Friends of the UNCG Libraries

Here are a few of the events we have lined up for next spring: Monday, February 13, 2017 . Book discussion of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson ,  led by Dr. Saundra Westervelt of the UNC Greensboro Sociology Department. 7 pm. in the Hodges Reading Room.  Free and open to the public. Tuesday, March 21, 2017 .  Book discussion of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, led by Dr. Chuck Bolton of the UNC Greensboro History Department. 4 pm in the Hodges Reading Room.  Free and open to the public. Wednesday, March 29, 2017.  Friends of the UNCG Libraries Annual Dinner.  The speaker will be  Ray Suarez, former host of National Public Radio's  Talk of the Nation and author of numerous books including The Holy Vote:  The Politics of Faith in America and Latino Americans:   The 500-year Legacy That Shaped a Nation.  6 pm in Cone Ballroom, Elliott University Center.  Ticketed E...

Looking for Palestine , by Najla Said, is the Keker First Year Common Read for this year.  Dr. Jeff Jones from the UNCG History Department  will lead the Friends’ discussion of this book at 7 pm on Monday, October 10 in The Hodges Reading Room in Jackson Library.     The daughter of the famous intellectual and outspoken Palestinian advocate Edward Said and a sophisticated Lebanese mother, Najla Said grew up in New York City, confused and conflicted about her cultural background and identity. Said knew that her parents identified deeply with their homelands, but growing up in a Manhattan world that was defined largely by class and conformity, she felt unsure about who she was supposed to be, and was often in denial of the differences she sensed between her family and those around her. She may have been born a Palestinian Lebanese American, but Said denied her true roots, even to herself—until, ultimately, the psychological toll of her self-hatred began to ...

The Friends of the UNCG Libraries will hold their first book discussion of the new academic year on Monday, September 19 at 4 pm in the Hodges Room on the second floor of Jackson Library's original building. The book selected is Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay: Reflections on Art, Family, and Survival , by Christopher Benfey.  The book was chosen to complement the 75th Anniversary of the Weatherspoon Art Museum this year. Reviewer Adam Goodheart of the New York Times Book Review called this NY Times Notable Book of 2012, "a book about earthen vases, epic voyages and ancestral blood. Part memoir, part family saga, part travelogue, part cultural history, it takes readers on a peripatetic ramble across America and beyond."  From the red bricks of North Carolina to the Black Mountain College to highly prized white clay, this is a book North Carolinians can especially enjoy.  The discussion is free and open to all. Dr. Emily Stamey is Curator of Exhibitions at ...

Here's the Fall line-up for Friends of the UNCG Libraries events and programs: Author and Storyteller Joe Bruchac September 9-12 : Children’s Book Author and Storyteller Joe Bruchac will appear under University Libraries sponsorship at the Bookmarks Festival in Winston-Salem on Saturday, September 10, and the National Folk Festival in Greensboro on Sunday, September 11, and will make appearances for elementary age children at selected locations in Winston-Salem on Friday, September 9 and on Monday, September 12 at UNC Greensboro.   See bookmarksnc.org and nationalfolkfestival.org for details. Monday, September 19 : Friends of the UNCG Libraries Book Discussion— Red  Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay: Reflections on Art, Family, and Survival by Christopher Benfey, led by Dr. Emily Stamey  of the Weatherspoon Art Museum in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of the Weatherspoon. 4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library 2nd floor, UNCG.  Thursday,...

Monday, September 19, 2016: Discussion of Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay: Reflections on Art, Family, and Survival, by Christopher Benfey, led by Emily Stamey of the Weatherspoon Art Museum. 4 p.m., Hodges Reading Room, 2nd floor Jackson Library. Monday, October 10, 2016: Discussion of Looking for Palestine, by Najla Said, led by Dr. Jeff Jones of the History Department, 7 p.m., Hodges Reading room, 2nd floor Jackson Library. Please note the different start times on these two discussions. Emily Stamey of the Weatherspoon Art Museum and Jeff Jones of the History Department will lead two book discussions this fall for the ongoing series of the Friends of the UNCG Libraries. On Monday, September 19 at 4 pm, Dr. Stamey will lead a discussion in the Hodges Reading Room in Jackson Library of a book chosen in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of the Weatherspoon.   The book, Christopher Benfey’s Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay: Reflections on Art, Family, and S...

