In the Collection

Blog posts about items in the catalog, ideally with permanent links to catalog records.

Jane Austen July

Authors, E-Resources, History, In the Collection, Readers' Advisory / By / June 30, 2021

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a student in possession of a summer break, must be in want of a reading challenge.

Okay, maybe not, but if you are looking for a month-long reading challenge and you enjoy a little early 19th century English literature, look no further than Jane Austen July!

Hosted by three Booktubers: Blatantly Bookish, Books and Things, and Spinster’s Library, the challenge has a Goodreads group, read-alongs, and a Bingo card that readers can complete.

The hosts have created 7 challenges, all of which can be completed with materials from MVCC Library!

  1. Read one of Jane Austen’s Six Novels
  2. Read something by Jane Austen that is not one of her main six novels
  3. Read a non fiction work about Jane Austen or her time period, The Late Georgian or Regency Era
  4. Read a modern retelling of a Jane Austen book
  5. Read a Book by a contemporary of Jane Austen (Some examples are Walter Scott, Mary Shelley, and more)
  6. Watch a direct screen adaptation of a Jane Austen Book.
  7. Watch a modern screen adaptation of a Jane Austen Book. (Some examples are Bride and Prejudice and Clueless)

I propose an 8th challenge: Read an article from a peer-reviewed Jane Austen academic journal!

Will you be partaking in this Regency read-a-thon?

#JaneAustenJuly2021 #JaneAustenJuly

How Comics Work! (a visual guide)

Graphic Novels & Comic Books, In the Collection / By / May 21, 2021

Check our this amazing visual guide to understanding comics! Candida Rifkind, Brandon Christopher, and Alice RL’s “How Comics Work”.

Our library provides access to 1000s of graphic novels and comics (in both print and digital options). Sometimes getting started in this medium is the tough part, so that’s why “How Comics Work” is a great guide. In just a few pages, it gives you the short and to understand this iconic popculture literary form.

The spectrum of cartooning styles (from realistic to iconic).
“Closure” is a term used for the act of reading and interpreting movement & meaning from still images.

And the Oscar Goes to…

Award Winners, General Information, History, In the Collection, In the Headlines / By / April 26, 2021

Last night, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (also known as “The Academy”) gave the award for Best Picture of the Year to the movie Nomadland. We don’t own the movie yet, but the library does have copies of Nomadland, the book both in print and as an e-audio book. The book and movie tell the story of a woman who lives out of her van while traveling around the American west looking for work. A few of the actresses in the movie are actual van-dwelling nomads in real life. Hopefully we will have the movie soon, but in the meantime, you can check out some of the previous Best Picture winners from the library. Click on the image below to get to a list with descriptions and available options (including the books if we own them and they share the same name as the film).

Image of theater seats and stage








Finish National Poetry Month Strong!

E-Resources, General Information, In the Collection, Readers' Advisory / By / April 20, 2021

National Poetry Month is coming to a close, but there is still time to explore and enjoy some of the poetry resources available at the Library. Explore the virtual book displays below for poetry recommendations from the Library! For each display, click “Read More” to view the virtual book display.

Have questions about accessing any of these resources? Ask a Librarian!

What makes a poet a “Chicago Poet?” A poet born in Chicago? Someone who wrote poetry in or about Chicago? An artist embraced by the City? However you define a Chicago Poet, these artists and books are a great way to end National Poetry Month! Click “Read More” to view the full display.

Chicago Poets

Looking back on our celebrations of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, “Distilled and Powerful,” display of poetry by African American women, brings our poetry celebration full circle! Click “Read More” to view the full display.

Distilled and Powerful

Keep National Poetry Month going all summer! Poetry is meant to be heard, so listen to these fantastic poetry e-audiobooks, many of which are read by the authors! Click “Read More” to view the full display.

Listen to Poetry

“Nothing in the Whole World Felt as Good as Being Able to Make Something From a Sudden Idea”

Authors, E-Resources, General Information, In the Collection / By / April 2, 2021

These words were uttered by beloved children’s book author Beverly Cleary, who passed away last week at 104 years old. Her love of reading started at an early age. Her own school librarian suggested she should write books when she grow up. She did just that, after first becoming a librarian herself, when a young patron asked her “Where are the books about kids like us?” From this came her first book, Henry Huggins, introducing us to the characters of Henry, his dog Ribsy, and sisters Beezus and Ramona. Hearing news of her passing makes me want to take a trip down memory lane and re-read some of the wonderful books that I grew up with. If you’d like to join me, check out what we have in our catalog!

