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Showing posts from August, 2015

Library Showcase: Genetics, Medical Ethics, and more!

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HeLa cells ( Pixabay.com ) This semester we are launching PVCC’s second annual One Book Project ! On Club Day (next Tuesday) free copies of this year’s book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, will be available at the One Book table while supplies last! The book tells the true story of an African American woman from Virginia who lost her life to cancer in 1951 but gained immortality through a perpetuating cell line that revolutionized medical research.  Henrietta’s story explores many topics, including medical ethics, the study of genetics, cancer, the discrimination of the Jim Crow era, and the persistence of socio-economic inequalities. You can learn about these issues and more in the latest library showcase (now in its new location in the Library Teaching Room!) Here are a few highlights from the display: The disease that took Henrietta’s life has plagued humanity for thousands of years. The history of cancer from ancient days to modern time

New Books Are In

The summer semester is over, and our two week grace period until the fall has begun. What are your plans? We hope they include dropping by the library to visit. We've got quite a few new books, and a whole list of recommendations. Take a trip around the globe with our latest fiction. The City of Devi by Manil Suri explores the tumultuous streets of Mumbai through Sarita and Jaz, strangers searching a city in turmoil for the lovers they have lost. The Seventh Day by Yu Hua traverses contemporary China through the eyes of Yang Fei, a man who spends his first seven days in the afterworld revisiting his old life and the people he loved. NoViolet Bulawayo examines the "sacrifices and mixed rewards of assimilating" in We Need New Names , a story that begins with ten-year-old Darling, an adventurous girl who leaves Zimbabwe for suburban America, only to discover that the American Dream is no closer, or easier, to grasp. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explores simi