Author Archives: Christopher McConnell

Evelyn Thurman Award

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Evelyn Thurman Award recipients for Fall 2013 are Silas House & Neela Vaswani for their co-written book Same Sun Here.

On November 22, 2013, WKU Libraries hosted an awards luncheon in the Kentucky Building to honor the two winners of the Evelyn Thurman Young Readers Book Award for 2013: Silas House and Neela Vashwani, co-authors of Same Sun Here, a novel for middle graders made up of letters exchanged between an Indian immigrant girl in New York City and a rural Kentucky coal miner’s son.

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A Piece of the True Cross(roads) in Clarksdale, Mississippi

 Event Location: Clay Motley @ Far Away Places, Thursday, November 21, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 1680 Campbell Lane.

Perhaps no other place in America is as singularly linked to its music history as this small southern city on Highway 61 seventy-seven miles south of Memphis.  Here, since the early twentieth century, an astonishing number of significant musicians were born or lived from W. C. Handy, Son House, John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters to Sam Cooke and Ike Turner while Influential blues artists like Charles Patton and Robert Johnson played in its juke joints, and some argue the first rock and roll song was written and rehearsed in 1951.

The "Delta Avenue" and "Blues Alley" street corner.

The “Delta Avenue” and “Blues Alley” street corner.

Clarksdale, Mississippi Population: 17,733

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The Gulf: The Bush Presidencies and the Middle East

Cairo Monthly Flyer

Cairo Monthly Flyer

Michael Cairo is Associate Professor of Political Science at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. His newest title “The Gulf: The Bush Presidencies and the Middle East.” Most students at WKU haven’t known a time when there wasn’t a mention of war in the Middle East.

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Filed under Far Away Places, Flickr Photos, Government Documents, Past Events, Podcasts

Brian Coutts Presents Best Reference 2012

Coutt's Best Reference Presentation Spring 2013

Brian Coutts

 On Friday, April 26th, 2013 Brian gave his annual workshop on the best reference sources of the previous year in Helm 5. These selections appear in the March 1, 2013 issue of Library Journal, the nation’s oldest library trade journal. Highlights included the announcement that the Encyclopaedia Britannica first published in 1768 was getting out of the print business. Among the notable reference books of 2012 included the Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art & Architecture, the Atlas of the Great Irish Famine, the Encyclopedia of Consumption and Waste, Flies: The Natural History and Diversity of Diptera,and the Dictionary of Modern Proverbs. A reception followed in Helm 201. Thanks to Ryan Dowell for creating the “Best Reference” power point, to Christopher McConnell for creating the handout, and to Amanda Hardin for planning the reception.

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Bribes, Bullets, and Intimidation: Drug Trafficking and the Law in Central America

Dr. Julie Bunck and Professor Michael Fowler

Dr. Julie Bunck and Professor Michael Fowler at Barnes & Noble Bookstore

Dr. Julie Bunck and Professor Michael Fowler from the Department of Political Science, University of Louisville, discuss their newest book at Barnes & Noble Bookstore Thursday, April 11, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.

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The Kentucky Derby: How the Run for the Roses Became America’s Premier Sporting Event

Dr. James Nicholson

Dr. Nicholson speaking at Barnes & Noble Bookstore.

Thursday evening at Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Dr. James Nicholson shared with his audience the history of the Kentucky Derby and what makes “America’s Premier Sporting Event”.   He spoke and also shared a collage of photos revealing the highs and lows of what is none other than the tradition and culture surrounding Kentucky’s famous Derby!

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A Few Honest Words: The Kentucky Roots of Popular Music

Jason Howard

On the evening of March 7, 2013 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Bowling Green, Kentucky, WKU Libraries’ “Kentucky Live!” series featured Jason Howard, James Still Fellow at the University of Kentucky. He presented his newest book “A Few Honest Words: The Kentucy Roots of Popular Culture,” which illustrates how the land and culture of Kentucky have shaped American music through the years. Among those profiled include: Naomi Judd, Matraca Berg, Dwight Yoakam and Skinny Deville of Nappy Roots.

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Patti’s 1880’s Settlement Restaurant

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Chip Tullar, the proprietor of Miss Patti’s 1880’s Settlement Restaurant, spoke in the Kentucky Live! series on Thursday, February 21, 2013 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

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Buenos Aires: City of Immigrants

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On the evening of February 14, 2013 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Dr. John Dizgun, Assistant Director of KIIS, WKU, told WKU and Bowling Green attendees to the WKU Libraries-sponsored talk series Far Away Places about his experiences in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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Hillerich & Bradsby VP Talked about Louisville Slugger at Kentucky Live!

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Rick Redman, VP for Corporate Communication for Hillerich & Bradsby was our guest. He talked about the history of the “Louisville Slugger” the iconic bat used by a majority of today’s major league baseball players as well as players in countless baseball, fastball and softball leagues around the country. This was part of WKU Libraries’ Kentucky Live! talk series taking place monthly at Barnes & Noble. Attending the event tonight were WKU Provost Gordon Emslie and Inerim Dean of WKU Libraries Connie Foster.
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