This celebration, which began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week, runs September 15 – October 15, and honors the histories, cultures and contributions of Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Find the month’s official site (which explains, among other things, why the month starts midway through), plus a variety of cool books, e-books, audiobooks, films, and websites in Haggerty Library’s Hispanic Heritage Month Guide!
Find our library display just inside the Learning Commons or spend some time relaxing with our Frida Kahlo puzzle.
For public libraries, September is National Library Card Month, but Haggerty Library has you covered – your Mount Mary ID is also your library card!
But we also wanted to promote reading this month! Books help you think more deeply about a topic or person. Scrolling quickly through countless feeds or apps on your phone does not. Sustained attention on a topic helps your brain.
While reading outside of your coursework may be a challenge, try taking up that challenge at some point! Maybe over breaks? Here’s what your library has to offer (in addition to tons of academic books):
Fiction – lots of stories that take you places!
Graphic novels – lots of stories, and some memoirs, that take you places visually! We even have a large and growing collection of graphic novels written and illustrated solely by women!
Poetry – discover poems, short or long, and be dazzled by words again!
Memoirs – read and connect with a wide variety of personal stories and experiences!
Audiobook and e-book formats – when you’re on the move, or just because, listen to lots of great stories on Libby! Or read them on your devices.
To discover all this head to our home page, stop by New Arrivals in the Learning Commons, or head upstairs to the 2nd floor of the library. For more details or help, see Using the Library.
Your Haggerty Library offers three streaming video services for coursework or enjoyment (see below). On campus, just click around from Databases A-Z (all titles are not in Primo, so this works better); remotely, just log in with your MMU email address.
Kanopy (academic and entertainment!)
ProQuest One Psychology (large mental health database that contains videos from Behavioral and Mental Health Online, which we discontinued)
Psychotherapy.net (expressive arts therapy films)
For details on how all these platforms work, see this guide.
To mark the passing of beloved singer, ally, and reading advocate, Dolly Parton, consider watching Dolly Parton: 50 Years at the Opry, streaming on Kanopy. And check out her music wherever you like. In Dolly’s memory we trust!
Haggerty Library has one opening for a Graduate Library Assistant. To apply, see the posting here. Here are some highlights:
A quiet working environment
Ability to work on homework or research
Learn helpful service and library skills
Meet great people!
This role alternates two nights per week with another grad student and rotates Sundays. If you are looking for a some extra paid hours and solid experience, check this out! Interviews will take place in the coming weeks, and we hope to train someone new the week before calsses begin.
Undergraduate students, check open campus positions this fall, too, as we will have 3 available!
It’s summertime, and the reading is easy. Haggerty Library has plenty of fiction, graphic novels, poetry, and academic subjects galore! 48th on the waiting list at your local library for your book club book? We may have it, or you can request it in Primo! (No guarantees, you understand.) We will resume ordering books in July, but you can always stop by our leisure reading area in New Arrivals for the latest. We added plenty toward the end of the school year.
Feel more like listening to a good book? Try our Libby! It’s part of the Wisconsin Academic Library Collection (WISCAL). If you already enjoy Libby, just search Mount Mary University and add us! Libby also has thousands of e-books. Learn more about our Libby here.
There’s also Kanopy, which contains plenty of documentaries and narrative features, with strengths in social justice and independent films. You can watch them anywhere there’s a wireless connection! You just need to log in with your MMU email.
So, before you think there’s nothing to read or watch, check us out!
Congratulations to our 2026 Haiku Contest winners! Read the winning entries below. You can read all past winners here.
Thank you to all those who remembered the “nature” theme, and for your thoughtful submissions. Out of the very strong group, it was truly difficult to decide. Two years running!
The winners below can claim their prizes at our main desk in the Learning Commons.
A huge thank you to all who submitted (we hope to see more students next year!), and we’ll see you for National Poetry Month in2027!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1st place: Richard Hedderman
first day of spring I
wash my hands in snow and dry
them on a blue shirt
2nd place: Yazmine Gardner-Stewart
Regrets Missed
Sunlight never beams
Deep waves are forever gone
We never seemed to care
3rd place: Alix Shaw
Wisconsin Spring
Small green things begin
Daffodils spring from the earth
Wait, what’s this? More snow??
~~~~~~~~~~~~
statue image of haiku master, Matsuo Bashō, from japantravel.com
Wow, it has been a week! The storms of 4/15 and 4/16 ended up knocking out a transformer (a big box that supplies electricity), and it powered Haggerty Library. While waiting on lengthy repairs, a large, temporary generator has been powering us, but it may not be the best fit. (That’s why the power has gone out several times since.) University staff are trying hard to find a stable solution.
The good news is that Haggerty Library staff are here for you (and in Parkway Place three evenings!), and here are the ways you can reach us.
Thank you for your patience during this unprecedented time at your library. We are here 8:00am-5:00pm M-F and on Sundays from 1:00pm-5:00pm. Sorry for this major inconvenience near the end of the school year.
Watch your MMU email, our home page, and our library hours on that page to stay updated!
Click here for our National Poetry Month guide to explore all things poetry!
Poem in Your Pocket Day is on Thursday, April 30th. Find poems to fold and stuff in your pockets just inside the Learning Commons. Or just snap pics of your favorites! (Many of your phones also go in your pockets.)
Also in the Learning Commons you’ll find a few of our poetry titles on display for checkout. Plenty more are on the 2nd floor in the 811s.
Consider taking part in our annual 8th annual Haiku Contest! Find official rules here. Peek at past contest winners here. You can submit haiku through the last day of April. The theme: nature.
Have a great month reading and sharing poems!
The 2026 poster features design and illustration by Alfredo Richner. Lines excerpted from the poem, “The Chance” by Arthur Sze, from The Redshifting Web: New & Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 1998).
On Sunday’s Academy Awards, Autumn Durald Arkapaw made history as the first female winner of the Oscar for Cinematography. Last month, she made history as the first woman of color nominated for this category. (Arkapaw’s heritage is Filipino American and African American Creole.)
The first female nominee was Rachel Morrison for Mudbound in 2017. She went on to shoot the first Black Panther with Ryan Coogler (Arkapaw then shot the second Black Panther, Wakanda Forever). Somehow, it took 97 years for a woman to win in this category! An extra congratulations!
Watch Sinners on DVD from Haggerty Library, so you can see for yourself. We also have a DVD player available for checkout.
Haggerty Library & Learning Commons 