Czech Exhibit
September 28, 2009
Since October is Czech Heritage Month in Texas, the Doherty Library at the University of St. Thomas will feature an exhibit sponsored by the Czech Center Museum Houston.
In four large display cases, the exhibit will focus on Czech history, Czech artists, Czech musicians, and local Czech organizations.
The first display case will include a timeline of the important events in Czech history from the arrival of the Slavs in central Europe through to the presidency of Vaclav Klaus, with some interesting pictures of President Obama’s recent visit to Prague. Around the borders of the display there will be pictures of heroes of Czech history and a brief description of each one’s accomplishment.
The second display case will include information about Czech artists, e.g., Frantisek Kupka whose painting “The Yellow Scale” is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. In this part of the display, there will be an emphasis on the works of Oldrich Kulhanek who now lives in Prague, CR. His art was often very critical of the communist government of past years. In several of his sketches of pigs, for example, the pigs have the faces of the despised communist officials. 
The third case will honor the four great Czech composers: Bedrich Smetana, Antonin Dvorak, Leos Janacek, and Bohuslave Martinu. The fourth case will show the publications of the many Czech organizations that are active in Texas and the US.
The exhibit will run from October 1st through October 30th.
Robert Frost Exhibit Extended
August 14, 2009
The library exhibit “One Step Backward Taken: Roads Less Traveled in Robert Frost Country” is extended one week. It will be available through the week of student orientations and will be taken down Friday, August 22nd. We hope all new First Year, transfer and graduate students will take advantage of the opportunity to view this unique exhibit.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 to Saturday, August 15, 2009
Journey through Frost Country to areas that influenced famous poems such as, “The Road Less Traveled” and “After Apple Picking.”
The exhibit includes photographs that span 50 years and personal anecdotes of Mr. Vince D’Amico’s ‘52 conversations with Robert Frost and his subsequent travels to New England researching Frost’s poetry. Mr. D’Amico recently established a scholarship for high school teachers in the Department of Education.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information contact Kia Wissmiller at kritick@stthom.edu
Doherty Summer Reading Program Returns
May 14, 2009
Doherty Summer Reading Program returns for the second year, and we’re reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Anyone who’s grown up in the South will relate to the images of moist, humid heat in the novel which takes place in South Carolina in the summer of 1964. Sweat drips down backs just as condensation drips down glasses of ice water. There’s a sweetness in the air mixed with damp earthiness in the cloying humidity. The main character, fourteen year old Lily Owens, spends most of her days working in the honey house or sleeping in the un-airconditioned room connected to it. She’s come to this place, where three Black women known as “the calendar girls” produce Black Madonna honey, in search of her mother and her self.
The Secret Life of Bees is definitely a woman centered book, and the characters depend upon a woman centered theology, grounded in the person of the Virgin Mother, to hold everything together. Told from the point of view of a female, the story is still a universal one of growing up and accepting the dark side of life, one’s parents and one’s self. (Sorry guys if the book seems too girly. I promise next year we’ll read Truck: a Love Story or something else manly.)
Our first event is Thursday, May 28th at 4:00 in Doherty Library for light refreshments including among other items coca-cola and salted peanuts, peaches, pimento cheese, honey and bananas. On Thursday June 25th we’ll have our first discussion at the Black Lab, and on Thursday July 30th we’ll have a viewing of the recent film and discussion (place to be announced). You do not have to attend all the events to participate.
We will have incentive prizes at the May 28th event. Please contact kellehm@stthom.edu or 713-525-3891 for more information.
Love My Library
April 13, 2009
National Library Week is April 12th-18th, and we’re celebrating at Doherty Library. Come join in the fun and see the Circulation Department’s wonderful decorations: ALL made from bookcovers! Play games too – there are crossword puzzles, daily scrabble games, and the Wheel o’ Workers. Win great prizes: honor and glory and the admiration of your friends (and some candy). We also will have a display of people “caught” reading on campus (and not textbooks!). Finally post your thoughts on “I love Doherty Library because . . . .” at the Circulation desk. We hope everyone will stop by. Without you we wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t want to be.
Remembering 1882: Fighting for Civil Rights in the Shadow of the Chinese Exclusion Act
March 19, 2009
The Doherty Library will host a photographic exhibit titled:
“Remembering 1882: Fighting for Civil Rights in the Shadow of the Chinese Exclusion Act”
Passed by the US Congress in 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act was intended to prevent people of Chinese descent from entering the United States and sought to deprive those in residence of full legal protection and the right to apply for citizenship. As a result, this nation’s Chinese American population was reduced by half with those remaining relegated to second-class legal status until full repeal in 1968. The exhibit will be on display in the main library atrium from March 23 to April 18. A reception will be held on April 2, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. in the library atrium, all are welcome to attend. The exhibit and reception is sponsored by the Chinese Historical Society of America and the University of St. Thomas Center for International Studies.
Books! Books! Books!
October 15, 2008
Doherty Library is overflowing with books for this year’s booksale. Books are stacked floor to ceiling in our storage room. Prices are rock-bottom at $2.00 for hardbacks and $.50 for paperbacks. Items for the sale are withdrawn from the Doherty collection or come from community donations. We have everything from scholarly works to literary fiction; from reference books to best-sellers. Something for everyone! Something for every mood!
Doherty Library Book Sale will be open to UST Students, Staff and Faculty only on Wednesday October 29th. It will be open to the public Thursday October 30th thru Sunday November 2nd.
The sale will be open from 1/2 hour after opening until 1/2 hour before closing.
