What Comes Next: A recap

Posted on June 8, 2022 by Kaitlyn Semborski

As summer draws near, another season of Temple Libraries’ programming has come to an end. Take a look back with us on some of what we offered and watch any of our programs online.

The highlights

The season began with a charge: help stop the cycle of menstrual inequity. In partnership with the Office of Sustainability, we hosted a distinguished panel of speakers who shared their thoughts about the issue. Amani Reid and Nayanka Paul, Temple alumni and representatives from Bloody Btches; Caroline Burkholder from Temple University’s Office of Sustainability; Brittany Robinson from Temple’s Wellness Resource Center; and Dr. Jeni Stolow from the College of Public Health discussed the stigma associated with persons who are menstruating and how to create more welcoming environments. Want to learn more? Dr. Stolow was interviewed in Temple Now about the harm of not talking openly about your period.

In our Chat in the Stacks series, Philly DA Larry Krasner spoke candidly in an interview with Tara N. Tripp, assistant professor in Temple’s Department of Criminal Justice, about the road to reform. Rather read a recap than watch the recording? Check out this coverage by The Temple News. This program series is in collaboration with the Faculty Senate Committee on the Status of Faculty of Color.

From there, we moved to a conversation about the future of local and national journalism, moderated by Klein College Dean David Boardman, who spoke with Tracy Davidson of NBC10, Gabriel Escobar of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Cherri Gregg of WHYY, and Aron Pilhofer of Klein College of Media and Communication. This program was part of our McLean Contributionship Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Endowed Lecture Series at Temple University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center.

Clockwise from top left: David Boardman, photo courtesy Temple University; Tracy Davidson, photo courtesy NBC10 News; Gabriel Escobar, photo by Jessica Griffin, *The Philadelphia Inquirer*; Cherri Gregg, photo courtesy WHYY; Aron Pilhofer, photo by Alessio Jacona, “The Whole Picture”

Also on Zoom, the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection hosted a variety of programs, including a two-day celebration of Harriet Tubman’s 200th birthday anniversary. Both day 1 and day 2 are available to view. This year, the beloved Bootsie Barnes Jazz Series featured the Alfie Pollitt Quartet and included a special tribute to former WRTI host Harrison Ridley, Jr.

The Afrofuturism symposium brought scholars, artists, and other practitioners together in person to share their work as it relates to the Afrofuturist aesthetic and Black digital humanities practices and to speculate about the future of cultural heritage preservation. Parts 1 through 7 are available to view.

Afrofuturism symposium photos by Heidi Roland Photography

Exhibits and more

One of our featured exhibits took place in the Charles Library exhibit space. SCRC Staff Picks: What’s Great, New, and Next? highlighted purchases and donations from individuals and organizations that represent collecting strengths, caught staff’s fancy, have already been used for research and instruction—or could provide the ‘next’ research project for a fortunate user. Find out some of what staff had to say in this Temple Now article.

There were also myriad book club meetings, author talks, and other performances and conversations that took place over this busy semester!

Photos by Joseph V. Labolito for Temple University

This past spring, our programs reached an audience of more than 660 attendees. If you were one of those attendees, or a speaker, or a supporter in any way, THANK YOU! We couldn’t do what we do without you.

Stay in touch

Have an idea for a future program or are interested in staying connected to see what we have in store for the fall? Connect with us @TempleLibraries on Twitter and Facebook and @tulibraries on Instagram

Upcoming Public Programs: Coltrane-Inspired Pop Up Musical Concert; Talk with Artist Rachel Sussman

Posted on September 20, 2016 by

Join us this fall for our Beyond the Page public programming series. All year long, we’re collaborating with academic, community, and artistic partners to bring you lectures, panels, exhibitions, concerts, and events to inspire and engage you. We’re excited to share details about two upcoming programs:

Coltrane Festival at the Bell Tower, September 21

Stop by the Bell Tower outside Paley Library this Wednesday, September 21, between 3:00–7:00 PM and enjoy the sounds of John Coltrane. This pop up musical concert is organized by Terell Stafford, director of jazz studies and chair of instrumental studies at Boyer College of Music and Dance, with performances by Boyer students. Part of the city-wide Coltrane at 90 Celebration, this program also falls under our Music of the Great Migration series, organized by Temple University Libraries, the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, the Philadelphia Jazz Project, Ars Nova Workshop, Scribe Video Center, and the Boyer College of Music and Dance.