1919 author, Eve L. Ewing, on Charter Schools

Authors, Education, Equity, General Information, In the Collection, One Book: 1919, Political Science, Social Justice / By / March 5, 2021

If you’ve been following our One Book, One College programming this year, you already know Eve L. Ewing, author of 1919 and other books and articles.  A couple of weeks ago, her opinion piece, Can We Stop Fighting about Charter Schools? was published in The New York Times. As a sociologist and educator, she is often asked about her thoughts on the topic. In this piece she argues that, we need “political leaders to abandon some of the principles that have guided education policy in our generation.” She says “we need to replace the fight over charter schools with the assertion that every child deserves a great school,” and to do that, we need to take “seriously the ‘educators don’t get paid enough’ realizations of 2020” and address “the teacher shortage that is going to worsen in the aftermath of the pandemic,” (Ewing, 2021).

If the topic of charter schools interest you, the library can help. You can find books on charter schools in our library catalog.  If you are looking for articles, our education databases are a good place to start. You can also find articles on the topic in our news databases and many of our multiple subject databases. When in doubt, be sure to Ask a Librarian!

Ewing, E. L. (2021, Feb 22). Can we stop fighting about charter schools? New York Times (Online) Retrieved from https://go.openathens.net/redirector/morainevalley.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/can-we-stop-fighting-about-charter-schools/docview/2493195195/se-2?accountid=1977

BINGE BAGS: Binge-Watch Amazing Movies for Free!

About Our Library, In the Collection, Library Space, Music and Video / By / February 20, 2021

Winter may have been cold and snowy this year, but that just means its a good time to curl up with a good movie… or 4! MVCC Library has new Binge Bags to help you out! Each bag has 3 or 4 movies centered around a theme that you can take home for 3 weeks. All you need is your MVCC ID to check out a bag! You can find them right inside the library entrance, so if you’re on campus, stop by and pick one up!

Check out our current bags in the slideshow below:

A Quick Guide To Speech Resources

E-Resources, In the Collection / By / February 18, 2021

Do you have a speech coming up? The MVCC Library has a variety of resources at your fingertips. Click on the image below to see sources for researching your Informative and Persuasive speech topics and for Finding Evidence to support your claims.

A Quick guide to speech resources

Screen time and the brain

E-Resources, General Information, In the Collection, In the Headlines / By / February 11, 2021

“Headaches, anxiety and exhaustion caused by screen time that never ends is not just for adults anymore.”

A CNN study showed 80 percent of teenagers check their phones on the hour, and 72 percent need to respond to their messages right away. Teens also preferred texting rather than speaking and often used a device to “save and protect” them from social interactions. Harvard research in 2019 revealed that too much screen time can “interfere with sleep and creativity.” It is not only teenagers–have you felt compelled to leave your phone at home or feel a sense of terror, or relief, when you did? Do you purposefully move your phone across the room or turn it off to get away? Are you exhausted, easily distracted and constantly multi-tasking online and in “real life”?

Take a break says Dr. Michael Rich who also suggests:

Put down your device. Be present with others. Observe the world around you. Let your mind wander. Avoid blue light-emitting screen use before bedtime.

Find sources and additional readings on this topic below:

Screen Time and the Brain

Shirolkar, Shivani. “Screened in: Cell Phones Dictate our Lives.” University Wire, 22 Mar 2017. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://go.openathens.net/redirector/morainevalley.edu?url=https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2265372339?accountid=1977.

US teens use screens more than seven hours a day on average – and that’s not including school work

Kelly, Heather. “With Remote Learning, it’s Now Screen Time all the Time.” Washington Post, 06 Sep 2020. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://go.openathens.net/redirector/morainevalley.edu?url=https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2453819623?accountid=1977.

Photo: “Screen Time” by A.Davey is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

The Virtual Rainbow Reception

Community Enagement, Diversity, E-Resources, Events, In the Collection, Inclusion, Virtual Book Displays / By / January 23, 2021

The Celebrating Diversity Task Group’s LGBTQ+ Subcommittee is hosting the annual Rainbow Reception virtually this year! On Monday, February 1st you can learn about the different resources on campus available to LGBTQIA+ students. Join via WebEx. You can also show your pride by ordering a t-shirt!

After the reception, check out some of the resources available at the library with this selection of books, audiobooks, and graphic novels. Click on the image to view the collection:

Pride Month eReads
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