Chinese New Year - Welcome to the Year of the Water Rabbit!

In Chinese mythology, the fourth animal of the Zodiac - the Rabbit - represents longevity, peace and prosperity. After the tumultuousness of the last few years, this will surely be welcomed by many!

Each year not only focuses on an animal, but also on one of five elements - Water, Fire, Earth, Wood and Metal. 2023 is the year of Water, which represents intuition, and trusting our inner wisdom.

During Lunar New Year celebrations, it is tradition to gift red envelopes containing money, said to bring good luck. Any item with a rabbit motif is also popular, with rabbit-shaped jade jewelry being very popular.

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous New Year, please do stop by and see our displays at Luton and Bedford campus libraries.

 Happy New Year!  This month in Books Unlocked our libraries are showcasing mindfulness and mood boosting, with a selection of books available for loan at each campus library.

Here is the display at Bedford:

and at Luton:

We hope you have time to come along and browse!  

Identity - Who do you think you are?

Who do you think you are? 

If you’ve ever watched the TV show with that title, you’ll know it focuses on folk who are in the public eye and explores their identity through their ancestors, taking us on a timeline journey to see some of their family history and give a glimpse of their cultural, social and economic heritage. 

  

But how do we define ourselves? What does ‘Identity’ mean to you? 

  

This November our Reading for Pleasure theme is precisely that: IDENTITY 

The books and resources we have chosen this month reflect some of the different ways we think of ourselves when considering what makes us the person we are. Sometimes we will identify with a certain group and feel that it gives us a sense of belonging; at other times we feel our identity is what makes us unique, different from those around us. 

Here’s a taste for what you might find in our campus library displays during November. 

Bedford:

Luton:

Black History Month 2022

This month we are celebrating black history month.  We have displays available at our Luton, Bedford and Aylesbury libraries.  Please come along and have a look and see what books we have on display. 

Aylesbury library:

Bedford library:

 

Luton Library:

      

For the full list of books chosen you can access the Black History Month 2022 reading list here:

http://readinglists.beds.ac.uk/lists/56D72089-788E-35EE-CD3F-50B96C78F776.html

The Observer

This year our display features an article from The Observer, twenty contemporary writers of colour recommended 20 classic books.  We are proud to have 16 of the 20 books chosen available in our library collections.

To read the full article including the reviews, please click on the following link:

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=edsbig&AN=edsbig.A677804311&authtype=sso&custid=s5099118&site=eds-live&scope=site

Jean-Michel Basquiat

We also feature the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) who rose to fame in the late 70s, early 80s.  His work featured a mixture of media, such as drawing, painting, text, image and poetry.

Basquiat made a lasting impact on the neo-expressionism art movement.  His art focused on dichotomies such as wealth versus poverty, integration versus segregations and social commentary.

Books that we have available on Basquiat can be found on the Black History Month 2022 reading list.

Proud to be black

Carly Ramirez-Herelle, Head of Library Services also features in the Universities ‘Proud to be Black’ initiative. 

 

 

 

 

 

To see what the University are featuring this year and to read her interview along with other students and staff, please click on the following link:

https://www.beds.ac.uk/news/proud-to-be-black/

Genre Fiction August 2022

 

Genre Fiction

There are many different genres in fiction such as romance, crime, science fiction and historical. Why not surprise yourself by trying something different. We have a variety of titles in the University of Bedfordshire libraries, however, there are also plenty of options for reading online and borrowing from local libraries.

ENJOY

Lifelong Learning

During the month of June our display looks Lifelong Learning, practising mindfulness and re-energising. Lifelong Learning is described as ongoing, self-motivated, voluntary learning for personal or professional growth. 

Our displays explore the lifelong learning such as University of the third age, Mature students, Ruskin College, Open University Prisoners Education trust, National Retraining scheme and the learning available specific to Bedford: The Rothsay Education Centre, whihch offers courses for the over-50s that run from Ancient Greek and politics to the more usual watercolour classes and walking groups. High quality tutors are hired to provide courses for this fee-paying membership establishment.

Bedford campus 1st floor display

Mindfulness; a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

Mindfulness: Bedford campus

Practise Mindfulness and energise the mind and body through different and accessible means; enrol on a course, download an app, find and follow a free exercise video on YouTube

The University’s own Re-energise programme is designed to support a healthy body and a healthy mind. 

Are you affected by low mood, mild to moderate anxiety, social anxiety or low self-esteem? Do you want to do something that may help you feel better? Improve your ability to study effectively? Take control of your life?  Enrich your relationships?  Find out more at:

UOB re-energise

Fika is a Mental Fitness app that offers a range of different courses that helps to improve and maintain several areas of your mental health, including: positivity, stress, confidence, focus, meaning and motivation – alongside developing tools to take charge of your life to improve and build up connections with others. 

You might want to try out one of the 24 instructor-led videos created by fitness experts via the NHS

There are exercises to tone your abs, arms and raise your heart rate. 

Workouts for new mums, Wake up! workout,  yoga, belly dancing - to name a few.

See what a few minutes a day can do for you and your wellbeing today!

From Stress to Success

In May we are promoting books and resources to help you maintain a positive and healthy approach to your studies. We recognise that, with assignment deadlines and exams approaching, May can sometimes seem like a stressful month for students. We want to encourage you to take a break and build some downtime into your days enabling you to maintain a positive outlook and some perspective. We have free fruit available in Luton and Bedford libraries on Wednesdays to encourage you to eat well. There are also mindfulness colouring sheets available to give you a relaxing break. Pop in and see our displays to pick up some helpful tips to lead you from Stress to Success.