Tag Archives: East Campus

What is a Vital Lilly Library Resource? Meet Lilly Library’s Class of 2023

What is a Vital Lilly Library Resource?
Meet Lilly Library’s Class of 2023

There is life outside of Lilly! Congratulations to Celine!

The Lilly and Music Libraries are at the heart of East Campus, the First-Year Campus for Duke Undergraduates. To serve our community, during the semester, the East Campus Libraries remain open for 175 hours each week! Our student assistants are an essential element in maintaining a high level of service, and we want to introduce you to one of our “Class of 2023”. Get to know Celine W., one of our graduating student assistants in this profile, and you’ll appreciate her as much we do.

Duke – and Lilly! – Senior Celine

A Lilly selfie with Celine
  • Hometown: Colleyville, TX
  • Family/siblings/pets:
    An older sister (with the cutest dog, Zoey!) and a younger brother
  • Academic major: Literature
  • Activities on campus:
    Asian American Studies Working Group
  • Favorite on-campus activity (besides working in the library):
    Relaxing at the Duke Gardens
  • Favorite off-campus activity:
    Ice cream at Pincho Loco
  • Favorite campus eatery: Beyu Blue!!
  • Favorite off-campus eatery: Wheat

Behind the Curtain at Lilly

Q: If you could have a sleepover anywhere in the libraries, where would you choose, and why?
A: I would like to sleep in the Stacks!! I think setting up a sleeping bag and napping amongst the shelves would be very cozy!!

Q: What’s the strangest/most interesting book or movie or music you’ve come across in the library?
A: There’s this Vivienne Westwood book that’s bound in the iconic tartan pattern, and I know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but it looks incredible and is filled with so many historically important runway looks.

Q: What is your favorite part about working at library? Least favorite?
A: I love talking to the patrons and learning about their research! Especially when they come by to pick up a bunch of books from reserve! I do get a question about printing every shift, so I could do without that.

Q: What is one memory from your time in the library that you will never forget?
A: Learning how to use the dumbwaiter or the microfiche, it’s like learning a piece of technology that would’ve been so revolutionary before.

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in the library?
A: Using the dumbwaiter!! It feels like I’m living out a retro library experience!

Q: How will your time working in the library help you in your future pursuits?
A: I think any type of work where I get to talk to people and help them interact makes my life richer and grows my empathy toward serving others. I’m studying to become a doctor, and take every experience where I can help others as a learning experience!

Q: What will you miss most about the library when you graduate?
A: The beautiful interior. Lilly was my home in freshman year, and I’m excited to see it become home to many students in the future.

Q: What are your plans for after graduation?
A: I’m taking a gap year before medical school, and will be working at a hospital.

Q: What is your spirit animal? … well, you don’t expect all the questions to be about working in the library, do you?
A: A panda!!

Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to Celine and our other graduates, treasured members of our East Campus Libraries “family”. We appreciate Celine’s stellar work and dedication to Lilly and wish her all the best!

What Is a Vital Lilly Library Resource? Meet the Lilly Class of 2023

What is a Vital Lilly Library Resource?
Meet Our Lilly Class of 2023

The Lilly and Music Libraries are at the heart of East Campus, the First-Year Campus for Duke Undergraduates. To serve our community, during the semester, the East Campus Libraries remain open for 175 hours each week! Our student assistants are an essential element in maintaining a high level of service, and we want to introduce you to one of our “Class of 2023”. Get to know Hailey B.,  one of our graduating student assistants in this profile, and you’ll appreciate them as much we do.

Hailey, Lilly student assistant and Duke Class of 2023

Duke – and Lilly! – Senior Hailey

  • Hometown: Palm Harbor, FL
  • Family/siblings/pets: I have one (much) younger 3-year-old half-sister and a dog named Carter
  • Academic major: Psychology, plus minors in Computer Science and Math
  • Activities on campus: Duke University Marching Band (DUMB), Duke Cyber, Durham Chi Omega
  • Favorite on-campus activity (besides working in the library 😉 ): Being at Duke games with the marching/pep band! My personal favorite is Duke WBB games
  • Favorite off-campus activity: Trying new restaurants with friends
  • Favorite campus eatery: Krafthouse
  • Favorite off-campus eatery: HeavBuffs

Behind the Curtain at Lilly

Q: If you could have a sleepover anywhere in the libraries, where would you choose, and why?
A: Probably the Thomas Reading Room at Lilly – it’s the most beautiful space and I’d love to wake up to the sunlight through those big windows. Plus the couches are great.

Q: What’s the strangest/most interesting book or movie or music you’ve come across in the library?
A: Most interesting is definitely “First Person Singular” by Haruki Murakami. It’s a collection of short stories all about different narrators, all told from first person singular point of view. It’s super cool and I totally recommend it. Most strange would be a book of poems told entirely from the point of view of a cat – it was incredible. Also interesting that both my picks include playing with POV – maybe that kind of thing just really gets me.

Q: What is your favorite part about working at library? Least favorite?
A: My favorite part is for sure the people – everyone who works at Lilly is incredible and they’re the best coworkers. I can always count on one of the other students or staff librarians brightening my day. My least favorite thing as an avid reader is that I constantly have to resist the urge not to check out 40 books every time I work a shift.

Q: What is one memory from your time in the library that you will never forget?
A: I found out I had made it to the final interview round for a really competitive job while I was on shift and everyone was so happy and helped me celebrate. It was a really special moment.

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in the library?
A: I honestly don’t think I’ve ever done anything super crazy – probably just printing out so many pages at one time that I stood at the printer for like 20 minutes.

Q: How will your time working in the library help you in your future pursuits?
A: Customer service is always applicable! Plus a great eye for detail and the ability to learn new things quickly.

Q: What will you miss most about the library when you graduate?
A: Similar to my favorite part, I’ll miss the people. I’ll have to come back and visit so I can see some of them again! Note: Please do! We always love seeing our “Lilly alumni”!

Q: What are your plans for after graduation?
A: I’m currently interviewing for jobs (I have another one this week, wish me luck) with nonprofit organizations and will be working for 1 gap year, before attending law school in Fall 2024. Longer-term, I plan to work in social justice law.

Q: What is the animal that you most identify with? … well, you don’t expect all the questions to be about working in the library, do you?
A: I’ve been told I remind people of a chinchilla – I’m not entirely sure what that means but I love chinchillas so I’ll take it. Other answers I’ve received: orange cat, pangolin, and panther.

Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to them and our other graduates, treasured members of our Lilly Library “family”. We appreciate Hailey’s stellar work and dedication to Lilly and wish them all the best!

What is a Vital Lilly Library Resource? Meet Our Class of 2023!

What is a Vital Lilly Library Resource?
Meet Our Class of 2023

Young woman
Meet “Lilly'” Class of 2023 – Emma

The Lilly and Music Libraries are at the heart of East Campus, the First-Year Campus for Duke Undergraduates. To serve our community, during the semester, the East Campus Libraries remain open for 175 hours each week! Our student assistants are an essential element in maintaining a high level of service, and we want to introduce you to one of our “Class of 2023”. Get to know Emma L., one of our graduating student assistants in this profile, and you’ll appreciate her as much we do.

Duke – and Lilly! – Senior Emma

Young woman
A Lilly selfie with Emma
  • Hometown: Oak Park, IL
  • Family/siblings/pets:
    One younger sister. The closest thing I have to a pet is a lot of houseplants.
  • Academic major: Biology and Chemistry
  • Activities on campus: Research, Duke Symphony Orchestra, avid Cameron Crazie
  • Favorite on-campus activity (besides working in the library 😉 ): Duke Symphony Orchestra!
  • Favorite off-campus activity: Walks at Eno
  • Favorite campus eatery: Late-night Pitchforks
  • Favorite off-campus eatery: The Parlour

Behind the Curtain at Lilly

Q: If you could have a sleepover anywhere in the libraries, where would you choose, and why?
A: The bottom floor of the Biddle library, it’s so calm and quiet.

Q: What’s the strangest/most interesting book or movie or music you’ve come across in the library?
A: The locked stacks at Lilly have some really cool, really old books! No one book in particular stands out to me, but I love working in that room and seeing all the titles and publication years in there.

Q: What is your favorite part about working at library? Least favorite?
A: The people are my favorite thing by far! I’ve met so many wonderful people at Lilly, from the librarians to the other student workers to the people who come up to the front desk. My least favorite part is when I just barely miss the bus after my shift, which isn’t even to do with Lilly.

Q: What is one memory from your time in the library that you will never forget?
A: There was a tornado warning during one of my shifts this year, so we had to gather everyone up and go down to the basement. It only lasted 15-ish minutes, but it was interesting while it lasted.

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in the library?
A: I’ve done several shifts without shoes on because it was raining so hard that they were too wet to wear by the time I got to work.

Q: How will your time working in the library help you in your future pursuits?
A: I’ve learned how to make searches specific enough to find what I’m looking for when finding sources for research. It’s also really helped me learn how to troubleshoot a printer (always a good skill to have).

Q: What will you miss most about the library when you graduate?
A: How friendly everyone who works there is! Especially having worked at Lilly for four years, I’ll miss all the people (especially the librarians) who I met as a freshman. My favorite part of working an early shift this year is that I get to chat with everyone as they come in, and I’m sad I won’t get to do that anymore.

Q: What are your plans for after graduation?
A: I’ll be pursuing a PhD in molecular microbiology at Tufts in Boston!

Q: What is your spirit animal? … well, you don’t expect all the questions to be about working in the library, do you?
A: A cat, purely because of how much they love napping in the sun

Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to Emma and our other graduates, treasured members of our East Campus Libraries “family”. We appreciate Emma’s stellar work and dedication to Lilly and wish her all the best!

What is a Vital Music Library Resource?

What is a Vital Music Library Resource?

Cierra at work in the Duke Music Library

The Lilly and Music Libraries are at the heart of East Campus, the First-Year Campus for Duke Undergraduates. To serve our community, during the semester, the East Campus Libraries remain open for 175 hours each week! Our student assistants are an essential element in maintaining a high level of service, and we want to introduce you to one of our “Class of 2023”. Get to know  Cierra H., one of the Duke Music Library‘s graduating student assistants in this profile, and you’ll appreciate her as much we do.

Duke (and Music!) Senior Cierra

  • Hometown: Roanoke Rapids, NC
  • Family/siblings/pets: Three younger siblings, Three dogs
  • Academic major: Biology
  • Activities on campus: Duke Med BEC Fellows/Root Causes/Project FEED, Duke Jazz Ensemble
  • Favorite on-campus activity (besides working in the library): Working in my research lab
  • Favorite off-campus activity: Bowling
  • Favorite campus eatery: Il Forno / Sazon
  • Favorite off-campus eatery: Guasaca

Behind the Curtain at the Music Library

Q: If you could have a sleepover anywhere in the libraries, where would you choose, and why?
A: The Music Library because it is always quiet in the evenings, there is plenty of space as well as a piano which would be fun to play.

Q: What’s the strangest/most interesting book or movie or music you’ve come across in the library?
A: There was once a book full of slang that I thought was interesting. We tend to read more of the serious works and to read something that was serious, but lighthearted, was fun.

Q: What is your favorite part about working at the Music Library? Least favorite?
A: My favorite part is finding new books to read and helping people out at the desk. It is also therapeutic to re-shelve or process new books as well as pull items. I don’t think I have a least favorite thing about working at the library.

Q: What is one memory from your time in the library that you will never forget?
A: I will never forget two things. One is the freebies event we had where we gave away a bunch of scores and books. The second is when Jamie put up a skeleton behind the circulation desk named Skylar who pretended to be conducting music on Halloween .

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in the library?
A: I haven’t done anything crazy in the library.

Q: How will your time working in the library help you in your future pursuits?
A: I’ve learned to catalog books and how to better interact with people. I’ve gotten to work with some amazing staff and make friends amongst my peers that also work here. There is never a dull moment and some of the socialization skills I’ve gained will be useful in my future.

Q: What will you miss most about the library when you graduate?
A: I will miss the staff: Laura, Sarah, and Jamie (and Jamie’s emails every week). They were very welcoming at first and over the two years, they have gotten to know me on a personal level and I’ve enjoyed every conversation we’ve had.

Q: What are your plans for after graduation?
A: Clinical research for two years while applying to medical schools.

Q: What is your spirit animal? … Well, you don’t expect all the questions to be about working in the library, do you?
A: A dolphin

Graduation in May means the Duke Music Library will say farewell to Cierra and our other graduates, treasured members of our East Campus Libraries “family”. We appreciate Cierra’s  stellar work and dedication to Music and wish her all the best!

What Is a Vital Library Resource?

Lilly’s Graduate Student Assistant

Brandon – definitely NOT in Lilly Library!

The Lilly and Music Libraries are at the heart of East Campus, the First-Year Campus for Duke Undergraduates. To serve our community, during the semester, the East Campus Libraries remain open for 175 hours each week! Our student assistants are an essential element in maintaining a high level of service, and we want to introduce you to one of our “Class of 2023”. Get to know Brandon L., one of our graduating student assistants in this profile, and you’ll appreciate the importance of our student staff as much we do.

Graduate Student Brandon

Graduate Student assistant – Brandon
  • Hometown: Allentown
  • Family/siblings/pets: 1 younger sister, no pets 🙁
  • Academic major: Masters of Public Policy
  • Activities on campus:
    President of the Sanford Energy and Environment Club; Chair of the Partnerships Team of Oceans @ Duke; Tutor for economics and statistics; Mentor in Duke F1RSTS; and Member of the Energy Week Leadership Committee.
  • Favorite on-campus activity (besides working in the library): Duke basketball
  • Favorite off-campus activity: Biking or hiking
  • Favorite campus eatery: Tandoor
  • Favorite off-campus eatery: East Cut
Behind the Curtain: Lilly Library

Q: If you could have a sleepover anywhere in the libraries, where would you choose, and why?
A: Thomas Reading Room in Lilly because it’s spacious and comfortable.

Q: What’s the strangest/most interesting book or movie or music you’ve come across in the library?
A: Feline Philosophy, a book about cats.

Q: What is your favorite part about working at library? Least favorite?
A: Faculty delivery when it’s sunny. Least favorite has to be shelf reading.

Q: What is one memory from your time in the library that you will never forget?
A: A student accidentally printed out 100 color copies of Caleb Love (a UNC basketball player). She meant to print 10 for her friends to hold up at the UNC game.

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in the library?
A: Worked two 6-hour shifts on back-to-back days.
Note: We agree – that was crazy!

Q: How will your time working in the library help you in your future pursuits?
A: Knowing all the resources and benefits that come with being a member of a library will be very helpful. There is so much people don’t know libraries offer.

Q: What will you miss most about the library when you graduate?
A: All the little treats we got during holidays or the reading period.

Q: What are your plans for after graduation?
A: Moving to Chicago for a job at the Federal Reserve.

Q: What is your spirit animal?
… well, you don’t expect all the questions to be about working in the library, do you?
A: An owl because that was my undergrad’s mascot and I love staying up late.

Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to Brandon and our other graduates, treasured members of our East Campus Libraries’ “family”. We appreciate Brandon’s  stellar work and dedication to Lilly and wish him all the best!

 

Lilly Library Presents: March Musical Movie Madness!!!

It’s time for Round 3: 4/4 Time!

Collage of 4 movie postersVOTE HERE

While Duke’s March dance of 2023 has come to an end, Lilly Library brings you its own March Madness with 16 contrapuntal contenders. All of the movies competing in Lilly’s March Musical Movie Madness are available to watch online, with access brought to you by Duke Libraries and the Swank Digital Campus  streaming platform. Contestants will be entered in a raffle, and Duke staff are eligible to win an electronic book plate in the online catalog record for the musical movie of their choosing. It’s shaping up to be a thrilling March at Lilly Library!

Lilly’s resident bracketologist, Nathaniel Brown, and film “reserves” aficionado, David Felton, will bring you all the highlights of this exciting competition. Watch their play-by-play videos highlighting each exciting round.

These Golden OldiesSingin’ in the Rain (1952), The Wiz (1978), Hairspray (1988) and Fame (1980) —will dance into your hearts.
Soundscapes of La La Land (2016), Into the Woods (2014), Pitch Perfect (2012) and In the Heights (2021) vie for the top spot.
The Soloists perform in Selena (1997), Rocketman (2019), Respect (2021) and Elvis (2022).
And the Melodious Medleys of Hedwig & the Angry Inch (2001), Dancer in the Dark (2000), A Star is Born (2018) and Get on Up (2014)
round out this year’s competition. Vote for your favorite Musical Movies to help crown the winner.

VOTE HERE

Four rounds of voting will open at 9am the first day of each round and close at 8pm the last day:
Sounds of 16: 3/20-3/22
Eighth Notes: 3/23-3/27
4/4 Time: 3/28-3/29
Dynamic Duet: 3/30-4/2
Finale (winner announced): 4/3.

Voting dates and updates will be posted on Lilly’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts as well as in our blog, Latest@Lilly.

Get Ready for Finals at Lilly!

Celebrate the end of Fall Semester 2022
with the Stampede of Love!

Kiwi of the Stampede of Love – photo courtesy of Stampede of Love stampedeoflove.org

Have you heard about the “mane” event
at Lilly Library?

Where did Fall Semester go? December is here, and with it, exams await all Duke students. Because the First-Year students live on East Campus, the staff at Lilly Library does its best to offer support and relieve the stress of the fall semester for our “neighbors” experiencing their first finals at Duke. Extending our hours to a 24/7 schedule during exams, offering a study break with refreshments, and providing a room dedicated as a relaxation station are longstanding Lilly traditions.

Our favorite tradition is hosting the Stampede of Love, miniature therapy horses who bring smiles to stressed students (and librarians!). If you decide to trot over to East Campus neigh-borhood, saddle up for Lilly’s end of semester events:

  • Saturday, December 10th:  225 continuous hours!?!
    Beginning at 10am, Lilly expands its schedule to 24/7 through the examination period, ending at 7pm on Monday, December 19th. Info for all Duke Library Hours
  • Sunday, December 11th  11am – 1pm : What we are all waiting for – it’s the Study Break with the Stampede of Love details here
  • Sunday, December 11th: Relaxation Station in Lilly opens for students
8 people and one miniature horse
Kiwi and Librarians in 2018

It’s been a great fall semester
and best of luck to everyone during Finals!

