Current Displays
Concourse Display Case
25th Annual Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards
This display showcases the 49 titles nominated for the NEMBA awards, a book award contest that recognizes authors who "capture the spirit of the Northland" and substantially represent northeastern Minnesota in their works. This year's event will be 5-9 p.m., Thursday, May 23, in Kirby Ballroom. Storyteller and humorist Kevin Kling will be the featured speaker. See the NEMBA web site for more information.
First Floor Interior Display Cases
Muslim Journeys—A Bridging Cultures Bookshelf Collection
The UMD Library was one of 840 libraries and state humanities councils across the country selected to receive the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf collection on Muslim Journeys, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA). The program aims to familiarize public audiences in the United States with the people, places, history, faith, and cultures of Muslims in the United States and around the world. The collection includes 25 hardcover books, four DVDs, and a year's subscription to Oxford Islamic Studies Online. The materials in this display are available for checkout.
Films included in the Muslim Journeys collection were screened in the UMD Library fourth floor Rotunda reading room and in the downtown Duluth Public Library. Prior to the first showing on April 9, an opening reception introduced library users to the collection's contents. The film series included the following:
Tuesday, April 9, 6:30-8:30 pm: Opening reception and film "Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World"
Tuesday, April 23, 6:30-8:30 pm: Film "Koran by Heart"
Saturday, May 4, 1-3 pm: Film "Prince Among Slaves" in the Duluth Public Library Green Room
For more information about the Muslim Journeys initiative, see the Web site developed by the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University. UMD Library has developed a Muslim Journeys library guide as well.
The Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys is a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities, conducted in cooperation with the American Library Association. Support was provided by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. Additional support for the arts and media components was provided by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.
June Is Great Outdoors Month
June is designated Great Outdoors Month each year by presidential proclamation. There are several national and state events that encourage people to hike, fish, boat, camp, and explore the outdoors. In honor of this, the UMD Library would like to highlight resources about some of the plants and creatures that populate our natural world.
First Floor Michael S. Berman Political Collection Display
Button Up!
The UMD Archives and Special Collections unit installed a new exhibit titled “Button Up” in the Michael S. Berman Political Collection display case in the UMD Library lobby.
The political parties of the United States vigorously campaign for their candidates. One tool for promoting a candidate or a political message is the political button. The exhibit features selected buttons for candidates and issues. Included are buttons dating from the past presidential campaigns of Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey 1968 (of Minnesota) to Vice President Al Gore and George W. Bush 2000.
The political button originated with President George Washington as brass clothing buttons with his initials or the saying “Long Live the President” engraved on them.
The exhibit includes explanatory information about the Berman Collection and a biographical sketch of the collection’s donor, 1961 UMD grad Mike Berman.
Fourth Floor Display
Ramseyer-Northern Bible Society Collection
UMD Library Special Collections invites you to view an exhibit from the Ramseyer Northern Bible Society Collection.
The year 2011 marked the 400th anniversary of the publication of what is now known as the “Authorized Version” or the “King James Bible,” the work of scholars and translators within the Church of England completed during the early years of the reign of King James I.
Libraries around the world commemorated the anniversary of this 1611 work produced by Robert Barker, the King’s Printer. “Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible” was a traveling exhibit organized by the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D. C., and the American Library Association Public Programs Office.
Alan G. Thomas’s statement about the King James Bible noted its significance: “No book has had greater influence on the English language.” Linguistics scholar David Crystal’s 2010 book, Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language, investigated the Thomas comment by asking “Is it true?” He also asked the question, what do words like “influence” and “shaping” really mean? The UMD Library Special Collections exhibit selectively draws upon and highlights these questions.
How many common phrases that we use without even thinking about them come from the Bible? How much has the language of the Bible influenced modern English? How many expressions of biblical origin come specifically from the King James Bible?
Look at the exhibit, and decide for yourself.
Guidelines for requesting a display case reservation.
University of Minnesota Campuses