The word “harem” to most westerners conjures up an old Hollywood image of women scantily-dressed in diaphanous baggy pants and veils.   In Dreams of Trespass, Fatima Mernissi describes a different kind of harem – a domestic harem - a home sheltering an extended family including widowed or divorced aunts, single uncles and cousins, grandparents and servants.   The harem is a strict patriarchy and it is easy to condemn a tradition so restrictive to women, but I was struck by a passage at the beginning of the book:

As an American journalist, Anthony Shadid has seen his share of death and destruction in the battle zones of the Middle East. However, as his personal and professional life begin a downward spiral, he takes a sabbatical and makes his way to his ancestral home. As he gets off the plane in Lebanon he still has his sense of humor. He admits that “By the time I arrived in Lebanon, I was a suitcase and a laptop on a conveyor belt.”

A digital collection can contain any object that can be scanned (documents, letters, etc.) or photographed, filmed or recorded (works of art, moving images, sounds, pictures of places, people or events) and they exist in the thousands on the websites of archives, museums and libraries. The idea of a public digital library has long been a topic of discussion by librarians, educators and other related organizations and a plan to gather these digital collections and exhibits onto one freely available site was hatched. The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) officially went live on April 18th, 2013 after over two years of development by a team of librarians and other industry “experts” hosted at Harvard University.

The Arabian Nights. Translated by Husain Haddawy; Based on the text of the fourteenth-century Syrian manuscript edited by Muhsin Mahdi. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008.

I chose to read this book, because I have always enjoyed folklore and fairy tales, but I have never really delved into the One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, with the exception of the three best-known stories: Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor, which have been introduced into Western culture, albeit in forms that do not adhere to the original stories.

As announced earlier, The Hultquist Library was awarded the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. The Bookshelf consists of 25 books, three films, and a one year subscription to Oxford Islamic Studies Online.

Don't forget to enter the "Universal Earth Writing Contest," sponsored by JCC's Office of Sustainability and the Hultquist Library.  The contest is underway now

For more information visit www.sunyjcc.edu/node/20742.

It's National Poetry Month and the libraries are celebrating with some book spine poems.  This one was created by Lindsey Kaufman.

Watch for more book spine poetry throughout the month.

Congratulations to our 2013 Poetry Slam Poets!

The Hultquist Library hosted its 3rd Annual Poetry Slam today (Monday, March 25, 2013).  Those in attendance were treated to fabulous performances and poignant moments.

We would like to thank all those who shared their poetry with us today - Mindy Becker, Tabetha Bedner, Amanda Campbell, Katie Coleman, James Lanza, Karimah Rahman, and Janine Smithingell.  Special congratulations go to Amanda Campbell and Karimah Rahman (pictured at right), this year's winners. 

Help us create a picture of what happens in the JCC Libraries everyday by taking our Library Snapshot Day survey.