Book Spine Poetry Contest: Our Finalists

We're pleased to announce the five finalists of our Book Spine Poetry Contest. Congratulations to the poets who made it through the first elimination round.

The Finalists

LoveMyFace:

What if 

the future is not what it used to be?

Who will provide 

art as therapy?

Everyday Mysteries

Looking Out

Looking In

The ethics of identity

The agony and the ecstasy

The best American poetry

Daniel:

School Girls

Girlhood

The world’s youth

If you could be anything, what would it be?

What Matters.

Rida:

Dear life

I’m not crazy I’m just not you

Yesterday, I cried

The future is not what it used to be

Impossible

Ridha:

Ways of dying

Things fall apart

U-turn

Switch

Weep not, child
The beautiful ones
are not
yet
born

Tahani:

Something in the way she moves

I don’t know what to say -

Help

Yesterday, I cried

She’s gone.

Remember that the finalists are determined by the votes of our patrons. Votes can be registered on a white board by our circulation desk or via the comment sections on this blog.

Book Spine Poetry: The Last Day of Our Contest and Judgement Rounds

Thank you to everyone who participated in our book spine poetry contest. The staff has so enjoyed the creativity of our patron community. Reading the poems and watching contestants labor over their works of art was certainly the highlight of our National Library Week.

Here is the very last submission to our contest:

Akram

Now that all the submissions have been accepted, it is time for the judgement rounds. On Tuesday, Library staff will whittle down the field to five finalists. Wednesday the finalists’ submissions will be displayed near the circulation desk for public vote. The poem with the most tallied votes will win the grand prize of a $40 dollar Barnes and Noble gift card. Second, third and fourth place winners will receive $20 dollar gift cards. All contestants will be informed of their winnings via social media on Friday, April 25th.

Good luck to all the contestants. Keep following along on the blog, twitter, and instagram.

Fast Five Friday: Rock Me, Amedeus

Though it hardly seems possible, there are only three weeks left in the Spring 2014 semester. This means that our community is entering into one of its busiest times of year. So this Friday YOUR Alexandria campus is highlighting a force in our collection that can soothe, inspire, and energize our patrons: music.

The Alexandria Campus library’s music collection, while not extensive, focuses on essential works from the classical, jazz, and world music traditions with a few popular items sprinkled in.

Music in our collection can be found in two forms. Compact Discs can be found near the shelving by the stairs to the second floor. The rest of our music collection can be found in digital format through subscription databases.

Here is just a brief sample of the the types of music that can be found in the Alexandria Campus Library.

Find works by major classical composers in our disc collection.

Explore folk and traditional music from around the globe with our Putumayo compact discs.

Listen to recordings of American roots music using by utilizing the items in our physical collection.

Patrons can also use titles in our compact disc holdings to listen to standards from the American songbook.

Click here to access Music Online

NOVA patrons can also access all these musical genres, and more, through the Music Online database. Users who access this resource have the ability to search for and stream music by musician, genre, composer, time period, instrument, album, and language. Music Online also contains reference materials about the music and artists in its holdings, making it possible to simultaneously listen to a beautiful piece of music while learning more about the context in which it was created.

So while you are gearing up and preparing for the end of the semester, why not come to the library and check out some of the amazing music available through YOUR Alexandria library?

Book Spine Poetry: Fourth Day of Our Contest

We had many creative entries from our patrons on the fourth day of our contest.

Kirstin

Lori

Marvin

Feryza

Feryza

Remember, today is the very last day to enter and win a Barnes and Noble gift card!

Book Spine Poetry: The Third Day of Our Contest

We had a huge uptick in the number of poems submitted on the third day of our contest. Here are the brilliant, funny, and poignant entries:

Katie

Akram

Jane

Daniel

Eric

Eric

Eric

Tahani

Tahani

Marvin

Love My Face

We are loving the entries. Keep composing poems and sending them to us. The cut off for new entries is tomorrow, Friday April 18th at 5 pm. Good luck!

Book Spine Poetry: The Second Day of Our Contest

Here are some great poems from the second day of our contest.

Ridha

Rida

A poem by anonymous. Claim your poems to have a chance to claim our prizes!

Keep composing AND sending your poems to us at Lkhoury@nvcc.edu, tweeting it to us at @LorainALlibrary, or instagram at LORAINALLIBRARY.

Book Spine Poetry: First Day of Our Contest

The first day of our contest was a complete success. Students, staff, and faculty have been using the display to create amazing and funny poetry. We want to remind everyone that they can submit multiple poems and that there is a grand prize of a $40 Barnes and Noble gift card on the line.

Our first student poet, hard at work

Here are some of the latest entries into the contest.

Imitaz

Rida

Lori

Keep composing NOVA Alexandria patrons! We'll share our latest entries tomorrow.

