From September 15 to October 15 each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the achievements, histories, traditions and cultural diversity of Hispanic/Latino/Latinx Americans whose heritage is rooted in 20 Latin American countries and territories: Spain, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. 

Hispanic refers to a person who is from, or a descendant of someone who is from, a Spanish-speaking country.

Latino/a or Latinx refers to a person who is from, or a descendant of someone who is from, a country in Latin America.

The theme for 2022 is “Unidos: Inclusivity for a Stronger Nation.”

Kalamazoo College Library has several resources for Hispanic American research, including the database Hispanic Life in America. This collection is sourced from more than 17,000 global media outlets, including over 700 Spanish-language or bilingual publications, dating from 1704 to today. Check our A to Z Database Guide for this database and more resources!

You can view even more resources at the National Museum of the American Latino and Hispanic and Latino heritage at the National Archives.

The Library Reading Room now has several small ecosystems of plants and friends! As part of her SIP, K senior Emma Sidor ’23 placed the terrariums in the Reading Room just before Orientation began this fall. Each has an explanatory card that details the plants inside and says that plants can reduce stress, help with concentration, and promote positive emotions.

The terrariums include creatures such as aliens, ducks with raincoats, ninjas, mushrooms, and dinosaurs. They certainly brighten up the Reading Room, and hopefully they will “bring you joy and help with your studies!”

Did you know that the Library has many textbooks available on Reserve? We may have the book you need for your class — check our catalog and find out!

Reserve materials circulate for two hours at a time – just enough for you to get your reading done and share with others. Questions? Let us know how we can help! Email us at library@kzoo.edu.

The Upjohn Library Commons building and in-person services will be unavailable on Thursday, August 25 from Noon – 4:00pm.

The building will open regular break hours on Friday, August 26 (9:00am – 2:00pm).

Online services, such as databases and the library catalog, will be available.

Now you can see what the library has on display on the first floor — even months later!

We are keeping track of the books on our first floor display shelves and have created virtual displays so you can find these books later.

These virtual displays also include new books we’ve added to the collection.

Check out our ERACCE Resources, Native American Heritage Resources, Climate Change Resources, and more!

Did you know that the Library of Congress has LGBTQ+ Digital Collections?

The LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive collects and preserves online content which documents LGBTQ+ history, scholarship, and culture in the United States and around the world.

The LGBTQ+ Politics and Political Candidates Web Archive captures digital content related to LBGTQ+ political candidates and political issues and topics at various levels of government, with a focus on lesser-known local and state politics.

Two related collections have also launched: The Women’s and Gender Studies Web Archive and the Zine Web Archive. 

These collections are added to daily.

Kalamazoo College Library is supporting open access and open publishing by becoming a member of Open Book Publishers (OBP). OBP publishes print books in hardback and paperback, but also makes every published title available for free in PDF, HTML, and XML formats. These free online formats can be read on the Web, or downloaded and reused elsewhere. They can also accommodate interactivity, moving images, links, and sound into the fabric of the text. 

For authors, OBP provides permanent, free access to their books with no Open Access fees or book processing charges. Most books are published under the Creative Commons BY Open Access License, meaning users can freely copy, share, and redistribute material as well as remix, adapt, and build upon it for any use, even commercially. Faculty interested in publishing with OBP can get information on their website.

OBP is a not-for-profit and the largest independent open access academic publisher in the UK. Kalamazoo College Library is excited to be one of the 238 members of OBP!

Current Kalamazoo College students, faculty, and staff can access OBP materials through our catalog.