A Conversation with Rachel Sussman, September 27
Next week, artist Rachel Sussman stops by Temple Contemporary at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, September 27 to discuss her practice. Sussman’s’s current research centers around our changing climate and offers a global perspective on the interrelationship between geologic time and contemporary efforts of building an environmentally sustainable future. Join us for more programs in our Seeing Stories: Visualizing Sustainable Citizenship series, co-curated by Temple Contemporary and the Office of Sustainability, along with faculty and graduate students from the Tyler School of Art, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Center for the Cinematic and Performing Arts..

Check out our full schedule of lectures, concerts, exhibits, panels, and more. As always, programs are free and open to all. Hope to see you soon!

Celebrate GLBT Book Month this June

Posted on June 2, 2016 by

Looking to do some summer reading? June is GLBT Book Month, and we can help you celebrate. Sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA), this annual initiative recognizes authors and writing that reflect the lives and experiences of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities.

Check out the 2016 Over the Rainbow Project book list from the GLBT Round Table of the ALA. This comprehensive list includes annotated bibliographies for each of this year’s 68 winning titles. The list is also helpfully divided into categories—including a top ten list, art/photography, fiction, graphic narrative, nonfiction, biography/memoir, essays, and poetry—so you can easily browse the genres that interest you most.

Happy reading!

Paley Library to Host Finals Week Activities

Posted on April 20, 2016 by

Temple University Libraries is here to help you study, relax, and refuel during the stressful end of the semester rush. Join us at Paley Library for our Crunch Time Café, a series of events during study days and final exams that includes free food, activities, and therapy dogs. All events will take place in the Paley Library Lecture Hall, 1210 Polett Walk, Ground Floor. See the full schedule below!

CRUNCH TIME CAFÉ

Rise & Shine
Tuesday, April 26, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Join us the first day of study days for breakfast treats and coffee to start your studying off right.

Fun & Games
Wednesday, April 27, 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Take a break from studying by unwinding with games, puzzles, and more the night before final exams begin.

Arts & Crafts
Thursday, April 28, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Release your creativity and your stress with a variety of arts and crafts projects during the first day of exams.

Destress with Dogs
Friday, April 29, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Monday, May 2, 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Tuesday, May 3, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
As exams are in full swing, can you imagine anything better than taking a break with cuddly, sweet therapy dogs? Neither can we! Stop by to hang out and destress with some furry friends.

The End is Near!
Tuesday, May 3, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
You are so close! Join us one last time for caffeine, treats, and healthful snacks to help you power through to the end of exams and propel you toward a much needed summer break.

AND TO MAKE YOUR STUDYING EASIER

Secure Your Study Space
Don’t be left without a study spot! Book your study space ahead of time at paleystudy.temple.edu.

24/7 Hours
We’re open 24/7 at Paley April 22 – May 3.

Library Games: Behind the Scenes with the Diamond Eye Conspiracy

Posted on April 18, 2016 by

Beginning this Thursday, April 21, Temple University Libraries’ Beyond the Page public programming series presents a hybrid live performance and interactive game experience, right in Temple’s Paley Library. Developed by three local artists—Joe Ahmed, Arianna Gass, and Daniel Park—and in collaboration with Drexel University’s Entrepreneurial Game Studio, this hybrid work integrates elements of game design, physical theater, and dance and will have you looking at the library through different “eyes.”

