Books & More – Page 3 – Mary and Jeff Bell Library Blog

Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with Popular Reads!

Post author:Trisha Hernandez
Post published:April 27, 2021
Post category:Books & More Things to Do Today's Special

Last Monday, April 19th, the TAMU-CC campus kicked off Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month for 2021!! The campus celebration continues until Finals Week begins (May 6th), but the heritage month itself runs throughout the entire stretch of May. In 1977, five joint resolutions were introduced during the 95th Congressional meeting suggesting identification of a week in May to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). On October 5, 1978, this joint resolution was passed proposing the President proclaims…

Blucher Family Stories

Post author:Eric Christensen
Post published:April 23, 2021
Post category:Behind the Scenes Books & More Today's Special

There were not a lot of reasons to celebrate in 2020 (except maybe on New Year’s Eve), but the Special Collections & Archives Department at the Mary and Jeff Bell Library got one extraordinary piece of good news as Autumn approached: We were awarded a $25,000 grant to process our Charles F. H. von Blucher Family Papers collection. With our graduate assistant Andrew Karnes working exclusively on processing this priceless collection of three generations of Blucher family papers, many previously…

March is Women’s History Month: Read some Popular Books by Women!

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:March 16, 2021
Post category:Books & More Today's Special

Hi all! Punk A** Book Jockey Alexa here to remind you that March is Women’s History Month! My favorite way to celebrate things, reading! Here are a few titles by some awesome women that I recommend checking out. Also, check out this guide on Women’s History: https://guides.library.tamucc.edu/womenshistory Afia Atakora: Conjure Women. “Conjure Women is a sweeping story that brings the world of the South before and after the Civil War vividly to life. Spanning eras and generations, it tells of the lives…

Open Education Week 2021: Open Educational Resources in the Age of COVID

Post author:Lisa Louis
Post published:March 2, 2021
Post category:Books & More Library Hacks Service for You

I’ve been talking for a while on this blog about open education and how it can lower costs for students while at the same time bring new, invigorating practices to the classroom. But when the pandemic hit last year, open educational resources (OER) became a solution to a problem that was now more urgent than ever before. As a result of the pandemic, many students have been struggling financially. Access to physical books -- for example, reserves in the library which before the pandemic had been one strategy students could use to lower textbook costs -- were disrupted. Supply chains…

The von Bluchers of Corpus Christi

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:February 26, 2021
Post category:Books & More Today's Special

In August of 2020 Bell Library, Special Collections and Archives was awarded funds made possible by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission’s Tex Treasures grant for fiscal year 2020-2021 (Grant # TXT-21011). The funds were to cover the employment of a graduate student to help process the Charles F.H. von Blucher Family papers. It is a rewarding experience to be organizing these papers. Working with Andrew Karnes, Graduate Assistant, we…

American poet Amanda Gorman reads a poem during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)

The Strength of the Spoken Word: Poetry in Our Popular Reading Collection

Post author:Trisha Hernandez
Post published:February 16, 2021
Post category:Books & More Today's Special

When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid.The new dawn blooms as we free it.For there is always light,if only we’re brave enough to see it.If only we’re brave enough to be it. – “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman Stepping up to the microphone, Amanda Gorman, the nation’s first youth poet laureate, stood as a shining beacon of our future during the January 20th inauguration of President Joe Biden. She stirred the nation as she delivered…

Celebrated International Classics: African Literature, Mariama Bâ

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:February 5, 2021
Post category:Books & More Things to Do Today's Special

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…

The First Step: Celebrating Black History Month

Post author:Trisha Hernandez
Post published:February 2, 2021
Post category:Books & More Things to Do Today's Special

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…

25 New Popular Reading Titles!

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:January 19, 2021
Post category:Books & More Service for You Things to Do Today's Special

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…