Lilly Collection Spotlight: Library Things for Your Curiosity Voyage

Library Things –
Embark on Your Curiosity Voyage

Films, Books, and Music of the 1980s in the Libraries’ Collections

Do you know that the creators of Stranger Things are from Durham, North Carolina?
The supernatural series may be set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, but creators Matt and Ross Duffer grew up in Durham. Although the identical twins grew up in the 90s, the series is awash with popular culture references from the 1980s. They lived in Durham County and attended the Duke School for elementary and middle school, graduating from Jordan High School. The Duffer brothers later attended Chapman University in California where they studied film and media arts.

Enjoy the ambience of Hawkins – we mean Durham – and immerse yourself in the 1980s. Discover movies, books, comics, and music of the era in our Duke Libraries’ collections.

Films of the 1980s

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Spain) DVD 30088

To give a sense of the world beyond Hawkins/Durham, we’ve highlighted international films from the same period including Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Spain), Police Story (Hong Kong), Cinema Paradiso (Italy), and My Neighbor Totoro (Japan).

Films that the Hellfire gang watched include popular titles like Ghostbusters and E.T. – and, yes, those are in our film collection.

Visit the Library Things Collection Spotlight  in our lobby to browse these films*  – and more (the full list is here) –  that we’ve selected from our film collection.

Note: The list incudes some titles which  you can stream via your Duke NetID.

Music of the 1980s

LL Cool J’s Radio (1985)

Heavy Metal, Punk, Rock, Electronic, Pop, Rap – the 1980s are calling! Songs and artists featured in the show are seeing a resurgence of interest and gaining new audiences. If you wonder why “old” music such as Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill (1985), Metallica’s Master of Puppets (1986), and the Clash have been at the top of playlists, you can thank Stranger Things. The 1980s also saw the rise of Rap as a musical force with the emergence of iconic performers such as LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash, and Run D.M.C.

The Duke Music Library has a collection of CDs embracing all musical genres including rock, folk and rap. Don’t want to immerse yourself in the 1980s  with a boombox or other older formats?  Your Duke NetID  provides access to streaming music platforms.  Interested in the same sort of 1980s  (and more recent) music of Stranger Things?  Alexander Street Music database can lead you directly to genres of popular music.

Books of the 1980s

Stephen King’s It

While film, music, and the rise of gaming of the 1980s populate the atmosphere of Stranger Things, books about – and of – the period illuminate popular culture.  A selection of suspense and fantasy novels by writers such as Stephen King, graphic novels (which evolved from comic books), and books examining contemporary culture are available in the Lilly Library lobby.  Peruse these highlighted titles, plus a few eBooks in our Lilly Collection Spotlight Reading List.

To quote  Stranger Things‘ character  Dustin:
… I am on a curiosity voyage, and I need my paddles to travel. These books… these books are my paddles…

Our Duke Libraries and your Duke NetID  provide “paddles” that encompass books, film, music, and a breadth of online resources.  Explore Duke Libraries’ “library things” and embark on your own curiosity voyage!

 

Lilly Collection Spotlight: Banned and Challenged Graphic Novels

Badly drawn, badly written and badly printed – a strain on young eyes and young nervous systems.” – Sterling North, Literary Editor, Chicago Daily News, 1940

Challenged from the Start

From the beginning, comics and graphic novels have had fans and detractors. To critics, comics were at a minimum second-rate and low-brow while at the extreme end, a corrupting force leading to juvenile delinquency.  In 1954, Frederic Wertham published the now infamous Seduction of the Innocent, linking juvenile delinquency to comics which led to a de facto censorship system which lasted for decades.

Fast forward to today, graphic novels, fiction and non-fiction works in comic-strip format, are frequent targets for challenges and bans. Though the majority of challenges come from parents and other concerned citizens, state officials have often lodged complaints. North Carolina’s own Lt. Governor, Mark Robinson, vehemently protested the inclusion of the graphic novel, Gender Queer, in school library collections, calling for its immediate removal.

Why graphic novels? 

Expanding beyond superheroes, authors and illustrators are connecting with their audiences on a variety of topics and issues through text and images. The combination of subject matter and static images makes graphic novels uniquely vulnerable to challenges.

Since 2013, graphic novels have made frequent appearances on the American Library Association’s yearly “Top 10 Most  Challenged Books.” In addition, the numerous challenges faced by publishers, libraries, retailers, and even readers over comics and graphics gave rise in 1986 to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit whose mission is the protection of the “First Amendment rights of the comics art form.”

Below are some titles in our collection that have been frequent targets of these challenges (click on the images for library location information). 

Blankets Book Cover
 

Color of Earth Book Cover Drama book cover

Fun Home Book Cover Gender Queer Book Cover

Maus Book Cover Persepolis Book Cover

Saga Book CoverThis One Summer Book Cover

Lilly Streams: Documentary Films for Black History Month

Post by Danette Pachtner, Duke Libraries’ Librarian for Film, Video & Digital Media and Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies

Black History Month is dedicated to the histories and stories of Black Americans and the African diaspora who have systemically been sidelined for centuries. Duke Libraries’ film collection has a treasure trove of titles to view and explore.

The Docuseek African-American Studies Collection is an interdisciplinary streaming video collection of over 80 award-winning films, featuring popular and classic films plus dynamic new releases, focused on social, political and cultural history and contemporary issues that are ideal resources for Black History Month.

Duke Libraries provides access to these streaming videos in The Docuseek Complete Collection, with Duke NetId/password authentication.

John Lewis
John Lewis: Get in the Way | dir. Kathleen Dowdey | 2020

John Lewis: Get in the Way tells the gripping tale of Lewis’s role in the vanguard of the Civil Rights Movement through never-before-seen interviews shot over 20 years.

Power to Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution details the history of how Medicare was leveraged to desegregate hospitals. Before Medicare, fewer than half the nation’s hospitals served black and white patients equally, and in the South, 1/3 of hospitals would not admit African-Americans even for emergencies.
Power to Heal illustrates how Movement leaders and grass-roots volunteers pressed and worked with the federal government to achieve a greater measure of justice and fairness for African-Americans.

Film poster
Horror Noire: a History of Black Horror | dir. Xavier Burgin | 2019

Horror Noire traces the extensive history of Black horror films. Delving into a century of genre films that by turns utilized, caricatured, exploited, sidelined, and finally embraced them, Horror Noire traces a secret history of Black Americans in Hollywood through their connection to the horror genre.

Al Helm follows an African American Christian choir’s journey to the Palestinian National Theater to put on a play about Martin Luther King, Jr. A rousing portrait of the changes unfolding in the Middle East as a nonviolent movement grows in Palestine, this dynamic and complex work is born of a brilliantly simple and potent idea: what would happen if African American Christians—the same group who served as exemplars of the Civil Rights Movement—could witness firsthand the plight of Palestinians today?

Still of Lovings
The Loving Story | dir. Nancy Buirski | 2011
Film Poster
A Crime on the Bayou | dir. Nancy Buirski | 2020

The classic documentary film, The Loving Story, from Nancy Buirski’s trilogy profiling brave individuals who fought for justice in and around the Civil Rights era, is a heart-rending story of the Lovings and the ground-breaking court case that legalized marriage between interracial couples. A Crime on the Bayou, is the final film in Buirski’s trilogy, which outlines the extraordinary story of Gary Duncan, arrested for touching a white boy’s arm, whose civil rights case in Louisiana went all the way to the Supreme Court in the late 1960s.

River City Drumbeat chronicles Edward “Nardie” White’s instruction of ancestral Pan-African culture and drumming in Louisville, Kentucky. For three decades, Edward “Nardie” White has been leading the River City Drum Corps in order to instill a foundation of purposeful resilience within his neighborhood youth. Against the backdrop of the American South, Mr. White’s drumline and its multi-generational network of support has been a lifeline for many young African Americans. In his final year as director he trains his successor Albert Shumake, a young artist whose troubled life was transformed by the drumline and Mr. White’s mentorship when he was a teen. During this transitional year, Mr. White and Albert reflect on the tragedies and triumphs in their lives and the legacy of the drum corps.

Father’s Kingdom depicts the untold story of the remarkable civil rights pioneer Father Divine. Once a celebrity who was decades ahead of his time fighting for civil rights, he has largely been written out of history because of the audacity of his religious claims, Father’s revolutionary ideas on race and identity still resonate today.

Film still
Black Girl in Suburbia | dir. Melissa Lowery | 2016

Black Girl in Suburbia takes a look at the suburbs of America from the perspective of women of color. Through conversations with her own daughters, with teachers and scholars who are experts in the personal impacts of growing up a person of color in a predominately white place, this film explores the conflicts that many Black girls in homogeneous hometowns have in relating to both white and Black communities.

New Docuseek releases include Stateless, a film that reveals the dark and deadly history of institutionalized oppression of Dominicans of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic, and Oliver Tambo, about the man responsible for the release of Nelson Mandela and who helped to end the apartheid in South Africa.

If you would like to explore more streaming video brought to you by Duke Libraries, browse titles in Kanopy, Swank Digital Campus, Films on Demand World Cinema and Feature Films for Education as well as the Academic Video Online collections.

 

 

 

 

The Oriental – Durham’s first Chinese Restaurant

 

Oriental Matchbook
Ebay

In 1949, after living and working in the US for 30 years and making his home in Durham for over 10 years, Der Wo, the owner and operator of Durham’s first, very popular, Chinese restaurant was joyfully reunited with his family for the first time in 18 years.

Durham Morning Herald, 25 February 1949

Der Wo was originally from the Chinese province of Guangdong (called Canton by Westerners of the time) near Hong Kong. He immigrated to the US to work in Chinese restaurants in Washington DC. Before he came to Durham, he had 16 years of experience in the Chinese/American restaurant business. Der Wo brought his skills and joined a venture in Durham backed by the very successful sister restaurant, also the Oriental, based in  Charlotte NC.  Although the term “Oriental” is no longer used to identify people of Asian ancestry, in the period of the founding of this cafe, the term was widely used. The term “Chinese /American” more accurately reflects the people born in China who lived and worked in the United States.

Chinese /American cuisine had been a national fad in urban areas across the United States since the early 1900s. By the mid-1930s, Chop Suey, the common name for a Chinese/American adaptation of stir fry, was only available in Durham as a canned good from La Choy, founded in the US midwest in 1922, or from the Pines Tea Room near Chapel Hill, run by a Mrs. Vickers.

Collection of John DeFerrari, http://www.streetsofwashington.com/2021/11/chinese-restaurants-in-dc-at-mid-century.html

The Immigration Act of 1790 and the Chinese Exclusion Acts, in force from the 1880s until 1942, meant that Der Wo could not become a US citizen. In 1915 a court action opened the door for more Chinese restaurant workers to enter the US, but this immigration was tightly controlled. In the 1930 US Census, Durham had only 3 people identified as Chinese-born.

Nonetheless, by 1938 downtown Durham had the Oriental Restaurant, a thriving Chinese/American eatery. The Oriental, like other Chinese-owned businesses, followed Exclusion era practices by employing Chinese “bachelor” cooks and staff, several of whom lived on the premises. In the 1940 Census, Der Wo and five of his employees were listed as living above the restaurant on Parrish St.

A system of mutual support developed among Chinese/Americans and among business owners and restauranteurs called Huiguan. This relatively informal association system was similar to clans or a guild system for the management of both the supply of Chinese food and specialty products, and the flow of restaurant workers into the United States. The small staff of Chinese men gathered in Durham in the mid-1930s to open the new Chinese restaurant.

Durham Sun, 18 August 1938

The Oriental was essentially a 90-seat `white tablecloth restaurant well-sited in downtown Durham about equidistant from the two largest hotels in the downtown area and two blocks from the busy passenger train station. The Oriental was whites only. The operators chose Parrish St, also known as the “Black Wall Street,” because of proximity to patrons via the railroad and hotels, but the business did not make any accommodation for black patrons. The presence of Black Wall Street in a white downtown was an anomaly as was a segregated Chinese Restaurant just steps from the two largest black-owned enterprises in the city.

By the early 1940s, a Chinese restaurant for black patrons, the Asia Cafe, was established about a mile from the Oriental. Located in Hayti, Durham’s black business district,  the restaurant was near the important intersection of Fayetteville St and Pettigrew St.  The Asia Cafe was operated by Hugh Wong. The site was taken under urban renewal as part of  Durham Freeway.

The Oriental used many of the marketing tools available in the 1930s. Der Wo advertised his restaurant in the Duke Chronicle, UNC’s Daily Tar Heel, and the Durham newspapers as well as the City Directories and the telephone books. Der Wo arranged for civic groups to hold meetings and banquets in his facility. In addition to supporting the American war effort during World War Two via war bond drives and other donations, Der Wo’s earlier activism included support for the nationalist Chinese cause including holding a banquet at the Oriental in honor of a barnstorming Chinese aviatrix raising funds for the support of the nationalists against the Japanese.

Open Durham

A grand opening for the Oriental was held on Saturday June18th 1938 and the restaurant was a hit from the start. Der Wo with the backing of the owner of the Oriental in Charlotte had rented a white brick two-story restaurant building with granite details likely built in the late teens or early twenties. Since he came from restaurants in more architecturally sophisticated urban Washington DC, the Oriental exterior was modernized in the Moderne style with full plate glass doors and windows surrounded by opaque panels of pigmented structural glass, probably Vitrolite, in ivory and black . The name “The Oriental Restaurant” was in a green bamboo style script in the glass panel above the front facade and there was a neon sign. The colors of the renovated interior were cream and brown and the main dining room seated 60 and included both high booths and tables. There was an adjoining dining room seating 30 for meetings. The restaurant was fully air-conditioned at a time that many offices and hotel rooms were not.

Open Durham

The preferred Chinese/ American dish in the 1930s remained Chop Suey, but in a recent survey on social media of long-term Durham residents now in their 60’s and older, the Oriental’s Chicken Chow Mein is the most frequently remembered dish. The owner of a local plumbing company was so fond of the Oriental that his family ate there once a week throughout the 1950s and 1960s and many survey respondents remembered special Sunday lunches at the Oriental. The judgment concerning the popularity of the Oriental’s Chow Mein is verified in a 1950s newspaper article about the long-time cook at the Oriental, Frank Dea Toy.

George Lougee, a local newspaper reporter for the Durham Herald Sun, wrote affectionately not only about Der Wo, but also about the kitchen workers like Frank Dea Toy over several decades. Lougee’s primary beat was the Courts, and the Oriental was just around the corner from the Courthouse and jail.

From the Durham Herald Co. Newspaper Photograph Collection #P0105, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Among the most interesting aspects of the Oriental story is Der Wo and his family’s path from China to Durham which was detailed in Lougee’s 1949 feature newspaper story about the reunion of Der Wo and his family after the long separation because of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the disruption of World War II.

In 1919, Der Wo immigrated from China via San Francisco to Washington DC to make his way in the restaurant business. No doubt he improved his English and he learned about the operations of restaurants.

In 1931 Der Wo was successful enough to make the two-month journey to return to China to marry. Der Wo’s parents had arranged his marriage to Wu Mei On, an eligible young woman. Before Der Wo returned to the US about a year later, Wu Mei On had had a daughter and was pregnant. Wu Mei On and her children lived with Der Wo’s parents. Der Wo returned to the restaurant business in Washington DC in 1932 before coming to Durham in late 1937.

In 1941, the Japanese bombed and invaded the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The danger and brutality of the attack prompted the extended Der Wo family to flee into the interior of China. After a few months, they returned to Hong Kong to find their home intact and they resumed their lives there.

Der Wo, Immigration records, ancestry.com

In some of the records of the census and other Federal agencies from the 1930s and 1940s, Der Wo is listed as white. In 1949 Der Wo began Naturalization proceedings and was finally reunited with his wife and met, for the first time, his 18-year old son. Part of the delay in the reunion was because of immigration restrictions. Both his wife and son had to come to the United States on temporary visas. The family lived together for a number of years and two other sons were born.

In 1953 Der Wo, suffering from heart disease, died of a sudden heart attack, and his wife and older son were forced to take over the operation of the restaurant.

In 1954 Federal Immigration and Naturalization authorities contacted the family about possible deportation because of the lapsed visa status of both Der Wo’s wife and older son.  Lougee wrote about the family’s immigration situation and gathered local support. With the assistance of Congressman Carl Durham, a  private bill was introduced and approved by Congress and signed by President Eisenhower to allow the family to stay together in Durham.

With the help of her son and the restaurant staff,  Mrs Der Wo operated the restaurant successfully throughout the 1950s despite her limited English language skills.

In a mid-1950s feature story, Frank  Dea Toy, cook at the Oriental, was featured. Dea Toy claimed, to newspaperman Lougee’s astonishment, that after living in Durham for over twenty years he had never been to any sort of ball game nor had he attend more than one movie a year. Radio and television were, he said, too “noisy.” The isolation of the Chinese workers was further illustrated by Lougee’s reporting on a 1944 fatal hit and run accident that killed an Oriental employee who was walking in Durham with two Chinese colleagues. The death was never solved.

Frank Dea Toy, From the Durham Herald Co. Newspaper Photograph Collection #P0105, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

By the early1960’s a shift in the primary shopping areas from downtown Durham to the suburbs north and south of Durham’s city center was well underway and the lunch and dinner trade at the Oriental were likely a fraction of what they had been. Urban renewal was in the planning stages and the face of Durham was changing.

Civil rights protest was also rising, and in May 1963 the Oriental was a site at which Black students, primarily from North Carolina Central University (then College), staged a late afternoon peaceful sit-in. Sit-in leaders asked to be served on behalf of their 60 followers and were refused by management. Some students left, but 48 waited for the police to charge them with unlawful trespass. All were charged and released without bond.

