Silver Special Collections librarians continually add historical and contemporary materials to the Vermont Research Collection on all aspects of the state, from A-Z. Here are four recent additions published in 2023 that include the history of a music festival, a refugee's memoir, a monthly almanac and new research on eugenics. The descriptions are taken from publishers' websites.

The Vermont Reggae Festival, the Power of Music: The First Five Years in Burlington, Vermont by Bobby Hackney

“Vermont Reggae Festival The Power Of Music brings back to life the exciting time during the 80s in Burlington, Vermont when musical and social history was made all through the vehicle of a music festival aimed at promoting the sound and culture of Reggae Music. The book reflects the vibes and history of a humble musical event idea that became a ground- and record-breaking historical event in Burlington, and went on to last another 12 years in other parts of the State.” Includes a wonderful collection of photos.

Vermont Almanac, Stories from and for the Land, Volume 4 (2023)

“The Almanac is organized by month, and provides a year’s worth of stories, data, illustrations, and photography. In this sense, Vermont Almanac frames time: when you’re wondering what year the forest tent caterpillar infestation was, or if deer season 2020 was the snowy one or the mild one, you’ll have a record to consult. But each volume does more than look back; it also introduces readers to the people who inspire hope for the future of the land we all share. The farmers, loggers, conservationists, homesteaders, scientists, hunters – in short, the “doers” – who are preserving and pioneering a rural way of life in an increasingly urbanized culture.”

Eyes Guided by God: A Memoir by Janvier F. Nsengiyumva

"A child of Burundian immigrants, Janvier was born and raised in the harsh reality of Tanzanian refugee camps. This stark yet moving autobiography tells of his memories of that time, from his birth and growing up in the camps with his brothers and sisters, to his early years in the United States. Recalling the memories of his family and their journey from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide to the Tanzanian camps before he was born in 1997, Janvier tells the story of a shy child living in a refugee camp, navigating a world of poverty, fear, death, illness, and bullying as his family dealt with the repatriation of Burundian refugees and the immigration process."

Vermont for the Vermonters: The History of Eugenics in the Green Mountain State by Mercedes de Guardiola

“In “Vermont for the Vermonters”: The History of Eugenics in the Green Mountain State, Mercedes de Guardiola examines how the state’s eugenics movement emerged out of the public policies of the nineteenth century and led to state-sanctioned programs of institutionalization, sterilization, family separation, and education aimed at the most vulnerable Vermonters. Exploring the social and political legacy of the movement, de Guardiola brings new scholarship and context to one of Vermont’s darkest chapters.”