Summer Library Exhibit: Holy Cards
May 29, 2008
Doherty library’s summer exhibit features holy cards. Come by to view and learn about these enduring artifacts of Catholic visual culture. UST faculty and staff members have loaned cards from their own personal collections for the exhibit. Location: Doherty lobby exhibit cases during regular library hours. Duration: May 28 – August 15, 2008.
Rachel
Join Us for Summer Reading at Doherty
May 14, 2008
On Pilgrimmage by Jennifer Lash is Chosen for 2008 Summer Reading.
Program kick-off date: May 29, 2008
What’s it about? On Pilgrimage is the story of a journey that novelist Jennifer Lash takes alone after she was diagnosed and treated for cancer. Lash is a lapsed Catholic who left the Church when she opted for sterilization after the birth of her seventh child. Lash speaks with great admiration and respect for the Faith and the faithful. There is nothing polemic, dogmatic or heretical for either Catholics or non-Catholics, but sensitive readers should be aware that on a pilgrimage through Europe, Lash visits places important to the Catholic faith and that Lash does not always present orthodox theology. Lash is the mother of the actors Ralph and Joseph Fiennes. Since the publication of the book, Lash has passed away.
Summer Reading Events: The summer reading program will kick off Thursday May 29th with a free luncheon from 12-1pm at Doherty. Book discussions will follow at the Black Lab beginning at 5:15 on Thursday June 26th and continuing on Thursday July 24th (Black Lab events are ”BYOBA” – Buy your own beer and appetizers!).
Writers’ Reading Series: Remembering JGK.
Please join Dr. Janet Lowery in remembering our mentor, friend, and former MLA Dean Dr. Janice Gordon-Kelter. The evening will include Dr. Lowery reading poetry selections about Janice, and further selections from Dr. Lowery’s collection of poetry, Traffic in Women, dedicated to JGK. The collections of poetry and a broadside of the poem “In Memorium: Janice Gordon-Kelter,” suitable for framing, will be on sale after the reading. A reception will follow. All proceeds from the sale of the broadside will benefit the Doherty library.
This event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Moran Center parking garage at the corner of Graustark and West Alabama. For more information call 713-525-6915.
National Library Week April 13 – 19, 2008
April 11, 2008
National Library Week is April 13 – 19, 2008
Join us @ Doherty library for some fun and games:
Monday, April 14th ◊ “How Many Books?”
Tuesday, April 15th ◊ “Book Hangman”
Wednesday, April 16th ◊ “Crossword / Search A Word”
Thursday, April 17th ◊ “The Scavenger Hunt”
Friday, April 18th ◊ “Famous First Lines”
Come to the Circulation desk of the Library for details
Defense for Darfur Library Exhibit
April 10, 2008
Sudan region of Africa. Conflicts in the Darfur region stretch back many decades, yet most Americans remain ignorant of the complex ethnic, cultural and political factors which have brought on the tragic bloodshed. The exhibit features photos, facts and statistics and is scheduled to run until May 20, 2008. Find out more: Link to the United Nations News Centre, Sudan for the latest regional developments.
Rachel
Reception in Doherty Library Follows 2008 Lenten Lecture
February 12, 2008
The 2008 Lenten Lecture “Papyrus and Parchment: Technologies of Writing and the Bible” by Dr. Paul Hahn is in Cullen Hall, Wednesday, February 13, 2008 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM. A reception will follow the lecture in Doherty Library, courtesy of the Friends of the Library. For more information, call 713-525-3582.
Miniature Books Exhibit
November 14, 2007
The Art of Miniature Books
Doherty Library is currently hosting the Miniature Book Society’s traveling exhibition of over 80 miniature books. A miniature book is defined by the Society as a real book whose closed dimensions (length or width) measures no more than 3 inches. The exhibit also features several “micro-minis,” books measuring 1 inch and less. The books on exhibit come in various shapes and forms, from conventionally bound volumes to accordion foldouts and pop-up books. The printing methods vary as well, from hand calligraphy, to letterpress, photocopy and more. The Miniature Book Society exhibit cases are located on the left side of the lobby atrium as you enter the building.
As for the main lobby exhibit cases, this month we have created a companion exhibit of items from Doherty’s special collections. Enjoy this sampling of the book arts from November 12th through the end of the semester.
Link to the Miniature Book Society.
Rachel
Doherty Library Acquires Paintings
October 10, 2007
Elkins Foundation Gift Results in New Art for Doherty Library
The Doherty Library recently purchased two oil on canvas paintings by Eva Carter. The acquisition was made possible by a generous gift from the Elkins Foundation. The works hang side by side on the south wall of the western side of the main lobby. One is titled “Turning Point” (below, on the left) and the other “Emerald” (below, on the right).
The two paintings are representative of Ms. Carter’s abstract expressionist style. ArtNews characterizes her work as “impulsive, wild, and brimming with movement and emotion, yet they [are] too well composed to be completely spontaneous” (December 2004, p.150). With “Turning Point,” Carter “seems to sculpt with color, creating a triple dimensionality through warm advancing reds and whites, contrasted against cool, receding creams and beiges. Every square inch of the canvas has purpose and integrity, cajoling viewers to participate in the forces of energy that seem to pulse before their very eyes.” ( Focus/Santa Fe, January 2005 issue, p.1013). “Emerald” has a similar effect on the viewer, exerting energy and emotion using olive and beige tones. The two works compliment each other nicely, and their abstract style compliments the mid-century modern architecture of the library. We are fortunate to have such fine art displayed at Doherty library.
Eva Carter has had several art exhibitions in Santa Fe and also Charleston, South Carolina and other venues.
Jim & Rachel