By 1964 the formal process of downtown Durham redevelopment using Federal funds was underway. The passenger train station in downtown Durham was closed and one of the two major downtown hotels closed as well. No doubt redevelopment was a part of the decline of the Oriental.  Mrs. Der closed the Oriental in 1966. The building itself was not demolished until the early 1970s. The ultimate causes of the closure of the restaurant may have been the aging of the staff and owner, but other factors may have included the aging infrastructure and the changes in the surrounding business climate. In the face of public accommodation laws, urban renewal programs, the Durham Freeway, and the end of official segregation, the Oriental did not survive.

Many thanks to my colleagues, Yunyi Wang and Luo Zhou, and to Prof. Calvin Cheung-Miaw for their editorial assistance.

Select Bibliography/  Further Reading:

 

Bow, Leslie. Partly Colored : Asian Americans and Racial Anomaly in the Segregated South. New York: New York : New York University Press, 2010.

Carter, Susan B. “Celestial Suppers: The Political Economy of America’s Chop Suey Craze, 1900-1930.” Asia-Pacific Economic and Business History Conference, 2009. Unpublished but available online, https://apebhconference.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/carter1.pdf

Chen, Yong. “The Rise of Chinese Food in the United States.” Oxford University Press, 2017.

Chen, Yong. “Chop Suey, USA : The Story of Chinese Food in America.” New York: New York : Columbia University Press, 2014.

Coe, Andrew. Chop Suey : A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States. New York: New York : Oxford University Press, 2009.

Desai, Jigna
, and Joshi, Khyati Y. , eds.  Asian Americans in Dixie : Race and Migration in the South. Urbana: Urbana : University of Illinois Press,  2013.

Edwards, Christopher. “Homeland Comfort in an Alien Land: The Role of the Huiguan in Exclusion Era Los Angeles.” The Toro Historical Review 6.1, 2019.

Hinnershitz, Stephanie. A Different Shade of Justice : Asian American Civil Rights in the South. Chapel Hill: Chapel Hill : The University of Carolina Press, 2017.

Holaday, J. Chris, and Patrick Cullom. Classic Restaurants of Durham. Charleston, SC: Charleston, SC : American Palate, a Division of The History Press, 2020.

Jung, John. Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants. Cypress, Calif.: Yin and Yang Press, 2010.

McGrath, Raymond and Frost, A.C. Glass in Architecture and Decoration. London: The Architectural Press, 1937.

Mendelson, Anne. Chow Chop Suey : Food and the Chinese American Journey. New York: New York : Columbia University Press, 2016.

Mohl, Raymond A., 
Van Sant, John E.  and 
Chizuru Saeki, eds.     Far East, Down South : Asians in the American South.  Tuscaloosa: Tuscaloosa : The University of Alabama Press, 2016.

 

 

 

 

Native Americans in North Carolina: the Path from the Past to the Present

Native Americans in North Carolina:
the Path from the Past to the Present

The research and suggested resources presented in the article Imagining Duke’s Campus in 1000 AD inspire the Lilly Library exhibit: Native Americans in North Carolina: the Path from the Past to the Present. Tangible artifacts and reference material highlighting the history of Native Americans in North Carolina  carry us together on a journey over time to the campus experience of today. The exhibit presents historical evidence predating European contact, records and accounts of the university’s Native American student experience, and a look at the extent of Native American tribal reach in present day North Carolina.

North Carolina: The Arrival of Europeans

Book cover
A New Voyage to Carolina, John Lawson (1709)

When the first Europeans arrived in what they called Carolina, the 16th century surveyor John White depicted in detail the established villages and individuals living on the land near Roanoke. A century later John Lawson catalogued the peoples and bounty of the land he traveled. His account A New Voyage to Carolina (produced in 1709) revealed the diversity of nature especially flora and of the nations of Native Americans. An original edition of Lawson’s book is found in the Rubenstein Library collection but does not circulate.
For Duke community members with NetIDs who wish  to examine Lawson’s work, reprints and online versions are readily available.

Duke: The Arrival of Joseph S. Maytubby

Maytubby
Joseph S. Maytubby (Image from Duke University Archives)

The relationship between Duke and its Native American constituents goes back further in history than one might expect. In 1892, Trinity College (the predecessor to Duke University) saw the arrival of Joseph S. Maytubby on its campus in Durham. Maytubby, a member of the Chickasaw tribe became the first Native American to receive a degree from Trinity College. An excellent student, he served as president of the Hesperian Literary Society, was involved with the Trinity Archive literary magazine, played football, and, as a capstone to his stellar academic career, his oratory skills won the Wiley Gray Medal competition for the 1896 commencement.

Duke Magazine Retro: Native Americans at Trinity in the Nineteenth Century provides more insight into university history and Mr. Maytubby’s experience.

Today: the Path Continues

In present day, the Duke Native American Student Alliance serves as a resource and advocates on behalf of Native American Students on campus. Read its mission statement to learn more. One element of NASA’s stated mission is to advance the awareness of Native American culture throughout campus and the state.

Map of NC Tribal Communities – source: North Carolina Dept. of Administration

It is not generally known that North Carolina has the largest Native American population east of the Mississippi River. North Carolina is home to eight tribes recognized tribes by the state, including the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation – the only federally recognized Native American community in North Carolina.   This exhibit offers a glimpse into the complicated and often uncomfortable history of the Native American tale.

The Lilly Library exhibit Native Americans in North Carolina: the Path from the Past to the Present is on display until March 1, 2022.
Curated by Librarians Greta Boers and Carson Holloway. Artifacts on display are from the collections of Carson Holloway and Greta Boers.

Meet Lilly’s Class of 2021

What is a Vital Lilly Library Resource?

Lilly’s Graduate Student Assistants

young woman
Grace in one of her favorite spots in Lilly Library

Do you remember the Library before the covid era? If you had ever been in Lilly Library late in the evenings, you may have seen our graduate student assistant, Odunola (who goes by Grace) at our desk. We are fortunate that Grace continued to work with us this past year. And, what a year it has been!

Adjusting to a very different library schedule, re-shelving thousands of returned books that were warehoused during the summer of 2020, scrupulously searching for books requested for Library Take-Out, and even helping staff prepare over 1500 “Welcome” library goodie bags for the Class of 2024 – Grace has been a vital member of our Lilly team this past year.

Now is your chance to get to know Grace in this profile, and you will appreciate her as much we do!

Graduate Student Grace

Close up of young woman in front of Duke Chapel
Grace celebrating graduation
  • Hometown: Oyan, Osun State, Nigeria
  • Family: Father, Mother, a brother, two sisters, three nieces, and a nephew.
  • Academic field of study:
    Medical Physics M.Sc.
  • Activities on campus:
    Member of GPSG, walking, my research work involved 3D printing and working with the staff at the Duke Innovation Co-Lab
  • Favorite on-campus activity:
    Visiting the Duke clinics to shadow physicists, performing QA on medical equipment like the Linac and the brachytherapy afterloader.
  • Favorite off-campus activity:
    Participating in my local church’s monthly food drive to support the community.
  • Favorite off-campus eatery:
    Shanghai (on Hillsborough)

Describe your work in Lilly and the changes you saw this pandemic year:

Woman at railing
Grace surveying the Lilly lobby

Q: What’s the strangest or most interesting book or movie you’ve come across in Lilly?
A: There was a book (I can’t really remember the title) that showed portraits of African/Black women drawn during the slave trade era. According to the author, having one’s portrait done at that time was a thing of honor, however, the women were posed in such a dishonorable way because they were slaves even though they were beautiful to behold. It was an odd book.

Q: What is your favorite part about working at Lilly?
A: Manning the front desk and being able to help people out, working with kind and flexible staff members, occasional free food

Q: Least favorite?
A: Book search – I feel I have left the task incomplete when I do not find the book.

Q: What is one memory from Lilly that you will never forget?
A: How excited I was to come back after the initial lockdown restriction was eased. I truly missed working at Lilly.

Q: What is working in a now almost empty Lilly like compared to your past work at the Lilly desk?
A: It was quite strange at first. The pandemic was unexpected and its effects were far-reaching. The usually busy front desk and reading rooms became deserted and really quiet. It was quite strange. I miss the hustle and bustle of pre-covid.

Q: What will you miss most about Lilly?
A: The building itself! I love the architecture from the outside and the different rooms, especially the Thomas room upstairs. Apparently, I love old buildings.

Q: What are your plans after finishing your degree and leaving Duke?
A: I will be proceeding to obtain a Ph.D. degree in Medical Physics from the University of Alberta in Canada.

We wish Grace the best and much success as she continues her studies far from Duke. Congratulations!

Lilly Looks – A Summer Premiere

Lilly Looks – A Summer Premiere

Seagull in Rome Italy
Lilly Looks – Travel to Italy with Your Duke NetID
Art Librarian Lee S. Makes Art Out of Books

When Spring Break 2020 (remember all the way back to March?) morphed into a covid19 quarantine, closing our Lilly Library building did not mean we left our library resources “remaining in place”. Digitizing course material, consulting with students and faculty, while expanding online collections and streaming databases are a few ways all of us in the Duke Libraries connect with our users.

Being off campus has us thinking of Lilly Library and missing all of our wonderful assets, headlined by our knowledgeable colleagues. One way to stay connected is with our new series of virtual pop-ups, Lilly Looks.

Lilly Looks is a collage of insider glimpses and highlights of our collections of resources, films, books, and beyond, presented in short video posts. Some may be scholarly while some may definitely go “beyond” with lighthearted and fresh perspectives!

Lilly Looks: Let Your NetID Be Your Passport

A wistful Carol Terry, who works with Lilly’s Communications and Collections, finds a way to travel this summer via Alexander Street Films, one of the libraries’ streaming video databases.

Lilly Looks: Making Art from Your Own Books

Art Librarian Lee Sorensen demonstrates an artful way to use unwanted or obsolete books.

Lilly Looks: On Trails courtesy of Overdrive

While out hiking, Ira King, Evening Librarian and Disability Studies Librarian,  reveals the breadth of Overdrive for Duke Library users.

 

Continue exploring the Duke Libraries, no matter where you may be – and, stay tuned as we post weekly on Lilly Library’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

 

Meet Lilly’s Class of 2020: Noelle

What is a Vital Lilly Library Resource?

Our Student Assistants

Young woman waving in Lilly
Noelle Brings a Smile at Lilly Pop-Ups

Lilly Library is at the heart of East Campus, the First-Year Campus for Duke Undergraduates. To serve our community, during what used to be a normal semester, Lilly Library remains open for 129 hours each week AND hosts lots of outreach events in support of the First-Year Experience!

If you’ve been in Lilly Library over the past four years, chances are you’ve seen our seniors: Noelle, Sarah, Esha, Toni, and Jessica. Noelle is one of our seniors who worked at Lilly Library since her first year at Duke.

Our student assistants are an essential element in supporting their fellow “dukies”; their presence underscores  how welcoming and inclusive our libraries are to new students. Noelle’s creativity and enthusiasm in her role of support for student outreach  is appreciated. She welcomed students  and created promotional materials for events such as  First-Year Orientations, Blue Devil Days, was a member of the Libraries’ Student Advisory boards, and even shelved lots of journals (not quite as exciting, but still appreciated).

Commencement 2020 may be virtual, but our regard for our student assistants is very real and enduring.

Take this opportunity to acquaint yourselves with Noelle, one of our treasured Lilly Library Class of 2020.

Senior Noelle

Two young women holding a book
Noelle (r) and a friend Bookface at Blue Devil Days during American Library Week
  • Hometown: Baltimore, MD
  • Family/siblings/pets: 1 younger brother, 1 dog!
  • Academic major: Neuroscience and Computer Science
  • Activities on campus: Devils En Pointe, Momentum Dance Company, Duke Swing Dance, Career Ambassador, Undergraduate Library Board, and Working at Lilly!
  • Favorite on-campus activity, besides working at Lilly: Dance!
  • Favorite off-campus activity: Sleeping in  – haha
  • Favorite campus eatery: Div Cafe
  • Favorite off-campus eatery: Mad Hatter’s

Q: If you could have a sleepover anywhere in the libraries, where would you choose, and why?
A: The Thomas Reading Room because I could easily fall asleep in those nice plushy chairs.

Q: Why have you worked at Lilly Library ever since your first year?
A: I love coming in and seeing everyone who works there! And I love to make buttons of course.

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in Lilly?
A: I haven’t actually done this but it would be kind of fun to see if you could fit into the dumbwaiter. Wouldn’t suggest it though!

Q: What are your plans for after graduation?
A: After graduation, I’ll be moving to Charlotte!

Q: What is your spirit animal?
A: The narwhal!

Dancer Noelle as photographed for Devils En Pointe (pc)

 

Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to Noelle and our other seniors, treasured members of our Lilly “family”. We appreciate her stellar work and dedication to Lilly and wish her all the best!

Meet Lilly’s Class of 2019-20: Toni

Meet a Vital Library Resource

Woman with miniature horse
Toni with Kiwi at Lilly’s Stampede of Love December 2019

Lilly Library is at the heart of East Campus, the First-Year Campus for Duke Undergraduates. To serve our community, during what used to be a normal semester, Lilly remains open for 129 hours each week, and 24/7 during reading period and final exams each semester.

Our student assistants are an essential element in maintaining a high level of service, and we want to introduce you to one of our Lilly alumni, Toni – a  December 2019 graduate who worked in Lilly Library throughout her Duke career.

If you’ve been in Lilly Library over the past four years, chances are you’ve seen all of this year’s seniors: Toni, Jessica, Sarah, Esha,  and Noelle. Toni is one of our seniors who worked at Lilly Library since she arrived as wide-eyed First-Year student on East Campus way back in August of 2016. Toni graduated last December, but is an honorary member of this year’s Lilly class.

Take this opportunity to acquaint yourselves with Toni, one of our treasured Lilly seniors of this past academic year, albeit, technically, a treasured alumna of the Lilly Library Class of 2019!

Senior Toniya aka “Toni”

Tall stack of books on desk with woman
A tower of books is no match for Toni
  • Hometown: I moved a lot growing up because my dad is in the Army, but we currently live in Washington D.C.
  • Family/siblings/pets:
    My mom, my dad, my three siblings, and a very sassy chihuahua
  • Academic major: Psychology
  • Activities on campus: The Center for Race Relations, researcher in the Duke Hospital Psychiatric Department, Camp Kesem Counselor, Residential Assistant
  • Favorite on-campus activity (besides working at Lilly): Hanging out with my friends late at night in the Bryan Center
  • Favorite off-campus activity: Volunteering for the organization “A Helping Hand” (check them out online!)
  • Favorite campus eatery: Il Forno
  • Favorite off-campus eatery: Dames Chicken and Waffles

Q: If you could have a sleepover anywhere in the libraries, where would you choose, and why?
A: Probably the Lilly staff lounge! It’s so cozy down there and we might find yummy leftovers.
Q: What’s the strangest/most interesting book or movie you’ve come across in Lilly?
A: There was a book called The Aesthetics of Ugliness that I remember seeing my first year.
Q: What is your favorite part about working at Lilly? Least favorite?
A: My favorite part is definitely the people there. The staff and patrons have all been such warm, genuinely caring, fascinating individuals. This has led to many amazing spontaneous conversations! My least favorite part about working at Lilly is probably finding shift coverage during a shift at a busy hour (evenings on a weekday, late night on a weekend, etc.)
Q: Why have you worked at Lilly Library ever since your first year?
A: The staff has been so kind to me and coming back every year has been the only consistent part my Duke experience year after year. Going into a space where people know your name and have seen you mature has been so comforting. In addition, Yunyi is probably the best supervisor and mentor ever!
Q: What is one memory from Lilly that you will never forget?
A: One time a student came in at 2 am on the day of spring LDOC. His eyes were very red and he seemed dazed (I won’t speculate as to why) and he walked up to the desk and stared at me for a solid two minutes while I repeated “Can I help you? Sir? Do you need assistance finding materials?…. Sir?”. FINALLY, he asked me “Do you have any books about…. Physics?” I told him we had physics textbooks and asked if he wanted a book to read for class or as leisure reading. His response was “it’s for fun…. Thank you” then he promptly walked out the door before I could respond.
Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in Lilly?
A: One time during a reading period over-night shift, I texted this guy I liked at the time to come and keep me company behind the desk for a bit (DEFINITELY against the rules, but the things we do for love. Am I right?). He came over to Lilly at about 1:30 am and he stayed and talked to me until I forced him to go to bed around 7:45am (so basically the whole shift). It was very sweet, wholesome, but also super risky given one of the librarians could have came in early and saw him!
Q: What was closing Lilly late at night like? Eerily empty, people reluctant to leave, unexpected people?
A: I won’t change my answer now to my least favorite part of working at Lilly, but clearing people out at 4 a.m. was the WORST. People get so testy when you ask them to leave or remind them of closing soon. I’m always so grateful Lonny (the night shift guard, I heart you Lonny!) is usually willing to round up stragglers. Also, one of my most niche fears was that someone secretly lives in the basement of Lilly and they were going to pop up somewhere unexpectedly in the dark, eerie, basement at 4 am and attack me. I think if someone (or thing) lives down there, they’re too scared of Lonny to show their face.
Q: How will your time at Lilly help you in your future pursuits?
A: I created an online library catalog system at a non-profit I interned at a couple summers ago which kind of kick started me using the skills I’ve picked up here in all of my other jobs. I’ve learned how to talk to literally anyone and learn how to operate computer systems and data systems swiftly which will help me in whatever else I find myself doing later on in life!
Q: What will you miss most about Lilly when you graduate?
A: Definitely the staff and the way feeling of security I felt working there. I had been performing the same tasks for four years and it’s nice to be able to zone out doing something familiar.
Q: What are your plans for after graduation?
A: I will be completing a pre-medical post baccalaureate program at Bryn Mawr College in the fall before applying to medical school next year!
Q: What is your spirit animal? … well, you don’t expect all the questions to be about Lilly, did you?
A: A panda because I’m usually very mellow and unassuming. But I could actually bite your head off if I wanted to.

Graduation in December meant Lilly Library had to say farewell to Toni as an employee, but we treasure her as a member of our Lilly forever “family”. We appreciate her stellar work and dedication to Lilly and wish her all the best!

