Read This Book!

Read This Book!

By Read This Book!EducationArtsBooks
Download on the App Store

Read This Book! episodes

  • ‘Du Iz Tak’ reviewed by Carolyn Bishoff

    Science Librarian Carolyn Bishoff discusses "Du Iz Tak" by Carson Ellis with host Lisa Von Drasek on this installment of Read This Book from the University of Minnesota Libraries.

    The post ‘Du Iz Tak’ reviewed by Carolyn Bishoff appeared first on UMN Libraries News & Events.

    6 min
  • Pankake Poetry featuring Wang Ping
    At a time when immigration is at the forefront of national news, we hear the singular voice of Wang Ping, a poet, writer, photographer, multimedia artist, and activist reading from her new book “My Name Is Immigrant.” Drawing from her own experiences and those of the immigrants she has met along the way, her poignant renderings are both moving and inspiring.

    Following the reading, there was a discussion with Wang Ping led by Cecily Marcus, curator of the Upper Midwest Literary Archives.
    1 hr
  • Women on the Air: Cokie Roberts
    By Rebecca Toov
    Season 3: Episode 4. Women on the Air: Cokie Roberts




     
    You are listening to U of M Radio on Your Historic Dial Podcast. Welcome to Season 3 Women on the Air: Episode 4 Cokie Roberts.
    You are listening to U of M Radio on Your Historic Dial Podcast.  This is Rebecca from University Archives.

    Image of Cokie Roberts from the Law School Bulletin, 1997-1999, University Digital Conservancy.

    On September 17, 2019, award-winning broadcaster, journalist, and author Cokie Roberts passed away at the age of 75. In her memory, on this episode, we’ll share a recording of the speech that Roberts gave at the University of Minnesota Law School Commencement Exercises, held on Saturday, May 9, 1992 at Northrop Auditorium. The recording was later broadcast on KUOM radio on July 4, 1992.

    Attendees of the Law School ceremony were provided with a printed program that included the following biography of the speaker:


    “Cokie Roberts: A Special Correspondent for ABC News since May, 1988, she regularly appears on the Sunday morning ABC television news hour, “The Week with David Brinkley,” “World News Tonight with Peter Jennings,” and other ABC News broadcasts to report on politics, Congress and public policy.

    In addition to her work for ABC, Ms. Roberts serves as a news analyst for National Public Radio, where she was the Congressional correspondent for more than 10 years. During this time she won numerous awards, including the highest tribute in public radio, the Edward R. Murrow Award. She was also the first broadcast journalist to win the prestigious Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for the coverage of Congress.

    Before joining ABC in 1988, Ms. Roberts was a contributor to PBS-TV’s MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour. Her coverage of the Iran/Contra affair for that program won for her in 1987 the Weintal Award.

    She is the daughter of Hale Boggs of Louisiana, formerly the majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Lindy Boggs, who served in Congress after her husband’s death.

    A 1964 graduate of Wellesley College in political science, Ms. Roberts received a 1985 Distinguished Alumnae Achievement Award ‘in recognition of excellence and distinction in professional pursuits.’

    Her lengthy and distinguished career as a journalist with a special focus on Congress has developed to the point where Ms. Roberts is considered by many of her peers as the dean of Congressional correspondents.”


    In her remarks, Roberts called upon the graduates to consider using their degrees - their credentials - to bring justice to society. She asked them to consider doing this within the political arena, acknowledged the trepidation to do so, and expressed her own criticisms of the political process. Yet Roberts reminded the audience that quote, “what seems to be politics, what seems to be fecklessness, what seems to be inability to get things done, really often comes into great meaning as time goes by.”  She referenced the First Congress as example, and recounted the gerrymandering, campaigning, and dealmaking - the politics - that lead to the passage of the Bill of Rights.

    Page from the July 4, 1992 programming log for KUOM, Box 25, University of Minnesota Radio and Television Broadcasting records, ua01039, University Archives.

    Roberts concluded with a reminder that quote, “the legislative branch is the place that brings together this incredibly diverse country. It does it messily,
    22 min
  • ‘Cribsheet’ reviewed by Carissa Tomlinson

    Carissa Tomlinson joins host Lisa Von Drasek to discuss Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool by Emily Oster, on this installment of Read This Book from the University of Minnesota Libraries.

    The post ‘Cribsheet’ reviewed by Carissa Tomlinson appeared first on UMN Libraries News & Events.

    9 min
  • Ready to serve
    By Allison Campbell-Jensen

    Kate Peterson

    Libraries staff have been managing through many changes in the last six months, the most recent being the re-opening of our four main University of Minnesota Libraries — Wilson, Walter, Health Sciences, and Magrath. Now, some staff no longer work from home, yet others continue to do so, while they provide online services for students and faculty.

    “One challenge has been when students hear the word library, they often think books and buildings and then when they heard that the libraries were closed earlier, then the idea is, well, there's nothing available through the libraries,” says Kate Peterson, Undergraduate Services Librarian. “That's something that we've really been working to correct and to say, yes, our physical libraries were closed, but our website is really the place to go to find the sources and the articles that you need for your research and your classes.”
    Working on campus
    Bill Pederson

    Working at home did not suit the gregarious Bill Pederson, Music Library Coordinator. “I really enjoy working with the public and a lot of my job is helping people get what they need and just assisting people, problem solving and whatnot,” Pederson says. “Being stuck at home with two cats alone isn't really my forte.”

