Gardner-Harvey Library Newsletter: New databases and online events

New year, new databases, videos, and eBooks! Check out the Gardner-Harvey Library Newsletter for details about new OhioLINK resources, upcoming virtual events, and more!

Hear Unique Stories - Visit the Human Library

The Gardner-Harvey Library is reaching beyond our normal array of books and DVDs and articles and, with your participation, sharing the stories of a collection of people:  a Human Library.  This effort, inspired by a group in Denmark (https://humanlibrary.org), is all about the opportunity to share our stories with one another.  We believe it is powerful to communicate with other people, and in particular to have the opportunity to talk to someone you would not ordinarily have access to.  

Our hope is to gather a collection of human "books" that represent different departments, groups, occupations, or identities in our society, and then hold an event in which the participants, or "readers," can borrow a member from the Human Library and have a conversation.  Maybe there is a question that readers have always wanted to ask someone about their hobby, their religion, their job, or their way of being in the world.  Through conversation we can work against bias, prejudices, and stereotypes and enhance common understanding.  

We will be holding the Human Library on Wednesday, March 10 from Noon until 1:00pm on Zoom (use the following link to join):

Join Zoom Meeting https://miamioh.zoom.us/j/82364534533?pwd=MDVUVytEVmRvVFVUVUszN0JjekJDQT09  

At the opening of the session, we will share a list of our human books, each representing a different group, occupation or identity in our society. You will have the opportunity to spend 5-10 minutes in breakout rooms with as many books as you would like and hear their stories.

We have already had some books volunteer, and you can watch a short video of some of them.

We are also interested in hearing your unique story as a book.  If you are willing to volunteer, please fill out our form.

Thank you so much for considering taking part.  Let us know if you have any questions.

John Burke, burkejj@miamioh.edu

Jessie Long, longjh@miamioh.edu

Jennifer Hicks, hicksjl2@miamioh.edu

"Graphic Conversation" by Marc Wathieu is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Death Valley: Dr. Tammie Gerke's National Parks Talks

 Join us as Dr. Gerke talks about Death Valley National Park. She will discuss the geology and other interesting information about the park.

This session will run Tuesday, February 16th from 4:45pm to 6:15pm with time for questions and discussion. The event will be held as a free online meeting.  Add this event to your Google calendar!  

When it is time for the event, use the link below to join the presentation:

Join Zoom Meeting https://miamioh.zoom.us/j/84534092333?pwd=ZVJuTHZKOXhwS1BKQlFwbUhIRFpXUT09

All are welcome to attend.

"Death Valley" by peretzp is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Join us Online! February's Middletown Book for Discussion: Dreamers of the Day

 
The MUM Book Discussion group will next meet on Tuesday, February 23.  Our title is Mary Doria Russell's Dreamers of the Day.  Here is a brief summary of this tale of an accidental witness to the history of the Middle East:

"A forty-year-old schoolteacher from Ohio still reeling from the tragedies of the Great War and the influenza epidemic comes into a modest inheritance that allows her to take the trip of a lifetime to Egypt and the Holy Land. Arriving at the Semiramis Hotel, site of the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference, she meets Winston Churchill, T. E. Lawrence, and Lady Gertrude Bell. With her plainspoken American opinions, she becomes a sounding board for these historic luminaries who will, in the space of a few days, invent the nations of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan."  

Here is where you can find the book:

• There are several copies available through Miami, OhioLINK, and SearchOhio.  We are back in the library and have both OhioLINK deliveries and statewide delivery from Search Ohio's public libraries running.   We do have our curbside pickup operating as well as in-house pickup.
  
• Amazon has the paperback, Kindle, and audiobook available, and Bookshop.org has links to purchase the title from independent booksellers.

Our group is always finding interesting titles to share, and we look forward to the new things you'll bring to the table.  On January 19th, the members of the group also shared these titles to add to your reading/viewing lists:

• The Housekeeper and the Professor, Yoko Ogawa
• Revenge, Yoko Ogawa
• The Blue View, Rodney Muterspaw
• John Grisham's A Time for Mercy
• Steve Martin and Harry Bliss, A Wealth of Pigeons
• The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
• Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
• Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
• The Bookshop of Yesterdays, Amy Meyerson
• Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance
• Changing Places, David Lodge
• The Women of Copper Country, Mary Doria Russell
• The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
• The Bees, Laline Paull
• 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World, Elif Shafak
• The Lost Children Archive, Valeria Luiselli
• Untamed, Glennon Doyle
• The Hum and the Shiver, Alex Bledsoe
• The Dew Breaker, Edwidge Danticat
• Closed for Winter, Jorn Lier Horst
• An Orchestra of Minorities, Chigozie Obioma
• Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, Simon Winchester

We will meet at 12 pm on the 23rd in Zoom at 

Join Zoom Meeting https://miamioh.zoom.us/j/84716924335?pwd=SHFrTDI3MXVDbklTL1ArN01iak9wQT09 

  

You may also join by calling +1 929-205-6099‬

 

Add this event to your Google Calendar!  (which includes the Zoom and calling information)

Please come along to our discussion to share what you've been reading/watching/listening to/experiencing!

If you're looking for something interesting to read, check out our page of past and future reads at http://www.mid.miamioh.edu/library/bookdiscussion.htm

"adv Semiramis Hotel,Cairo 1938" by janwillemsen is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0  

Happy New Year and Welcome to Winter Term!

 

Winter is here and the Gardner-Harvey Library staff is ready to meet your needs for information for Winter Term and beyond!  Our service hours from Monday, January 4 through Sunday, January 24th will be:

• Mondays-Fridays - Building Open Hours 10AM - 2PM
• Monday-Thursday - Virtual services provided 8AM - 5PM
• Fridays - Virtual services provided 8AM - 5PM  

Be sure to contact us with any questions you have.  We can help you find articles, books, videos, and other materials that you need for class assignments, preparing materials for Spring Semester, or perhaps some recreational reading or viewing. 

The library building is available for you to use our computers and study rooms, all in a clean and physically distanced environment.  Be sure to wear your mask.

Here's wishing you a safe, healthy, and productive Winter Term!

The Gardner-Harvey Library staff