Celebrated International Classics: African Literature, Mariama Bâ

Bienvenu! To the trained eye, you’ve already deciphered the romanticized language of French. Très bon! Sharing such aptitude, it is also my assumption that you’re well aware that French is the official/co-official language of twenty-nine countries worldwide. Included amongst the twenty-nine is the proud republic of Senegal located in western Africa. This country marks the next destination of our grand literature expedition across the world where we will revel in the literary arts by acclaimed author Mariama Bâ. Bâ (1929…

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The First Step: Celebrating Black History Month

Yesterday marked the first official day of Black History Month! This celebration, which began thanks to Carter G. Woodson’s Negro History Week in 1926, has been celebrated as a month-long event since 1976 (making this the 45th year)! Through the years this celebration has taken on a number of themes, including: The Crisis in Black Education, African Americans in Times of War, Black Migrations, African Americans and the Vote, and The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity (2021 theme). On the TAMUCC campus, however, our overarching focus…

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25 New Popular Reading Titles!

Hey all, Punk A** Book Jockey Alexa here. You may have noticed if you’ve been able to visit the library despite pandemic times, that there haven’t been any new items in our Popular Reading section for a while. Due to shutdowns both here in the library and from our dear book provider, we were on a hiatus from ordering new titles for a while. It was a sad, long dry spell. The good news? We have a ton of new titles coming…

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Popular Reading Book Reviews

Enjoy these Popular Reading book reviews provided by one of our amazing Circulation Student Assistants, Samantha Caudillo. Title: Circe Author: Madeline Miller Born to Helios, the god of the sun, Circe grows up as nothing but a weak sea nymph. Being a powerless girl among gods does not bode well. She is rejected by all, including her family. She turns to the world of man for acceptance and comfort; through this she finds a great power within her, the power…

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Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books

Recently, Time Magazine published a listicle of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time. Admittedly, I have not read all 100, I would estimate I’ve read maybe a quarter. I also am not sure that I agree with some that I’ve read that are listed, but I’m not a famous author so they didn’t ask me my opinion. (The panelists included Tomi Adeyemi, Diana Gabaldon, Neil Gaiman, Marlon James, and George R. R. Martin, to name a few). The oldest…

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Building with Books: The Holiday Edition

Libraries like to celebrate the holidays, too! Here are some festive displays from libraries that incorporate books and evoke the holiday spirit.First, we have some pretty cool snowpeople shared in the thumbnail of this post! From left to right:Sonja Shulz, a high school librarian in Texas, built this great snowmanFrom Gina Sheridan’s blog, “I Work at a Public Library”Courtesy of Irwin Library at Butler University, here’s another snowman built on a base made of reams of paper and sporting a top hat…

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Popular Reading Titles for Native American Heritage Month

November. No not the song Andy Dwyer wrote for April Ludgate. If you haven’t noticed from my signature, I’m kind of a huge fan of the tv show Parks and Recreation. Speaking of Parks and Rec, I’ve been thinking about this show a lot in recent times. You might have seen the meme where Leslie Knope meets then-Vice-President Biden. But now that the election is over, we can focus on the other things that November is known for: Veterans Day,…

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Weight and Weightless: A Pop-up Exhibition

The COVID-19 Pandemic has made some changes to our gallery schedule and we’ve missed hosting a few of our traditional exhibits. We are excited to share some new discoveries as we explore opportunities to showcase the amazing creativity of our Islanders! Our most recent pop-up exhibition includes sculpture pieces from the foundations courses taught by Leticia Bajuyo and David Hill. Each assignment had unique requirements that lead to the pieces we saw in the show. Students in Professor Bajuyo’s course…

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Celebrating National Native American Heritage Month

The month of November is designated as National Native American Heritage Month. We honor the rich and diverse traditions of Native groups and recognize their significant contributions to the history, culture, and growth of our country. While it is important to acknowledge their accomplishments, it is also equally important to raise awareness about the unique challenges they have faced and continue to face. One way that Native Americans have voiced their experiences and disparities is through writing and film.  …

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A Game is “the” Foot: Mystery Popular Reads for Halloween

Ok, so this year is a bit different than most…you know, just a bit…but the calendar days keep ticking by and for the most part we keep moving along with them. We’re now fast approaching what I consider to be the holiday season. While I know “holiday season” tends to be synonymous with winter-centric celebrations, to me it starts October 31st and continues until January 1st. We have our Halloween fun, before we know it it’s turkey time (aka Thanksgiving), then…

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