    He came back in June for a couple of months to help with a book moving project, which gave him a feeling of accomplishment. As the Libraries prepared to re-open, he helped figure out how to change procedures so that there is less contact between patrons and student employees.

    Anna Opryszko

    For Anna Opryszko, working from home was challenging because she started her student supervisor position with the Libraries only after the buildings closed in March.

    “I also am in a role where I need to be in a building touching physical materials and talking to people, so it was a shift to learn how to do aspects of the job without having any of those physical components,” she says. “But it was wonderful to work with people who were creative in their ways of adapting to that.”

    Coming into Wilson a month ago, she not only had to learn new processes, but also faced a pile of returned books. Once the student employees returned, she and her fellow student supervisors made sure processes were adapted to keep them safe.

    “I'm heartened by the fact that we have done a huge amount of preparation for this,” Opryszko says. “From the minute that we knew that students were going to be coming back at all, we've been in conversation to ensure that student employees, students themselves, faculty, anyone who has access to this building, will be able to enter it safely.”
    Working from home
    Jen Neveau

    While Jen Neveau of the web development team misses the beautiful campus, her office, and her co-workers, she says she has a nice set-up at home for work. And the work continues to be “giving folks access to our online services and information about the libraries and our resources in a clear and accessible way,” Neveau says. “With the shift to online, it's more important than ever to make sure that we're ready to move with the pivots as they occur.”

    The librarians have put their expertise into creating guides for subject areas and current issue...
    3 min
  • Connecting to the collection
    By Allison Campbell-Jensen

    During our buildings closure, the Libraries’ patrons cannot come in. Yet, the Libraries “are a very social place; they are the heart of the campus,” says Kate McCready, Interim Associate University Librarian for Content & Collections. “So to not have our users here? The next best thing is getting us out to them.”

    Circulating physical materials, digital delivery and interlibrary loan services re-started June 15, and numbers are down only about 10 percent compared with last year, says McCready. “We’re trying to do everything we can to minimize that distance and get our users the materials they need.”
    Access to the collections with Minitex
    In the ILL and Digital Delivery team, those who can work from home do as part of the central service point that processes requests. A small team that includes Minitex staff comes on campus to facilitate the delivery services by pulling materials, then scanning or shipping them.

    Some materials can be accessed digitally via an international network of libraries. “Things that we don’t own, another library, if they have a digital copy, they would send it to us,” McCready says. “And we were doing the same.”

    For his part, Tim McCluske, Minitex Minnesota Library Access Center Library Program Specialist, is glad to be back on campus once a week. He works in the high-density storage facility located under Andersen Library. While away, he missed his co-workers, he says, and “I missed having my hands physically on the material that we manage.” Minitex facilitates sharing of U of M Libraries materials within the state, the region, and even that international network of libraries. The main change from previously, he says, is the priority on safety, so that staff stay distant and materials are handled with care.

    Concerning the threat of COVID-19, McCluske says, “A stable new normal is not going to come for six months to a year. We’re going to see a lot of periods where we think we’ve reached a new normal but nothing is going to remain terribly constant until time has passed.”

    Minitex Director Maggie Snow, who started at Minitex Feb. 24, says she is proud of the Minitex’s team commitment to customer service. The Phase 1 focus was on restoring delivery of physical materials to libraries around the state, including services to University faculty, students, and staff.

    The statewide courier service restarted on June 22 and for now is limited to returning materials to their home libraries. Minitex staff are keeping a close eye on the volume of materials and will open the service to interlibrary loan requests for physical materials once the backlog is processed.

    Says McCready of Minitex: “That really is part of their mission, to get our collection out and used by all the residents of Minnesota and our surrounding states.”
    Looking ahead
    And, McCready says, “we are thinking really creatively about how we get the information needs met on campus. So, whether we are purchasing new materials based on requests for courses or research or whether we are sharing more with other libraries, to make that international network work more effectively, or whether we are scanning more materials to deliver them electronically, or we are doing more campus deliveries to offices or dorms — we’re thinking about all sorts of possibilities to make sure that those information needs are met.”
    3 min
  • Books by Kiersten White reviewed

    "Slayer" and "Chosen" are the two books, by New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White, reviewed on this installment of Read This Book by Lisa Von Drasek, Curator of the  University of Minnesota Children's Literature Research Collections. 

    The post Books by Kiersten White reviewed appeared first on UMN Libraries News & Events.

    4 min
  • The Dean reviews ‘The Color Kittens’

    Dean of Libraries Lisa German joins Lisa Von Drasek to review "The Color Kittens" on this installment of Read This Book from the University of Minnesota Libraries. "The Color Kittens" is a children's book by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen, and published, as part of the Little Golden Books series, in 1949.

    The post The Dean reviews ‘The Color Kittens’ appeared first on UMN Libraries News & Events.

    8 min
  • Earth Day 2020: Books about the environment

    To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Kristen Mastel has chosen three books to highlight the environment and the world around us. They are: "Braided Sweetgrass," by Robin Wall Kimmerer, "Onigamiising: Seasons of an Ojibwe Year" by Linda LeGarde Grover, and "Climate Justice" by Mary Robinson.

    The post Earth Day 2020: Books about the environment appeared first on UMN Libraries News & Events.

    9 min

About Read This Book!

From the publisher's feed

Host Lisa Von Drasek and guests review books from various genres: including children’s literature, cookbooks, science, mysteries, and popular literature. This audio podcast also includes episodes from…