Category: General News

September’s book display theme, Memoir
which are narratives written from the perspective of the author
was inspired by an idyllic week spent making memories through the craft of writing.

This summer, I had the great fortune to be selected to participate in the Center for Black Literature’s Wild Seeds Retreat for Writers of Color. This year’s cohort gathered at SUNY Polytechnic in Utica, New York to immerse ourselves in instruction provided by writers in three genres – poetry with Johanna Sit, memoir with Jamiyla Chisholm and fiction with Jeffery Renard Allen.

Jamiyla Chisholm’s memoir, The Community, is riveting and the author, journalist and educator is no less than that herself. Members of the memoir group – my genre of choice- worked closely with Jamiyla and achieved a deeper understanding of our stories and the practice and craft of writing within the space of a week.

My fellows and I learned to observe and critique without conflict and to revise with feedback in mind – but with permission to accept or reject it. We wept, we laughed and whooped in the way you do when you are in a space of freedom. We walked (so  much walking) and ate and marveled at deer approaching from the nearby wood. Some of us partied while others reveled in the solitude wrought by being removed from daily life and circumstance. By week’s end we erupted in thunderous applause for one another during final readings and laughed and cried some more for words that were transformative to both author an audience.

Stop by the library to peruse a selection of memoirs from our collection, on display just inside the library’s entrance, through the end of September. For more information about Wild Seeds, visit the webpage for the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College.

We’re excited that friends at the CUNY Graduate Center have made the film “Making the Impossible Possible: The Story of Puerto Rican Studies in Brooklyn College” available for everyone in the CUNY community to watch!

Visit this link to watch the film; if you’re off campus, you’ll be asked to log in first with your CUNYfirst login. This film can be shared in the classroom and screened at any CUNY event that does not charge admission. The Alliance for Puerto Rican Education and Empowerment has also created a study guide for the film.

More about the film: MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE tells the story of the student-led struggle to win Puerto Rican Studies at Brooklyn College, CUNY, in the late 1960s. The documentary is a mosaic of voices, film footage, and photographs taken by student activists. This important intergenerational story highlights how students and faculty seized the moment to build upon an alliance of Puerto Rican, African American, and other progressive students forged in their communities and the civil rights movement. Together they changed the face of higher education, transforming the curriculum and expanding who gets educated. The film sheds light on the 50-year history of struggle that started with the founding of one of the first Puerto Rican Studies departments in the nation, and documents the continued movement to maintain their gains.

Directed by Pamela Sporn, Tami Gold, Produced by Gisely Colón López, Tami Gold, Pamela Sporn, Alliance for Puerto Rican Education and Empowerment (New York, NY: Third World Newsreel, 2021), 34 minutes

Special thanks to Alycia Sellie, Roxanne Shirazi, Michael Hughes, and other library workers who contributed to making this film accessible to CUNY.

You are invited to attend Connect Day Fall 2023!

Thursday August 31 from 12:45-2pm

Connect Day is a new student academic department welcome event.  It functions as an orientation to the department and an introduction to faculty, staff, and student leaders. Important information and strategies for success will be shared to ensure new students begin their educational journey at City Tech on sound footing. All first-time, first year, re-entry and transfer students are welcome to attend.

Each department is unique; new students will have the opportunity to experience a tour of their own department’s facilities, chat with current students and faculty, and learn lots of helpful “inside” information.  To find out where your department is meeting click here.

The City Tech Library is delighted to be a subscriber to the Fashion & Race Database! Founder and principal researcher, Kimberly M. Jenkins, is noted in the fashion world for her diversity and equity based coursework at institutions like Parsons and Pratt and her consulting with icons of fashion like Gucci and Tommy Hilfiger. That work continues via the Fashion and Race database which has already been integrated into the Business of Fashion pedagogy here at City Tech.

There are a number of ways to make use of the material that Kim and her co-contributors have organized into this functional and easily searchable database. In addition to the typical database functionality, members can utilize the calendar to keep up to date with fashion events and exhibits, check out the opportunities section to review calls for papers and use the list tool to share resources to revisit at a later date.

Students and faculty have access to an ideal place to start building assignments and compiling research about both historical and current perspectives on business and fashion. Viewing lectures and panels will reach beyond the classroom and provide a window into the larger fashion scholarship community and the exhibitions and archives section neatly catalogs place-based resources to foster a more intimate viewpoint on the texture and materiality of the fashion world.

Click HERE to create and account.

Adjunct Reference and Instruction Librarians; Instructor or Assistant Professor, City Tech Library

The Ursula C. Schwerin Library at New York City College of Technology, CUNY (City Tech) seeks to hire Reference and Instruction librarians for part-time work during the Fall 2023 semester, which runs from August 25 to December 20. City Tech is a comprehensive college in downtown Brooklyn, offering associate and baccalaureate degrees in technology and health related degree programs, other career-oriented degrees and liberal arts transfer degrees in its Schools of Arts and Sciences, Technology and Design, and Professional Studies. Adjunct reference and instruction librarians will be responsible for providing high quality reference service in person and online, for teaching in person library instruction classes, and for contributing to instructional design and outreach projects. Other projects, including blogging, maintaining library guides and tutorials, assisting with collection development, occasional website updates, and collaborating on promotion and outreach efforts are within the scope of this position.

Successful candidates will have experience working in an academic library; experience providing in-person and online library reference; experience with library instruction; the ability to work as part of a team of diverse individuals; and excellent communication skills, including the ability to interact positively with colleagues, students, faculty, staff in the library and at the college. Experience with LibGuides and WordPress preferred. 

Shifts during the Fall 2023 semester may be scheduled between 9am-5pm Monday through Friday, with a possibility of occasional reference desk shifts on Saturdays from 10am to 5pm. The successful candidate will be able to work around 15 hours per week over 2 or 3 weekdays.  Applicants must have an ALA-accredited MLIS; an additional graduate degree is required for appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor.

Applicants should send a cover letter and CV by email to Prof. Anne Leonard at Anne.Leonard81@login.cuny.edu. The position is open until filled, and review of applications will begin immediately. Preference is given to applications submitted before August 7.

Hourly rate: approximately $50 per hour; consult the PSC-CUNY salary schedule for non-teaching adjunct hourly rates.

The library is looking for students interested in becoming College Assistants for the Fall 2023 semester. Interested students should email Administrative Specialist, Suraya Choudhury  or stop by the library during open hours to fill out an application.

See below for more information about the position.

Job Title: Library College Assistant – Hourly
Location: NYC College of Technology
Full/Part Time: Part-Time
Regular/Temporary: Regular
Contract Title: College Assistant
FLSA: Non-Exempt
Closing Date: Open until filled
Availability: 10-15 hours per week; daytime, evenings, and weekends

Campus Specific Information
The Ursula C. Schwerin Library at New York City College of Technology has positions available for College Assistants in the following operational units: Circulation Services, Multimedia Lab, Periodicals and Internet Lab.

General Duties
– Perform technical operations in areas including library circulation, collection processing, and maintenance
– Manage routine workflows during evening and weekend hours including the circulation cash register
– Provide service to library users in person and by phone: answer questions, enforce policies
– Uses online system to perform various tasks in both circulation and technical services
– Assist students with computer use, printing, scanners, and other technical support needs

Preferred Qualifications
– Must be prompt and responsible
– Prior work experience in a library is a plus
– Ability to multitask and follow complex instructions
– Demonstrated success working both individually and in collaborative environments –
– Excellent judgment and professionalism
– Strong interpersonal skills
– Knowledge of Microsoft Office

Compensation
$15.61 per hour