Culture Corner to feature Appalachia

University Libraries encourages patrons to ‘hear’ native voices

The Diversity Committee of University Libraries has unveiled its new theme – Appalachia – for the Culture Corner, located in the first floor galleria of John C. Hodges Library. Visit the Culture Corner Web site.

“This summer’s Culture Corner theme of Appalachia is the Diversity Committee’s effort to make the UT community aware of a region that many have heard of but may not know much about,” said Kawanna Bright, reference librarian and Culture Corner coordinator. “The selection of Appalachia is also done in recognition of the diversity that is the Appalachian region, emphasizing topics and issues that illustrate the people, history, culture and environment that encompass the region.”

The broad range of topics covered provide patrons with the “voices” and “experiences” of the peoples of Appalachia through their religion, music, storytelling, arts and crafts, food and drink, literature and language, education and notable people – as well as through the flora, fauna and the environment. Bright said that one of the key objectives of the Culture Corner is to introduce the university community to different cultures, both near and far, while showcasing library resources on particular topics.

“This is one of the main goals of the Culture Corner in general: to bring together books, videos and electronic resources related to a topic into one easy-to-access location, thus allowing users to browse and view many different aspects of a topic without having to go from floor to floor and shelf to shelf to locate the items,” Bright said.

In addition to the books collected together in the galleria, a bibliography is available that includes juvenile, electronic, reference and media resources. For a complete list of all titles and resources, please visit the Culture Corner Web site.

This semester marks the fifth that the Diversity Committee has collected resources on a specific theme in order to expand the educational horizons of library patrons. Previously featured themes have been Islam, the environment and topics related to the university.