Articles tagged with: display

  • National Indigenous History Month Reading Collection

    Wednesday, June 03, 2026 | By

    June is National Indigenous History Month, a time to learn about and reflect on the histories, cultures, achievements, and ongoing contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples. This collection brings together a range of Indigenous voices and perspectives through fiction, memoir, poetry, history, art, film, and scholarship.

    The books and resources featured explore themes of community, identity, language, storytelling, resilience, and creativity. They offer opportunities to engage with Indigenous experiences, celebrate Indigenous knowledge and cultures, and deepen our understanding of the diverse peoples and nations that have shaped and continue to shape Canada.

    We invite you to browse the collection, discover new authors and artists, and spend time with stories that challenge, inspire, and inform.

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    Categories: Featured Collections

  • On display: National Indigenous Histories Month

    Wednesday, June 03, 2026 | By

    Members of the Hadiya’dagénhahs First Nations, Métis and Inuit Student Centre set up a display at the Thistle entrance of the Library highlighting First Nations, Métis and Inuit cultures and histories. This display marks National Indigenous Histories Month, and Indigenous Peoples Awareness Week.

    The display includes a variety of items including Wampum belts; a drum and rattle; beaded gloves and moccasins; seal and rabbit pelts; various Métis sashes; Inuit embroidery and carvings, and a variety of other tools and handcrafted items.

    Members of the Brock University and wider community are invited to a week full of learning, reflection and crafting during Indigenous Peoples Awareness Week, hosted by the Hadiya’dagénhahs First Nations, Métis and Inuit Student Centre beginning June 23rd. Students, staff, faculty and community members can visit brocku.universitytickets.com to see a full list of events and reserve their tickets now.

    Be sure to follow Hadiya’dagénhahs First Nations, Métis and Inuit Student Centre on Instagram and Facebook to be the first to hear about events, news and updates.

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    Categories: Learning Commons, Main, Uncategorised

  • On display: the works of Howard Engel

    Tuesday, May 26, 2026 | By

    Canadian mystery author, Howard Engel

    In 2022, the Archives & Special Collections in the Brock University Library acquired the personal library of Canadian mystery writer Howard Engel. Engel was born in St. Catharines and many of his books are set in Grantham City, a fictional pseudonym for where he grew up.

    Howard Engel has been termed by some as the father of Canadian mystery. From 1980 to 2015, Engel wrote 21 books, including 14 featuring Detective Benny Cooperman, his most famous character. Engel is credited with bringing international legitimacy to Canadian mystery writing and was a founding member of Crime Writers of Canada, inspiring new writers to take on the craft.

    When we opened the boxes from his estate, we found working copies, first prints off the press, and many of Engel’s books in various languages from across the globe. On display are selections from this collection, along with more details about Howard Engel, including the medical condition that threatened to end his writing career.

    Howard Engel items available for loan from Brock University Library.

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    Categories: Archives, Learning Commons, Main

  • On display: Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

    Thursday, April 30, 2026 | By

    A cardboard castle represents Germany in the Modern Languages, Literature, Cultures display

    “Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”  ― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad.

    The Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures (MLLC) welcomes you to browse through its latest exhibit in the Library and at the Thistle entrance to the Learning Commons. The display exemplifies the languages and unique cultures explored by students in our courses. May your curiosity be piqued! Perhaps some of the questions rooted in the history of these cultures will be raised by the materials on display.

    The exhibit runs from May 4 to 22, 2026.

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    Categories: Learning Commons, Main

  • Exploring Law, Policy, and Migrant Justice

    Friday, April 10, 2026 | By

    Senior citizens holding banners protest in a public space

    Brock Library thanks Dorothy Sierra-Gutierrez, recent graduate, Teaching Assistant, and Researcher for this display and blog post. Visit Dorothy’s exhibit in the Matheson Learning Commons and at the Thistle entrance until May 1.

    This community display is named after my directed studies project, Exploring Law, Policy, and Migrant Justice, supervised by Dr. Julie Ham in the Department of Sociology and Criminology. This project examines the legal, social, and cultural dimensions of migrant farmworkers in Canada, with a focus on the Niagara Region. It emphasizes research ethics, reflexivity, and the student-researcher experience, guiding learners through the creation of a practical toolkit for ethical engagement, alongside recommendations for how Brock students can better recognize and support migrant workers in the region.

    What began as an academic interest quickly became something much more personal, grounded in lived experiences, community relationships, and a deeper understanding of how essential yet underrepresented migrant workers are in Canada.

