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Reset is the official monthly newsletter of Evanston Public Library's Collection Advisory Committee of Black Evanstonians. This committee is dedicated to advising EPL on purchases, selection, displays, and all aspects of collection development. Click here to subscribe to this newsletter.
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Never doubt that ETHS graduates go far. On the website of Parneshia Jones you will immediately find this statement: "Raised on the Midwestern North Shores of Evanston, IL, Parneshia Jones spent her childhood in the Evanston Public Library and her mother’s kitchen." From there she attended Chicago State University as an undergraduate and happened to have a chance meeting with the late Gwendolyn Brooks. As her website puts it, "This one-on-one meeting of three poems, red marks and the words, 'Hold On!' gave Jones lift-off into the literary world." And lift-off she has. Dozens and dozens of accolades have been bestowed to her over the years. Now she writes, wins awards, and serves as the Editorial Director for Trade and Engagement at Northwestern University Press.
Or, as Ellen Hagan, author of Hemisphere put it best, "Parneshia Jones is pure literary juke — a record's smoothest rotation, the roll steady of the Gulf. She's cool Chicago late nights and the slow crawl of Sunday morning in New Orleans. Parneshia is a world of a woman — Renaissance Conjure Priestess of planet earth and the way way beyond. We want her words filling our shelves, our lungs, our hearts. Eyes forward; hands on the wheel — Parneshia Jones knows every curve of the road, the byway, highway — and we’re always along for the ride."
Check out Parneshia's book Vessel: Poems at Evanston Public Library.
Are you a fan of reading ebooks? Do you like to check them out on the library's Libby app but are frustrated by how many titles are checked out to other patrons? This month, and for the foreseeable future, Libby is making a number of titles "simultaneous use". That means a whole bunch of patrons can check out these books at the same time. So take out your favorite reading device and consider the following titles:
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Looking for a Black-owned independent alternative to GoodReads? Introducing StoryGraph. Run and built by Nadia Odunayo and Rob Frelow, the site started life as a personal side project of Nadia's to create and track progress through reading lists. After some time, and a lot of customer research, it evolved into its current form. You can import your Goodreads lists (if you have them), join reading challenges and community groups, and the site is free (though users can opt to pay a subscription for more personalized services).
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Did you know that you can stream movies for free thanks to Kanopy? The library's newest streaming service is accessible through an app on your device and can even work with your television (ask one of our librarians to tell you how). Kanopy provides access to more than 26,000 films and documentaries from a variety of filmmakers and distributors, including the BBC, PBS and the Criterion Collection. Collections include titles from the DEFA Film Library, ArtMattan Films, HBO, Frameline, Ruscico, Pragda, BBC, Flicker Alley, National Film Board of Canada, First Run Features, Cinema Libre Studio, New Day Films, and the Criterion Collection/Janus Films. Classic, international, documentary, and educational films from the Criterion Collection, Janus films, The Great Courses, and the PBS Frontline series.
Here are some of their latest titles:
The Boss: Black Experience in Business - From award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson comes a film that educates, informs, and examines more than 150 years of African American men and women who have embodied the qualities that are the heart of the American entrepreneurial spirit.
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All Out - From circus to theater, from anonymity to fame, the incredible destiny of Chocolat the clown, the first black stage performer in France. The unprecedented duo he forms with Footit is very popular in Belle Epoque Paris, until easy money, gambling and discrimination take their toll on their friendship and Chocolat's career. The singular story of an exceptional artist.
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To Be Heard - Three Bronx teens search for their voices and an answer to the question: Can language change lives? Karina, Pearl, and Anthony are precariously balanced on the edge. Inspired by three teachers in a radical poetry workshop, can they write their own life stories, imagining a future where fathers aren't in jail, mothers aren't abusive and college is a place where you awake every morning instead of just dreaming about it every night? A dedicated filmmaking team follows their lives, celebrating the value of poetry, devoted teachers, and the power that comes from writing your own life story.
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