#LoveYourLibrary

Book cover designing, lotería, Literary Pictionary and a book giveaway are among the events the UTRGV libraries will host in observance of National Library Week.

“It’s the whole nation celebrating how amazing and wonderful our libraries are,” said Liliana Sanchez, access services librarian for the Brownsville campus.

The celebration will start at 11 a.m. today with the “Design Your Own Book Cover” event on the Brownsville campus.

“We are going to have books displayed,” Sanchez said. “We will have books covered and we are going to provide material, color pencils and crayons, and students will be able to design the book from scratch.”

The library will provide 50 covered-in-white books for the students.

“You don’t have to know how to draw or be an artist,” she said. “We will have someone helping you along the way.”

The designed books will be displayed on the library’s first floor and will be judged by University Librarian Paul Sharpe, Library Assistant Abraham Mata and Library Student Assistant Jessica Perez.

The winners will be announced Friday.

“[Students] will be able to win a prize and at the same time learn that we have popular reading books available for checkout,” Sanchez said.

On Tuesday, the library will host “Literary Pictionary” at 11 a.m. and “Student Readings” at 2:30 p.m. on the Brownsville campus.

“We are hosting ‘Literary Pictionary’ based on the Pictionary board game but we added another component to it,” said Joel Chirino, head of Research and Instruction Services. “We are going to have white boards and they are going to be writing classic book titles.”

Students will also draw references to popular books such as “Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien and the “Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway.

“It will be a lot of fun, kinda competing against each other,” Chirinos said.

For the “Student Readings,” creative writing Assistant Professor Christopher Carmona and several of his students will showcase some of their work.

“April is also Poetry Month, so we are thinking there may be some poetry,” Chirinos said.

He said students will read some of their poetry along with some essays, adding that the university has many talented students.

On Wednesday, “Library Loteria” will start at 11 a.m. on the Brownsville campus.

“It’s a Mexican-style bingo with library images,” Chirinos said. “What we want to do is promote the library as a place not only to come and study and do research but there is some much more that happens.”

On Thursday, the Brownsville library will host “Library Matinee” at 11 a.m. and “Throwback Thursday” at 2:30 p.m.

“We are going to be showcasing ‘Jurassic World’ as part of our collection,” Chirinos said.

Sanchez said they want to let students know the library offers movies to check out.

“We are ordering a lot of new movies, a lot of new materials that have some value for students,” Chirinos said.

For the second event of the day, Librarian John Ferris will play an LP record player.

“He  is going to be playing music and also talking about how to find information on certain musicians,” Chirinos said.

On the Edinburg campus, the library will host a book presentation of “Todos a Comer” by Lecturer Alma Gonzalez at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Shary Room.

“It is a Mexican food alphabet book,” said Susan Bushnell, head of Research and Instruction Services for the Edinburg campus.

On Wednesday, the library will have a book giveaway from 9 to 11 a.m.

“We have a lot of books and they will be free,” Bushnell said.

For more information about the events, visit the libraries on both campuses.

“Love your library,” Sanchez said. “Come and visit and use your resources.”

All events are free and refreshments will be provided.

“I am really looking forward to this,” Chirinos said. “It is more than just books; it is more than a computer lab. We are here to help you.”