    Through my studies, it became clear that migrant farmworkers play a critical role in sustaining our food systems. Across Canada, many workers from Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America labour in agriculture through programs such as the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP). In regions like Niagara, their contributions include planting, harvesting, and pruning in agricultural sectors such as wineries. Yet despite their essential role, many face precarious working and living conditions, limited access to healthcare, and systemic barriers tied to their temporary immigration status.

    My interest in this topic deepened through my involvement with the Migrant Farmworkers Project in Niagara. While volunteering at the community hub, I supported the distribution of food, clothing, and hygiene products, and connected with workers in Spanish. These experiences allowed me to better understand the needs of migrant workers in the region, as well as the important role that local organizations and community partners play in supporting them.

    Through this directed studies project, I wanted to create something that was not only academic, but also accessible and practical. The result is an annotated bibliography and a Migrant Farmworker Justice Toolkit, now featured as part of the Brock University Library display. The annotated bibliography reviews key literature on migrant issues and policy developments, while also including prompts to encourage deeper student engagement. The Justice Toolkit brings together research, community knowledge, and practical resources to help students learn about migrant workers’ experiences and the broader systems that shape them.

    The toolkit explores key questions: Who are migrant farmworkers in the Niagara context? What challenges do they face? How can student researchers ethically engage with and learn from migrant communities? It also highlights local organizations and initiatives that support migrant workers. Importantly, the project centers both academic research and experiential knowledge, recognizing that meaningful understanding requires listening to those directly affected.

    One of my main goals was to challenge dominant narratives that portray migrant workers solely as vulnerable or passive. While vulnerability is an important part of the conversation, it is equally necessary to recognize migrant workers’ resilience, agency, and contributions. This project aims to move beyond simplified narratives and instead offer a more nuanced and humanizing perspective.

    Creating this toolkit also pushed me to reflect critically on my own role as a researcher. How do we engage ethically with communities? How can research be mobilized in ways that extend beyond the classroom? These questions shaped both the content of the project and its presentation in this display, designed to invite reflection, learning, and action.

    By sharing this work, I hope to contribute to a broader understanding of migrant justice and encourage others to think more critically about the systems that shape our agricultural food systems and immigration policies.

    If you have the chance, I invite you to visit the display, engage with the toolkit and annotated bibliography, and reflect on how Brock University, as an institution, can contribute to advancing migrant justice in the Niagara Region.

    Bio:
    Brock University Teaching Assistant, Dorothy Sierra-Gutierrez    Dorothy Sierra-Gutierrez

    Teaching Assistant
    NCLC Board Member
    Brock University
    Undergraduate Sociology (Honours) Co-op
    Concentration in Criminology
    Double Minors in French Studies and Women and Gender Studies

     

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    Categories: Learning Commons, Main

  • Spring Featured Collection

    Monday, March 30, 2026 | By

    Spring is here, and there’s no better time to reconnect with the natural world. We invite you to explore a curated selection of books to inspire everything from backyard planting to a deeper appreciation of the environment around us. 

    Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just getting started, this collection features guides on sustainable gardening, plant care, native species, and nature writing that celebrates the beauty of the outdoors. Discover practical tips, creative inspiration, and stories that will help you see Niagara’s landscapes in a whole new way. 

    Ready to get outside? Borrow one of our Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) passes and explore local conservation areas from peaceful forests to scenic trails, completely free. It’s the perfect way to bring what you’re reading to life. 

    Don’t forget to check out our Seed Library, where you can pick up free seeds to start your own garden. Whether you’re planting herbs on a windowsill or building a backyard garden, it’s a simple way to grow something of your own this season. 

    Stop by the library to browse the collection, borrow a pass, and pick up seeds—everything you need to make this spring a season of growth.  

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    Categories: Featured Collections

  • Pride Featured Collection

    Thursday, March 05, 2026 | By

    In celebration of Pride Week 2026 at Brock University, the Library is highlighting a curated collection of books that explore the richness and diversity of 2SLGBTQIA+ experiences, histories and scholarship. This collection brings together works from across disciplines literature, history, film, religion, education and cultural studies to showcase the many ways queer and trans voices shape our understanding of identity, community and social change.

    From academic studies and cultural criticism to poetry, memoir and fiction, these titles reflect global perspectives on queer life and creativity. Readers will find works examining topics such as queer activism, drag performance, LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing, queer media and popular culture, and the intersections of sexuality with race, class and religion.

