The VLS campus is flurried with activity and excitement for the commencement ceremony, Saturday, May 21st. The campus looks lovely: the flowers have sprung, the cherry blossoms are blooming and the tents are up! And, on behalf of the entire Cornell Library, congratulations to our graduates! We wish you all the best in your future endeavors and adventures.
Now, onto the books!
Honorary Degree Recipient, Annie Leonard is the author of The Story of Stuff. In her book, Leonard explores America’s obsession with Stuff, and how this obsession is destroying the environment and poisoning our bodies. What’s more, our obsession to obtain more Stuff surprisingly, does not lead to more happiness. Thankfully, Leonard shows us this is “not the way things have to be,” and we have the power to change this crooked system obsessed with Stuff! Check out Annie’s book from the Cornell Library and be sure to stop by Barrister’s Bookstore at 2:30 PM tomorrow, to get a signed copy of her book and see her lecture after, in Oakes 012 at 4pm.
Amy Goodman will address the class of 2011 on Saturday!
Goodman is the host and executive producer of the radio show, Democracy Now!, as well as the author of four books which can be found in the library. Goodman is the first journalist recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “alternative Nobel Prize,” for “developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media.”
In her most recent book, Breaking the Sound Barrier, Goodman defies the standard “corporate media’s lies, sound bites, and silence in [a] wide-ranging new collection of articles.” Instead, Goodman gives voice to the people who are so often overlooked or excluded by the mainstream media, but are the real experts of their communities on issues like Climate Change, Healthcare, Elections and more.
Amy Goodman, and her brother David, authored Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times in 2008. According to the Goodman’s, the Bush Administration trampled America’s democracy with unchecked power and a disregard for basic civil liberties. In response, this book “chronicles and celebrates the actions and visions of American’s real movers and shakers—the people who have deafened democracy in the face of an intense assault.”
The brother-sister duo teamed up again in two other books: Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People who Fight Back, as well as, The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media that Love Them. Again, the two take on the mainstream media and government elites, by giving voice to the silent majority as they fight to change the world.
Julien & Virginia Cornell Library 