The piece takes place in and around the library itself, and brings together theater and games in an active, public space. Daniel, one of the collaborators, finds the potential impacts of public play very exciting. “We get to examine the socially constructed rules that we’ve put on spaces, break them down, and decide which ones still feel important, and which ones are just silly. It’s especially great in Paley because while the ‘audience’ (meaning everyone else in the library) may not know what’s going on, they know there’s something weird, and it piques their interest, it gets them curious,” he says.

The creative team started the planning process last fall, and have been working on the project steadily since. Research helped them to “find artistic inspiration from the space the library, the library’s history, and Temple’s history,” according to Daniel. Consequently, Joseph Conwell’s “Acres of Diamonds” plays prominently into the performance. The team then conducted a series of written and in-person interviews with library community members, which guided them in the creation phase. Here, they started to develop games and scenes which they formed into a coherent piece. This program is the first of its kind at Temple University Libraries, and is sure to be challenging, engaging, and fun.

Are you ready to be part of this unique experience? The performances run from Thursday, April 21 – Sunday, April 24, at 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM nightly. Register here: http://library.temple.edu/diamondeye/, where you will play through the first phase of the Diamond Eye game right online, and be immediately redirected to a registration link. Each performance hits capacity at 12 participants, so you will need to sign up ahead of time.

Celebrate National Library Week at the Libraries

Posted on April 11, 2016 by

Today marks the beginning of National Library Week, a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. This year’s theme is Libraries Transform, which asks us all to think about the evolving role of libraries, as well as our own unique experiences with our libraries.

Here are some ways Temple University Libraries are celebrating:

Stop by our table near the leisure reading section in Paley Library for more information about library resources and services, as well as some fun stress-relief activities, giveaways, and candy. The table will be staffed on Tuesday, April 12 and Thursday, April 14 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM.
Check out our trivia questions about library facts and figures on Twitter and give us your best guesses!
Our Question of the Week board on the first floor of Paley Library asks how the Libraries have transformed YOU—what will you say?

In honor of National Library Week, we also asked what books or library resources Temple University Libraries’ staff members love. Here are some of their favorites—Enjoy!

“My favorite library resource is our amazing Media Services collection.” –Kathy Lehman, Supervisor, Access Services

“Perhaps my favorite book is Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. I used to re-read it every year or so, just to re-enter the magical-realist world of the Buendia family and the town of Macondo.” –Gary Kramer, Publicity Manager, Temple University Press

“One from my childhood comes to mind, and has stayed there through many decades: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This was the only book my mother saved from her childhood, and it still sits safely on my bookshelf behind glass doors and surrounded by as many versions as I have been able to buy!” –Sandi Thompson, Head, Ambler Campus Library

“Naxos Music Library is a music streaming service, mostly classical music. I’ve used it since I was in undergrad, and there are recordings of lots of my favorite hard-to-find pieces in there. Another is Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels. It has both primary-source content (digitized comic book issues), and scholarly articles and interviews about them. Plus, it lets you search by character and genre, which is pretty neat.” –Anastasia Chiu, Resident Librarian

“I suggest two films by Bob Fosse—Cabaret and All That Jazz. Media Services holds these films in their collections, as they are absolute classics of both cinema and performance. ” –Nicole Restaino, Manager for Library Communications and Public Programming

“Some of my favorite books are The Bell Jar, The Secret Garden, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.” –Fobazi Ettarh, Resident Librarian

Celebrate National Poetry Month this April

Posted on April 1, 2016 by

This April marks the twentieth anniversary of National Poetry Month, which gives us the occasion to infuse more poetry into our lives! Established by the Academy of American Poets, this month celebrates the enduring legacy and ongoing work of American poets each year.

How can you join in? Sign up for Poem-a-Day at poets.org, and you will receive a brand new poem in your inbox every day! Check out today’s poem, “There Is No Name Yet” by Dorothea Lasky.