Follow the contest on twitter @lorainALlibrary, or on instagram at LKHOURYINSALLIBRARY

National Libraries Week: Our Contest!

The staff of YOUR Alexandria Campus Library is gearing up to celebrate one of our favorite times of the year: National Library Week. This annual celebration was started in 1958 by the American Library Association (ALA) as a way to promote library use and engagement.

So why should our patrons care about this national event organized by librarians? The staff of YOUR Alexandria Library thinks National Library Week is worth observing because of the central place that libraries hold in our communities. This week serves as a time to for libraries to enter into a dialogue with our patrons about the critical contributions school, public, academic, private and government libraries make to all aspects of American life. It also serves as a fun way for libraries to increase their visibility and highlight the materials and services they make available to their patrons.

YOUR Alexandria is observing this important week with a Book Spine Poetry contest open to all NOVA Alexandria Campus students, faculty, and staff.

Short, sweet, and to the point. The beauty of the book spine poetry as form

Entry in our contest is easy. Simply enter the Alexandria Campus library and start stacking the provided books so that their titles read together create a poem. Poems of all types are welcome. We're looking for funny, clever, or moving poetry that will get our patrons thinking about the range of books we offer. Creativity will be rewarded handsomely. The grand prize is a $40 Barnes and Noble gift card, and the three runners up will all  receive $20 Barnes and Noble cards.

When you're happy with your work of genius simply email (lkhoury@nvcc.edu), tweet (@lorainALlibrary), or instagram (lorainallibrary) your book spine poem to the library to enter the contest.

Click here to access a Calgary Public Libraries gallery for more inspiration

 Entries are due by 5 pm on Friday, April 18th. Library staff is responsible for the first round of judging and will select our top five favorites to go onto the second round of selection. Public voting on the top five entries will begin on Monday, April 21st. Public votes will be tabulated on the white board nearest the Circulation desk.

All received entries will be published through our social media portals and on the library blog. Winners will be contacted on Friday, April 26th so they can collect their prizes.

So come celebrate the wonderful place libraries hold in your life by entering YOUR Alexandria Library's Book Spine Poetry Contest. We cannot wait to see the poetry our patrons produce.

New Books at YOUR Alexandria Campus Library: 4-11-14 Edition

Take it, DeStorm!

We've just rolled out our latest batch of new books. Here are some of the titles the staff is most excited by:

Friends, Romans, Countryman lend us your eyes. Read Richard's compelling case for why Rome still controls a vast cultural empire.

Robert Gates served as a war-time Secretary of Defense under our two most recent presidents. Pore over his account of his time at the helm of the globe's most dominant military and within the circle of the world's most powerful men.

Can art change the world? De Boton and Armstrong think it can be an instructive force for good that is capable of showing viewers how to manage and overcome the conflict, vagaries, and confusion of everyday life.

Cormac McCarthy's dark and thought provoking novels have been successfully adapted for the screen. Read what happened when the novelist cut out the middle-men, and authored this original screenplay for director Ridley Scott.

Read this coming of age story by novelist Dana Johnson for the unique and engaging voice of its heroine, Avery Arlington. Praised for the veracity of its characters and setting, Johnson's book is an enjoyable journey through contemporary L.A.

Lillian Hellman was an accomplished writer but was almost universally loathed by her contemporaries. Author Alice Kessler-Harris takes on Hellman's legend, and uses historians' tools to draw a more complete picture of one of America's most unique personalities.

A former slave in the fractious Kansas territories conceals his true identity from firebrand abolitionist John Brown in this highly original novel by James Brown. Read this book for one of the freshest re-imaginings of the historic raid on Harper's Ferry.

Fast Five Friday: Affordable Care Act

The first enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act Insurance markets ended this week, and Obama administration officials reported that over 7.1 million people signed up for the newly created health exchanges. Learn more about the Affordable Care Act and its ongoing impact on health care accessibility using these five resources from YOUR Alexandria Campus Library.

K 3825 .L36 2010b

The Washington Post’s national reporting staff compiled this book to help people to make sense of how the Affordable Care Act impacts individuals, groups, and communities within the American healthcare system.

KF 3605 .A328201 A2 2010

Try to make sense of what the Affordable Care Act means for the federal and state governments, localities, and families using this volume.

RA 413.7 .U535 2011

The Affordable Care Act was enacted, in part, to address the high number of uninsured Americans. Discover the issues and controversies involved in creating coverage for segments of the US population previously uncovered in the private insurance system using this book.

KF 3605 .G65 2012

Interested in reading about the very contentious legislative battles that eventually lead to the passage of the Affordable Care Act? This book covers the history of health care reform from the Progressive Era up through the present day.

Click here to access AP Newswires

Monitor today’s headlines about the Affordable Care Act using this resource from the Associated Press.