Meet Lilly’s Class of 2020: Esha

What is a Vital Lilly Library Resource?

Lilly’s Senior Student Assistants

Young woman with miniature horse
Lilly Senior Esha with Kiwi at Lilly’s Stampede Of Love Study Break

Lilly Library is at the heart of East Campus, the First-Year Campus for Duke Undergraduates. To serve our community (during what used to be a “normal” semester), Lilly Library remains open for 129 hours each week! Our student assistants are an essential element in maintaining a high level of service, and we want to introduce you to one of our “Class of 2020” – seniors who have worked in Lilly Library throughout their Duke careers. Get to know our seniors in these profiles, and you’ll appreciate them as much we do.

If you’ve been in Lilly Library over the past four years, chances are you’ve seen our seniors: Esha, Jessica, Sarah, Toni, and Noelle. Esha is one of our seniors who worked at Lilly Library since she arrived as wide-eyed First-Year student on East Campus way back in August of 2016.
Commencement 2020 may be virtual, but our regard for our student assistants is very real and enduring. Take this opportunity to acquaint yourselves with Esha, one of our treasured Lilly Library Class of 2020.

Senior Esha

  • Hometown: Charlotte, NC
  • Family/siblings/pets: 1 older brother, no pets
  • Academic major: Economics and Political Science
  • Activities on campus: RA (N1 and Craven), Resident
  • Assistant Leadership Council, ULAB, Senior Giving Challenge
  • Favorite on-campus activity, besides working at Lilly: Being an RA!
  • Favorite off-campus activity: Getting ice cream at the Parlour
  • Favorite campus eatery: Sazon
  • Favorite off-campus eatery: Bali Hai
Two women students holding plaque
Lilly’s Class of 2020 Esha and Sarah

Q: If you could have a sleepover anywhere in the libraries, where would you choose, and why?
A: Green couches in Perkins first floor because they are so comfy!

Q: What’s the strangest/most interesting book or movie you’ve come across in Lilly?
A: There were so many but a single one doesn’t come to mind right now!

Q: What is your favorite part about working at Lilly? Least favorite?
A: Favorite part is working with the librarians because they are so nice/helpful, and fun to have random conversations with. Least favorite is when I have to check in/out 20+ books on my own.

Q: Why have you worked at Lilly Library ever since your first year?
A: I love working at Lilly because everyone is so friendly! They make you want to keep coming back.

Q: What is one memory from Lilly that you will never forget?
A: Having to check in two FULL-SIZED suitcases full of books by myself. I think I checked in at least 50 books!

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in Lilly?
A: Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever done anything crazy in Lilly.

Q: What was opening an empty (or at least, it was supposed to be empty) Lilly like? Eerie?
A: I worked the Sunday morning shift, which was really nice because there were very few people (unless it was midterm/finals season), so everything was calm and quiet. I absolutely LOVED working Sunday mornings!!

Q: How will your time at Lilly help you in your future pursuits?
A: Working at Lilly taught me to be organized and be better at time management, which is super useful no matter where I end up after leaving.
Q: What will you miss most about Lilly when you graduate?
A: I will definitely miss the librarians the most!

Q: What are your plans after graduation?
A: Who knows!

Q: What is your spirit animal? … well, you don’t expect all the questions to be about Lilly, do you?
A: Definitely an elephant

Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to Esha and our other seniors, treasured members of our Lilly “family”. We appreciate her stellar work and dedication to Lilly and wish her all the best!

Animated April

Animated April @ Lilly Library

Team Pixar or Team Disney?

Animated April @ Lilly begins Monday, April 13!

Animated April – Are you Team Pixar or Team Disney?

Brackets aren’t just for March!

Do you like Looney Tunes, the quirkiness of Wallace and Gromit, anime like Spirited Away, French comedies like The Triplets of Belleville? Are you all about Disney classics or the latest offerings from Pixar?

Lilly Library has 100s of animated films. In fact, we have so many animated films, it’s time for you to “toon” in and enjoy our very own Lilly Library Animated April challenge: Pixar versus Disney.

If it’s animated, Disney and Pixar are the dominant players, so we’re highlighting eight films from each studio to face off in a special edition of our Animated April challenge starting Monday, April 13th. Join in the fun, pick your favorites, and maybe  win a prize!

Here’s how:
Vote when you visit our  Lilly Library Animated April cast of characters HERE.

Make your selections and vote for your choice of hot titles in Bracket Fire versus films that landed in Bracket Earth to eventually face the coolest films in Bracket Ice, which challenge the animated gems making waves in Bracket Under the Sea.

Brackets with film titles
All the Characters in Animated April

Voting dates are listed below and on the contest page.
Updates will be posted on Lilly’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts as well as in our blog, Latest@Lilly :

Nathaniel Brown Media & Reserves Coordinator, Lilly Library
Bracketologist Nathaniel Brown

Enjoy Bracketologist Nathaniel’s insights for each round:

All votes are to be submitted via Lilly Animated April .

Animated April

  • Round 1: Stellar 16:  CLOSED
  • Round 2: Enchanted 8 : CLOSED
  • Round 3: Favorite 4 : CLOSED
  • Round 4: Perfect Pair VOTE HERE
    Voting opens Monday, April 20 9am
    Voting closes Tuesday, April 21 8pm
  • Champion Crowned:  Wednesday April 22nd

*Did someone say PRIZES?
Participants who provide their Duke NetID and vote for the animated movie “champion” will be entered into drawings for virtual prizes, as well as special prizes for Duke students.

Be sure to make your picks of your favorites  – Pixar or Disney!

Meet Lilly’s Class of 2020: Jessica

What is a Vital Lilly Library Resource?

Lilly’s Senior Student Assistants

One of Lilly’s Class of 2020 – Jessica

Lilly is at the heart of East Campus, the First-Year Campus for Duke Undergraduates. To serve our community, during what used to be a normal semester, Lilly Library remains open for 129 hours each week! Our student assistants are an essential element in maintaining a high level of service, and we want to introduce you to one of our “Class of 2020” – seniors who have worked in Lilly Library throughout their Duke careers. Get to know our seniors in these profiles, and you’ll appreciate them as much we do.

If you’ve been in Lilly Library over the past four years, chances are you’ve seen our seniors: Jess, Sarah, Esha, Toni, and Noelle. Jessica is one of our seniors who worked at Lilly Library since she arrived as wide-eyed First-Year student on East Campus way back in August of 2016.
Commencement 2020 may be virtual, but our regard for our student assistants is very real and enduring.

Take this opportunity to acquaint yourselves with Jessica, one of our treasured Lilly Library Class of 2020.

Senior  Jessica

Student with 3D Scanner
A model student: Jessica demos a 3D Scanner for a Lilly Library Facebook post
  • Hometown: Glen Rock, NJ
  • Family/siblings/pets: I have one younger brother
  • Academic major: Statistics and Computer Science
  • Activities on campus: Marching & Pep Band
  • Favorite on-campus activity, besides working at Lilly: Playing with the band at basketball games
  • Favorite off-campus activity: Used to be going for cheese and chocolate fondue at the Little Dipper on Ladies’ Night (it’s now closed though)
  • Favorite campus eatery: Div Cafe
  • Favorite off-campus eatery: Sushi Love

Q: If you could have a sleepover anywhere in the libraries, where would you choose, and why?
A: I would say the armchairs in the Thomas Reading Room. It has a very pleasant, relaxing atmosphere, and I’m pretty sure I’ve already taken accidental naps there while doing homework.

Q: What’s the most interesting book you’ve come across in Lilly?
A: The most interesting book I came across at Lilly was a photography book about Jim Marshall. Someone had just returned it and I flipped through all the photos before putting it in the bin of Perkins books.

Q: What is your favorite part about working at Lilly? Least favorite?
A: I loved having time to put down the rest of my schoolwork and thinking about something else for at least a short while. I always found the tasks at Lilly like shelving books and processing holds to be quite satisfying. I don’t think I had a least favorite part!

Q: Why have you worked at Lilly Library ever since your first year?
A: I thought about switching to Perkins after freshman year, but then I wouldn’t get to see Yunyi every week!

Q: What is one memory from Lilly that you will never forget?
A: It’s not one specific memory, but because I’m in the band, a lot of the staff would chat with me about Duke football and basketball with me, especially Yunyi. I always knew that if the basketball team lost, I would get a chance to vent and complain about the team at my next shift. I will never forget how excited the staff always was for me when I got to travel with the teams for tournament games.

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in Lilly?
A: It’s not super crazy, but the few times I had to shelve books or straighten the stacks on the 4th level and no one was around, I would listen to music and dance to myself as I worked.

Q: How will your time at Lilly help you in your future pursuits?
A: Lilly provided the first customer service-related job I’ve ever had, and my time at Lilly certainly helped me develop skills in that area, especially with continuing to be polite even when patrons were not (although that was quite rare to encounter). It also helped me with organization, multitasking, and adaptability, skills translatable into all kinds of fields.

Q: What will you miss most about Lilly when you graduate?
A: I will definitely miss Yunyi and the other librarians/staff members the most.

Q: What are your plans for after graduation?
A: I will be working as a Data Scientist for a start-up in New York City.

Q: What is your spirit animal? … well, you don’t expect all the questions to be about Lilly, did you?
A: Always a tough question, but I guess a cat?

Student
Lilly Senior Jessica

Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to Jessica and our other seniors, treasured members of our Lilly “family”. We appreciate her stellar work and dedication to Lilly and wish her all the best!

The Big Book in Lilly Library

THE BIG BOOK

by Lee Sorensen
Librarian for Visual Studies and Dance, Lilly Library

Photographs from the Collection of the Gilman Paper Company / Featured plate: Eugene Atget Rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Genevieve [PC: Metropolitan Museum of Art: Gilman Collection, Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Henry R. Kravis Gift, 2005]
What is that “big book” on display in the lobby of Lilly Library? Its proper title is  Photographs from the Collection of the Gilman Paper Company. This book is a gift to Duke University Libraries from the Nasher Museum of Art, and will remain in Lilly through the spring semester.

With the rise of e-books and readers, one of the most uncommon and increasingly rare printed formats is the folio book, defined by one student as, “too damn large to carry.” In the days before book criteria included portability, giant books were produced to contain actual-size documents such as building plans and engravings, detailed scientific renderings and later, photography.

 

man with big book
Librarian Lee Sorensen with the book Photographs from the Collection of the Gilman Paper Company

The “big book” on display is a modern edition of photographs from the Gilman Paper Company, New York. The firm had one of the best private collections of photographs in the world,  which was acquired by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2005 . This magisterial book contains reprinted photographs of photographers such as Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, Fox Talbot, Eugene Atget and Edward S. Curtis.  The edition was curated by Pierre Apraxine, with plates created  by renowned photographer and printer Richard Benson (who was also the Dean of Yale School of Art), and notes contributed by photography consultant Lee Marks. This volume, printed by Stamperia Valdonega in Verona, Italy, and half-bound in leather, is the only one in North Carolina outside of the Mint Museum, Charlotte.

Pages are turned periodically to show new images. 47 cm in length, the volume  consists of 480 pages with 199 offset lithographs plus an offset lithographic frontispiece.


Contributor: Carol Smolka Terry
Lilly Library

Get Ready for Finals with the Stampede of Love at Lilly!

The Stampede of Love Returns to Lilly

8 people and one miniature horse
Kiwi and Librarians in 2018

Have you heard about the “mane” event at Lilly Library?

Where did Fall Semester go? December is here, and with it, exams await all Duke Students. Because the First-Year students live on East Campus, the staff at Lilly Library does its best to offer support and relieve the stress of the fall semester for our “neighbors” experiencing their first finals at Duke. Extending our hours to a 24/7 schedule during exams, offering a study break with refreshments, and a room reserved as a relaxation station are longstanding Lilly traditions.

The end of Fall Semester 2019 is different, a horse of a different color, so to speak! On Saturday, December 7th from noon until 2pm, we are hosting our second visit with the Stampede of Love, miniature therapy horses whose tiny hooves will bring smiles to stressed students (and maybe a librarian or two!). If you decide to trot over to East Campus, here is a list of useful dates and events:

Lilly Library Finals Week Events

  • Saturday, December 7th at noon until 2pm: Stampede of Love
    Lilly Library event details HERE
  • Saturday, December 7th:
    Beginning at 9am, Lilly expands its schedule to 24/7 through the examination period, ending at 7pm on Monday, December 16th.
    Details at Duke Library Hours
  • Monday, December 9th at 8pm:
    Lilly Study Break for Students Details here
  • Wednesday, December 11th at 8am  throughout finals:
    Relaxation Station in Lilly opens for students

Best of luck to everyone during Finals!

Kiwi of the Stampede of Love

Straight from the horse’s mouth:

It’s been a great Fall Semester, and here’s to a very Happy 2020!

Lilly Collection Spotlight – Native Voices: the Duke Common Experience and Beyond

Native Americans in the Arts

by Ira King

Book There,There
There There – The Duke Common Experience

Need some new reading material or are you just interested in seeing what’s in the Lilly Library’s collections that you might not know about? Check out Lilly’s Collection Spotlight!

To accompany the Duke Common Experience Reading Program selection of Tommy Orange’s There There, our spotlight highlights books and films that center Native American voices and perspectives. Orange, a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma, writes in his debut novel about a dozen Native Americans travelling to a powwow in Oakland, California. There There focuses on urban Native Americans, exploring the beauty and despair these characters experience as they navigate life in the United States.

Our collections include books on Native American art, novels by Native Americans, memoirs of native experiences, films and documentaries, and historical accounts. Here are a few highlights from our collection:

Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists

Book Cover
Hearts of Our People: Exhibit at the Minneapolis Museum of Art

This exhibition catalog from the Minneapolis Institute of Art highlights a broad spectrum of art created by Native American women. Work explored ranges from textiles to painting to photography and video, and covers antiquity to contemporary work. If you’re interested in checking out some Native art in person, the Nasher Museum’s exhibit, Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now, opens on August 29th.

Book Cover
Future Home of the Living God

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich Louise Erdrich, an acclaimed writer and member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe, experiments with a dystopian setting in this novel. The novel follows Cedar Hawk Songmaker, four months pregnant, as she ventures out of Minneapolis and seeks out her Ojibwe birth mother against the backdrop of a security state cracking down on pregnant women. Check out Erdrich’s bookstore if you are ever in the Twin Cities.

Everything You Know About Indians is Wrong by Paul Chaat Smith Smith, an associate curator at the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian, challenges mainstream assumptions about native peoples and cultures in this essay collection. This book blends memoir and cultural commentary to paint a more nuanced picture of native life.

Smoke Signals Based on a Sherman Alexie short story, this film follows two young Native Americans, Victor and Thomas, on a road trip to pick up Victor’s father’s remains. Smoke Signals is notable for having a Native American writer and director, as well as an almost entirely native cast and crew.

 

 

 

Duke 2023 – When in Doubt, Go to the Library

When in Doubt, Go to the Library!

How can you make the most of your first-year?  We have the answer: Jump into the First-Year Library Experience. On August 20th, the newest Blue Devils, the Class of Duke 2023, will arrive on East Campus for Orientation.

What will Duke 2023 find in their new neighborhood? Two libraries are on East Campus, Lilly Library and Duke Music Library  which can introduce the First-Year “Dukies” to the powerful resources of all the Duke Libraries. While Lilly Library is home to the film collection, as well as a range of other materials, the specialized Music  Library plays a different tune. Both libraries offer research support as well as study space for our new East Campus neighbors.

Cast your eyes upon our exciting schedule of events for Orientation 2019:

Movie poster of Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse with three figures
Enjoy Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse on Wednesday August 21st

Orientation Week

  • Blue Devil Delivery in Lilly:
    pre-ordered textbooks & computers
    When: Tuesday, August 20th 9am to 4:30pm
  • Movie on the Quad:
    Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

    co-sponsored by Duke University Student Affairs
    When: Wednesday, August 21st at 10 pm
    Where: East Campus Quad between Lilly & the Union

First Big Week on East Campus

Overwhelmed at the beginning of the semester? Lilly and Music will host a Harry Potter Open House the first week of class. We’ll get you “sorted” out! Duke 2023 will be captivated by our powerful library services: our research wizards, 3D labs, streaming media, study spaces – No Restricted Sections, please – as well as enjoying free food, prizes, and MORE!

Library Open House for Duke 2023

Even in Hogwarts, research is magical!

When: Tuesday, August 27th at 7pm
Where: Lilly Library
Fun: the Blue Devil, Duke Quidditch Club, food, and more

That’s Not All!

The East Campus Libraries — Lilly and Music — invite the Class of 2023 to conjure up library magic with the Duke University Libraries in these ways:

• Follow us on  Lilly Facebook, Lilly Instagram, Lilly Twitter, and Duke Music Library Facebook
• Join the First-Year Library Advisory Board  – Duke 2023 only!
Residence Hall Librarians – Yes, your East Campus dorms have librarians! We may not live in your dorm, but we’re ready to help you. Check your email for important library events, tips, and insider info from us.
• Work in the Libraries – Work/Study Students

Here’s to a spell-binding start of
the fantastic adventure of your education
as a Duke Blue Devil!

Lilly Library March Movie Madness The Conquering Hero

Hail the Conquering Hero

This just in from the DYNAMIC DUO news desk…

All Hail the Conquering (super) Hero: Black Panther

From your friendly Lilly Library Bracketologist:

Nathaniel Brown Media & Reserves Coordinator, Lilly Library
Bracketologist Nathaniel Brown

Vibrationally speaking,  in the  final matchup, The Black Panther quivered and pounded The Incredibles into submission as it came out on top as the Best Superhero Movie, 80-59!

I must give credit where credit is due…The Incredibles had an incredible run to the finals toppling giants and proving they can run with the big dogs.

But this year’s bracket (and box office) belongs to The King of Wakanda! All Hail T’Challa!

This year’s Superhero Edition of March Movie Madness proved to be a Marvel, and an Incredible adventure. Thank you to all the students and university staff who participated.

As for the hopes of the vanquished,
just wait until next year!

