Category Archives: Book Displays

October Book Displays

November 10, 2010Book Displays, Mid-Valley Campus, Our Collections, Pecan CampusElizabeth Hollenbeck

October Library Displays for Pecan were up all last month. If you did not taken a look at the displays, you can see them through the pictures below. For the month of October, we have had many wonderful displays such as Domestic Violence Awareness, Breast Cancer Awareness, Hispanic Heritage Month, AND many more. We teamed with the Library Art Gallery for the Breast Cancer Awareness Display.

The Library Art Gallery showcased artistic bras on all five campus libraries. It is impossible to miss these displays because they all catch your attention immediately once you have stepped into any of STC’s libraries. To find out more about the student decorated bra’s for Breast Cancer Awareness Month go the STC News Story: http://news.southtexascollege.edu/?p=2968.

The Domestic Violence Awareness & National Depression Awareness displays also provide the public with free brochures on how you can receive help or if you simply want to inform yourself about these topics.

Special thanks to the STC’s counseling center for providing the free brochures for National Depression Month. Visit their website at http://studentservices.southtexascollege.edu/counseling/.

Breast Cancer Awareness Display at MidValley:

Hispanic Heritage Month Display at Pecan:

David Adickes book display at Pecan:

Contributed by Amy Gowarty, Library Specialist, and the STC Libraries Displays’ Committee.

Staff Picks for Hispanic Heritage Month

October 5, 2010Book Displays, Our CollectionsElizabeth Hollenbeck

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, Off the Shelf revisits book picks from our Reference Librarian and History Instructor, Joshua Wallace that reflect books of interest relating to the border. Click on the book covers to check for availability.

What has Mr. Wallace said about these books?

Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados: Class and Culture on the South Texas Border

“This easy-to-read and interesting book offers an excellent introduction to life in the Rio Grande Valley. Using touching personal stories and statistical data gathered from numerous interviews and surveys; the author paints a detailed picture of society in Deep South Texas.”

Click here to check for the full review of Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados.

The Spanish Borderlands Frontier, 1513 – 1821

“Popular culture often portrays the story of American expansion in the West as one in which Anglo-American pioneers tamed an unknown wilderness. This is an exaggeration at best, especially in the American Southwest, as this area had long been settled by the Spanish. These early Spanish explorers and settlers left a lasting impact that affects us today; especially in regards to language, culture, religion and even place names.”

Click here to check for the full review of The Spanish Borderlands Frontier.

The Lost Cause: The Confederate Exodus to Mexico

“The primary focus of this book is the journey of General Joseph Shelby who led the largest group of ex-Confederate soldiers into Mexico. These immigrants established small colonies near Vera Cruz. There they attempted to set up a profitable farming community. However, they did not succeed…Today nothing remains of the towns they established.”

Click here to check for the full review of The Lost Cause.

Also, see our display for Hispanic Heritage Month below, or click here if you are having trouble seeing the pictures (http://www.flickr.com/photos/25558986@N04/sets/72157625103635416/show/):

Celebrate Banned Books Week at STC

September 29, 2010Book Displays, Mid-Valley Campus, Our Collections, Pecan CampusElizabeth Hollenbeck

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

At the MidValley and Pecan campus libraries, displays are up showing books that have been banned in the past. In addition, the Pecan campus library will be showing the movie Salt of the Earth, an American classic film, but at the time time of it’s release, the movie had a lot of trouble getting released. The movie will be shown on Sept. 29 at 12pm at F-102.

Enjoy the displays below:

Display at Pecan Library

Display at MidValley Library

To find out more about Banned Books, please visit ALA’s website: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/

Contributed by Patricia Saenz Library Technician at MidValley and Esther Garcia, Library Specialist at Pecan.

Update Your Resume Month Display

September 22, 2010Book Displays, Our CollectionsElizabeth Hollenbeck

September is “Update your resume month.” If it has been more than a year since you have glanced at your resume, this month is the time to revise it. This Library display has a great selection of books that will help you revise any type of resume.

In case you need further help updating your resume visit the Job Placement Center in Building H—Student Activities, Rm. 105 or call them at (956) 872-6424. The Resume Review & Revising Service at the Job Placement Center allows you to have your resume revised by professional staff. As for the fashion show, they are expecting to hold it in Building H, mid November.

Contributed by Amy Gowarty and Sara Martinez, Library Specialists at the Pecan Campus Library.

Staff Pick: Navigating Your Freshman Year

September 8, 2010Book Displays, Mid-Valley Campus, Our CollectionsElizabeth Hollenbeck

Lombardo, Allison, and Katharine Jackson, eds. Navigating Your Freshman Year. New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press, 2005. Print.