Two book discussions have been scheduled for the Friends of the UNCG Libraries Book Discussion series.  Those wishing to participate are invited to register so that they are kept informed should there be any postponements due to weather or other factors. Monday, February 22:  Discussion of Behind the Scenes, or Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley, led by Karen Weyler of the English Department. 7 p.m. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library 2nd floor, UNCG.  FREE. Monday, March 14: Discussion of  Black Dogs by Ian McEwan, led by Keith Gorman of the University Libraries 4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library 2nd floor, UNCG.  FREE. For more information or to request  disability accommodations, please contact Barry Miller at 336-256-0112 or barry_miller@uncg.edu

Monday, November 9 at 4 p.m. in Hodges Reading Room of Jackson Library. Lecture and book discussion about Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis , by Timothy Egan. Discussion leader: Dr. Bob Gatten Ray Olson of Booklist says: Before half its 20 volumes were published, The North American Indian was called the most important book since the King James Bible . When the last emerged, its director and primary researcher and author, self-made master photographer Edward Curtis (1868–1952), was old, broke, and dependent on his daughters. Though his great work consumed $2.5 million of J. P. Morgan’s money over the course of three decades, Curtis never took a cent in salary. He lost his business, his property, his marriage, and any control of his great project. But he completed it, preserving a great deal of what we know about Indian cultures, including more than 75 languages, thousands of songs and stories, traditional practices in ever...

October 5 at  7 p.m.  Book discussion of  Being Mortal , by Atul Gawande.   Discussion leaders: Drs. Janne and Rob Cannon.  Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library. Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, is a surgeon, writer, and public health researcher who will speak in Greensboro as part of Guilford College’s Bryan Series on October 20. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health and the Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. The book’s website says "Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming the dangers of childbirth, injury, and disease from harrowing to manageable. But when it comes to the inescapable realities of aging and death, what medicine can do often runs counter to what it should. Through eye-opening research and gripping stories of his own patients and family, Gawande reveals the...

All of the following events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Monday, September 14: Newbery Award Winning Children’s Book Author and Poet Kwame Alexander. 7 p.m. Elliott University Center Auditorium, UNCG. (Also at Bookmarks Festival on September 12 in Winston-Salem) Monday, September 21: Friends of the UNCG Libraries Book Discussion - Where Am I Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People Who Make Our Clothes , led by Jenny Dale and Lynda Kellam of the University Libraries. 4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library 2nd floor, UNCG.  Wednesday, September 23: Presentation by Our State editor Elizabeth Hudson. 4 p.m. Virginia Dare Room, Alumni House, UNCG. Thursday, October 1: Open House in the Newly-renovated Digital Media Commons/Digital ACT Studio. 4 p.m. Lower Level, Jackson Library. Monday, October 5: Friends of the UNCG Libraries Book Discussion - Being Mortal , by Atul Gawande, led by Emeritus Professor Dr. Janne Cannon...

Book Discussion of Where Am I Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes, by Kelsey Timmerman. September 21 at 4 p.m. in the Hodges Reading Room of Jackson Library.  Discussion leaders: Jenny Dale and Lynda Kellam. First Year Librarian Jenny Dale, a member of the steering committee that selected UNCG’s First Year Common Read for 2015, will lead us in a discussion of the book chosen this year.  She will be joined by Data Services & Government Information Librarian Lynda Kellam.  Journalist Kelsey Timmerman traveled the world to trace the origins of our clothes. Where Am I Wearing? intimately describes the connection between impoverished garment workers’ standards of living and the all-American material lifestyle. The Friends of the UNCG Libraries book discussions are free and open to the public on a space available basis, with preference given to members of the Friends of the UNCG Libraries who register. If you hav...

It was in 2001 that Friends of the UNCG Libraries Board member Ann Fitzmaurice suggested that the Friends start a book group to engage in discussions led by one of the outstanding teachers on the UNCG faculty.  Michael Parker, also a Board member at the time, led the first discussion, and a regular Monday calendar of discussions has followed, from four to six each academic year. Fourteen years later, the series continues to offer, free of charge, a small sample of the outstanding opportunities for lifelong learning afforded by the University Libraries and members of the Friends.  Some participants in the book discussions come to nearly every discussion; others come to one or two.  There is no long-term commitment, just the request to register so that the University Libraries can know about how many to expect, and to inform participants when there are cancellations due to weather, as has sometimes been the case during the winter months.  Many find the book discussio...

