It was an event that even President Karen L. Gould couldn’t keep herself from cheering about. “Bravo! Brava!” she said to all the faculty authors celebrated at the Annual Book Party on April 14 in the library’s Christoph M. Kimmich Reading Room. “It’s such an accomplishment giving birth to a book,” Gould went on to say. “And it shows how engaged our faculty are in serious scholarship, which is then reflected in the academic quality they bring to the classroom and our students.” This year, the display included 33 books that were published within the last year. The range of subjects reflected the full arch of our faculty’s interests. The books investigate everything from Philosophy of Mathematics: Selected Writings (Selections From the Writings of Charles S. Peirce (Matthew E. Moore, Philosophy) to Eden on the Charles: The Making of Boston (Michael Rawson, History), which was short-listed for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in History. There were provocative subjects, such as Tracking the Mobility of Crime: New Methodologies and Geographies in Modeling the Diffusion of Offending (Jeremy R. Porter, Sociology), Policing Democracy: Overcoming Obstacles to Citizen Security in Latin America (Mark Ungar, Political Science), and Power at the Roots: Gentrification, Community Gardens, and the Puerto Ricans of the Lower East Side (Miranda J. Martinez, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies). The president especially pointed out two books that may be edifying to many who were in the room: The Complete Book of Spells, Curses, and Magical Recipes (Leonard R.N. Ashley, English) — an engaging and historically fascinating account of all things in a witch’s brew; and Forensic Accounting for Dummies (Frimette Kass-Shraibman, Accounting) — a title that is surely destined to become one of the most desperately needed, if not popular, in the widely read Dummies series. Chief Librarian Stephanie Walker pointed out that, “Every year we seem to have more books. A copy of each book goes into the archive, and if we can get another copy we like to put it into circulation.” Professor of Library Service Judith Wild, who was instrumental in organizing the event, said, “With more new faculty, we’ve gotten a wider range of topics. The variety now is incredible.” Already, 13 books scheduled to come out in May are waiting in the wings for next year’s celebration. In the meantime, many of the books from this year’s event will be available in the college’s Barnes & Noble bookstore in Boylan Hall — and, of course, on the library’s shelves.
