The Library Exhibits Committee encourages requests and suggestions for exhibits. Decisions for accepting an exhibit proposal are based on whether it meets the Exhibit Guidelines as well as on space, staffing, and funding considerations.
Binghamton University
Libraries Special Collections | Spring 2013
FIVE
CENTURIES OF GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO'S THE
DECAMERON

“Five Centuries of Giovanni
Boccaccio’s The Decameron” is the
current exhibit in the Libraries Special
Collections. Various editions of
Boccaccio’s most well-known work that were printed during the 16th century and
up to the present day are on display. Examples include vellum bound board books
to full calf bindings to modern Franklin Mint covers. Boccaccio influenced
later European writers, such as Geoffrey Chaucer and John Dryden, and
facsimiles of their works are part of the exhibit. Also on display are other
works by Boccaccio and include: Genealogie Johannis Boccacij cum micantissimis arborum effigiationibus cuiusq
(1511), Opera dell’huomo
dotto et famoso Giovan Boccaccio da Certaldo
(1520), and, Libro di M[esser] Gio[vanni] Boccaccio delle donne illustri / tradotto per messer Giuseppe Betussi (1547).
The exhibit is open to the public from
10:00 – 4:00 Monday through Friday until the end of the spring semester.
Bartle Library | Spring 2013
To escape the Black Death ravaging Florence, ten
young people - seven women and three men - flee to the countryside where, to
pass the time, each tells one tale per night for ten days. These one hundred
novellas form The Decameron (ca. 1350-3) by Giovanni Boccaccio. The
Decameron weaves a kaleidoscopic web of stories of love, vice, deception,
wit, and tragedy; of lusty monks, traveling merchants, adulterous wives,
lovesick suitors, and jealous lovers. The tales, meant to both
instruct and delight, display Giovanni Boccaccio’s passion for a tale
well told.
This Library exhibit features reproductions from Boccaccio
titles in Special Collections, books from the Bartle Library stacks, and images
from our Digital Image Collections relating to the themes of "Love and
Sex" illustrated in the Decameron.
Visit the exhibition Love and Sex in the Decameron on the second floor of the Bartle Library,
Jan 28th through
Summer 2013.
While you spend the semester avoiding the flu, come to the Science Library to read about the Plague! View our Boccaccio’s
Plague exhibit to learn about an illness so devastating it was termed “The Black Death.” As a tribute to the Center for Medieval and
Renaissance Studies Conference in April, the Science Library views the plague through Boccaccio’s The Decameron written in the mid-14th century in Italy.
When did the plague break out? How far did it spread? What effect did it have on Religion?
And what medical techniques were used to treat the stricken?
Various texts answer these question and more, and will be on display from January 28 through May 19th.

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This exhibition is in support of the
Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Spring Conference Boccaccio at 700: Medieval Contexts and
Global Intertexts, April 26-27, 2013.
Celebrate the Freedom to Read at Binghamton University Libraries Banned Books Week Exhibits!
@Bartle Library + Science Library
30th
Anniversary of
Banned Books Week

Exhibit runs from
SEPTEMBER 30th
to DECEMBER 21st
"An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all."
-
Oscar Wilde
Binghamton
University Libraries is celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Banned
Books Week with a semester long exhibit. Banned Books Week was established in
1982 to provide awareness to past and current contested books, to challenge
censorship and persecution in all forms and to uphold the freedom to read. All the
books exhibited have been marked with controversy in one way or another. Issues
of race, religion, sexuality, and violence have triggered calls for restriction
by those offended with these sensitive topics. Whether it is in an elementary
school, a public library, a university collection, or a bookstore, materials
ranging from toddler picture books to Nobel Prize winning novels have been
marked as obscene. The achievement we are celebrating with this exhibit is the winning
battle of free and open access over censorship in America.
Glenn G.
Bartle Library will be
exhibiting banned books from its collections through the Fall
2012 semester on the mezzanine exhibit case off the main stairway.

The Science
Library is celebrating the 30th
Anniversary of Banned Books Week with a semester long exhibit. Featured are
works of Science Fact and novels of Science Fiction that have rocked the morals
and philosophies of Western society from the 16th century to the
present day.
Come and visit to find the answers to
questions like: What science fiction title caused the arrest of a bookseller in
1973? Why did Darwin collect photos of
people making funny faces? And what was “The
Book that Nobody Read”?
The controversy stirred by the work of Galileo
and Darwin made an impact still felt today. The clash between Science,
Religion, and Government effects education, public policy, and American
culture. Some of the books on display from the Binghamton University collection
go beyond science to explore these broader effects. All books on display may be checked out to
anyone with a library card. Additionally, an informational handout with links
and QR codes is also free to take.
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This and other
exhibits can be found on the Library Exhibits webpage. Read more about Banned Books Week on the Library News & Events page and on the Banned Books Week site.
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Picturing Politics: Soviet posters from the Libraries’ Special Collections Political art has been used for centuries in many forms including graphical, musical, performance, and literary. Visual social and political commentary constitutes a powerful tradition of artistic expression. Graphic, bright and compelling, Soviet posters are often viewed as the essence a time in history, reflecting the way that the country's rulers addressed the governed. Through the images of posters, the audiences can see how the state encouraged people, and what it did to make them feel optimistic about their future. Binghamton University Libraries’ Special Collections will be exhibiting Soviet political posters from its collections through the Fall 2012 semester. Special Collections is located on the second floor of the Bartle Library (off of the North Reading Room). For more information, contact Jean Green, Head of Special Collections, at 607-777-3912 or jgreen@binghamton.edu |
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Ten Things You Should Know About the Libraries Visit the Science Library to discover ten services offered by the Libraries that can help students with their course work. |
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The Binghamton University Libraries Celebrate 75 Years of Link Flight SimulationIn 1929, Edwin A. Link, Jr. invented the Link trainer or Blue Box and forever changed the way in which pilots learned to fly. A permanent exhibit honoring Edwin A. Link, Jr., the father of flight simulation, is on display in the lobby of Bartle Library. The current display outlines the history of Ed Link and his contributions to flight simulation. Exhibit items will be changed periodically in order to highlight the various aspects of the Link Collections. The Link Collections are housed in the Special Collections department and consist of the Edwin A. Link, Jr. papers; his wife's materials, the Marion Clayton Link papers; his sister's papers, the Marilyn C. Link collections; records from the Link Foundations and from Hughes Training, Inc. (formerly the Link Aviation Company) as well as over 100 books donated by the Links, most of which are rare aviation books from Edwin Link's personal library. |
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