The National Endowment for the Humanities/American Library Association Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War Traveling Grant Exhibition for Libraries – funded by National Endowment for the Humanities and created by the National Constitution Center – will tour the Xavier Library Resource Center April 6 to June 25. In conjunction with the exhibition the Xavier University Library is sponsoring a Lincoln Essay Contest. Visit Lincoln Flyer for more details or contact Michele Woods at 520-7584. Other events and activities associated with this one-of-kind exhibit will be announced later.
Girl Power Books…
March is a great month for us to highlight some of the literary works written by women, even though these women could compete with any author any month of the year. A casual poll of the bibliophiles here at the Xavier library produced this list of our ten all time favorite books by women.
1. Morrison, Toni. 1994. The bluest eye. New York: Plume Book.
2. Austen, Jane. 1985. Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen. London: Macmillan.
3. Lee, Harper. 1960. To kill a mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
4. Hurston, Zora Neale. 1990. Their eyes were watching God: a novel. New York: Perennial Library.
5. Tan, Amy. 1989. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Putnam’s.
6. Walker, Alice. 1982. The color purple: a novel. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
7. Brontë, Charlotte. 2011. Jane Eyre. [S.l.]: Tribeca Books.
8. Alcott, Louisa May. 2008. Little women. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
9. Kidd, Sue Monk. 2003. The secret life of bees. New York: Penguin.
10. Rand, Ayn. 1999. Atlas shrugged. New York: Plume.
What book would you like to add to our list?
Filed under Books, Xavier's Community, Xavier's Library
This Month in Review…
Happy 2011! Welcome back to the Xavier University Library or “back to the grind” as I’ve heard some students say as they trudge upstairs to study rooms. We are busy as ever with several new transfer students eager to use our information resources and our bibliographic instruction classes.
This semester we are looking forward to presenting the traveling exhibition Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War which will arrive here at the library on April 15, 2011. In the meantime, there is prize money to be won from the library sponsored Lincoln essay contest. Three students can win from $25 – $100 for composing a 2000 word essay about how Lincoln confronted the constitutional, slavery, secession and civil war issues that he faced during his presidency.
Our campus is still concerned about Haiti and its earthquake recovery. On January 12, 2011 the Xavier Haiti Cherie Committee hosted a screening of the film, The Sugar Babies – a modern tale of slavery & sugar in the Dominican Republic. Although most freshman have finished reading Tracy Kidder’s book Mountains Beyond Mountains, they continue to follow the work Paul Farmer is doing for Haiti.
Library programs began the first week students returned to campus with our Books into Film Series. January 13, 2011 we showed the 1960 film The Time Machine based on the book of the same title written by H.G. Wells.
On Martin Luther King’s Birthday several Xavierites kicked off the 25th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Week for Peace (MONDAY-FRIDAY Jan. 17-21). They volunteered around the city of New Orleans in cooperation with service organizations such as Operation Nehemiah. This experience allowed students to live the Xavier mission of creating a more just and humane society. Poet and activist Nikki Giovanni was the keynote speaker at the WEDNESDAY (Jan. 19) headline event, the MLK Convocation, at Loyola University.
She graciously signed our library copy of the book Black Feeling, Black Talk with the inscription “to future activists.” Of coarse, now this signed copy of her book of poems is located in our Archives department where everyone may view her signature. We have several other books by Giovanni available for check out including her latest book of poems, Bicycles: Love Poems (so appropriate as we approach Valentine’s Day).
Filed under Archives, Books, Lincoln, New Orleans, Xavier exhibitions, Xavier's Community, Xavier's Library
Library Service Awards
This semester five of our library employees received awards for their years of service here at Xavier. Congratulations Phyllis Calvin, Alice Roy, Fred Reed and Gennice King!
Congratulations Phyllis Calvin, Alice Roy, Fred Reed and Gennice King
Wanda Martin was also rewarded for her dedicated service to the library.
Congratulations Wanda!
Filed under Xavier's Community, Xavier's Library
Our Pharmacy Department does it all!
