It's almost over

So the 2007-2008 is almost over and Wesleyan will celebrate its 118 Commencement Ceremony this weekend. The library has been very busy this week, filled with students doing last-minute preparations for final exams. Cafe Libros has stayed busy as well, providing sugar and caffeine to those in need!

Thank you to all of you who took part in the library-sponsored book discussion this year. We are planning to continue the series during the 2008-2009 academic year -- the titles for 2008-2009 are listed below by discussion month for those of you interested in reading suggestions for the
summer. You do not have to attend all the discussions to take part; read and discuss only the titles of interest to you. For more information, contact Beth Rogers in the library (rogers_e@wvwc.edu).

2008-2009 Book Discussion Titles
August - Sue Monk Kidd - The Secret Life of Bees
September - Marjane Satrapi - Persopolis

October - Stephanie Meyer - Breaking Dawn

November - Christopher Paolini - Brisingr

January - Neal Schusterman -- Unwind

February - Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons - Watchmen


March - Elizabeth Kostova - The Historian

April - Marcus Luttrell & Patrick Robinson -- Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness
Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

We've had a good but busy year here in the library. Summer will be a nice chance to slow down, evaluate projects and prepare for the fall, and recharge before another year.

Have a wonderful summer!

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

It's hard to believe that it is only a matter of weeks now until the end of the spring semester. March marked the one year anniversary of Cafe Libros and we've been very pleased at student response to the library's coffee bar offerings. We've passed Spring Break and Easter weekend and are now starting to look ahead to finals hours, food for fines, and then May term and summer school.

Before that though, there are still some upcoming events in the library. On April 7, Communication professor Pete Galarneau will be the focus of the next Cafe Libros Presents event. Professor Galarneau will be reading excepts from his recently published novel The Cubit followed by a question and answer period.

Busy, Busy Days Ahead

We're coming up on a week of exciting events in the library.

On Tuesday, March 18 @ 6:30 pm, we will host our second Cafe Libros Presents event of the spring semester. Wesleyan track and cross-country coach Jesse Skiles will present a reading from his book Mountaineer Dreams with a question and answer time to follow. All are invited to attend.

Wednesday, March 19 will be the March meeting of the library-sponsored book discussion group. Beginning at 11:30 am, we will meet in Special Dining Room B of the French A. See Dining Center to discuss Sherman Alexie's National Book Award-winning young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The book discussion group is open to all members of the campus community.

Also on Wednesday, March 19, will be the first of a series of gender studies lectures co-sponsored by the library and the gender studies committee.
Carol Pelletier, Associate Professor of Art, will present a lecture entitled "Gender Identity and the Portrait" on Wednesday, March 19 @ 4:30 pm in Hyma Auditorium. All students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend. The lecture will last approximately 30 minutes and be followed by a question and answer period.

Due to the personal and sexual nature of gender identity, some images shown may be shocking or offensive to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

We hope you will enjoy these library programming events. Hope to see you soon!

Getting Graphic in the Library!

The library is pleased to announce that we are now hosting a deposit collection of graphic novels from the West Virginia Library Collection. We have borrowed these titles from the Library Commission in an attempt to assess community interest in graphic novels before we consider buying or not buying such resources for our collection. This small but diverse collection of titles includes manga, mainstream American comics, art comics, and some books about comics history and criticism. The collection is housed in the library periodicals room, just past the current fiction shelves. Titles may be checked out for 21 days and the collection will be available through the end of the spring semester.

If you have questions about the graphic novel collection, please contact Beth Rogers (rogers_e@wvwc.edu).

Spring 2008 Library Programming Begins

This week saw the beginning of the 2008 library-sponsored programming events. Our discussion of The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman was good and included a visitor to our campus from the Appalachian College Association. It's always great when new people can add their opinions to our discussions.

If you are more of a non-fiction reader, perhaps you would like to join our next book discussion. We will be reading and discussing The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, a memoir of growing up in a poor and dysfunction family. A large part of Walls' childhood was spent in Welch, WV -- a small mining town in the southern part of the state. A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, Walls' memoir is both heart-wrenching and awe-inspiring. Look for the exact date of this discussion to be announced soon, tentatively it will be sometime in mid-February.

Also coming in February is the first Cafe Libros Presents of the spring semester. On February 7, from 4:30-6 pm, Dean of the Chapel Angela Gay Kinkead will be leading a discussion of "Caring for Mother: A Daughter's Long Good-bye." The discussion will be held in the Cafe Libros area of the library and all are invited to attend.

Springing Forward Into a New Year

And a new semester. We here at Wesleyan have just finished the first week of classes for Spring 2008 and the library has been inundated with students seeking reserve readings, hot coffee, and a quiet place to study.

We're excited to report that the library has added three new electronic resources to its list of available databases for the spring semester -- The Criminal Justice Periodicals Index, the International Index to Music Periodicals, and Contemporatry Women's Issues. In conjunction with our already-strong electronic resources, we believe these new resources will increase the research resources available to WVWC's students, faculty, and staff.

For more information on the library's electronic resources, contact Beth Rogers (rogers_e@wvwc.edu).

Wrapping it all up for the holidays!

Well, we've reached the end of another semester here in the library. It's been a busy fall for all of us. We started the semester with a new library director, a new reference librarian, and a new circulation supervisor. That's definitely a lot of change for a small library! Things have worked out well though; all are settling into their new positions comfortably and service at the library remains at the high levels our students, faculty, and staff have come to expect.

Like our students, we are ready for the rest provided by the winter break! The library will close at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 19, and reopen at 8am on Thursday, Jan. 3.

Look for new and exciting developments in your library for the spring semester. We are adding three new electronic resources as well as new books and videos. The library's book discussion group will also resume in the spring -- our January title will be Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass. Plus, we are working to arrange more programming events for our Cafe Libros presents series.

See you in January!