RAMble, the University Libraries' blog

Banned Books Week

September 24-30 is set aside to celebrate Banned Books Week, an annual event which advocates for the freedom to read. The F.H.G. Library exhibit this year features African American writers whose works are listed on the banned books list. Some such authors include Maya Angelou, Coe Booth, Alice Childress, Nikki Grimes, Carolivia Heron, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Mildred Taylor, and Alice Walker, most of whom are showcased in the exhibit on the 2^nd floor. These books can be taken from the exhibit case and checked out.

It is important to recognize that even now, books are still being challenged by library users. The ALA defines the difference between “challenged” and “banned” on their website at www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks: “A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials”. What many people fail to realize is that challenging a book can mean subsequent removal of the item which then restricts the access of information to others. Banned Book Week thus draws our attention to these books that, either in the past or currently, are being challenged in this way.

We, the staff and faculty at F.H.G. Library, encourage you to explore some of these featured authors, as well as check out other challenged and banned books this week! 

The latest library exhibit highlights The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, which the Frederick Douglass Institute (FDI) of West Chester University has chosen as the focus of the One Book program at WCU for 2017-2018. 

The book is an extensively researched, reflective first-person work in which Skloot traces the fate of a sample of cancer cells taken in the 1950s from Henrietta Lacks, an impoverished African-American woman, without her consent. The cell line grown from this sample, known as HeLa, became the basis for a huge amount of scientific research as well as a source of profit, while even Lacks’ name was unknown within the scientific community. Intertwined is the history of the Lacks family, before and after her death, and their experiences of poverty, racism, illness, imprisonment, and abuse. This gripping book connects the United State’s history of racism with bioethics, medical ethics, and scientific research.

In Spring 2017, the book was adopted by several courses in the English Department, and engagements across campus and in the broader community are planned for the coming months.

A visit with two members of the Lacks family, Shirley Lacks and Veronica Robinson, will take place on Wednesday, September 27, at 7 pm in the Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets must be reserved at the box office on the ground floor of Sykes Student Union or online at wcupatix.com. 

More information about upcoming events is available on the FDI webpage. 

Join the University Libraries and the Poetry Center as we celebrate 100 years of Gwendolyn Brooks poetry and life.  A new exhibit on the 2^nd floor of Francis Harvey Green Library features works by Brooks with books available for checkout. The exhibit coincides with a celebration on September 25, 2017 of Gwendolyn Brooks legacy.

Born in 1917 in Kansas, Gwendolyn Brooks moved to Chicago, Illinois at a young age.  Chicago became a rich influence in Brooks' life and poetry; in fact, her book of poetry, Annie Allen, about growing up in Chicago won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1950.  She was the first African American to win this award.  It was one of many honors received during Brooks' illustrious career, which also included serving as Poet Laureate for Illinois.  She taught at several prestigious Colleges and Universities.  Gwendolyn Brooks was also a wife to Henry Blakely III and mother to two children, Henry and Nora.  She passed away in 2000 due to complications with Cancer.

This week I wanted to let everyone know that IMC has a new DVD display up featuring Directorial First Films—it’s a great display and has a wide range of types of movies. I ended up pulling Pi from our display, and then also ended up watching Nebraska and Les Miserables.

My first movie of the week was Nebraska (IMC DVD 306.8742 N362 2014), a film about an elderly father who becomes convinced that he has won a sweepstakes prize. After several attempts at trying to convince his father that it is a scam, the son decides to drive him to go collect it. On their journey together, the son eventually discovers the real reason for his father’s determination. I ended up really enjoying this film, although it took a bit for me to get comfortable with both the black and white nature of the film as well as the quirkiness of the characters.