    This Pride Week display celebrates the resilience, creativity and scholarship of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities while encouraging students, faculty and staff to explore new perspectives and stories. Browse the collection at the Matheson Learning Commons or online and discover titles that honour Pride, foster understanding and amplify queer voices.

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    Categories: Featured Collections, Learning Commons

  • Learning Commons display highlights UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

    Monday, March 02, 2026 | By

    Discover the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through an engaging visual display that highlights the global roadmap for building a more just, equitable, and sustainable world by 2030.

    Each goal—ranging from quality education and gender equality to climate action and responsible consumption—invites viewers to reflect on the challenges facing our world and the collective action needed to overcome them. Explore how these interconnected goals shape international cooperation, local initiatives, and everyday choices, and be inspired to consider your own role in advancing sustainable change. The SGD goals are currently on display in the Matheson Learning Commons.

    Brock International curated this display.

    Please take a look at the Library’s Sustainable Development Goals book collection here.

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    Categories: Learning Commons, Main

  • Learning Commons exhibit explores women in sports

    Tuesday, February 10, 2026 | By

    A hockey jersey from the Montreal Victoire

    Brock Library thanks Isobel Flindall, Graduate co-op student librarian in Collections Services for this exhibit and blog post. Visit the display in the Matheson Learning Commons until February 27. 

    With teams in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), and Northern Super League (NSL), Canada’s professional women’s sports reached a “critical mass” in 2024 (Spencer, 2024). This is exciting for those of us who enjoy spectating hockey, basketball, and soccer games – but also for youth and student athletes, for whom the goal of playing professionally is now “much more tangible” (Stober, 2024).

    The rise of women’s participation in professional team sports is associated in part with identified consumer potential (Boer, 2025; Pegoraro & Taylor, 2021; Stober, 2024). While the implication that the industry’s commitment to women’s sports is dependent on their profitability is disappointing, it also shows that we as consumers can make a difference.

    A featured collection of books, e-books, and a/v materials accompanies the exhibit and is an invitation for the reader to get thinking about women’s sports. To celebrate successes, like Canada establishing professional women’s teams in the PWHL, WNBA, and NSL, without overlooking the persistence of sexism in the sports industry (Hindman & Walker, 2020; Milner & Braddock, 2017).

    Sources:

    Boer, T. D. (2025, July 4). Women’s sports are booming. Why now? CBC Sports. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/womens-sports-growth-north-america-why-now-1.7569708

    Hindman, L. C., & Walker, N. A. (2020). Sexism in Professional Sports: How Women Managers Experience and Survive Sport Organizational Culture. Journal of Sport Management, 34(1), 64–76. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2018-0331

    Milner, A. N., & Braddock, J. H. (2017). Women in Sports: Breaking Barriers, Facing Obstacles. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/west/detail.action?docID=4923027

    Pegoraro, A., & Taylor, T. (2021). Editorial: Women’s Professional Sport: Understanding Distinctiveness. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3, 806247. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2021.806247

    Spencer, D. (2024, December 25). Canada’s women’s pro sports landscape transformed in 2024 with arrival of PWHL, NSL, WNBA. CBC Sports. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/year-in-review-canada-womens-pro-sports-1.7418973

    Stober, E. (2024, April 6). Women’s pro sports is a ‘global phenomenon’—And Canada is finally joining in. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/10406205/womens-sports-canada-project-8/

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    Categories: Learning Commons, Main

  • Black History Month 2026

    Monday, February 02, 2026 | By

    This Black History Month, we invite you to explore a wide-ranging collection of books that highlight Black history, culture, scholarship, and lived experience across Canada, the United States, and beyond. Spanning disciplines such as history, literature, education, social justice, feminism, and political thought, this collection centres Black voices and perspectives that have shaped and continue to shape our world. 

    Readers will find critical works on policing, abolition, education, environmental justice, and Black liberation movements alongside memoirs, poetry, fiction, and cultural criticism. The collection also emphasizes Black Canadian histories and scholarship, highlighting stories that are often overlooked but essential to understanding Canada’s past and present. 

    Visit the display to discover new authors, revisit foundational texts, and engage with stories that challenge, inspire, and affirm the richness and complexity of Black life. This collection contains a series of print and digital books. 

    Whether you’re looking for something for a class, personal growth, or simply a great read, this collection invites you to learn, reflect, and connect with stories that matter this month and the future. 

    Learn more about Black History Month 2026 at Brock here, and see the 2026 event listings

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    Categories: Featured Collections, Learning Commons

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