It has been a challenging year for the residents of Planet Earth. We’ve all had to make adjustments to nearly every facet of our lives. The United States has been at war with itself over its past and for its future. Undeniable fundamental and systemic racism is being laid bare, and it is an unfortunate part of our culture that we will continue to have to confront and correct. An example of it sits in our own Special Collections Archive…
I am excited to share with the Island Community that Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi recently joined forces with 26 other universities from across Texas to form the Texas Library Coalition for United Action (TLCUA). Unified fronts such as this provide greater leverage when negotiating with publishers who often hold all of the cards. Similar to action taken by the University of California System and MIT, Texas as a state is acting together to push back against unsustainable business models that…
As a graduate student, budgeting is a huge part of my daily routine. From shopping online for the cheapest textbooks, to buying clothes from secondhand stores. One of the ways I help stretch my money and eat reasonably well is through meal prepping. Meal prepping is a great way to resist the temptation of eating out. Here are a few tips and thoughts I have gained over the last two years of meal prepping. What and How-to Meal Prep So,…
Hey, y’all! Punk a** book jockey here, writing today to talk to you about our Popular Reading Collection! Back at the end of 2017, a friend of mine and I decided that we would challenge ourselves in 2018 by reading books mostly by women, specifically women of color. We did not originate this idea. I cannot remember where we found this idea, and now, there are various of blogs and lists of books supporting this idea. One reason to read books by people who don’t look like…
If you’re watching the news or any live tv show, you’ve probably noticed that folks like to have a bookshelf in their background. It makes them look cultured, literate, or sometimes downright scary (C’mon Betsy, what’s going on over there?). Some folks on twitter and in the New York Times have taken up sleuthing through the images to see if they can identify any of the books and thus learn glean a fuller picture of the books’ owners. Since I was at my…
Going back in time to the very beginning of combat service in 1943, Arturo P. Martinez and his flight crew arrived at their home base in Gioia, Italy. They received a warm welcome by the Squadron Commander on the first day. The Commander gave the new flight crew a pep talk. He reassured them that combat missions were not too bad, at least not as dangerous as soldiers in foxholes. The next day, Arturo’s crew was split up, and they…
For most of us, the library was a place to “get it done.” It created an environment for the sole purpose to improve studying and it had resources in one convenient place to do so. For me, these past few weeks transitioning to online learning have been difficult. So, I listed a few tips that have helped me adjust and may help you all as well. CLEAN YOUR ROOM I cannot stress this step enough. Studying at home means you’re…
Like everyone else, I’ve found myself spending a lot more time at home and although I’ve partaken in zoom birthday parties, Netflix binging, etc., I’ve also tried to spend time away from screens, especially since all meetings now take place via a computer screen. I have by no means broke any records of books read, but I’ve read some good things from the Library’s Popular Reading Collection: Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi. This book is the second in a…