Science Literacy Week  is an annual celebration of Canadian science, where libraries, universities, museums and other institutions hold events to show the diversity of amazing research happening across the country. This year, the event will take place September 17-23. We invite you to check out UBC Library’s Science Expo on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 from 10 a.m. to noon, which will take place in the main entrance area of Woodward Library. The UBC community as well as their families and friends are invited to drop by the event to visit the booths.

At UBC Library’s booth, expect to get hands-on with Arduino coding and electronics kits, interactive demos with AnatomyTV and Birds of North America, and more. We’ll also be talking about our Seed Lending Library, which allows anyone to pick up seeds free of charge, while providing opportunities to learn about gardening, seed saving, and agricultural research at UBC.

National Learn to Code Day will take place on Saturday, September 22, 2018 from 10:15 AM – 4:15 PM, at  Lillooet Room (Room 301), at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. During this workshop, attendees will:

• Learn basic programming techniques and concepts that are transferable to other programming languages
• Review building blocks of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Load and replace extensions using Chrome’s developer mode
• Learn about other resources for continuing learning!

Detailed information is available on the Library Guide to Science Literacy Week.

The exhibition, “And there’s the humor of it”: Shakespeare and the four humors, will run from June 4 to July 14, 2018, at Rare Books and Special Collections on Level 1 of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and in the Memorial Room at Woodward Library. The theory of the four humors was initially borrowed from Ancient Greek thinkers like Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Galen. These four humors included blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm. They were considered to shape a person’s mental and physical health as well as behavior and personality.  References to melancholic displays and choleric outbursts which stem from the four humors can be found in a lot of Shakespeare’s plays. The interplay between medical theory and theatrical language forms the basis of a fascinating exhibition, created by the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health and the Folger Shakespeare Library.  The exhibition will feature additional materials from UBC Library’s collections to explore related topics, such as Shakespearean theatre in British Columbia and Shakespeare in children’s literature. Collection highlights will include: the second edition folio of Shakespeare’s complete works (1632), first editions of Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (1590), John Donne’s Poems (1633), and George Herbert’s The Temple (1633), along with medical manuals such as 16th century midwifery book The byrth of mankynde (1540) by Eucharius Rösslin and milestone physiology book, Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus (1628) by William Harvey.

Take this opportunity to view rare materials portraying Shakespeare’s enduring relevance throughout the ages. The exhibition is open to the general public as well as UBC students, staff and faculty.

For more information visit this site.

From February 13 to 23, 2018 UBC Library will host the Canadian Jewish Experience (CJE) exhibit, A Tribute to Canada 150 on level 2 of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. This amazing Exhibition, prepared by volunteers and funded by private donations, presents a powerful sample of Jewish contributions to our country.

CJE’s purpose is to share Jewish aspects of Canada’s story with all Canadians, and a key goal of this exhibit is to be an educational tool. The exhibit panels are built around major themes including patterns of immigration, war and diplomacy, public service, justice and human rights, economic growth, arts, culture and sports. The exhibit has been displayed across the country, from Newfoundland to Victoria, and most recently at the Vancouver Public Library and SFU.

While Jewish contributions to medicine and other sciences are well known, it is hard to believe that until after the Second World War there were explicit quota restrictions on the number of Jewish students accepted by Canada’s universities. The University of Manitoba was the first in Canada to rid itself of this discriminatory quota system in 1945. Literature, music and performing arts have been deeply influenced by Canadian Jews. Montreal was home to a cluster of literary giants, such as poet A.M. Klein, novelist Mordecai Richler, poets Leonard Cohen and Irving Layton, and playwright Ted Allan. More recently, Naïm Kattan in French language writing and Sheila Fishman in translation have helped continue the city’s important Jewish literary presence.

To learn more about the exhibit,  Visit the CJE website for more information.