What We're Reading Online for Black History Month
The Durham Tech Library is a member of the Dogwood Digital Library, a collection of online ebooks and audiobooks through the Overdrive/Libby app. Durham Tech faculty, staff, and students can check out books using their Durham Tech username and password, just like they can access databases off-campus. Ebooks and audiobooks check out for 21 days and can be read on your phone, tablet, or computer.
Check out some of our staff recommendations that celebrate Black authors and experiences for Black History Month.
Recommended by Charles Farrow, Main Campus Library Technician: "Dr. King's last book is just as important today as it was when he wrote it in the 1960s and feels prophetic in our current times." Available in print on campus.
Available through Dogwood Digital Library
Recommended by Meredith Lewis, OCC Librarian:
"I loved her first novel The Talented Ribkins, and Hubbard's latest novel is just as good, exploring trauma, autonomy, and racism through two pretty bonkers intertwined storylines." The Talented Ribkins (a road trip novel about family, also slightly bonkers) is available on campus. The two stories are related.
Available through Dogwood Digital Library
Recommended by Rachel Smith, NDC Librarian. For readers of Delia Owens' Where the Crawdads Sing and Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, this extraordinary historical debut novel follows three fierce Southern women in an unforgettable story of motherhood and womanhood.
Available through Dogwood Digital Library
Recommended by Julie Humphrey, Library Director:
"It’s incredibly powerful, and I really admire Bryan Stevenson’s dedication and commitment to defend poor, marginalized, wrongly condemned, and mentally ill citizens incarcerated in our criminal justice system." Available in print on campus.
Available as an audiobook through Dogwood Digital Library. Also check out her What We're Reading book review.
Recommended by Courtney Bippley, Main Campus Librarian: "As a lover of behind-the-scenes content and food in general, this book checked several boxes for me. It weaves interesting historical anecdotes with broader social contexts and well-researched information about the African Americans who have worked in the White House throughout American history. It also counts as a microhistory for the Read Great Things Challenge!"
Available as an audiobook through Dogwood Digital Library
Ibram X. Kendi's Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racism in America was recommended by Tracey Callison, Main Campus Librarian: "A deep and thoughtful look at the history of racist thoughts and systems in our country that really illuminated just how baked-in racism is in the American ideals and foundations." Print copies are available on campus.
The abridged-in-content-not-in-impact collaborative version Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi is available as an [excellent] audiobook through Dogwood Digital Library
There are lots of other ebook and audiobooks to check out through Dogwood Digital. Feel free to download the Libby app and explore!
Did you know the Library has both an Instagram and a Facebook account? Follow us for announcements, book recs, and both Library and Durham Tech-related news.
The Library also has a podcast. Out Loud in the Library, hosted by Courtney Bippley, interviews faculty, staff, and students around Durham Tech about programs, services, and their goals. Subscribe at Podbean or on any podcaster service.