Film Friday at the Libraries: Serious Games series, March 11

Posted on March 9, 2016 by

Each year, the Libraries bring you Film Fridays, a free series that aligns with our public programming theme. This year, we are examining games, gaming, and play, and we’ve chosen films for the spring semester that explore violence—both in games and real life. This frame will allow us to question and consider the influences media has on what we think about and how we relate to the world.

Join us at the Libraries this Friday, March 11 at 3:00 PM for the latest installment of Gaming Film Fridays. We are screening the Serious Games series, which was directed by Harun Farocki and released in 2009 and 2010. The four short documentary films in this series explore intersections between gaming and the United States military, including the use of video games to train soldiers and how virtual reality can help treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

Nora Alter, professor of Film and Media Arts at Temple University, will be hand to introduce the film. Professor Alter has published extensively on film, media, and cultural studies, and one of her scholarly endeavors has been focused on Harun Faroki and his work. She knew Farocki personally and is currently working on a monograph about the late filmmaker. Her insight will surely set the stage for this thought-provoking and important documentary series.

This film will be screened in the Paley Library Lecture Hall, 1210 Polett Walk, Ground Floor. Snacks are provided. Hope to see you there!

Alumna and Entrepreneur Ariell Johnson to Speak at Libraries

Posted on March 8, 2016 by

Temple University Libraries is excited to welcome entrepreneur Ariell Johnson (FOX ’05) to campus on Tuesday, March 15 to discuss geek culture and fan fiction, the grassroots literary genre in which fans create their own stories based on characters, series, and worlds that originate in science fiction, fantasy, gaming, and cult classic texts.

photo by Betsy Manning

An alumna of the Fox School of Business, Johnson has truly embraced Temple University’s entrepreneurial spirit in opening her own local, small business—the new critically-acclaimed Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse in the New Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Since Johnson opened the shop in December, her emphasis on creating a diverse and welcoming atmosphere for all kinds of “geeks” has generated considerable buzz in the city and beyond. She and her business have been profiled on NPR, NBC News, MTV News, The Mary Sue, Philly.com, and more.

Join us for a discussion with Johnson on Tuesday, March 15 at 2:30 PM in the Paley Library Lecture Hall located at 1210 Polett Walk in the center of Temple Main Campus.

Read more about Ariell Johnson and other upcoming programs at library.temple.edu/beyondthepage

Open Education Week 2016: Access and Affordability in Learning

Posted on March 7, 2016 by

The week of March 7th is Open Education Week, a global event coordinated by the Open Education Consortium to raise awareness around free and open sharing in education. This movement advocates for free and open access for learners and teachers to a variety of resources, including platforms, course and learning materials, and textbooks.

Temple University Libraries is joining the conversation around textbook access and affordability by hosting an Open Education Week event titled “Ditch the Textbook: Exploring Options for Textbook Affordability” on Wednesday, March 9 from 12:00 – 1:30 PM in the Paley Library Lecture Hall. The panel will feature students and faculty advocates (listed below) for open educational resources and will be moderated by Annie Johnson, Library Publishing and Scholarly Communications Specialist at Temple Libraries. The event will also provide information about Temple Libraries’ Alternate Textbook Project, which will soon be open to proposals.

Panelists for the Libraries’ March 9th event include:

Eitan Laurence is a Temple University student who is an advocate for Open Educational Resources (OER). He is currently a member of the Provost’s Task Force on Textbook Affordability.

Gerard Brown, Associate Professor, Tyler School of Art, is the Chair of the school’s Foundations Department. His senior Visual Studies seminar students are currently engaged in a project looking at the way textbooks affect learning.

Wesley Roehl is a Professor in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management. He is a recent participant in Temple Libraries’ Alternate Textbook Project.

Kristine Weatherston is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Studies and Production. She is a two-time recipient of the Alternate Textbook Project award. Kristine utilizes web-based and open source textbooks, software, and videos in her scriptwriting, documentary production, and media courses.

We invite you to join us! Please contact Annie Johnson (annie.johnson@temple.edu) with questions.

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