by Lauren Wahman
The UCBA Library is featuring a selection of books highlighting the 2024 theme for Women’s History Month – Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Visit the Women’s History Month virtual featured books to view or stop by the UCBA Library during open hours to browse the full selection and check out an item with your UC ID.
UC Libraries’ RESPECT (Racial Equity Support Programming to Educate the Community Team) is hosting a book club featuring “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We can Prosper Together” by Heather McGhee starting in January ’24 with monthly online discussions concluding with in an in-person talk in April.
The first 50 people to request a book will receive a physical copy.
In “The Sum of Us:”McGhee embarks on a deeply personal journey across the country from Maine to Mississippi to California, tallying what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm—the idea that progress for some of us must come at the expense of others. Along the way, she meets white people who confide in her about losing their homes, their dreams, and their shot at better jobs to the toxic mix of American racism and greed. This is the story of how public goods in this country—from parks and pools to functioning schools—have become private luxuries; of how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, and inequality increased; and of how this country, unique among the world’s advanced economies, has thwarted universal healthcare.
Penguin random house
Beginning in January, the book club will meet via Zoom to discuss the text over a series of three Fridays from 10:00-11:00am, January 26, February 23 and March 22. These meetings will culminate in a final wrap-up discussion on Friday, April 5 in-person and facilitated by Sinclair Community College’s Chief Diversity Officer Michael Carter.
To sign up to participate and be sent more information, fill out this form. The first 50 people to request a book will receive a physical copy. Physical copies and ebook access are also available to check out through UC Libraries. For any additional questions, e-mail Nimisha Bhat at nimisha.bhat@uc.edu.
On display on the 4th floor lobby of the Walter C. Langsam Library, the Graphic Novels exhibit celebrates and promotes the variety of graphic novels available in the library. From traditional novel adaptations, biographies and autobiographies to Manga and comic books, graphic novels take on different forms and subjects and are enjoyed by people of all ages.
The Graphic Novels exhibit was designed and produced by Norah Jenkins, library communications co-op student.
Join UC Libraries and the University of Cincinnati Press for an unforgettable afternoon with Dr. Alvin H. Crawford, MD as he launches his new book “The Bone Doctor’s Concerto: Music, Surgery, and the Pieces in Between.”
Date: Tuesday, August 8, 2023
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Location: Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library | Stanley J. Lucas Board Room (MSB E005HA)
A buffet lunch will be provided. This event is free and open to all. RSVP is required.
The Book Launch is an in-person event, however, a Zoom link will be provided to maximize attendance and create a hybrid event for those interested. Please register to indicate your desire to attend in person or remotely.
The story of one of Cincinnati’s most influential leaders in medicine.
Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1939, Dr. Alvin Crawford grew up and attended medical school in a segregated world. Beginning with his early life in Orange Mound—a self-contained community for freed slaves established in the 1890s—Crawford’s autobiography describes his flirtation with a music degree and time spent playing in jazz bands through the segregated South. In 1960, Crawford began his ground-breaking medical career with his entrance into the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, becoming the school’s first African American student. After completing his medical training and traveling the world as a surgeon for the Navy, Crawford found himself in Cincinnati, where he established the Comprehensive Pediatric Orthopedic Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, the first in the region.
Underlying this story are the systemic and very personal incidents of racism Crawford experienced throughout his career. His autobiography is a personal account of segregation, integration, ambition, hard work and taking risks. “The Bone Doctor’s Concerto” is published by the University of Cincinnati Press.
Alvin Crawford is professor emeritus in the UC College of Medicine Department of Orthopaedic Surgery with more than 35 years of clinical experience in diagnosis and treatment in orthopedics. He is the recently retired founding director of the Crawford Spine Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center and a renowned expert in spinal deformities and neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder often associated with scoliosis. He is the first Black president of the Scoliosis Research Society and has been recognized in “America’s Best Doctors” since 1996.
And be sure to check out…
The Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons traveling exhibit hosted by UC Libraries and the US National Library of Medicine.
Where: Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library | E-Level Exhibit Gallery
July 17, 2023 – Aug 11, 2023
The University of Cincinnati Libraries Racial Equity Support & Programming to Educate the Community Team (RESPECT) and the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library are hosting a book discussion and Lunch and Learn with Sowande’ M. Mustakeem, author of “Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage” on Thursday, Feb. 23 from 12:30-2pm in the Health Sciences Library’s Stanley J. Lucas M.D. Boardroom (E005HA). Register to attend the Lunch and Learn.
RESPECT has purchased 20 copies of “Slavery at Sea” to give away free to the first 20 individuals who request a copy via the form.
UC Libraries has acquired unlimited e-book access to “Slavery at Sea” for those wishing to read the book online. It can be accessed via the Library Catalog.
RESPECT will sponsor weekly opportunities to discuss “Slavery at Sea.” These discussions will take place virtually via Zoom and will be held Thursday, February 2nd, 9th and 16th from 11am – noon. Register to attend one or more of the sessions.