In the Fall 2009 semester alone, South Texas College experienced a 23% increase in enrollment. As the Fall 2010 semester quickly approaches, we can only imagine how many first-time college students will be looking to STC for their educational needs. How many of these students will enter college as wide-eyed freshmen only to be overwhelmed by seemingly insurmountable reading assignments, research papers, and tests? Countless freshmen have entered college unaware of the strategies and skills needed to survive their first year.

Fortunately, in addition to the extremely helpful College Success course taught at STC, our campus libraries house a number of books that focus on the skills needed to be successful in a college environment. One such book, Navigating Your Freshman Year, consists only of “brutally honest advice, ideas, and personal stories” contributed by college students all over the country. While certain chapters of the books may not be relevant to the average STC student (the first 3 chapters consist mostly of stories about homesickness and “roommate hell”), there are many ideas and lessons worth reading. Some of the best stories and advice are about learning to study, prioritize, and remain relatively stress-free, but there are dozens more about dating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Most of these suggestions are not groundbreaking, but this guide packages them in a way that is both realistic and humorous. Navigating Your Freshman Year is well-rounded and caters to the average student who seeks good grades and an active social life.

Contributed by Jessica Cruz, Library Specialist at the Mid-Valley Campus.

Men’s Health Month Display

July 15, 2010Book Displays, Our CollectionsElizabeth Hollenbeck

Celebrate Men’s Health Month all summer long with books from this display:

Contributed by Amy Gowarty from the Pecan Campus Library.

Summer Displays

July 15, 2010Book Displays, Our Collections, Pecan CampusElizabeth Hollenbeck

Due to Hurricane Alex, the Displays committee has extended June’s displays until the end of July. This will give students, faculty, staff, and patrons an opportunity to view books about how to improve their communication skills such as public speaking, interpersonal, organizational, small group, persuasion etc.

We also have a library display up about Men’s Health. The books for this specific display will help men who are dealing with physical, mental issues, and taboo topics that society rarely talks about. These books allow our STC campus and community to become aware of struggles men deal with on a day-to-day basis and a look at how to solve those issues.

In addition, committee members put up three additional displays that celebrated LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered) Month, Ceramics, and Hurricane Awareness Month. Check them out.

If you would like the library to add any books to any of these displays, let us know! Enjoy!

Check out our slideshow here:

Contributed by Amy Gowarty from the Pecan Campus Library.

Celebrate 100 years of Glacier National Park with these videos and E-Books

May 14, 2010Book Displays, Our CollectionsElizabeth Hollenbeck

Glacier National Park marks its 100th anniversary this month. To celebrate our national parks and kick off the summer travel season check out Ken Burn’s National Parks, available at the STC Library. Also, in honor of the centennial Gale offers you free access to three eBooks through June 6th.

Check out The Rough Guide to the USA and the Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America for information on the parks and surrounding areas.
And all the information you’ll need to make a reservation at any National Park in the US is available in the United States Government Internet Manual.

Preview the video here.

Access the ebooks here.

Happy 40th Anniversary, Aztlán Journal

May 7, 2010Book Displays, Our Collections, Pecan CampusElizabeth Hollenbeck

Happy 40th Anniversary, Aztlán Journal!

The South Texas College Library congratulates Aztlán: Journal of Chicano Studies on forty great years. To commemorate, the Pecan Campus library created the display shown below.

Library Journal says about Aztlán: “this esteemed journal of record is essential for virtually all academic libraries.”

To find out more about the Mexican-American Studies Program at South Texas College visit the website, or take a look at the classes offered.

Contributed by Esther Garcia, Library Specialist at the Pecan Campus.

Virtual Book Display for Women’s History Month

March 24, 2010Book Displays, Our CollectionsWomen's History MonthElizabeth Hollenbeck

If you aren’t able to get to the library, check out these e-books, or electronic books.

Critical condition: feminism at the turn of the century by S. Gubar (check for availability)

The reader’s companion to U.S. women’s history by W.P. Mankiller (check for availability)

Waking Sleeping Beauty: feminist voices in children’s novels by R.S. Trites (check for availability)

Women, class, and education by J. Thompson(check for availability)

Reading rape: the rhetoric of sexual violence in American literature and culture, 1790-1990 by S. Sielke (check for availability)

A leisure of one’s own: a feminist perspective on women’s leisure by K. Henderson (check for availability)

Spinsters and lesbians: independent womanhood in the United States by T. Franzen (check for availability)

Feminism and world religions by A. Sharma (check for availability)

Women in the Chinese enlightenment: oral and textual histories by Z. Wang (check for availability)

Gender on campus: issues for college women by S. Gmelch (check for availability)

Contributed by Amy Gowarty, Library Specialist at the Pecan Campus.