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Showing posts from February, 2015

Announcing the 2015-2016 One Book Survey Winner!

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You voted and we have a winner! Now that the 2015-2016 One Book Survey has closed, we’re excited to announce the winner. The next One Book Project will feature The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Source: Amazon “Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa.” [1] Henrietta died in 1951 at the age of 31, but 63 years later, her cells are still alive and growing more numerous by the day. These cells, known as HeLa cells, represent a multi-million dollar industry and have led to scientific breakthroughs involving vaccine production, gene mapping, cloning, and AIDS research. Despite this incredible contribution to medical science, Henrietta Lacks gained neither fame nor recognition after her death, and her family received no part of the profits from her cells. The story of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks uncovers the identity of an African American woman from Virginia, a dedicated wife and loving mother, who approached each day with deter

Library showcase: Celebrating African-American authors

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Source: Pixabay “America is woven of many strands… Our fate is to become one, and yet many.” –Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man   In honor of Black History Month, the library is showcasing the works of African-American authors. These award-winning authors are celebrated for their remarkable literature and nonfiction. Whether you’d like to re-read a classic or discover a new bestseller, you can always find something to read at the library! Some of the most famous African-American authors are known not only for their writing but for the incredible lives they led. You can find a great selection of historical works at the library, such as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois, and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs. You may first encounter these authors through assigned reading, but literary classics aren’t only for the classroom. Novels like Sula by Toni Morrison, Native Son by Richard Wright, Their Eye