The Xavier Library Pharmacy Department is poised and ready for the fall 2010 semester. Pictured below from left to right are Dr. Kennedy, Dean of the College of Pharmacy and an avid library user, Phyllis Calvin the Pharmacy Health Science collection manager, Sandra Monroe the pharmacy library assistant and Eric Joseph the research archivist as well as our library assistant.
With over 660 pharmacy students on campus this year they have quite a lot of work to do yet still they find time to create aesthetically pleasing displays.
And pose for the occasional photograph…
Filed under Xavier's Library, Xavier's Community, Xavier Faculty
Louisiana Docs Librarians Participate in National Library Advocacy Day in Washington, DC
Xavier University Library’s very own Marilyn Lee traveled to Washington D.C. earlier this summer to participate in National Library Advocacy Day. On Tuesday, June 29, 2010, Ms. Lee attended the American Library Association (ALA) sponsored rally and legistlative day along with 2000 of her fellow librarians. This is actually not the first time she has advocated for all libraries be they school, public, special or academic. Ms. Lee frequently sends out emails to remind librarians here at Xavier of the pending budget cuts some libraries are facing in spite of the huge benefits they provide for the communities they serve. We’re all grateful to Marilyn for her contribution to libraries everywhere.
Filed under ALA, Xavier's Library
Library Open House for Faculty & Staff
The Xavier University Library will host an open house on August 6, 2010 from 9am until 1pm so mark your calendars! This open house will begin the 2010-2011 academic year with tours and demonstrations designed to acquaint you with everything the library has to offer. All who attend will be eligible for door prizes and gifts. Refreshments will be served.
Filed under Xavier Faculty, Xavier's Community, Xavier's Library
It’s Not That Easy Being Green
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has many of us here in the library seeing green. Below is a list of some of the reading materials we’ve been perusing on the subject:
Described by Professor Jared Diamond of UCLA Medical School as a “gut-wrenching, important book,” Requiem for Nature by John Terborgh challenges everyone to protect the rich biodiversity of our planet.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai personalizes the struggles of being green when she tells her story of environmental activism in Unbowed A Memoir.
Creatures of the Deep by Erich Hoyt gives an illustrated tour of the deep blue sea and it’s most unusual creatures.
Wetlands by Peter D. Moore with illustrations by Richard Garratt. From the Ecosystem series of Facts on File, this book describes the different types of wetlands, the biodiversity of wetlands, their value and the future of wetlands. Colorful charts, tables, photographs and illustrations are interspersed throughout this volume. In the same series, the book Oceans by Trevor Day galvanizes the international community of concerned citizens to protect and preserve our oceans.
Green Cities: Urban Growth and the Environment by Matthew E. Kahn. This book asks and answers the question “are economic growth and environmental health mutually exclusive?”
“To become extinct is the greatest tragedy in nature” begins the book The Race to Save the Lord God Bird by Phillip Hoose. This history of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker recounts the demise of the bird and how its absence forever impacts biodiversity.
Reducing Gasoline Consumption: Three Policy Options by Terry Dinan and David Austin of the Congressional Budget Office. A government document from 2002 that is still being discussed.
Other notable books on environmental issues follow:
Justice and Natural Resources edited by Kathryn M. Mutz, Gary C. Bryner, and Douglas S. Kenney
Global Backlash: Citizen Initiatives for a Just World Economy edited by Robin Broad
Earthly Goods, Environmental Change and Social Justice edited by Fen Osler hampson and Judith Reppy
The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability by James Gustave Speth
Dark Green Religion: Nature, Spirituality and the Planetary Future by Bron Taylor
Wings of Paradise: Birds of the Louisiana Wetlands by Charlie Hohorst.
Filed under Books, Xavier's Library
Welcome Back Institute for Black Catholic Studies Students!
We look forward to assisting you here at the Xavier Library. We have great electronic databases and reference books available to you as you embark on your research for your Masters Degrees, certificates or scholarly enrichment. We also look forward to pointing you towards our leisurely reading sections and cluing you in to any tidbits we have about places to go and things to do while in New Orleans. Bienvenue!
Lost Something?
Items left at the library.
Check at the information desks on the first floor of the library if you think you left an item behind after studying. After 24 hours, we take all valuables over to the campus police station for safe keeping.
Filed under Xavier's Community, Xavier's Library
