Emory Libraries is celebrating Black History Month with events, exhibitions, general news, and resources. Read on for details.
12th Night Revel featuring special guest poet Major Jackson
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024
6-9:30 p.m.
Greystone at Piedmont Park
400 Park Dr., Atlanta, GA 30306
Join us for Emory Libraries' 24th annual 12th Night Revel fundraiser to benefit the Rose Library, featuring award-winning poet Major Jackson as the special guest. The gala offers a convivial and intimate experience, with cocktails, dinner, poetry readings by attendees, and personal interaction with the guest poet. This year's chief revelers are Caroline Herring and Joseph Crespino.
Jackson, whose papers were acquired by the Rose Library in 2022, is the author of six books of poetry, including "Razzle Dazzle: New & Selected Poems" (2023), "The Absurd Man" (2020), "Roll Deep" (2015), "Holding Company" (2010), "Hoops" (2006) and "Leaving Saturn" (2002), which won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize for a first book of poems. Jackson is also the host of the poetry podcast “The Slowdown.”
Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024
3-4:30 p.m.
Schwartz Center
1700 N. Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322
Open to the public at no charge
We invite students, faculty, staff, and the Greater Atlanta community to join us on Feb. 18, when Major Jackson, award-winning poet and host of “The Slowdown,” gives a public reading at Emory University. Jackson’s books will be for sale at the event, with a signing immediately following the reading. The event is part of the annual Raymond Danowski Poetry Library Reading Series founded by the Rose Library.
Although this in-person event is open to the public at no charge, seating is limited and registration is required (tip: arrive early, as registration does not guarantee a seat).
Wed., Feb. 14, 1-3 p.m.
Woodruff Commons in the Rose Library (Woodruff Library Level 10)
Open to Emory students, faculty/instructors, and staff
Bring your laptop and some friends and help transcribe the handwritten letters and speeches of abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass (1818-1895). Come early and get a gingerbread cupcake (his favorite flavor!) in honor of one of our most revered historical speakers. No registration needed!
At the Crossroads with Benny Andrews, Flannery O’Connor and Alice Walker (exhibition)
Open through May 18, 2024
Schatten Gallery, Emory’s Woodruff Library Level 3
540 Asbury Cir., Atlanta, GA 30322
Open to the public at no charge
Artist Andrews (from Plainview) and writers O’Connor (from Milledgeville) and Walker (from Eatonton) all emerged from small towns within a 50-mile radius of each other in middle Georgia. Although they moved away from Georgia, their archival papers reside together in the Rose Library.
This exhibition draws its inspiration and materials from those three collections and from O’Connor’s short story “Everything that Rises Must Converge.” The three artists are connected through this story, first published in 1961 and later illustrated by Andrews and addressed by Walker in one of her short stories and an essay. Rich with collection materials, the exhibit is the result of five curators’ research into the three artists’ views of race relations and the effects of racism on society throughout the 20th century. No registration is needed, but please check the visitor hours before you come.
Emory Libraries receives 2024 Library Excellence in Access and Diversity Award
We were honored to receive the 2024 Library Excellence in Access and Diversity from Insight Into Diversity Magazine, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education. The LEAD Award honors academic library programs, policies and initiatives that encourage and support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across their campus and surrounding community. The award considers aspects such as research, technology, accessibility, exhibitions and community outreach.
Emory Libraries will be featured along with 55 other award recipients in the March 2024 issue of Insight Into Diversity magazine.
Lyndon Batiste selected for ALA’s 2024 Emerging Leaders program
Lyndon Batiste, head of user services for Emory’s Robert W. Woodruff Library, has been named to the 2024 American Library Association Emerging Leaders program.
Batiste joins a select group of 50 early-career librarians from across the US and Canada who are participating in project planning groups and networking events, gaining an inside look into ALA structure and an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity early in his career. He’s already started participating in Emerging Leaders programs.