I actually ended up watching another black and white movie this week as well—the movie Pi (IMC DVD 512.73 P579 1998) from our DVD display. It was amazing to me how these two movies used the black and white medium so differently—Nebraska gave off a Midwest oldtime movie feel, whereas Pi felt gritty and more like a thriller. Pi, the directorial debut of Darren Aronofsky (also known for Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, and more recently for Jackie), follows a mathematician as he struggles to discover the number that unlocks all the patterns of the world. This was a weird movie, but it offered a lot in terms of cinematography (Aronofsky loves to play with weird camera angles) as well as a very unique musical score which tied in perfectly with the feel of this film. If you like weird, I would definitely recommend taking the time to watch this movie.

Finally, I watched Les Miserables (IMC DVD 843.7 M678 2013). I have put off watching this movie almost as long as it has been out because I love this musical so much and didn’t want to see it get ruined by big name actors that couldn’t sing it properly. However, I finally decided to watch it and was more impressed than I thought I would be—specifically Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean (who was absolutely incredible) and Eddie Remayne as Marius. There were some actors/actresses who I felt should not have been cast in their role, but overall it didn’t hurt the film too much. If you have never been exposed to the musical, I think this movie would be a good introduction.

As always, feel free to follow along your own movie progress here: https://letterboxd.com/peterstanley/list/1001-movies-you-must-see-before-you-die/ . Also, come check out the IMC’s newest DVD display, Directorial First Films!

This week was a huge mix of different kinds of movies, including, but not limited to, Philadelphia (IMC DVD 362.1969 P544 1997), Inside Llewyn Davis (IMC DVD 782.4216 I59 2014), and Spectre (IMC DVD 823.914 S741 2016). It seems that my interest ranged along with the type of genre that I watched.

I watched Spectre first (although I first needed to rewatch Skyfall in order to remember the ending). I have to say that unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this movie very much (and especially when compared to Skyfall which I thought was pretty good). Partly it felt like there wasn’t enough time for the relationship between James Bond and the female lead to mature, and the ending felt unfinished. However, it is still a Bond movie, and has enough action to keep the viewer engaged through most of it. 

Inside Llewyn Davis was interesting because I didn’t research the director ahead of time and as a result had different expectations as far as what the movie was going to be like. The Coen brothers directed it, and are known for their interesting but sometimes hard-to-relate-to characters. Examples of their other movies include Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men, and several others. I liked the indie feel of Inside Llewyn Davis, but wished that the plot had had a little more purpose. On the whole, I enjoyed it, but would most likely not rewatch it. Also, if you can’t stand folk music, I would probably not recommend it.

Finally, my last movie for the week was Philadelphia. I absolutely loved this movie—it was very engaging as well as supremely well-acted. Loosely based on a true story, this movie follows a lawyer who is terminated because his employers find out he has AIDS. I would definitely recommend this movie.

As always, follow along with your own film experience at https://letterboxd.com/peterstanley/list/1001-movies-you-must-see-before-you-die/ and feel free to comment or ask questions about any movies I’ve talked about this week.

This week I decided to draw some titles from our current IMC movie display, Martial Arts. I grabbed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon because I had heard so much about it but had never watched it. I also grabbed Million Dollar Baby, which I had remembered coming out, but had never had an opportunity to watch it. 

I ended up enjoying Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It was slightly disappointed because it was dubbed and I would have preferred to watch it in the original Mandarin, but it became easier to ignore as the movie plot progressed. The music and cinematography was incredible and you found yourself becoming immersed in the movie. I found out after the fact that many of the cello solos were performed by Yo Yo Ma, which definitely sold the movie score to me.

My second movie was Million Dollar Baby, a movie about a girl who wants to learn boxing properly. It was an incredible story, but very sad at the end (a warning to those emotional viewers out there). It was hard not to get attached to the characters, and all the actors did a wonderful job in their portrayals. Watching this movie, it was easy to see why it won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

As always, feel free to follow along here: https://letterboxd.com/peterstanley/list/1001-movies-you-must-see-before-you-die/by/release/ . In addition, check out the upcoming IMC movie display “First Films”, coming September 11^th!