Point Park University Library

Welcome to the official tumblr of the Point Park University Library. Feel free to ask questions, submit things and just generally peruse. Pull up a chair, get comfortable, and stay a while. (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ga('create', 'UA-63006102-1', 'auto'); ga('send', 'pageview');

[ablogwithaview]

She measured time in pages. Half an hour, to her, meant ten pages read, or fourteen, depending on the size of the type, and when you think of time in this way there isn’t time for anything else

Zadie Smith, Swing Time. (via ablogwithaview)

[pbsamericanmasters]

Listen to our latest podcast episode featuring the hilarious Margaret Cho.

[humanoidhistory]

TODAY IN HISTORY: The Space Shuttle Discovery lands on Edwards Air Force Base, 3 October 1988, after a mission lasting 4 days, 1 hour, 11 seconds.

[poetsandwriters]

“Part of the pleasure I take in being a writer and reader of poetry is this instant intimacy….As you know, the relationship between reader and writer is reciprocal. We bring with us all that we are, the sum total of our experiences up to that point. There’s an exchange happening—one that encourages vulnerability, one that can transform strangers into kin.”

—Nicole Sealey, in “Vagrant & Vulnerable” in the Sept/Oct issue of Poets & Writers Magazine (2017)

[weneeddiversebooks]

Reading Jane Eyre While Black

Like most writers, I read a lot as a kid. “All the book sense in the world and not a lick of common sense,” my aunt would complain when, every day after school, I’d drop my bookbag, take off my pan…

“I now have the privilege and option to choose books I don’t have to try so hard to find myself in. I no longer have to participate in the mental gymnastics that were required to turn white protagonists black. I don’t have to read a book like Jane Eyrethat makes me feel shame for relating more to the demonic, nonwhite villain than the actual heroine.”

[americanlibraryassoc]

Happy National Comic Book Day!

Here are a few ALA ways you can celebrate the day:

Check out ALSC Graphic Novels Reading Lists, they have a variety of options for students from kindergarten to 8th grade.

Go through YALSA’s 2017 Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

Purchase one of the several, comic book posters we have available in the ALA Store from ALA Graphics. Including this Batgirl Read poster! (Check them all out here.)

[poetsandwriters]

I try to avoid writing…by assembling—is there any way I can make this sound more dignified?—tableaux of found objects from within my own house…

Ann Beattie, on procrastination (The Paris Review, 2017)

[your-lovers-and-drifters]

Les cousins, 1959 (dir. Claude Chabrol) 

[historical-nonfiction]

The Republic of Rome's Bill of Rights: The Twelve Tables

Tradition tells us that the code which was to govern Roman life was composed by a commission, first of ten and then of twelve men, in 451-450 BCE. It was then ratified by the Centuriate Assembly in 449 BCE. The laws were engraved on twelve tablets – hence the title – which were attached to the a speaking platform (rostra) which sat before the Roman Senate in the forum. By putting the twelve tables in the middle of what was the main public square, the Romans made their foundational laws accessible to all. Anyone who could read could know the law.

Some of my favorite gems from the twelve tables include:

If the defendant attempts evasion or takes flight the plaintiff shall lay hand on him. (The accuser got to chase down the accused, and kidnap them to force them to court???)

A notably deformed child shall be killed immediately.

Women, even though they are of full age, because of their levity of mind shall be under guardianship … except vestal virgins, who … shall be free from guardianship …

If anyone sings or composes an incantation that can cause dishonor or disgrace to another … he shall suffer a capital penalty

Expenses of a funeral shall be limited to three mourners wearing veils and one mourner wearing an inexpensive purple tunic and ten flutists . …

… A myrrh-spiced drink … shall not be poured on a dead person. (This is randomly specific.)

You can read all of the surviving Twelve Tables at The Avalon Project

[npr]

Coffee, Bees and Climate Change Are Linked In Ways You May Not Have Expected

A new study projects that by 2050, climate change could reduce the amount of ground usable to grow coffee in Latin America by up to 88 percent. Bees play a key role in increasing coffee yields.

Pollinators such as bees play a key part of producing the beans that go into your morning cup of coffee. They’re responsible for about 20 to 25 percent of coffee production by increasing the plants’ yield. But climate change is threatening both pollinators and the areas where coffee can grow. 

[prostheticknowledge]

Continuing from my previous post, a little FYI …

You can download your model and upload it to @sketchfab

The example above was created using this current Tumblr Radar image from @made

[chroniclebooks]

photo by LitJoy Crate, postcards by Jessica Hische

[weneeddiversebooks]

The National Book Awards Longlist: Young People’s Literature

This year, books in contention include a novel that takes place during sixty seconds in an elevator and the story of an activist’s awakening.

The longlist for the National Book Award for the category of Young People’s Literature was announced today in The New Yorker. Congratulations to all those included!

The longlist includes Jason Reynolds, one of the winners of WNDB’s inaugural Walter Award, and Angie Thomas, winner of WNDB’s inaugural Walter grant.

[nationalbook]

“Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.” - Stephen King

[darienlibrary]

Google Launches Massive Collection of Latino Art And History

Google’s Cultural Institute, which specializes in accessible digital preservation for art, just launched a huge online archive of Latino art and cultural history.

[ebookfriendly]

What a beautiful #Caturday 🐱☀️📚

[ancientsasswarrior]

(via TIME Firsts Women Leaders: Carla Hayden | Time.com)

[darienlibrary]

“In Baltimore, the library was at the epicenter of the unrest in 2015. It had been a refuge for that community. An opportunity center—expungement classes, flu shots, people online applying for jobs. When that library was not only protected during the unrest and then was open the next day, that Tuesday morning—I’ll never forget it—at 10 o’clock, there were people waiting to get inside. Not only for refuge and a place to connect but there was, for instance, a young man who was so relieved that we were open so he could fill out applications online. That Thursday, he came back and said he had three nibbles. That’s what a library in a community can mean.”