Marv Davidov and Carol Masters will discuss their recent book, You Can’t Do That! during a Noon Conversation in the Library from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, April 8. The reading will be held in the O’Shaughnessy Room of the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center and will be followed by a book signing and a chance to speak with the authors.

Marv Davidov 

Davidov has worked a lifetime for justice and freedom. He was a Freedom Rider in 1961 (a campaign to desegregate public transportation throughout the South) and was jailed in Parchman Prison; two years later (1963-64) he joined the Canada to Cuba March. He spent 11 years of protest against the Vietnam War, including organizing actions at Honeywell Corp., maker of cluster bombs, from 1968 to 1990.

He helped farm families in the powerline struggle from 1979-82 and the Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union win a significant victory for wages and working conditions at the Normandy Hotel in 1991. In the last two decades he has taught courses in nonviolent action at St. Cloud, Carleton, Metro State and the University of St. Thomas.

Carol Masters 

Masters is a poet and fiction writer who turned to this biography out of desperation for the state of the world and admiration for nonviolent activists such as Davidov. She has been a peace activist since the 1980s, and serves as co-chair of Women Against Military Madness. Her poetry and short fiction has been published in journals and anthologies. The Peace Terrorist (New Rivers Press, 1994) is a collection of short stories, winner of a Minnesota Voices award 1992 and nominated for a Minnesota Book Award. She is the recipient of a Loft Mentor Series award, Loft-McKnight Fellowship.

All are welcome – feel free to bring your lunch – refreshments will be provided.  For more information contact Julie Kimlinger , (651) 962-5014.

“Bolivia in Focus” will be the topic of today’s Noon Conversation in the Library.

The speaker, Dr. Robert Werner, Geography Department, has traveled to Bolivia a number of times and in 2009 published a book about the country.   His “conversation” will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 6, in the O’Shaughnessy Room (first floor), O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center.

Dr. Werner’s  talk will feature a comprehensive tour of Bolivia, including history and culture, demography, political unrest, Indian rights movements, and the role of the coca leaf, the source of cocaine. The photo-intensive talk at will cover Bolivia broadly, but discussion will focus on specifics, and questions are invited.

Why Bolivia?

According to Werner, Bolivia is a unique and dramatic place. Bolivia has the largest population of indigenous people in Latin America, at 55 percent. Indian rights movements are strong in the Andes and are important to understand. Bolivia elected an Indian president in 2005, Evo Morales. He is a socialist and former head of the coca grower’s union. Coca is a major issue. Coca leaf is a harmless, mild stimulant, used by 70 to 80 percent of the highland population. Cocaine is a deadly street drug. The USA pays the drug wing of the Bolivian army to pull up farmers’ coca plants, but coca leaf is by far the best income-earner for farmers in coca regions, so Bolivian farmers are angry with the United States. If one measures political instability by coups and attempted coups, Bolivia is the least stable country on earth. Politics in Bolivia is a major reason why the country is the poorest in South America. Bolivia is a strikingly beautiful country, varying greatly between the highland Andes and the Amazon basin lowlands. Contrasts between east and west include different climates, products, ethnic groups and political attitudes.

We hope you can come – bring your lunch if you wish – light refreshments will be provided.

Spring cleaning your homes, offices, and residence halls?  Do you have books that you used to love but do not wish to keep any longer?    Each April during National Library Week  (April 12 – 15, 2010) the library holds a book sale and we appreciate very much your book donations.   Shoppers especially love cookbooks, novels, poetry, non-fiction, biographies, children’s books, travel, history, political science, and literature.    Please drop off your books at the Circulation Desk in the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library anytime beginning now through Thursday, April 8.    Please let the staff at the circulation desk know if you would like to receive a tax donation form when you drop off your books.  Watch for details about this year’s Library Week book sales and other events and activities at the UST Libraries. If you have any questions, please call Julie at 962-5014.