Contributors:
Nathaniel Brown, Lilly Library Media and Reserves Coordinator
Carol Terry, Lilly Library Collection Services & Communications Coordinator

 

 

Lilly Library March Movie Madness: The Dynamic Duo

And then there were TWO!

Picture of Black Panther and The Incredibles as the two finalist in the March Movie Madness Challenge
The Dynamic Duo: who will be the Conquering Hero?

After three rounds of voting, the brackets are cleared, and just two Superhero movies remain standing – our Dynamic Duo  of Black Panther and  the family known as The Incredibles.

Are you surprised?

Lilly’s expert bracketologist, the man with super-vision and powers of prognostication isn’t … and, yet,  he is also “incredibly” surprised:

Nathaniel Brown Media & Reserves Coordinator, Lilly Library
Bracketologist Nathaniel Brown

This just in from the FANTASTIC FOUR news desk…

The Black Panther continues its meteoric path through the brackets, mowing down Thor: Ragnarok 95-40!

And in a complete shocker, The Incredibles, proving that blood runs thicker than water and that no one can take them out, squeak by Spiderman Into the Spider-verse, 70-65! I, your expert, for one did not see this happening! Stay tuned for the DYNAMIC DUO Champion Round:

VOTE for the Conquering Hero HERE

Round 4 Voting

Friday, March 29th until Monday, April 1st at noon.

Image of brackets for Lilly Library March Movie Madness showing results of Black Panther vs The Incredibles
Who will be THE Conquering Hero?

Results announced Monday, April 1st at 6pm

Who will prevail? Will you be fooled?


Contributors:
Nathaniel Brown, Lilly Library Media and Reserves Coordinator
Carol Terry, Lilly Library Collection Services & Communications Coordinator

 

 

Lilly Library March Movie Madness The Fantastic Four

Survive and Advance: The Fantastic Four

A collage of the Final Fantastic Films
Lilly Library’s March Movie MaDnEsS: The Final Four Superhero Films

Survive and advance –  that should resonate with our Duke Crazies!  Did your superhero Movie advance to the Fantastic Four?

Take that Fantastic Four to a Dynamic Duo – Vote HERE now!

Nathaniel Brown Media & Reserves Coordinator, Lilly Library
Bracketologist Nathaniel Brown

Lilly’s March Movie Madness Expert Bracketologist, Nathaniel Brown,  offers a recap of the epic battle waged between the remaining Exteme Eight Films:

In the Metropolis region, although Captain America did upset the hometown boy in the first round, he couldn’t handle the family of animated heroes!  Jack-Jack, who’s really coming into his powers, overwhelmed the First Avenger and helped his Incredible family destroy Captain America: Civil War 116-48!

The Black Panther continued to take care of Wakanda business as he thrashed all five of the Guardians with the tally of  108-56!

Spider-Man: into the Spider-Verse overtook Wonder Woman and dethroned the first-born child of the Paradise Isle, defeating her 90-74!

And in a shocker, Thor’s mighty hammer, Mjolnir, struck a fatal blow and edged the Dark Knight out of Gotham—and out of the Extreme Eight round— 84-80!

Updated Brackets of March Movie Madness Showing Fantastic Four winners: Thor, Black Panther, The Incredibles, and Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
And then there were Four

Reminder: Round 3 voting
ends Thursday March 28th at noon.

VOTE

Can  you catch (the God of )Lightning in a bottle
and take the victory?

Contributors:
Nathaniel Brown, Lilly Library Media and Reserves Coordinator
Carol Terry, Lilly Library Collection Services & Communications Coordinator

Lilly Library March Movie Madness The EXTREME Eight

Then there were Eight…
The EXTREME Eight!

Collage of 16 entries with 8 losing films marked out
Did your superhero movie prevail?

Did your superhero Movie advance to the Extreme Eight?
Vote HERE now to take that Extreme Eight to a Fantastic Four!

Need some advice? You may want to check in with  Lilly Library’s resident Bracketologist, Nathaniel Brown, as he offers insights and expert March Movie Madness opinions :

Nathaniel Brown Media & Reserves Coordinator, Lilly Library
Lilly’s Bracketologist Nathaniel Brown

After Round 1, my brackets are still intact. What about yours? As predicted,  the Dark Knight protected Gotham in the first round by blasting his Lego counterpart 128-30. The God of Thunder Thor brought the thunder against Aquaman, stunning him and washing him away 134-24.

The Black Panther closed ranks and pounced Spidey right out of Wakanda 143-15. Meanwhile,, The Guardians of the Galaxy blasted the Justice League 142-16.

In a stunning upset, Superman Classic got defeated by the First Avenger in Metropolis! Cap takes it 122-36. The Incredibles proved too much for the X-Men United tossing them from the first round 144-14.

And on the Paradise Island, Wonder Woman edged out the wisecracking Deadpool, 87-71, preserving home field. Spidey and his multiverse surprised Tony Stark upending him 102-56.

Round 1 Results: the Extreme Eight winners displayed in the bracket layout
Round 1 Results: the Extreme Eight

 

Reminder: Round 2 voting runs through Sunday the 24th

VOTE 

Can  you catch (the God of )Lightning in a bottle
and take the victory?


Contributors:
Nathaniel Brown, Lilly Library Media and Reserves Coordinator
Carol Terry, Lilly Library Collection Services & Communications Coordinator

Lilly Library March Movie Madness: THE SUPERHERO EDITION

BREAKING NEWS!
The Extreme Eight Now Reigns

Collage of 16 entries with 8 losing films marked out
Did your superhero movie prevail?

ROUND TWO: Vote at  https://bit.ly/2YbqBxg

Which is Your universe: Marvel or DC?

Who is the best superhero or superhero faction? Does the Marvel Universe or DC Comics reign supreme? The decision is entirely in your hands if you enter Lilly Library’s March Movie Madness! While the battles for the rounds of 64 and 32 occurred on Knowhere and Xandar respectively, we announce that Super Sixteen combatants remain. Now the war has arrived on Earth (or, at least, Lilly Library) and it’s time to crown our champion!

This year’s Lilly Library March Movie Madness begins Monday, March 18th. It’s YOUR turn to enter into the fray and vote in the evolving brackets to help decide our ultimate superhero! And, yes – there are prizes!

BRACKETOLOGY by Nathaniel Brown

Nathaniel Brown Media & Reserves Coordinator, Lilly Library
Lilly Library’s Expert Bracketologist Nathaniel Brown
  • In the Gotham bracket, will the hometown advantage aid the Caped Crusader to pull out the victory and advance to the Fantastic Four? Which version of the Dark Knight will advance – the sarcastic and brooding Lego version, or the equally brooding, looking to retire Christian Bale version? Will the God of Thunder electrify Gotham instead? Or will the King of Atlantis flood the city?
  • In the Metropolis bracket, will the animated family of the Incredibles overtake the Xavier led group of mutants? Will the Man of Steel preserve home field and annihilate the First Avenger?
  • In the majestic bracket of Paradise Island, will Wonder Woman continue her blockbuster success and dethrone the wisecracking Deadpool? Will the Spider multiverse pelt the suit of the Man in a Tin Can with his web shooters?
  • Lastly, in the Wakanda bracket, will the all-powerful Justice League defeat the Guardians of the Galaxy (who always seem to have their own personal agendas but come together when it counts)? Or will the King of Wakanda pounce and maul the opposition provided by the Web-slinger?

Join Forces in the Super Sixteen Brackets

  • The SUPER SIXTEEN:
    Vote March 18th until noon on Wednesday, March 20th
  • The EXTREME EIGHT: Vote HERE
    Vote Thursday, March 21st  until noon on Monday, March 25th
  • The FANTASTIC FOUR:
    VoteTuesday, March 26th until noon on Thursday, March 28th
  • The DYNAMIC DUO Championship Round:
    VoteFriday, March 29th  until noon on April 1st
  • The CONQUERING HERO will be announced Monday, April 1st

Summon Your Powers and Vote *

16 field brackets for Lilly Library Superhero Films
Lilly March Movie Madness: the SUPERHERO EDITION

Link to the brackets: https://bit.ly/2FfSMTo

Bracket Updates at
Lilly Library’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

*NOTE: Participants who provide their Duke netID and compete in all the brackets to vote for our CONQUERING HERO, will be entered into  Prize Drawings for Student CRAZIES and for stalwart Duke Staff.

Do You Have Nerves of
DVD cover image of Superman: Man of Steel
Superman: Man of Steel

To Take It All The Way?

Here’s to a great adventure as we all advance through the Lilly Library March Movie Madness Superhero Brackets to crown the Conquering Hero!

Contributors:
Nathaniel Brown, Lilly Library Media and Reserves Coordinator
Carol Terry, Lilly Library Collection Services & Communications Coordinator

Warming Up to Winter in Lilly

Cold and dreary January doesn’t have to be the bleakest and grayest time of year. Visit Lilly Library’s new Collection Spotlight and exhibit to brighten your winter season! To warm you, the Lilly Collection Spotlight What’s Cooking in the Libraries? offers a serving of books and films in celebration of food, chefs, and international cuisine. To accompany our main course, feast your eyes on our latest exhibit Carnival, Carnevale, Carnaval, Karneval,  an overview and celebration of international Carnival traditions.

What’s Cooking in the Libraries?

Film and books for foodies

Food captured on-screen appeals to all our senses. Savor our diverse selection of foodie-films with favorites such as Ratatouille, Big Night, Tortilla Soup, City of Gold, Tampopo, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Chef, Eat Drink Man Woman, and many more!

Books about chefs, food history, and culinary traditions and cuisines complete our menu. Sample more books and films about food in Lilly and the Duke Libraries here.

Carnival, Carnevale, Carnaval, Karneval

Carnival Celebrations and Traditions

 

In addition to our feast of books and films about food, our exhibit Carnival, Carnevale, Carnaval, Karnaval highlights the variety and breadth  of carnival festivities celebrated throughout the world. Practiced over several centuries, the ancient tradition of a mid-February Carnival has evolved and become as varied and diverse as its many locales.  Originating from spiritual and religious traditions, present-day carnival festivities are exuberant and high-spirited affairs.  Venice, Rio, New Orleans, Bavarian towns, cantons of Switzerland, and the islands of the Caribbean are just a few settings noted for elaborate celebrations and revelry during the Carnival season. Explore films and books about carnival here.

Even though it is winter, Laissez les bons temps rouler!

 

Stampede of Love – at Lilly Library, of course!

Celebrate the end of Fall Semester with the Stampede of Love!

Kiwi of the Stampede of Love

Have you heard about the “mane” event at Lilly Library?

Where did Fall Semester go? December is here, and with it, exams await all Duke students. Because the First-Year students live on East Campus, the staff at Lilly Library does its best to offer support and relieve the stress of the fall semester for our “neighbors” experiencing their first finals at Duke.  Extending our hours to  a 24/7 schedule during exams, offering a study break with refreshments, and a room reserved as a relaxation station are longstanding Lilly traditions.

But the end of Fall Semester 2018 is different, a horse of a different color, so to speak! On Friday, December 7th,  we are hosting the Stampede of Love, miniature therapy horses whose tiny hooves will bring smiles to stressed students.   If you decide to trot over to East Campus, here is a list of useful dates and event:

Lilly Library Finals Week Events

  • Friday, December 7th at 3pm:
    Stampede of Love event details here
  • Saturday, December 8th:
    Beginning at 9am, Lilly expands its schedule to 24/7 through the examination period, ending at 7pm on Monday, December 17th. More Duke Library Hours
  • Tuesday, December 11th at 8pm:
    Lilly Study Break for Students Details here
  • Wednesday, December 12th at 8am: Relaxation Station in Lilly opens for students
It’s been a great fall semester
and best of luck to everyone during Finals!

East Campus Spotlight: Asian America: Movements, Communities, Settlements – an exhibit

Asian America: Movements, Communities, Settlements
– an exhibit –
Asian America: Movements, Communities, Settlements – an exhibit

A new exhibit, now on display in the History Department on East Campus, is open to the Duke community. Curated by Sucheta Mazumdar, Associate Professor of History and Alta Zhang, Research Associate, the exhibit marks both the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the 50th anniversary of Third World Student Strike at San Francisco State University. The Third World Student Strike led to the founding of the first College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University, and helped to establish Ethnic Studies as a discipline in universities throughout the United States. Duke University is celebrating the inaugural year of its Asian American Studies Program (AASP) at Duke by hosting a conference, Afro/Asian Connections in the Local/Global South.

The opening of this exhibit coincides with the Asian American Studies Program’s inaugural conference and features materials from the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Librarians Kelley Lawton and Carson Holloway of Lilly Library prepared the chronology of Asian American history found in the exhibit.

Asian America and Looking for Home Opening Reception :

  • When: 28 November from 4.30-6.30 pm
  • Where: Franklin Gallery @History, 2nd floor, Carr Building, East Campus
  • Complete details here.
Asian America: Movements, Communities, Settlements
Exhibits made possible by and/or funded by History Department, Dean of Arts and Sciences, Dean of Humanities, Dean of Social Sciences, Asian American Studies Program, The Kenan Institute for Ethics, and Global Asia Initiative

Kelley Lawton and Carson Holloway contributed to this article.

New to the Libraries? Tips for Duke 2022

… What are the libraries’ hours? … How do I find a book? … Who can help me with research? … Where can I print?*

Duke’s newest students can find the answers to these questions – and more – on the Library’s Services for First-Year Students page.

Lilly Library front portico
Lilly Library on East Campus

Each August, a new class of undergraduates arrives in Durham ready to immerse themselves in the Duke Community. Duke University Libraries serve as the core of intellectual life on campus. Because East Campus is home to the First-Year students, Lilly and Music Libraries have the unique opportunity to introduce our newest “Dukies” to the array of Library resources and research services available.

To help navigate the vast library resources, there is a portal especially for First-Year Students. Through this portal page, new students (and even some not-so-new) can discover all that the Duke University Libraries offer:

*Learn the answers in our list of the Top Questions, as determined by First-Year Library Advisory Board students.

Here’s to a great and successful
Fall Semester and First-Year ahead!

Stay connected with your East Campus Libraries

Lilly Library Social Media Links Lilly Library  Facebook  – Instagram  – Twitter
Duke Music Library Facebook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Duke 2022: Activate the Power of Your Libraries

Welcome to East Campus
for Your First-Year Library Experience

On August 21st, the newest Blue Devils, the Class of Duke 2022, will arrive on East Campus for Orientation, also known as Big-O Week. Numerous events, workshops and programs are presented to ease the transition to life as an undergraduate.

The two libraries on East Campus,  Lilly Library and Duke Music Library welcome our newest neighbors and do our part to introduce the newest “Dukies” to the powerful research resources of the Duke Libraries. On Move-In Day exclusively, Lilly is the pick up site for Blue Devil Delivery for pre-ordered textbooks and computers.  Lilly is home to the film collection as well as a range of other material, and Music … is self-explanatory.

Big-O Week

In addition to the Movie on the Quad, Lilly and Music will host a Superheroes Open House  the first week of class. Duke 2022 can explore our powerful library services : experts in research, 3D labs, streaming media, Residence Hall Librarians, study spaces – and enjoy food and win prizes!

First Big Week

Library Open House for Duke 2022

  • When: Tuesday, August 28th at 7pm
  • Where: Lilly Library

That’s Not All!

The East Campus Libraries — Lilly and Music — invite the Class of 2022 to team up with the Duke University Libraries in these ways:

Get the inside information and be a part of what’s happening in your libraries:

Duke 2022

Here’s to a great year ahead filled with academic success!

Forever Duke – Alumni in Literature and the Arts

Lilly Collection Spotlight

Duke Alumni Authors and Artists

Oh, the places they have gone!

Our Lilly Collection Spotlight shines on talented Duke Alumni including authors, broadcasters, researchers, as well as many who are accomplished in popular entertainment – both on screen and behind the scenes. Their studies while at Duke are varied, and for many, their majors were not directly related to their career. The featured books encompass a range of genres and styles – from sociological research to critically acclaimed fiction to sports journalism. Duke alumni working in film and television produce and appear in a variety of films including comedies, drama and thoughtful documentaries. Actors, directors, writers – they experience success both in front of the camera and behind. What they all have in common is their “Duke experience”.

Check out the entire list of books in the Lilly Collection Spotlight  and visit Lilly Library to view the exhibit Duke Alumni on the Screen and Behind the Scenes.

Among the Duke Alumni  Books in the Collection Spotlight:

Vinegar Girl: The Taming of the Shrew Retold

Vinegar girl : The taming of the shrew retold

Pulitzer Prize winner and American master Anne Tyler’s inspired, witty and irresistible contemporary take on one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies. Tyler graduated from Duke in 1961.

The Legends Club : Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano, and an epic college basketball rivalry
In the skillful hands of John Feinstein (Duke 1977), this extraordinary rivalry–and the men behind it–comes to life in a unique, intimate way. The Legends Club is a sports book that captures an era in American sport and culture, documenting the inside view of a decade of absolutely incredible competition.

Dollars and sense : how we misthink money and how to spend smarter

Dollars and sense : how we misthink money and how to spend smarter
Bestselling author  (Predictably Irrational) and behavioral economist Dan Ariely  (PhD Business 1998) teams up with financial comedian and writer Jeff Kreisler to challenge many of our most basic assumptions about the precarious relationship between our brains and our money.

The Gaza Kitchen: a Palestinian culinary journey

This is a richly illustrated and researched cookbook that explores the distinctive cuisine of the area known prior to 1948 as the Gaza District–and that of the many refugees who came to Gaza in 1948 and have been forced to stay there ever since. In summer 2010, Laila El-Haddad  (Duke 2000) and Maggie Schmitt traveled throughout the Gaza Strip to collect the recipes and shoot the stunning photographs presented in the book.

Forever Duke: On the Screen and Behind the Scenes

Accompanying the books in the Collection Spotlight, the current exhibit in the Lilly Library foyer is Forever Duke: On the Screen and Behind the Scenes. The works of Duke alumni filmmakers, writers and actors featured  include films and series found in the Lilly Library collections. A few of the more well known titles or personalities:

We Were Soldiers – directed by Randall Wallace (’72)

We Were Soldiers
Directed by Randall Wallace (’72) Wallace wrote and directed We Were Soldiers. Nominated for an Oscar as screenwriter for Braveheart, he also worked on films such as Pearl Harbor and The Man in the Iron Mask.

