Blog posts about items in the catalog, ideally with permanent links to catalog records.
Don’t feel bad if you can’t jump on the Disney+ bandwagon- many of your favorite Disney classics are right here at the library. We may not have The Mandalorian, but we can certainly satisfy your need for Star Wars films.
And best of all, they’re free when you show your Moraine Valley ID at the circulation desk.
Well Obi-Wan, if you want to take that DVD home we absolutely do. Jedi mind tricks don’t work on librarians.
This week’s new book recommendations have an environmental theme; the photos alone in “Plastic Soup” will tug at the heartstrings.
All of these books are currently available on our New Arrivals shelves in the Library Lounge. Enjoy!
If you have trouble finding any of these books, don’t hesitate to “Ask a Librarian” for help. They can also place any of these books on hold if interested.
November 11th marks the 65th anniversary of the publication of The Two Towers, the second book in J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous Lord of the Rings trilogy. Central to the story are the Hobbits, peaceful, large-footed people of short stature that love the comforts of home.
Most people accept that Middle Earth and its inhabitants are fantasy, but there’s some scientific evidence that hobbit-like people might have been real. In 2003 scientists discovered a hominin, or species related to humans, that was small in stature. Named Homo floreisiensis and nicknamed “the hobbit”, whether or not this fossil find is a distinct species has been hotly debated among scientists since its discovery.
There’s also some evidence that a volcano was partially responsible for the disappearance of the species and that Komodo dragons might have seen them as prey. Where have I heard a story like this before?
Scientists have found evidence that H. floreisiensis created and used tools, but there’s no word of any gold rings found at any of the archaeological sites. If there were, the find would be precious...
Check out some of the other ways science honors Tolkien’s works. Feeling nostalgic for the films? We’ve got them! Want to research our human relatives? Try our Science databases!
The Library has every movie adaptation of A Star is Born to suit one’s fancy! Check them out:
All are currently available and located either at the New Arrivals section in the lounge, or downstairs among the DVD collection. If you can’t find one of the DVDs, please don’t hesitate to ask a librarian for assistance.
Have you thought about what you want to do with your extra hour this Sunday? Sure, you could catch up on sleep, but there are so many options to consider!
Why don’t you ~fall back~ into the couch and enjoy an hour long episode of the PBS series How We Got to Now on time.
Perhaps you’d prefer to enjoy the soothing vocals of Seal’s “Daylight Saving” from his 2015 (and conveniently 50-minute-long) album, 7.
Maybe you find yourself contemplating the very nature of time? Why not explore those questions by reading Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time.
Need help with time management? Learn how to balance your time between your work life and social life while still prioritizing your personal time.
Now stop wasting time and make the most of your additional hour!
Among the new arrivals this week are these book recommendations:
These and other new items are located at the New Arrivals section in the Library Lounge.
Need some spine-tingling entertainment during this spooky week? You can stream these right to your device with Hoopla. Just don’t blame us if you have to sleep with the light on!
The Thing on the Doorstep is a psychological horror film based on the story by H.P. Lovecraft (of Cthulhu fame).
Did you say silent vampire film? You’ll love the 1922 silent movie Nosferatu.
If you only have half an hour before that Halloween party starts you have just enough time for the madness of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart.
Find out what made high school students in the 90’s afraid of the dark with the slasher film Scream.
Finally, explore your (completely justified) fear of clowns with The Clown at Midnight.
October 20 -26 is Ace Week, originally called Asexuality Awareness Week, which highlights asexual-spectrum identities. Learn more about asexuality and how you can support ace members of your community with these library resources:
The Invisible Orientation (also available as an eBook) is meant for both those who identify on the asexual spectrum, as well as those who want to understand friends and family members that may be asexual.
If you are looking for a scientific view of what asexuality is and why it matters, Understanding Asexuality will give you a look at the research behind this sexual minority.
(A)sexual (Streaming Video) explores the challenges of finding identity in a culture that values sexual attraction. Check here for help with streaming video.
Don’t forget to check out LGBTQIA resources on campus or get involved with the student organization ¡GASP!
A long time ago in a canyon far far away… prehistoric animals left traces of their existence for scientists to discover. We celebrate those discoveries and their contributions to science with National Fossil Day. This year’s focus is the rich knowledge gained from the fossils found at the Grand Canyon National Park
This year’s promotional artwork depicts a 9 foot long Shasta Ground Sloth entering Rampart Cave on the west end of the park, surrounded by the large droppings that remained fossilized in the cave for around 11,000- 40,000 years. The fossilized dung has provided a wealth of information about the local plants and environmental conditions from the sloth’s time.
Also included in the artwork is an extinct vampire bat, a distant but larger cousin to living vampire bats in Central and South America. Remains found in the cave suggests these bats may have fed on the blood of the Shasta Ground Sloth. Prehistoric life could be pretty rough!
The Grand Canyon might seem far from Moraine Valley, but you’re closer to fossils than you might think. Mazon Creek is a well-known fossil collecting site in Illinois, famous for its excellent preservation and fossil variety.
One of the more interesting findings to come out of Mazon Creek is now the Illinois state fossil. Known as the Tully Monster (Tullimonstrum gregarium), scientists currently believe it was a soft-bodied invertebrate that lived on the sea floor back when Illinois used to sit near the equator. Its strange body shape has left scientists stumped as to what kind of animal it actually was.
The library has plenty of books and media to satisfy your need for fossil knowledge. Find them here!
Browse our extensive collection of Arabic and Persian literature, located primarily in the call numbers PJ7601-PJ8008 and PK6400-PK6599.7 respectively. Some recommended works include: