National Library Week: Right to Read Day

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National Library Week is April 23-29, 2023, a time celebrate our nation's libraries, library workers' contributions, and promote library use and support. This year's theme is There's More to the Story. Today is Right to Read Day, a call to action to fight back against censorship to defend, protect, and celebrate your right to read freely. The American Library Association has also released its most challenged books of 2022 as part of its State of American Libraries 2022 report [link to webpage

International Women's Day: #EmbraceEquity

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March 8 is International Women's Day (IWD). This year's theme is #EmbraceEquity to get the world talking about Why equal opportunities aren't enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action. Inclusion should be intersectional and is for all ages. We can all be allies to #EmbraceEquity. https://youtu.be/wPbOORwmFA0 (Wait, what does intersectionality have to do with IWD? All forms of inequality are mutually reinforcing and must therefore be

Celebrating OER Week at Durham Tech

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March 6-10 is Open Education Week! Open Educational Resources (OER) are high-quality educational materials that are available for free in the public domain and can be retained, reused, revised, remixed, and redistributed under Creative Commons licensing. These materials can be textbooks, research documents, or instructional tools, among other things. https://youtu.be/gLWTbIt8l3U Durham Tech has already awarded stipends for OER adoption to almost 20 instructors, and the OER Task Force is pleased

Durham Tech's Favorites for Black History Month

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It's nearing the end of Black History Month, so while our blog post topics may broaden, we'd like to leave you with some books by Black Americans that have made an impact on the Durham Tech community to read beyond just February because Black history is American history all year long. Keep reading for Durham Tech's favorite reads by Black American authors--fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, environmental justice, social justice, criminal justice, economics, fantasy, and finance--, and for a

Contemporary Black Activists and Advocates

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This week's Black History Month post highlights contemporary activist and advocates and their works, but also highlights some folks closer to home. North Carolina has a history of Black advocates and activists--in no particular chronological order--from Pauli Murray to Ann Atwater to James Shepard to Ella Baker to the Greensboro Four (Franklin McCain, Jibreel Khazan, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond) to Nina Simone to the Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II. Two time Durham university graduate

Black Wordsmiths: Black Musicians & Poets in the Durham Tech Library Collection

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This week's Black History Month post highlights Black creators in poetry and music, including pop, hip hop, rap, punk, and rock. This is only a small selection of our collection, so stop by and browse our digital collections from your own computer or stop in and browse our shelves. Updated 2/15/2023: Want some poetry bookmarks? Go to the end of the post! Interested in learning how to make your own music using only a laptop? Check out this awesome event through the Wake County Public Libraries

Black History is American History

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This week for Black History Month, we're highlighting the actual history of the month itself and resources available to work towards Dr. Woodson's goals when he envisioned a month highlighting Black contributions to American history. https://youtu.be/WMfWGc5kyBg Dr. Carter G. Woodson is the "father of Black History Month." Starting as a week in February in 1926 (selected as the same month as the birthday of Abraham Lincoln and the chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass) and expanded to a month by

Sitting at Home Waiting for Snow? Check Out Our Virtual Library Services

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Waiting for snow like sweet little Sumo Humphrey in his warm, ADORABLE winter jacket? Just taking virtual classes this semester? Good news is that you don't have to be on campus to take advantage of lots of Durham Tech Library resources and services! Keep reading for information about our virtual library services AND a bonus joyful dog video! (Click that Read more link!) While you can't do research on our PCs when we're closed, you're always able to access our databases from your home. Either

Celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day by Learning More

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In 2017, the state of North Carolina proclaimed the second Monday in October as Indigenous People's Day and in 2021, the president of the United States acknowledged Indigenous Peoples' Day for the first time with an official proclamation. What is Indigenous Peoples' Day? An alternative to Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples' Day is "a celebration ... to bring acknowledgment to the Native population" and remove the focus from Columbus, a man who caused great harm to Native populations. Instead, "It