Community and The Hangover

Community featuring Ken Jeong

Ken Jeong (’90) was a premed student at Duke.  A licensed physician, Jeong found fame in comic roles in both television and film.

Other Duke luminaries include actress and Baldwin Scholar  Annabeth Gish (’93) who stars in the current X-Files, Martin Kratt (’89), the co-creator of the beloved children’s series Zoboomafoo and Wild Kratts, Oscar and BAFTA nominee cinematographer Robert Yeoman (’73) , film editor Alisa Lepselter who has worked on Woody Allen films such as Midnight in Paris and Match Point, and documentary filmmakers Ryan White (’04) and Rossana Lacayo (’79).

The Duke campus and Durham have also been featured in film and television; productions include Bull Durham, The Handmaid’s Tale (the film), The Program, Main Street, Iron Man 3, Kiss the Girls, Brainstorm and the late 1990’s  coming-of-age television series Dawson’s Creek.  Whether it’s American Pie 2Mystic Pizza, The Squid and the Whale or Parks and Recreation, you will find a Blue Devil!

 

 

 

Black Panther & The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)

Black Panther and MCU

Black Panther tells the story of T’Challa (real name), king and protector of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. T’Challa possesses enhanced abilities garnered through ancient Wakandan rituals of drinking the heart-shaped herb. He also utilizes his proficiency in science, rigorous physical training, hand-to-hand combat skills, and access to wealth and advanced technology (through vibranium) to combat his enemies. The character was created in 1966 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby when Kirby realized he had no blacks in his comic strip. “I came up with the Black Panther because I realized I had no blacks in my strip. I’d never drawn a black,” Kirby told the Comics Journal. “I needed a black. I suddenly discovered that I had a lot of black readers. My first friend was a black! And here I was ignoring them because I was associating with everybody else.” Kirby, though far from eloquent in his word choice, gets at an essential idea—representation and its importance in a reader’s view. They should be able to see themselves in the work.

Black Panther opened on February 16, 2018 to much fanfare and high expectations. It was the first standalone movie for the character in the Marvel cinematic universe, which includes Iron Man, Thor, Spiderman, and dozens of other superheroes. All of these prior characters’ movies have had success, but what distinguishes Black Panther is that it featured an almost entirely African-American cast—including Lupita Nyong’o, Daniel Kaluuya, Michael B. Jordan, and Angela Bassett, and a black director—Ryan Coogler (whose credits include Fruitvale Station and Creed). The storyline dives into topics of race, highlights the strengths of black women (as they are depicted as warriors, queens, and scientists in the film), and the roles and depictions of families and communities deviate from depictions in the mainstream media. These differences are particularly important as it debunks conventional wisdoms that black films and black filmmakers are unprofitable and impossible. A study done by USC concluded African Americans represented 13.6% of characters in major film projects, compared to 70.8% of white characters in 2017. Behind the camera numbers were worse, 5.6% were directors compared to their peers for the same year.

Black Panther took the box office by storm! At the time of this writing, it had smashed many previous box office records on its way to becoming the top grossing superhero film of all time in the U.S. as it passed fellow Marvel title, The Avengers. It grossed $623.4 million in 2012. To date, Black Panther has grossed $630.9 million domestic and $1.237 billion worldwide. So, why did it do so well? There are plenty of factors. Notwithstanding the outstanding cast, critically acclaimed director, and core audience of Marvel devotees, Black Panther benefited from a surge of people who don’t typically make a point to see Marvel movies. 37% of the audience were African American, followed by 35% white, and 18% Hispanic. Typically only 15% of the audience is comprised of African Americans for the Marvel movie demographic. Far and wide, African Americans treated the Black Panther premiere as a holiday. Many moviegoers dressed in traditional African attire, themed events with African drum ensembles, Afro-futuristic themed parties, and academic panel discussions sponsored by universities and churches popped up in many cities. Black Panther also benefitted from group ticket sales to schools and churches.

For some of these first-timers this was a one-off, whether it was for the political nature of the film in our current time and the hopeful agenda it could lead to, or just pure curiosity. For many, though, this could lead to a kinship to the MCU (especially since the Black Panther and company will return for future Marvel movies!). So one may ask, how can I catch up with the storyline? AMC Theaters are advertising a 31-hour epic Marvel marathon that will include 12 MCU films leading into the next venture: Avengers: Infinity War. The full list of movies that will be screened:

Iron Man (2)
The Incredible Hulk (3)
Thor (5)
Captain America: The First Avenger (1)
Marvel’s The Avengers
Guardians of the Galaxy (9)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (11)
Captain America: Civil War (13)
Doctor Strange (14)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (15)
Black Panther (17)
Avengers: Infinity War (18)

Why sit sleep-deprived in a dark theater paying high prices for concessions, when you can comfortably sit at home eating food you already paid for and watch at your own pace? GUESS WHAT? We own all of these movies listed above (except The Incredible Hulk), in addition to some notable absentees:

Captain America: Winter Soldier (8)
Ant-Man (12)
Iron Man 2 (4)
Iron Man 3 (6)
Thor: The Dark World (7)
Guardians of the Galaxy v.2 (10)

Thor: Ragnarok (16) released March 31!  It will be available soon!  The numbers beside the titles indicate their order in the cinematic universe.

Visit Lilly Library and get your MCU fix!!

Who Will Win? March Movie Madness @ Lilly

… It ain’t over ’til it’s over…

Rocky faces The Kate Kid! You may vote HERE

Rocky Balboa Takes on The Karate Kid

How about a stress free March Madness bracket and Final Game?
The results from the Final Four of March Movie Madness @ Lilly leave two classic films standing.  It’s The Italian Stallion, Rocky, facing Daniel  The Karate Kid, in the Championship!

Pick your favorite to win our sports movie brackets, and if you provide your netID, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a CRAZIE prize!

New voters are welcome – submit your  pick  for the Championship HERE and enjoy the final game!

Here is a look at the path our two title contenders took to reach the Finals:

March Movie Madness @ Lilly – Sports Films

Our original brackets featured a wide range of sports films, but Lilly Library has many more titles available. From the iconic to the obscure, check out On The Bench

Stay tuned: the Winner will be announced on Wednesday, April 4th!

March Movie Madness @ Lilly: the Elite Eight

Who is Still Standing? The Elite Eight

What is YOUR Pick?

There is No Crying in Baseball
Three of the Elite Eight are Baseball movies!

A League of Their Own turned off the Friday Night Lights for good, and Moneyball  and 42 continued to score on the field.  Alas, local favorite Bull Durham discovered that it is all “sunshine” as Remember the Titans piled on.  Rocky may have knocked out When We Were Kings, but he’ll soon to have face the GOAT Michael Jordan and teammates when it is game time in Space Jam! Can the youngsters  Karate Kid and Creed prevail?

NEW VOTERS are welcome! It’s not too late to vote in the Elite Eight, then on Saturday 3/31 make your picks for the Final Four and the Championship round on Monday 4/2.  Vote here 

Who’s left? Pick your brackets and VOTE in the  Elite Eight

 Extra Innings? OT? Bonus points?

We have more sports movies to recommend – check out the bench-warmer roster at March Madness-On The Bench

Remember, if you submit your Duke NetID, you may win a CRAZIE prize!

March Movie Madness @ Lilly Continues

Opening Round Recap and Results

Lilly March Movie Madness – Opening Round

Upsets Do Happen!

There was lots of action in the 1st Round of Lilly Library’s March Movie Madness brackets. Looks like “The Dude” was “Blind Side-d”, Caddyshack may have what it takes to be a Cinderella story, the Karate Kid “waxed off” Hoosiers, and Talladega Nights did a “Shake’n Bake” all over the Field of Dreams.

Round 3/Sweet Sixteen Voting

through Tuesday, March 27th.

March Movie Madness Round 2 Contenders

It’s never too late to join in March Movie Madness @ Lilly, so make your picks of the remaining contenders!

  • Complete your brackets for Round 3/Sweet Sixteen here.
  • Want to see the brackets in classic form?
    Download Lilly March Madness Round 2 Results

See you in the Elite Eight!

Lilly Collection Spotlight: They Came to Play | Women in Sport

To celebrate Women’s History Month 2018, Lilly Library is shining a spotlight on Women in Sport. Books and movies that feature women athletes are “teeming” in our collections. Come to East Campus and check out this month’s Lilly Collection Spotlight.  Click here for the complete line-up.

While you’re at Lilly, visit the exhibit in the foyer, On the Field, the Courts and Beyond: Women in Sports – TITLE IX, that complements our Lilly Collection Spotlight.

BOOKS

Book Cover, Game Changers: the Unsung Heroines of Sports History
2018 | Molly Schiott

Based on the Instagram account @TheUnsungHeroines, a celebration of the pioneering, forgotten female athletes of the twentieth century that features rarely seen photos and new interviews with past and present game changers including Abby Wambach and Cari Champion.

Book Cover, Kicking Off: How Women in Sport are Changing the Game
2016 | Sarah Shephard

There’s a battle being fought. It’s raging on the sports fields, in the newsrooms and behind the scenes at every major broadcaster. Women in sport are fighting for equality with more vigour than ever, but are they breaking down the barriers that stand in their way? Sarah Shephard looks behind the headlines to see whether progress is really being made and tells the stories that can no longer be ignored. It’s time for women to switch their focus from the battlefield to the sports field, once and for all.

book cover: Charging the Net, a History of Blacks in Tennis from Althea Gibson... to the Williams Sisters
2007 | Cecil Harris and Larryette Kyle-DeBose

Beginning with the Williams sisters, the authors examine the foundation of their development as tennis phenoms during the 1990s and the prophetic yet unabashed approach of their coach, father, and sports psychologist, Richard Williams, in crafting a world within which they would be groomed to be successful. a compelling examination of the impact of African Americans on the world of professional tennis and the various challenges and outcomes of that involvement.

book cover, Sportswomen in Cinema, Film and the Frailty Myth
2015 | Nicholas ChareFILMS

An overview of films about women in sport and a timely critical analysis of their role in shaping perceptions of female athletic ability. It examines themes of aggression, beauty, class, ethnicity, physical feminism, sexuality, synaesthesia and technology in relation to mainstream and arthouse cinematic depictions of sportswomen from Pumping Iron 2 to Bend it Like Beckham. 

 

book cover The Match: Althea Gibson Angela Buxton
2004 | Bruce Schoenfeld

50 years ago when Gibson and Buxton were two of the top women’s tennis players in the world. Coming from widely divergent backgrounds (Gibson from a poor black family in Harlem, Buxton from a well-to-do Jewish family in London), the two hooked up in the mid-1950s and became tennis partners and lifelong friends.

Book cover, Global Perspectives on Women in Combat Sports
2015 | ed. Alex Channon

Offers a wide-reaching overview of current academic research on women’s participation in combat sports within a wide range of different national and trans-national contexts, detailing many of the struggles and opportunities experienced by women at various levels of engagement within sports such as boxing, wrestling and mixed martial arts.

FILMS

DVD case Offside
DVD 14381

During the 2006 Iran-Bahrain match, the Tehran soccer stadium roars with 100,000 cheering men and, officially, no women. According to Islamic custom, women are not permitted to watch or participate in men’s sports. Many of the ambitious young female fans who manage to sneak into the arena are caught and sent to a holding pen, guarded by male soldiers their own age. Duty makes these young men and women adversaries, but duty can’t overcome their shared dreams, their mutual attraction, and ultimately their overriding sense of national pride and humanity.

DVD cover Playing Unfair: the media image of the female athlete
DVD 21482 and Streaming Video

Examines the post Title IX media environment in terms of the representation of female athletes. It demonstrates that while men’s identities in sports are equated with deeply held values of courage, strength and endurance, the accomplishments of female athletes are framed very differently and in much more stereotypical ways.

DVD cover Personal Best
DVD 11362

A promising hurdler, played by Mariel Hemingway, finds needed emotional and athletic seasoning with a caring mentor. After the two fall in love, their relationship is threatened as both vie for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

 

DVD cover Grandes Ligas
DVD 25223 and streaming video

Members of the Cuban National Women’s Baseball Team discuss their passion for the sport and hardships they faced in Cuba’s society filled with machismo, prejudice and daily hardships.

DVD cover Watermarks
DVD 6270

The story of the surviving members of the  Viennese Hakoah sports club women’s swim team, a world-dominating competitor in the 1930s. The club was eventually shut down during Hitler’s reign, though all the women managed to escape capture. Combines historical footage and contemporary interviews to reconnect the women’s lives and memories.

DVD cover Edge of America
DVD 5579

The new man in town has just accepted a position as an English professor on a reservation in Utah. Finding it hard to fit in with the Native American community, he decides to take on the challenge of coaching the girls’ basketball team.

DVD cover Whip It
DVD 18946

Bliss Cavender is a small-town teenager looking for her own path. Tired of following in her family’s footsteps, she discovers a way to put her life on the fast track–literally. She lands a spot on a roller derby team and becomes “Babe Ruthless.” Co-starring Drew Barrymore in her feature film directorial debut.

 

Best in Snow: Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Best in Snow

Contributors: Carol Terry, Danette Pachtner and Ira King

Winter Sports:  Skiing, Skating and Hockey

Winter Olympics and Sport

Tired of cold wintry weather? Don’t be snowboardcurl up with interesting reading, or peak at these films … what do you have to luge? (Are we skating on thin ice here?)

If you are ready for vicarious international adventures in spectacular snow and ice, Lilly Library’s collections will transport you. Our latest Collection Spotlight shines on winter sports, Olympic history and snowy landscapes inspired by the upcoming Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Some winning titles are featured below, but judge for yourself and see the full list in Best in Snow.

Film

  • The Price of Gold (2014, dir. Nanette Burstein) ESPN 30 for 30
    The world couldn’t keep its eyes off two athletes at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer – Nancy Kerrigan, the elegant brunette and Tonya Harding, the feisty blonde who would stop at nothing to get on the Olympic podium.
  • Sister (2012, dir. Ursula Meir)
    Sister-Lilly DVD 27001

    A drama set at a Swiss ski resort and centered on a boy who supports his sister by stealing from wealthy guests.

  • Curling (2010, dir. Denis Côté)
    On the fringe of society in a remote part of the French-Canadian countryside, the fragile relationship and unusual private life of a father and daughter is jeopardized by dreary, unforeseen circumstances.
  • Of Miracles and Men (2009, dir. Jonathan Hock) ESPN 30 for 30
    The story of one of the greatest upsets in sports history has been told. Or has it? On a Friday evening in Lake Placid, a plucky band of American collegians stunned the vaunted Soviet national team, 4-3 in the medal round of the 1980 Winter Olympic hockey competition. Americans couldn’t help but believe in miracles that night, and when the members of Team USA won the gold medal two days later, they became one for the ages. But there was another, unchronicled side to the “Miracle On Ice.”
  • Blades of Glory (2007, dirs. Josh Gordon and Will Speck)
    Cool Runnings
    Cool Runnings Lilly DVD 7974

    In 2002, two rival Olympic ice skaters were stripped of their gold medals and permanently banned from men’s single competition. Presently, however, they’ve found a loophole that will allow them to qualify as a pairs team.

  • Cool Runnings (1998, dir. Jon Turteltaub)When a Jamaican sprinter is disqualified from the Olympic Games,he enlists the help of a dishonored coach to start the first Jamaican Bobsled Team.

Books

  • Speed Kings by Andy Bull
    Spped Kings
    Speed Kings – 1930s Lake Placid Olympics

    In the 1930s, as the world hurtled towards terrible global conflict, speed was all the rage. Exotic, exciting and above all dangerous, it was by far the most popular event at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics. It required an abundance of skill and bravery. And the four men who triumphed at those Games lived the most extraordinary lives.

  • Artistic Impressions: Figure Skating, Masculinity, and the Limits of Sport by Mary Louise Adams
    In contemporary North America, figure skating ranks among the most ‘feminine’ of sports and few boys take it up for fear of being labelled effeminate or gay. Yet figure skating was once an exclusively male pastime – women did not skate in significant numbers until the late 1800s, at least a century after the founding of the first skating club. Only in the 1930s did figure skating begin to acquire its feminine image.
  • Two planks and a passion : the dramatic history of skiing
    Sochi 2014
    Sochi 2014 – Olympics in photos

    Roland Huntford’s brilliant history begins 20,000 years ago in the last ice age on the icy tundra of an unformed earth. Man is a travelling animal, and on these icy slopes skiing began as a means of survival. In polar exploration, skiing changed the course of history. Elsewhere, in war and peace, it has done so too.

  • Sochi 2014 : the Olympic Games through the lens of John Huet and David BurnettCommissioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to create a personal record of the Olympic Games, Huet and Burnett  capture the essence and adventure of the Olympic Games through stunning and unconventional photographs.

So many more books and films  examine the Olympics from a range of perspectives – from pure sport and Olympic ideals to international political and social concerns and controversies. Explore further in our Collection Spotlight, and visit  Best in Snow.

Lilly is Making a List

How Do You Like Your Holiday Films?

Holiday Films
Lilly’s made a list: Naughty or Nice?

Naughty or Nice?

The end of fall semester is near, and finals exams are even closer.  If you feel the need for a little winter holiday cheer or diversion, our librarians can help.  With over 30,000 films in our collections, our staff selected 100 holiday-themed films for December’s Lilly Collection Spotlight. There are traditional titles in the list such as A Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Home Alone as well as other winter holiday films such as Eight Crazy Nights, Tokyo Godfathers, and Black Candle.   Animated classics, international gems, and a few offbeat films such as Bad Santa and A Junky’s Christmas  are waiting for you!

Want to see the entire list?
You decide what is Naughty-or-nice-Holiday-films-100 List!
In case you are wondering – yes, we have Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (Lilly DVD 15343)

Don’t want to scroll through one hundred titles? Take a peek at some of our selections and sample the first Video Spotlight  on Winter Holiday films in our Video Spotlight Archives.

Happy Holidays!

Lilly Spotlight-Cuban-Americans, the Duke Common Experience and Beyond

Cuban-Americans, the Duke Common Experience and Beyond

Need some new reading material or just interested in seeing what’s in Lilly Library’s collection that you might not know about? Check out Lilly’s Collection Spotlight!

Lilly Spotlight on Duke Common Experience

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month and the Duke Common Experience Reading Program selection of Richard Blanco’s The Prince of Los Cocuyos, our spotlight shines on books and films relevant to his and the Cuban-American experience.  Blanco, the inaugural poet for Barack Obama in 2012, writes in his memoir of his childhood growing up in Miami as a son of Cuban immigrants. The memoir finds Blanco grappling with both his place in America and his sexuality, striving to discover his identity.

Our collections include books on Cuban Art, the Cuban-American immigrant experience in the United States, LGBTQ communities in Hispanic culture, and several books of Blanco’s poetry. Here are a few highlights from our Lilly Collection Spotlight:

Books:

Adios Utopia — Art in Cuba Since 1950
This exhibition catalog covers Cuban art from 1950 to the present viewed through the particular lenses of the Cuban Revolution, utopian ideals, and subsequent Cuban history. The collection covered in this book will be on display at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis starting in November.

Latinx Comic Book Storytelling:Latinx
An Odyssey by Interview by Frederick Luis Aldama

In this book, scholar Frederick Luis Aldama interviews 29 Latinx comic book creators, ranging from the legendary Jaime Hernandez of Love and Rockets fame to lesser known up and coming writers/illustrators.

Matters of the Sea / Cosas del mar by Richard Blanco

This bilingual chapbook contains a poem Blanco wrote and read for the reopening of the US Embassy in Havana in 2015. Blanco writes in the opening lines, “The sea doesn’t matter, what matters is this: we all belong to the sea between us, all of us.”

Films:


CubAmerican (2012)  DVD 28418
Exploring the causes leading to the exile of millions of Cubans from communist Cuba by depicting the journey of illustrious Cuban-Americans to their new life in the United States

 

Finally the sea (2007) DVD 12185
“The wreckage of an empty Cuban raft is the catalyst for Tony, a successful Cuban-American businessman, who files from Wall Street to Cuba to discover his roots. His journey develops into a striking love story where politics and romance collide

Mambo Kings (1992) DVD 27116
Musician brothers, Cesar and Nestor, leave Cuba for America (NYC) in the 1950s, with the hopes of making it to the top of the Latin music scene. Cesar is the older brother who serves as the business manager and is a consummate ladies’ man. Nestor is the brooding songwriter, who cannot forget the woman in Cuba who broke his heart. This is an unrated version of the film, with one restored scene.


Visit our Collection Spotlight shelf, in the lobby to the left of the Lilly desk. 
There are many more titles available to you, and if you want more suggestions – just ask us. Stay tuned – We will highlight our diverse and varied holdings at Lilly with a different theme each month.

Submitted by Ira King
Evening Reference Librarian & Supervisor
Lilly Library

 

 

 

Inconceivable! 30,000 and Counting…

Counting what, you may ask?
30,000 DVDs in the Lilly Library!

Lilly Library celebrates the acquisition of our 30,000th DVD

Lilly DVD 30000

Lilly Library has a deep and rich collection of films, and as the films are continually ordered and catalogued, we became aware that we were nearing a milestone of 30,000 DVDs on our shelves. The very first DVD cataloged for Lilly Library was the French film, The Last Metro, and it marked the beginning of a highly regarded collection brimming with classic films, international and global films, serious documentaries and ever popular animated films.

Why The Princess Bride?

The inspiration on what to select as our 30,000th film came from our First-Year Library Advisory Board Group which suggested a “fun” film from 30 years ago.  Films from 1987 such as Predator, Rain Man, Full Metal Jacket and Fatal Attraction didn’t quite “fit the bill”, but The Princess Bride emerged as a favorite, and most importantly – F U N!

To mark the acquisition of the 30,000th DVD in our collection, Lilly Library is sponsoring the following events:

Cake! Enjoy a special Twue Wuv Cake
Meet the people behind the scenes, the catalogers & staff involved in bringing this film, and other films to our library users.

Wednesday, March 29th at 10 a.m.
Where: Lilly Library Lobby
For Duke Students:
If your slice has the “Miracle Max Pill”, you win a prize!

Movie! The Princess Bride

When: Friday, March 31st at 8 p.m.
Where: Trinity Café, East Campus Union
Refreshments provided – while they last

Sponsored by the East Campus Libraries – Lilly and Music –
and Devils After Dark

Relax and Recharge at Lilly

How to Beat Finals Week Stress in Lilly

Ref Room and Student Note
Finals getting to you? One student’s note puts things in perspective

Mindfulness, anyone?

Who hasn’t heard or read that coloring reduces stress? There is evidence that even a short coloring or craft session helps to improve focus and spur creativity.1  In fact, at Lilly Library we are aware of this effect, so for the past several years we’ve offered Duke students the Lilly Relaxation Station. Located in our first floor training room, the Relaxation Station provides games, crafts, puzzles, coloring, and markers for whiteboards so that students may take a moment (or two) to relax and recharge their gray matter!

Students created and shared origami
Students created and shared origami
  • What: Lilly Relaxation Station
  • When: Tuesday, December 13th through Sunday December 18th

Duke Students are invited to drop in, “take a moment” (or however much time they wish – no pressure!) and enjoy themselves during Finals Week.

Check out the Lilly Facebook page for event details. Additionally, Lilly partners with Devils After Dark to offer snacks on the evenings of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, at 8 p.m. in the Lilly foyer.

On a “final” note, sure to check out  Duke Libraries’ helpful End of Semester Survival Guide for lots of tips and information to get you through exams.

Good Luck on Finals!


1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17623380

Duke 2020 – Dive into the Libraries

Learn to “swim” – and to keep swimming – in the Libraries!

Library Orientation East Campus
The Libraries welcome  the newest Blue Devils

On East Campus, after students settle in and begin classes, the Lilly Library and Duke Music Library offer several ways for the newest Blue Devils to learn and benefit from the incredible resources of the Duke Libraries. Lilly and Music sponsor Library Orientation events – including a film on the East Campus Quad and an Open House to introduce students to library services and collections. In recent years, students ventured into a library-themed Jurassic Park, played The Library Games, and were wowed by the Incredibles and our libraries’ super powers. This year, the Class of 2020 will explore the power of discovery and the rewards of research, and learn to “keep swimming” in our resources when they …

Dive Into the Libraries

Schedule of Library Orientation Events for Fall Semester 2016

Movie on the Quad: Finding Nemo
  • When: Saturday, September 3rd  at 9pm
  • Where: East Campus Quad between Lilly & the East Campus Union
Duke Class of 2020 Open House
  • When: Tuesday, September 6th from 7pm to 8pm
  • Where: Lilly Library
More Ways to Experience the Duke University Libraries:

After the excitement of the beginning of the new semester subsides, the Duke University Libraries continue to reach out to our students, always ready to offer research support and access to resources in support of their scholarly needs.

Here’s to a great fall semester!

Keep swimming!  And, remember – we’re available to help you “keep searching”!

Thanks to Devils After Dark for partnering
with the East Campus Libraries for our orientation events.

Duke 2020 and First-Year Library Services

… What are the libraries’ hours?  … How do I find a book? … Who can help me with research? … Where can I print?*

Duke University’s newest students will find the answers to these questions (and more!) on the Library’s First-Year Library Services portal page.

Lilly Library on East Campus
Lilly Library on East Campus

Each August, a new class of undergraduates arrives in Durham ready to immerse themselves in the Duke Community. Duke University Libraries serve as the core of intellectual life on campus. Because East Campus is home to the First-Year students, Lilly and Music Libraries have the unique opportunity to introduce our newest “Dukies” to the array of Library resources and research services available.

To help navigate the vast library resources, there is a portal especially for First-Year Students. Through this portal page, new students (and even some not-so-new) can discover all that the Duke University Libraries offer:

Perkins Library

  • Quick Facts: about collections and loan policies
  • Where: to study, print, and … eat!
  • How: to find and check out books, films  & other media, and get…
  • Help!: Meet the “who” – Librarians, Specialists, & First-Year Residence Hall Librarians
  • Research 101: how to navigate the Research Process
  • Citation 101: how to cite using recommended styles

 

*Learn the answers in our list of the Top 12 Questions, as determined by First-Year Library Advisory Board students.

Here’s to a great and successful Fall Semester!

How are we doing? Lilly wants to know!

Your opinion counts!

University Archives
East Campus in the early days
East-donuts
Focus Group Goodies!

Earlier this year, Duke University Libraries conducted a survey to obtain feedback about the services and facilities we provide to our users.  Lilly Library, on East Campus, was one area of focus within the broader survey.

Here is your opportunity to share your thoughts about ways to improve and enhance Lilly Library services, spaces, and resources in a one-hour moderated focus group. In particular, because Lilly Library is being considered for renovation in the near future, feedback from interested library users like you is a vital part of our planning process.

In return, we’ll feed you… Monuts, anyone?

Register for ONE of the sessions:

What: Focus Group I for Lilly Library

When: Tuesday, April 19th   5 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Where: East Union Lower Level Classroom 1 — Room 041

Register: http://duke.libcal.com/event/2548767

OR

What: Focus Group II for Lilly Library

When:  Wednesday, April 20th 5 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Where:  Lilly Library Room 001

Register: http://duke.libcal.com/event/2548707


We hope you can attend one of the Focus Group sessions.  If you cannot attend, but still wish to provide feedback, feel free to contact Lilly Library.

Focus on Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

Full Frame DVDs
Past Full Frame entries available at Lilly Library

It’s that time of year again!

Each spring, international filmmakers and film lovers flock to the  Full Frame Documentary Film Festival to experience the latest in documentary, or non-fiction, cinema showcased in our very own historic downtown  Durham.  Film showings highlight new programming in competition, and other events include expert panel discussions and themed screenings. Tickets go on sale April 1st.

Duke University Libraries support and highlight films from past festivals.  One resource is the Full Frame Archive Film Collection,  that includes festival winners from 1998-2012.  The film and video collection at Lilly Library includes many more Full Frame titles available to the Duke community.

Focus on Full Frame: films in Lilly Collections
Full Frame 2015 exhibit

This year’s 19th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival  honors independent director and documentary cinematographer, Kirsten Johnson, with the 2016 Tribute Award.  Cameraperson, Johnson’s newest film,  will be screened and a retrospective of her work will be presented.   This year’s Thematic Program is a series titled “Perfect and Otherwise: Documenting American Politics,” curated by filmmaker R.J. Cutler, known for such films as The War Room and The World According to Dick Cheney.

FF16

When:  April 7-10, 2016
Where: Various venues in Downtown Durham

The festival is a program of the Center for Documentary Studies and receives support from corporate sponsors, private foundations and individual donors whose generosity provides the foundation that makes the event possible. The Presenting Sponsor of the Festival is Duke University.

Lyre, Lyre… Lyre at Lilly

Meet The Artist – John Billing

Lyres
“I wish to tune my quivering lyre,/To deeds of fame, and notes of fire”
From Lord Byron’s “to his lyre”


John Billing, originally from England and now based in Ireland, is touring the East Coast of the United States during September and October, presenting workshops and performances.  John’s background is in art, textile design and music therapy. Come and hear the interesting story of the performer and his instrument. Mr. Billing will perform pieces by J. S. Bach and Turlough O’Carolan, in addition to original compositions.

♦Where: Thomas Room
Lilly Library, 2nd floor

♦When:  Friday October 2nd at 4pm
Light refreshments served at 3:30

What is the lyre?

The lyre is a stringed instrument from Ancient Greece, thought to metaphorically represent the skill of poets  as it accompanied their recitations.


Sponsored by the Lilly Library, East Campus Residence Life
and the Department of Classical Studies at Duke University.

The First-Year Library Experience

Duke Libraries – Here to Help You

 

Lilly Library on East Campus
Lilly Library on East Campus

When is the library open? How do I find a book? Where do I print?*

Duke University’s newest students can find the answers to these questions (and more!) on the Library’s First-Year Library Services portal page.

Each August, a new class of undergraduates arrives in Durham ready to immerse themselves in the Duke Community.   Duke University Libraries serve as the core of intellectual life on campus. On East Campus particularly, the Lilly and Music Libraries have the unique opportunity to introduce our newest “Dukies” to the array of Library resources and research services available.

To help navigate the vast Library resources, we’ve created a portal especially for First-Year students. Through this portal page, new students (and even some not-so-new) can discover all that the Duke University Libraries offer:

Perkins-reading roomQuick Facts:  about collections and loan policies
Where:  to study, print, and … eat!
How:  to find and check out books & material, and get…
Help!:  Meet the  “who” – Librarians, Specialists, & Residence Hall Librarians
Research 101:  how to navigate the Research Process
Citation 101:  how to cite using recommended  styles
*And when is the Library open?
Find the answer in our list of the Top 12 Questions, developed with input from First-Year Library Advisory Board students.

Here’s to a great Fall Semester!

 

 

 

The Library Is Open…

Welcome to the Duke Class of 2019

Just for Duke 2019 - Clever Class
Just for Duke 2019 – Clever Class

Discover the First-Year Library Experience

On East Campus, after students settle in and begin classes, the Lilly Library and Duke Music Library offer several ways for the newest “Dukies” to learn and benefit from the incredible resources of the Duke Libraries. Lilly and Music sponsor Library Orientation events such as scavenger hunts, film showings, and prize drawings to familiarize them with library services and collections. In recent years, students played The Library Games, and were wowed by the Incredibles and the Libraries’ super powers. This year, the Class of 2019 will experience the power of discovery because …

The “Library is Open”!

Schedule of Events for Fall Semester 2015

Movie on the Quad: Jurassic Park
  • When:  Wednesday, August 26th at 9pm
  • Where: East Campus Quad between Lilly & the East Campus Union
Duke Class of 2019 Open House and Scavenger Hunt
  • When: Wednesday, September 2nd at 7pm
  • Where: Lilly Library
More Ways to Experience  the Duke University Libraries :

After the excitement of the new semester subsides, the Duke University Libraries continue to reach out to our students, always ready to  offer research support and  access to resources  in support of their scholarly needs.

Here’s to a great year – and Duke career –  filled with academic success!

Step into the Spotlight: Dance Films

Dance on film: movies to get your groove on
Step into the Spotlight: Dance Films

The 2015 season of the American Dance Festival has now kicked off with fabulous performances through July 25th.

To help you get your  groove on, check out dance-themed highlights from Lilly Library’s film/video collection in the Lilly Video Spotlight: Dance on Film.

If our spotlight whets your appetite, explore Lilly Library’s large selection of dance DVDs to keep you tripping the light fantastic all summer long.  Don’t feel like tripping the light fantastic with Lilly?  The ADF Archives serve as an excellent resource for dance historians, and  this summer the International Screendance Festival hosts screenings at the Nasher Museum of Art.

Updated from a June 2014 post authored by Danette Pachtner,  Librarian for Film, Video & Digital Media and Women’s Studies

Meet Lilly’s Class of 2015 part III

Lilly Library’s “Final Four” – Our Class of 2015 – Part III

Lilly Library is fortunate to have  a “strong senior line-up”,  and Victor is an experienced point man on our team.  Along with Natalie, Steven and Kenai, Victor is a member of our class of 2015.  All of our seniors  have worked at Lilly Library since they arrived as wide-eyed First-Year students on East Campus “way back” in August of 2011! Get to know our seniors in these profiles, and you’ll appreciate them as much we do.

Victor Chen:

Victor book delivery
Victor getting things in order for delivery on East Campus

 

Hometown: Boulder, Colorado
Academics: Double major in Economics and French Studies, minor in Environmental Science and Policy
Activities on campus: Outing Club
Favorite campus eatery/food: Panda Express
Favorite off-campus eatery/food: Vin Rouge
Hobbies, Dream vacations: Playing piano in a duo with my roommate on guitar. Cooking for a dinner party. Renting a car and taking a wine tour of southern France in May.

Q: Why have you worked at Lilly Library for all 4 years?
A: Working at Lilly Library is a very pleasant experience. I have interesting chats with patrons and friends who stop by the desk. The building itself is lovely, with its marble pillars in front and a spacious lobby. I have learned about art by flipping through books that I shelve or check in. Fantastic creations lie between the pages. When I moved to West Campus, the added travel time effectively decreased my hourly wage, but I didn’t mind too much. I live off campus now, and I enjoy biking to my work shifts when the weather is nice.

Q: What is your favorite part about working at Lilly? What is your least favorite part?

Victor chillin' at the Lilly desk
Victor in charge and  chillin’ at the Lilly desk, with Librarians Kelley and Andrea as back-up

A: My favorite part is hanging out behind the desk. The University Campus has changed a lot during my four years but Lilly remains a place fixed in a different time, with its rich aroma of dusty books. I like the Thomas reading room, which has the air of an aristocrat’s drawing room, decorated with beautiful Chinese art. My least favorite part is working during especially busy periods when stress is high.

Q: What is your favorite duty at Lilly? What is your least favorite?
A: My favorite work duty is chillin’ at the desk. That includes sorting trucks, sensitizing full top shelves, and shelving books on the ledge, of course. My least favorite work duty is fixing the printers for patrons. … or maybe delivering books on cold days.

Q: What is one memory from Lilly that you will never forget?
A: Steven and I were keeping a weeknight watch, when we were informed that a thief was in the Reference Room. Apparently this man was responsible for trying to sell several valuable library books on eBay. Staff had called in a security guard and two police officers were about to walk in the room and apprehend the man. In this tense moment, a blur of motion appeared on the periphery. A man appeared on the other side of the library, running past the front desk. Dave yelled, “That’s him!” and the security guard ran after him. It was clear that the security guard could not catch the agile thief, who disappeared into the night. Steven and I found it a strange and exciting event.

