The USC Upstate Library is pleased to present “Picturing Women Inventors,” a poster exhibit that explores the inventions of 19 highly accomplished American women. This poster exhibit will be on view through March and April in the library's cafe and study room area on the 1st floor.
“Picturing Women Inventors” is distributed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in collaboration with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The exhibit is sponsored by Lyda Hill Philanthropies IF/THEN Initiative and Ericsson.
About the exhibit
Throughout American history, women with diverse backgrounds and interests created inventions that changed lives every day. But women haven’t always had equal opportunities to be inventors or received as much recognition.
“Picturing Women Inventors” showcases the breakthroughs, motivations, and challenges women encountered while pursuing their goals as inventors. The poster exhibit highlights stories of inventors like Marilyn Hamilton (see picture), who after a hang-gliding accident in 1978 left her paralyzed, invented a lightweight wheelchair that was easy to maneuver. Diversity of background and age are showcased including inventor Alexis Lewis, who at 12-years-old in 2011 was inspired to adapt a traditional Native American sled, called a travois, by adding wheels to create a simpler way to transport families and their belongings in Somalia.
Inventors featured include astronauts, computer pioneers, businesswomen, athletes, engineers, and students, among others.
Now on view on the USC Upstate Library terrace is Sounds of Religion, a Smithsonian poster exhibit that explores the diversity of American religious life through image and sound.
Choirs singing. Monks chanting. The reading of religious texts. These are religious sounds. But so are the creaking of church pews and the clanking of pots during the preparation of a communal meal. Sounds of Religion explores how rituals and gatherings of religious communities create a complex and varied soundtrack of religion in the United States.
Many of the posters in the exhibit features QR codes, which, through the use of a smart phone, allow us to listen to contemporary recordings that paint an audio portrait of America's unique religious life. Americans practice many different systems of belief--Christianity; Judaism; Islam; Hinduism; Buddhism; Sikhism; Wicca; and Native American traditions, African, and New Age traditions. Every tradition creates its own unique blend of music, prayer, voices, and silence, which together help define the beliefs and practices shared by the members of churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other places of spiritual devotion.
Sounds of Religion is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services (SITES) in cooperation with the American Religious Sounds Project of The Ohio State University and Michigan State University. The exhibit is made possible through the generous support of The Henry Luce Foundation.
The exhibit will remain on view at USC Upstate through Ramadan, Easter, and Passover 2025.
A Few Facts About Julius Caesar:
Want to enjoy the spring weather and longer hours? Here are some ideas:
With the Spring season approaching, the USC Upstate Display Committee wanted to do a display that focused on either science, nature, or animals. After some discussion and planning the committee decided for March that our display would focus on animals in nature and the solar system. Many people enjoy astronomy, astrology, or animals, so we thought this would be a perfect fit. Our students and patrons might not be aware that we have books on these different subjects, so we hope that by highlighting a selection from our collection they will be well informed. The committee worked diligently to find both decorative items and items for this display. We hope everyone who comes to the library will see our display and become more educated about animals and planets. Every book on display is available for checkout. In April we will transition our display to focus on the solar system and ocean life. Please be on the lookout for that display coming soon.
Most commonly asked question about the library? Hours for the library and coffee shop are the most frequent questions coming in a close second is “how to print”.
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I'm just starting Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and Night by Elie Wiesel, and I'm in the midst of reading Neuroqueer Heresies by Nick Walker and, The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
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Celebrate Black History Month! Check out these great contributors to our history/literature and many more: Read inspiring poetry by Maya Angelou, the empowering words of Martin Luther King Jr., or the bravery of Rosa Parks.
The USC Upstate Library is now providing more support to student and faculty research needs via a new paid subscription to the database, Applied Science & Technology Source Ultimate. This database contains thousands of peer-reviewed journal articles and is an ideal resource for those researching the hard sciences (biology, chemistry, etc.), computer science, informatics, engineering, Advanced Manufacturing Management, or Engineering Technology Management.
The following is the description of Applied Science & Technology Source Ultimate from the database provider EBSCO:
"Applied Science & Technology Source Ultimate, the flagship database for STEM research, boasts an extensive collection of 2,221 active full-text journals, a significant portion of which undergo peer review. It covers a wide range of science and technology topics, as well as the business and social implications of new technologies."
You can access the database via this link: https://uscupstate.libguides.com/appliedscitechultimate.
You will need to log into your USC Upstate account to access this database.
If you have any questions about how you or your students can use this database, please contact an Upstate librarian.
On display now in the 1st floor library study room area is a series of posters celebrating African American labor, the theme for Black History Month 2025.
Many of the posters are provided by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the founders of Black History Month. According to the ASALH, this year's Black History Month theme focuses on "the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds--free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary--intersect with the collective experiences of Black people."
The exhibit is supplemented by other posters featuring a small selection of African American leaders in civil rights and labor, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Fannie Lou Hamer. Another poster features an inspirational quote from late Hip Hop icon, Tupac Shakur.
The added posters are courtesy of Mr. Johnson Paints.
Please stop by the library in February to view the exhibit and learn more about the important and far-reaching contributions of African American labor.
The USC Upstate Display Committee is excited to announce our latest display “Award Winning Children’s Books.” With the Spring semester starting on campus, our committee wanted to highlight our impressive and bountiful juvenile collection of children’s books that have received various awards. Awards such as the Newbery Medal, Robert F. Sibert Medal, The Caldecott Award, The Pura Belpre Award, and the Corretta Scott King Award. The Newbery Medal is an award for the most distinguished American children’s book published the previous year. The Robert F. Sibert Medal is an award for the author, illustrator, or co-authors of the most distinguished informational book for children published the United States in English. The Caldecott Award is an award for the illustrator of the winning children’s book. The Pura Belpre Award is an award for a Latino or Latina writer and illustrator for work in children’s literature that celebrates the Latino or Latinx cultural experience. The Coretta Scott King Award is an award for outstanding African American authors and illustrators of children’s and young adult books that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The committee has done a fantastic job to make sure that all these different honors and recognition from our library collection are represented on this display. Each book on this display is available for checkout. We hope that our students and patrons will be intrigued by these books and check them out. This display will be here throughout January and February. In February we will shift this display into more material that focuses on the Corretta Scott King Award in honor of Black History Month.
Blog post by Library Intern, Qwinlyn OsborneQuestions answered by Virginia Cononie; Coordinator of Research
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