also a professor at Emory University. Check out the links provided to learn more about her numerous accomplishments and honors.

The library has many of Natasha’s works available in our collection, including:

Native guard

Beyond Katrina : a meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Bellocq’s Ophelia : poems

Domestic work : poems

Black nature : four centuries of African American nature poetry

In addition, we’ve created a display featuring her poetry for your reading pleasure. Stop by the library to enjoy an assortment of Ms. Trethewey’s work before what is sure to be an interesting and thought-provoking convocation.

Natasha Trethewey’s talk, titled “The Muse of History: On Poetry and Social Justice,” will take place on Tuesday, November 1, at 11:10 am in the Chapel.  We’ll see you there!

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Stop by the Mudd to read some of Natasha Trethewey’s work!

Celebrating Diversity in the Mudd Library

Banned Books Week display celebrating diverse books.

At a recent library staff meeting, we were honored to welcome Kimberly Barrett, Lawrence’s new Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Associate Dean of the Faculty. Vice President Barrett shared her vision for diversity and inclusion at Lawrence and helped us to discover ways in which the library can show the students, faculty, and staff that we are dedicated to celebrating and exploring diversity.

As a result, we’ve compiled many of these efforts and made them available on the library website:

Diversity Efforts in the Mudd Library
Library Diversity Resources

And on some Pinterest boards:

Diversity and Inclusion: Books, Journals, and Media in the Mudd
Diversity and Inclusion: Reading Lists and Resources

September is National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Is your department or student organization interested in collaborating with us on a library display or event? Fill out our form and share your ideas!

Your friends in the Mudd Library are happy to be a part of the diverse and welcoming community of Lawrence University.