Q: What does a typical weekend shift look like for you? What  shift do you like most – and why?
A: I work three shifts: one during a weeknight, one during a weekday, and a Saturday night shift. My favorite is Saturday night, which has been a comforting constant during my entire undergraduate career. It makes me feel productive on Saturdays and it has been a little spot of tranquility I look forward to. Steven and I have shared most of these shifts together in our four years, on night watch, guarding the tomes of mysteries against forces that seek to destroy reason.

Q: What is your impression of Lilly’s film collection? Any recommendations?
A: The Lilly film collection is excellent. I especially enjoy titles from the Criterion Collection. My personal recommendations are La Notte (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1961), In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2000), The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013), Jules and Jim (Francois Truffaut, 1961), and Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990).

Q: What are your plans for after graduation?
A: No plans, yet.

Q: What will you miss most about Lilly when you graduate?
A: The atmosphere of calm and the friendliness of the staff.

Q: How will your time at Lilly help you in the future?
A: I’ve learned how to better help customers (patrons).

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in Lilly? Any advice to other students working at Lilly?
A: Lilly is a crazy place, and I’ve helped maintain the strange character of this space. My only suggestion is that all Lilly student workers should help create the history of the Library.

Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to  Victor and our other seniors, treasured members of our Lilly “family”. We appreciate his good work and dedication to Lilly and wish him the best!

What is a vital Lilly Library Resource?

Meet Lilly’s Class of 2015 – part IV

If you’ve been in Lilly Library  over the past four years, chances are you’ve seen our four seniors: NatalieSteven, Victor and Kenai.  All of our seniors  have worked at Lilly Library since they arrived as wide-eyed First-Year students on East Campus way back in August of 2011. Get to know our seniors in these profiles, and you’ll appreciate them as much we do.

Lilly Student Assistant Senior Kenai McFadden
Lilly Student Assistant Senior Kenai McFadden

Note: this article was published in the 2014 fall semester.  With Commencement 2015 in May,  reacquaint yourselves with Kenai, one of our treasured Lilly Library Class of 2015.

Lilly is at the heart of East Campus, the First-Year Campus for Duke undergraduates.  To serve our  community, Lilly Library remains open for 129 hours  each week! Our student assistants are an essential element in maintaining a high level of service, and we want to introduce you to one of our “Class of 2015” – seniors who have worked in Lilly Library throughout their four years at Duke.

Meet Kenai McFadden:
Hometown
: Orangeburg, South Carolina
Family: I have 3 siblings – one older brother, a younger brother, and a little sister
Academics: Pre-med, majoring in Chemistry with a minor in Psychology
Activities on campus: Vice President of the Class of 2015; ​FAC Board Member; President of The Inferno; ​Line Monitor
Favorite off-campus activity: Dancing at Cuban Revolution
Favorite on-campus activity: Cheering for Duke Athletics
Favorite on-campus eatery: Pitchfork Provisions
Favorite off-campus eatery: Sushi Love

Kenai at work
Top: Kenai, with his “assistant” Steven offering support Bottom: Kenai helping a student

Somehow, while the list above gives us basic information about Kenai, we believe there is so much more to reveal. Kenai is lively and engaging, so we asked another Lilly student assistant,  Kelly Tomins  (Lilly Class of 2016 ) to delve further and ask questions from one student to another.  Their interview offers a perspective beyond the facts – enjoy!

What Is your spirit animal? Explain.
I would have to go with a toy poodle. Toy poodles are not shy, have insane amounts of energy, are one of the smartest breeds of dog, and are agreeable with everyone. If only I could also be so easy to love…

If you could be any famous internet cat, which would you be?
NO

What are your plans for after graduation?
I’m a pre-medical student taking a gap year. I would love to continue volunteering as I apply to medical school, 

If you could have a sleepover in any of the 12 branches of the Duke Library system, which would you choose?
Definitely Ford or the Law Library because I’ve never visited them and it’d be fun to explore them at night.

What’s the strangest book you’ve come across in Lilly?
Lilly is the art library at Duke, so I’ve come across various dirty comic collections, abstract art styles, and books on ridiculous theories. It’s hard to choose just one. You’d be surprised at how many crazy books are in the stacks.

What is your favorite work duty at Lilly?
Book deliveries. It’s nice to deliver books for faculty to the various academic departments on East, especially when it’s nice outside. I can put in my music on, enjoy the weather, and get a great workout carrying books.

How will your time at Lilly help you in your future pursuits?
Customer service is very relevant to pretty much any field in which you’re working with people. We’ve had some tough patrons come through Lilly, and I feel equipped to handle all sorts of people after working closing shifts and during finals week. I also became pretty good at suggesting DVDs for patrons to watch.

What will you miss most about Lilly when you graduate?
I’ll miss working with my boss, Yunyi Wang, and my coworkers behind the desk. Some of my best friends at Duke I’ve met through Lilly, and I love Yunyi! She’s like my campus mom. 😀

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in Lilly?
One time I took about 2 floors worth of books and shifted them one shelf – from one floor to the next. Crazy exciting stuff. It took the entire summer.

Have you ever locked anyone in the library when you work the closing shift? If not, were there any close calls?
I’ve had two or three close calls for sure, and one time I apparently locked someone in, but I don’t believe it. People get locked in pretty often though, so I don’t feel bad even if I did.

Thanks to Kenai, and to Kelly, for mentoring our newer student assistants and for keeping Lilly Library such an inviting and lively hub on East Campus!

Meet Lilly’s Class of 2015 part II

Lilly Library’s “Final Four” – Our Class of 2015 – Part II

Lilly Library is fortunate to have  a “strong senior line-up”,  and Steven is an experienced point man on our team.  Along with Natalie, Victor and Kenai, Steven is a member of our class of 2015.  All of our seniors  have worked at Lilly Library since they arrived as wide-eyed First-Year students on East Campus “way back” in August of 2011! Get to know our seniors in these profiles, and you’ll appreciate them as much we do.

Steven Davidson:

Steven at desk
Lilly Library Senior Steven Davidson at our desk

Hometown—Roslyn Heights, New York
Academics—Double Major in Political Science, with a concentration in International Relations, and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, with a concentration in Arabic
Activities on campus—Member of Duke Students for Justice in Palestine, Alpha Epsilon Pi.
Favorite campus eatery/food—It’s gotta be The Loop. Not only is the food there top notch (my favorite little secret on the menu—the mac n cheese bites), but there’s no other place with a person like Javon heading the counter. I will always think of walking into The Loop to see Javon smiling, always greeting you with a “Sup, bossman!” He’s the most popular guy on campus for a good reason.
Favorite off-campus eatery/food—So difficult to say with all the fantastic places Durham has for food. I honestly can’t choose one. Some of my favorite spots, though: Cookout, Chubby’s, Bull City Burger, Monuts was a recent one that is fantastic… the city certainly doesn’t lack for satisfying my every taste urge!
Hobbies, Dream vacations—In my spare time, I love to play an Afro-Peruvian drum called the cajon. I love listening to music in general, along with reading and writing. I hope to travel the rest of my life. I want to see every corner of the globe and experience as many different things as possible. I want to pursue writing to the fullest. I wish to pursue immersive journalism and look at human rights and the human element in approaching some of the most dehumanized conflicts or situations in the world. I dream of just always be traveling around, a nomad moving through the cities and places of the world. My ultimate dream is to write novels and stories for a living.

Q: Why have you worked at Lilly Library for all 4 years?
A: I have absolutely enjoyed my time working at Lilly. It truly feels like home to me at this point. All the people I met, the wonderful time I had with the staff. All the librarians are so friendly and kind; they have breathed warmth to me. Everyone is like a family at Lilly, while other places run more like a machine. I like the atmosphere, and the crazy people… I always knew it was where I’d enjoy my job the most. What’s nicest about working at Lilly is how egalitarian it truly feels to be a part of the staff. For example, and I mean this as the greatest compliment in the world, I didn’t even realize until this year that Kelley is the head of Lilly Library. She is such a fantastic leader and treats everyone so kindly that I didn’t even know she was “above” anyone from a position status. She (and everyone else really) fosters an incredible work environment.

Steven with librarians
Library Games Photo Booth Fall 2014: Danette, Steven & Kelley

Q: What is your favorite part about working at Lilly? Least favorite?

A: My favorite part has to be the characters you meet. There are some interesting patrons and people who work at Lilly. The Lilly staff is composed of some of the kindest, coolest, intelligent, and interesting people. Whether it’s having librarians play their guitar outside on the Lilly steps, discussing esoteric books and films, or listening to the craziness of people like Danette, it’s been an absolute blast.
My least favorite part about working at Lilly has to be when someone comes in with a year’s supply of books to check in. There’s always one week in mid-April just after everyone’s finished their dissertations, so they all come in like an avalanche!

Q: What is your favorite duty at Lilly? Least favorite?
A: I actually like delivering books at this point. It’s always nice to put on my headphones, groove to some music, and get paid to unknowingly memorize the entire faculty for all the departments on East Campus. It’s good to get some fresh air and switch things up a bit.  Least favorite work duty—anything that I have to do that is meticulous. So shelf-reading is probably up there, as I certainly hate the world a little bit on those occasions when you reach a section and ALL the books are COMPLETELY out of order.

Q: What is one memory from Lilly that you will never forget?
A: Tough one. Maybe it has to be when I was going upstairs through the stacks to shelve some books. I noticed a guy just doing some work on a desk. As I was going back down, I noticed the same guy, still doing work—only he had taken off all of his clothes except his underwear! The next minute, some of his friends came by, just casually talking to him as he was nearly naked. Totally epitomizes the weird and bizarre things you encounter at Lilly.

Q: What does a typical weekend shift look like for you? Which shift do you like most, and why?
A: It has to be the Saturday night shift I share with my fellow senior and partner in crime, Victor. We’ve had the shift together forever. It feels a little great to have the library to ourselves. We’ve definitely shared a shenanigan or two in our time together, and the evening shift is so slow it’s just great to kick it back with Victor and discuss topics like music, film, politics, philosophy, etc. We’ve had some great times, and to have Kenai come in afterwards makes us seniors feel like Saturday night is our night.

Q: What is the funniest thing that happened to you recently?
A: In terms of Lilly, while I still always share laughs with the librarians and my fellow workers, I’m not having as many comedic moments without Danette around this semester. Anything that woman says is hilarious. I had way too many funny moments with her!

Q: What is your impression of Lilly film collection? Any recommendations?
A: It’s pretty cool when a patron comes in, asks about what movies we have, and I can say, “We have essentially any movie you can imagine.” Because it is true—I think there have been maybe two or three times in my four years at Duke when we didn’t have a movie a patron wanted. I’ve picked up some movie knowledge along the way just from seeing some of the films people check out. Of course, the expertise of all the librarians certainly helps a bit in that department.
If there’d be one suggestion I have, however—all the anime DVDs have to be brought back upstairs from the locked media! I’ve never understood how some of the most highly acclaimed anime films have been relegated downstairs to the locked media.

Q: What are your plans for after graduation?
A: I have applied for a grant to pursue a journalism project this summer in Palestine and Israel. I hope to gather as many accounts in the region as I can and interweave the stories to create a narrative in what I envision to end as a book. Afterwards, I’m currently thinking to get a certificate to teach English overseas. I hope to pursue immersive journalism abroad, with the plan over the next few years to be in the Middle East. I’m currently considering, after my project in Palestine and Israel, to move to Cairo.

Q: What will you miss most about Lilly?
A: Again, it has to be the people. Everyone has always made me feel so comfortable, so welcomed, and I have learned so much from the wonderful librarians and have experienced so much with them as well as with my fellow seniors.

Q: How will your time at Lilly help you in your future pursuits?
A: It has helped me learn how to be adaptable and work with all types of people. Patrons come in many shapes and sizes, and it is always necessary to be able to keep a smile on and make sure that everyone is satisfied. While most patrons are fantastic, there’s always the occasional person who walks in that is a little bit more difficult, and it has been important for me to learn to always work with a patron—no matter how much of a hard time they give you.

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in Lilly? Any advice to other students working at Lilly?
A: Well, I wouldn’t say I’d suggest any of the crazy things I’ve done at Lilly to other student workers. But one story I’ll share was when I unknowingly stayed inside Lilly after it closed. I was in the staff lounge working all night on a paper for class, and I didn’t even realize that it was after 4 AM, and I found myself locked inside Lilly by myself! Needless to say, a man from the custodial staff was a little surprised to find me in the lounge all by myself at 5 AM. I hadn’t even known that there were sensors all over the library, and I am still so thankful that I didn’t set them off so that police came. What an ordeal that would have been

Q: Anything else?
A: After being able to help one of the freshman workers the other day to get the electronic stacks downstairs working (tip* : all you have to do when they’re not working is to bang your feet on the metal bars coming out from the floor and slide in and out of the stacks—it will eventually start working again), I realized that I am way too good at this job now, and either it is time for me to graduate, or for Yunyi to employ me full-time.

Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to  Steven and our other seniors, treasured members of our Lilly “family”. We appreciate his good work and dedication to Lilly and wish him the best!

*However, we can’t say we endorse his tip about “fixing” our compact shelving!

Meet Lilly’s Class of 2015

Lilly Library’s “Final Four” – Our Class of 2015

If you’ve been in Lilly Library  over the past four years, chances are you’ve seen our four seniors: Natalie,  Steven, Victor and Kenai.  All of our seniors  have worked at Lilly Library since they arrived as wide-eyed First-Year students on East Campus way back in August of 2011. Get to know our seniors in these profiles, and you’ll appreciate them as much we do.

Natalie Hall:

Natalie at desk
Lilly Library’s Senior Natalie at the main desk
  • Hometown: Lansdale, PA (right outside of Philadelphia)
  • Academics: Public Policy Major
  • Activities on campus: Duke Chorale, and President of The Girls’ Club (a mentoring program serving middle school girls in Durham)
  • Favorite campus eatery/food: The Divinity School Cafe
  • Favorite off-campus eatery/food: Dame’s Chicken and Waffles
  • Hobbies or dream vacations: Hobbies are reading graphic novels, finding new music, watching YouTube videos; dream vacations in Istanbul, Hong Kong, and Prague

Q:  Why have you worked at Lilly Library for all 4 years?
A: ​I’ve chosen to work at Lilly for 4 years because of its atmosphere.  The patrons and staff at Lilly create a space where you can relax, be friendly, and open.  Although traveling from West can be a drag sometimes (especially with less buses on weekends), it’s always worth it!  Talking with staff, being with other Lilly student workers, and patrons is always a pleasure.

Q: What is your favorite part about working at Lilly? Least favorite?
A: I think my favorite part of working at Lilly is how friendly everyone is.  Rain or shine, busy or slow day, patrons and staff here are respectful and patient.  I don’t think there’s anything about Lilly that I particularly dislike!

Q: What is your favorite work duty at Lilly? Least favorite duty?

Yunyi and natalie
Lilly’s Head of Access Services Yunyi with Natalie

A: My favorite duty is probably processing books–it’s a time where I can recharge.  My least favorite would have to be shelf-reading…sorry, Yunyi!

Q: What is one memory from Lilly that you will never forget?
A: I studied Chinese to fulfill my language requirement, so practicing speaking Chinese with Yunyi is something I’ll remember always.  Out of nowhere, Yunyi hurls questions at me in Chinese, and I often find  myself scrambling to respond!  Even so, I really appreciate her help–it definitely made me more comfortable in the classroom.

Q: What does a typical weekend shift look like for you? What  shift do you like most?
A: The typical weekend shift is pretty laid back.  I’ll first go to the Regulator Bookstore on 9th street to pick up the New York Times for Lilly.  Then I’ll come back to the library and work at the desk for most of the time.  I enjoy weekday shifts the most, because I feel like they are just busy enough where I don’t feel too overwhelmed.

Q: What is the funniest thing that happened to you recently?
A: At Lilly, the funniest thing that has happened to me recently is  getting to know our weekend security guard Patricia (she usually is at the desk on Saturdays).  Our conversations always make me laugh–last weekend she was helping me online shop for a graduation dress, and it was a lot of fun.

Q: What is your impression of Lilly’s film collection?  Any recommendations?
A: My overall impression of Lilly’s film collection is that it is very eclectic!  If I were to suggest a film, I would say you should check out the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom.

Q: What are your plans for after graduation?
A:  After graduation I plan on either participating in Teach for America, or working more policy/research orientated job in Washington, DC.

Q: What will you miss most about Lilly?
A: The staff, and just the feel of being there.

Q: How will your time at Lilly help you in your future pursuits?
A: My time at Lilly will help my with my multitasking skills, organization, and learning how to help people with any questions they have in a timely manner

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in Lilly?
A: Nothing too crazy…but if you are feeling tired and need a nap, don’t rule out the staff room couch (of course, never during your shift!)

Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to  Natalie and our other seniors, treasured members of our Lilly “family”. We appreciate her good work and dedication to Lilly and wish her the best!

Duke 2018 and the Incredible First-Year Library Experience

How do you “library”? Let the Libraries Save the day!

First-Year Library Orientation
First-Year Library Orientation

Each August, First-Year students arrive on East Campus and begin a Welcome Week filled with numerous events, workshops and programs designed to ease their transition to undergraduate life. The libraries on East Campus support the new students with programs for the First-Year Library Experience.

On East Campus, after students settle in and begin classes, the Lilly Library and Duke Music Library offer several ways for the newest “Dukies” to learn and benefit from the incredible resources of the Duke Libraries. Lilly and Music sponsor Library Orientation events such as scavenger hunts, film showings, and prize drawings to familiarize them with library services and collections. Past years have seen students “Keep Calm and Library On”, play The Library Games, and the Class of 2018 will discover the “Super Powers” of the Incredible Duke Libraries!

Fall Semester 2014:
Meet the Incredible Libraries – Open House and Scavenger Hunt for Duke 2018
When: Tuesday, August 26th at 7pm
Where: Lilly Library

Movie on the Quad: The Incredibles
When: Thursday, September 25th at 8pm
Where: East Campus Quad between Lilly and the Union

In addition to Orientation, the East Campus libraries — Lilly and Music — invite first-year students to engage with the Duke University Libraries in these ways:

Of course, there is another great way to learn about the libraries – work as a student assistant!

Here’s to a great year filled with academic success!