Each month, the Campus Library staff create multiple thoughtful displays that can be found on the first and second floors. This post documents all of the library displays in the months of January and February 2020.
January Displays
Mass incarceration – 1st Floor
Created by Dani Rowland (American & Ethnic Studies Librarian) and Denise Hattwig (Head of Digital Scholarship and Collections), descriptions written by Dani
January: Mass Incarceration & Education Justice
Located in the lobby, including the first floor book display, large display panel and four Concrete Mama banners
February: Mass Incarceration & Washington Prison History – Freedom Is a Constant Struggle
Located in the lobby, including the large display panel and banners. This also included a book truck display on Community Reads, which is currently on Freedom is a Constant Struggle. (I didn’t create the Community Reads book display, but wove it into the Mass Incarceration display, since it is closely related.)
It’s common to think of mass incarceration in the United States’ as one problem. In reality, however, it’s many. It is the manifestation of the racism baked into the history of our country. The systemic racism that leads to mass incarceration starts with the nature of spaces into which children are born in our country, and continues in all our major systems: community development and government, health care, education, employment and economic systems, legal and policing systems, media and communication systems, and more.
Last year, our mass incarceration display focused on the idea of prison abolition. That topic highlights all the ways that mass incarceration fails to solve problems for our country, states, and communities. The idea behind prison abolition is that we need many other and different solutions for the problems that incarceration purports to solve.
This year, since the Campus Library is part of an educational institution, I wanted to focus on connections between our state and local education system and incarceration. As always, I wanted to try to highlight efforts by prisoners and their supporters to change the systems that oppress them. The display featured materials about disrupting the school to prison pipeline, and spoke to the importance of access to education for prisoners and formerly incarcerated people. It featured information about community-led efforts to support healthy reentry for formerly incarcerated people, including student support groups for people rejoining our own UW communities.
The February display focused on our Washington Prison History Project, and on our Community Reads events this month, studying Freedom Is a Constant Struggle, by Angela Davis. The Washington Prison History Project features a robust collection of material produced by prisoners and their supporters, reflecting their experience with, and resistance against, the Washington State prison system over the last 50 years. Angela Davis has been engaged in prison abolition work over the same period, and our community reads book connects that struggle to global systemic injustice related to carceral issues.
Winter Books – 2nd Floor
Created by Robert Krieger and Zoe Wisser (Circulation Student Employees)
“The topic for this children’s display display was winter books and specifically included non-denominational books to cover multiple aspects of winter. Reading level for the display ranged from picture books to longer novels. Books in this display varied to include classic stories, poetry, nonfiction, and folktales that all relate to winter. This range of reading levels and types of children’s books helps to supply different ways of providing information and stories on winter.
“I believe this topic is a meaningful theme for children’s books as it showcases the wonder and joy of winter. Especially as people grow up, winter can become a time of seasonal depression as clouds roll in and the sun is low. However, these children’s books all provide a positive point of view on how winter can be enjoyed and kept positive” – Robert
February Displays
Celebrating the history of African-American activism, past and present – 1st Floor
Created by Suzan Parker (Head of Collections and Course Support Services) and Heather Cyre (Head of Public Services)
“To honor Black History Month, we wanted to illustrate that the present connects to the past, and that local area activism connects to social justice work at the national level. We included famous historical figures (e.g. Harriet Tubman), as well as young and local activists such as Ijeoma Oluo. We included a variety of ways that people engage in activism (e.g. arts, politics, protest, sports). It was also important to represent the intersectionality of race, gender, ability, religion, sexual orientation, age, etc.
“We included a photo from Seattle’s Black Lives Matter march in hopes that our students see themselves as activists or potential activists, and that they are part of a long, proud tradition within the African-American story.
“A list of the UW Libraries books and videos and images used in the display is available for viewing from this Google Doc. Click on the Images and QR Code links to learn more about the movements and individuals featured.
“This display was a collaborative effort and reflects the collegiality and creativity of library staff. Several library staff members contributed to a shared list of books and videos, and Hannah Mendro and Emily Ferguson lent their time and expertise to ensure the display was assembled in time. A most sincere Thank You to all” – Suzan & Heather
Blind Date With a Book – 1st Floor
“During the month of February, the Circulation team presents the annual “Blind Date with a Book” display on the first floor of the library. This allows library users to check out items that they find interesting through a simple short synopsis without exposing the book title or the author. We added a small activity where library users are able to anonymously provide their reasons as to why they love the library, bringing out more of the themes of love and appreciation in the UWB/CC Library!” – Kathy
LOVE – 2nd Floor
Created by Natalie Keys and Jolene Truong (Circulation Student Employees)
“When I was younger, Valentine’s Day was my favorite day during school. I loved getting ready for the big day! I’d build myself a mailbox for my valentines and make cards for each of my classmates. The anticipation of wondering what boxes people made and what valentines they chose made me so excited. We would have parties and sometimes watch a movie. It was awesome. And when I came home from the sugar filled day, my mom and I would make pizzas into the shapes of hearts and watch Charlie Brown.
“So when I was thinking about what display to make for the month of February, I thought about what I liked about February from the perspective of when I was little. Valentine’s Day was a highlight. But I didn’t just want it to be about Valentine’s Day, rather about the feelings of joy and love I felt on that day. I also remembered all the cute children’s books I’ve read about love.” – Natalie
Library Display Recaps are posted every couple of months, so if you’d like to receive notifications whenever our student employees post on this blog, please follow us by clicking on the “Follow” button on the bottom right corner of the screen.