The Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. Collection was established in July 2007 with a generous donation from Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. and contains materials that, as per Dr. Wynn's request, "pertain... to socially responsible topics, such as ecology and the environment, cultural awareness, global citizenship, teaching tolerance, appreciating diversity, fighting poverty, and promoting world peace."
Dr. Wynn served as President of Durham Tech from 1980 to 2007, when he retired and was named President Emeritus. He has the distinction of being the first African American community college president in North Carolina and was, at the time, the youngest community college president ever in North Carolina. Dr. Wynn mentored many other college presidents and is remembered as a leader in state and regional community college and academic associations and a champion in recruiting and growing industry in our state. After his death in 2018, the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation awarded $50,000 to the Durham Technical Community College Foundation to create the Dr. Phail Wynn, Jr. Library Endowment and continue his collection and legacy.
The Wynn Collection resides on the Main Campus Library and is available for browsing in-person and digitally through our catalog.
Book clubs meet once to discuss a book in its entirety. A book may be selected and assigned between one and two months ahead of time.
Reading circles meet once weekly for 4-6 weeks, breaking down a book into smaller sections. Meetings will focus on a few questions related to the topic within the smaller reading section "assigned" for the week.
Any book that has reading circle questions can be adapted for a book club. (And you're free to make your own questions or topics for discussion or use something available on the web.)
While a book club allows you to engage with all the content of a book at once and may be better for people with less flexible schedules, a reading circle can allow you to more deeply engage with the text and build community through on-going discussions.
All selections are designed to provide structured opportunities for Durham Tech students, faculty, and staff to choose and lead their own reading groups with their preferred peers and reading partners. The Durham Tech Library plans to run 1-2 groups per semester, but the books are available for any groups to check out for an 8 week period.
There are 7 copies of most books available for 8 week-no renewal checkout. Additional copies may be available in the circulating collection (3 week checkout with 1 renewal) or available through interlibrary loan. Most books have an audiobook option and most have an ebook option available through the Dogwood Digital Collection.
An overarching goal of this project is to facilitate community-building through conversations, communication, and connection about topics important to our community and ourselves.
Read ebooks or audiobooks on your computer, or download the Libby App to read on your mobile device. When using the Libby App select Dogwood Digital Library, then select Durham Tech, and use your Durham Tech username and password as your library card to register.
Borrow thousands of popular fiction and non-fiction eBooks and eAudiobooks. This is a collection of downloadable titles available through the Libby app. Dogwood Digital Library is a collaboration between many North Carolina community college libraries, including the Durham Tech Library.