The Friends of the UNCG Libraries book discussions for the Fall semester have been scheduled.   Selections include the UNCG First Year Common Read for 2015, a thought-provoking book about medical care near the end of life written by a fall speaker in Guilford College’s Bryan Series, and a combined lecture and discussion about the ethnographer and photographer Edward S. Curtis, who documented the Native American people of North America. September 21 at 4 p.m. Where am I Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes , by Kelsey Timmerman.  Discussion leader: Ms. Jenny Dale. October 5 at 7 p.m. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End , by Atul Gawande.  Discussion leaders: Drs. Janne and Rob Cannon November 9 at 4 p.m. Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis , by Timothy Egan. Lecturer and Discussion leader: Dr. Bob Gatten The discussions are free and open t...

If you are interested, our last Friends of the UNCG Libraries book discussion of this academic year will be on Monday, April 20 at 4 pm in the Hodges Reading Room in Jackson Library.  Karl Schleunes will lead us in a discussion of Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher Browning.  In the book, Browning reconstructs how a German reserve police battalion composed of "ordinary men," middle-aged, working class people, killed tens of thousands of Jews during WW II. The event is free.

Monday, February 9: Friends of the UNCG Libraries Book Discussion - Regeneration by Pat Barker, led by Keith Gorman of the University Libraries . 4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library 2nd floor, UNCG.   Monday, April 20:  Friends of the UNCG Libraries Book Discussion - O rdinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland  by Christopher Browning, led by Karl Schleunes of the History Department. 4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library 2nd floor, UNCG.  The backdrops of World War I and World War II figure prominently in the provocative Friends of the UNCG Libraries book discussions scheduled for Spring 2015. The first book discussion of the Spring Semester will be led by Dr. Keith Gorman of the University Libraries, Head of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives Department.  Keith will lead our discussion of Regeneration  by Pat Barker, which was published in 1991 and was a Booke...

On Monday, November 3 at 7 pm in the Hodges Reading Room on the second floor of Jackson Library, the Friends of the UNCG Libraries will conduct a discussion of the play "The Member of the Wedding" by Carson McCullers.  The discussion will be led by Keith Cushman of the English Department, who will be joined by Bryan Conger, artistic associate of Triad Stage.  Triad Stage is presenting the play in Greensboro from October 19-November 9.  Tickets for the production are available from Triad Stage . The book discussion is free and open to the public. 

Friends of the UNCG Libraries Book Discussion Monday, October 20:  In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, led by Anne Hershey of the Biology Department. 4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library 2nd floor

All of the following events are free and open to the public: Thursday, September 4: Poetry Reading by David Roderick from his new book, The Americans (co-sponsored with MFA Writing Program). 8 p.m. Faculty Center, UNCG Monday, September 8: Author and Storyteller Doug Elliott . 7 p.m. EUC Auditorium, UNCG Monday, September 15: Friends of the UNCG Libraries Book Discussion - The Rise of the Creative Class, Revisited by Richard Florida, led by Keith Debbage of the Department of Geography & the Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality and Tourism.  4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library 2nd floor, UNCG.  Thursday, September 18: Reading by Lee Zacharias from her book, The Only Sounds We Make (co-sponsored with MFA Writing Program). 7 p.m. Faculty Center, UNCG Wednesday, October 8: Presentation by Dr. Joy Kasson about author and illustrator Lois Lenski . 4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room Jackson Library 2nd floor, UNCG Thursday, October...

We are pleased to announce the schedule for the Fall 2014  Friends of the UNCG Libraries Book Discussions.  We invite our Friends and other interested community members to join us as we discuss books from past and present.  Each discussion will be led by a UNCG faculty member.  To reserve a spot at one or more discussion, please register on our website, or contact Barry Miller at 336-256-0112. All book discussions will meet on Mondays in the Hodges Reading Room Monday, September 15: T he Rise of the Creative Class, Revisited by Richard Florida, led by Keith Debbage of the Department of Geography & the Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality and Tourism.  4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library 2nd floor, UNCG Monday, October 20:  In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, led by Anne Hershey of the Biology Department. 4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library 2nd floor Monday, November 3:   The Me...