RESPECT’s “Slavery and Sea” book discussions and Lunch and Learn are part of a larger Un-Common Read event being held throughout the university in celebration of Black History Month.
April is National Arab American Heritage Month. Below is a list of library resources for further exploration of Arab cultural and history.
UC librarians Olga Hart and Sally Moffitt created two research guides with links to information related to the Arab world. The Arabic Languages and Cultures guide provides an overview of Arabic language, literature and culture resources at the University of Cincinnati. The Middle Eastern Studies guide offers suggestions for conducting cross-disciplinary research into the history, politics, culture and social structures in the modern Middle East. The guide focuses on the Middle East after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War. With the exception of Egypt, North Africa is included only when that region is part of a more comprehensive survey of the Muslim Mediterranean world. Continue reading
Join Greg Hand online 5:00 p.m., Sunday, April 18 as he interviews Michael Griffith, UC professor of English, about his new book, The Speaking Stone: Stories Cemeteries Tell, published by the University of Cincinnati Press.
While working on a novel, author and longtime Cincinnati resident Michael Griffith starts visiting Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum. Soon he’s taking almost daily jaunts, following curiosity and accident wherever they lead. The result is this fascinating collection of essays. Rather than sticking to the cemetery’s most famous, or infamous, graves, Griffith stays true to the principle of ramble and incidental discovery. To purchase the book.
Michael Griffith
About the author: Michael Griffith is the author of the novels Trophy and Spikes and the story collection Bibliophilia. He is professor of English at the University of Cincinnati College of Arts and Sciences.
Register by Friday, April 16.
Celebrate books good enough to eat at the International Edible Books Festival to be held online April 5-9.
At the event, over 30 participants will present their edible creations that represent a book in some form. There are few restrictions in creating an edible book – namely that the creation be edible and have something to do with a book. Submitted entries include such edible titles as “Coffee,” “LuLu’s Giraffe Bakery,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Donut Feed the Squirrels.” Best sellers “Lord of the Rings,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Catch-22” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray” are represented along with children’s books like “Super Fudge,” “Hair Love,” “Rainbow Fish,” “Little Blue Truck Leads the Way” and “Madeline,” among other literary greats.
Rather than gathering at a designated time and place, this year’s Edible Books Festival will take place the week of April 5-9. Each day, a few edible book entries will be showcased on the Libraries Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram feeds. As in previous years, entries will be judged according to such categories as “Most Delicious,” “Most Creative,” “Most Checked Out.” At the end of the week, the entries that receive the most likes will be crowned “Top Student Entry” and “Best Overall Entry.”
According to the International Edible Book Festival website, the edible book was initiated by librarian and artist Judith A. Hoffberg during a 1999 Thanksgiving celebration with book artists. It became an international celebration in 2000 when artist Béatrice Coron launched the Books2Eat website. Traditionally, the event is celebrated on April 1st (April Fools’ Day) to mark the birthday of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), a French lawyer and politician who became famous for his book, Physiologie du gout (The Physiology of Taste).
Visit the UCBA Library to browse a selection of print books about the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Be sure to also visit the Hispanic Heritage Month Display online guide.
by Christian Boyles
On Wed, December 5, from 6:00 – 8:00 pm, the Mercantile Library will host Celebrating the University of Cincinnati Bicentennial, featuring David Stradling and Greg Hand who will speak about their books published recently by the University of Cincinnati Press. In Service to the City: A History of the University of Cincinnati, is a comprehensive history by Professor David Stradling. Its companion volume, edited by Greg Hand, From the Temple of Zeus to the Hyperloop: University of Cincinnati Stories, is an anthology that complements and enriches Stradling’s book by demonstrating the UC experience.
The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required at https://mercantilelibrary.com/calendar/celebrating-the-university-of-cincinnati-bicentennial/
More about the books:
In Service to the City: A History of the University of Cincinnati is a scholarly history by David Stradling, who holds the Zane Miller Chair in Urban History at UC. Stradling is a noted author of urban history, author of Making Mountains: New York City and the Catskills (University of Washington Press, 2007), The Nature of New York: An Environmental History of the Empire State (Cornell University Press, 2010) and Where the River Burned: Carl Stokes and the Struggle to Save Cleveland (Cornell University Press, 2015). Stradling’s book focuses on the evolving relationship between the University of Cincinnati and the City of Cincinnati and how these two entities influenced one another.
A companion volume, edited by Greg Hand, From the Temple of Zeus to the Hyperloop: University of Cincinnati Stories, is an anthology of 35 chapters that complements and enriches Professor Stradling’s book by demonstrating the breadth and diversity of the UC experience. Authors for this volume include Sarah Jessica Parker, former Governor Bob Taft, faculty, alumni, and current students. Most contributions are in the form of personal essays, but there is a play and a poem as well.