Library Love on Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras at the Library!

Thank you all for making our first gaming night at the library a big success! Last night, at least 65 students came by the 5th floor Heritage Room to eat wings and pizza, and get their game on.

Super Smash Brothers was a big hit.

Games that got the most play include Super Smash Brothers and the Wii Fit — even the classic game Scattegories got in on the action.

There was also a raffle, which 67 students entered. There were three $10 Amazon gift cards awarded as prizes. The winners of the raffle drawing are:

Dan Parisi (Senior)

Devin Patel (Junior)

James Costello (Senior)

Winners will be notified via email of how and where to pick up your prizes.

We got enough positive feedback to know that gaming night is something we should do on a regular basis. So, we can all look forward to another gaming night in the library, since this one was such a hit.

But, by far, the best part of Mardi Gras at the Library was all of the *library love* we got from everyone who participated. Thanks for the great feedback guys, and we can’t wait for the next one!

Library Love (aw shucks :) )

(A special shout-out to the Center for Health and Education Wellness for lending us the games, and to our very own Bonnie Oldham and George Aulisio for planning this awesome event. For more coverage of Mardi Gras at the Library, including photos, check out our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/UofSLibrary.)

Extended hours have begun!

Those of you who are frequent visitors to the Library may have noticed that this week we’ve been closing 30 minutes later than usual. That’s because our extended hours leading up to finals have begun! Here is the schedule:

Tuesday-Thursday, Dec. 1st-3rd, 8AM-12Midnight

Friday, Dec. 4th, 8AM-10PM

Saturday, Dec. 5th, 9AM-9PM

Sunday, Dec. 6th, 12Noon-12Midnight

Monday-Thursday, Dec. 7th-10th, 7AM-2AM

Friday, Dec. 11th, 8AM-12Midnight

Saturday, Dec. 12th, 8AM-5PM

And as usual, the Pro Deo room is open 24 hours, and is accessible by swiping your Royal Card after hours.

Happy studying, all!

Systems Down in AM, Saturday 11/14

We were just notified that a number of University systems will be down this Saturday, 11/14, from 7-10 am. This is due to some needed electrical upgrades which will be made to the University’s main data center.

The systems that will be down for the upgrade include Library services that require authentication (i.e. logging into My.Scranton) including the article databases, ANGEL, and university email.

If all goes well, these systems will be back up and running by 10 am that morning. Thank you, library users, for your understanding and patience! Please plan accordingly!

Graduate Student Loan Period

flickr CC library books
Photo courtesy of Flickr user ‘eseering’ under a Creative Commons license.

 

Last Spring, we received feedback from grad students regarding their loan period for books. Our grad students are heavy researchers, and they made their case to us that the nature of their research requires a loan period of longer than 30 days. They pointed out that most grad level research assignments are semester-long, and so they would need their books for the length of the entire semester without the renewal period running out on them.

As a result, we have extended the loan period on books for graduate students to meet this need.

As of March of this year, the loan period for graduate students is always, at most, an entire semester. This means, when a graduate student checks out a book, it will always be due at the end of the current semester. One renewal is allowed though, which would then extend the due date to the end of the following semester.

So, to all of our grad students — happy researching!

Open Labor Day Weekend

Just a reminder that the Library will remain OPEN this weekend for normal business hours, except for Labor Day itself (Monday the 7th), when we will be open from 12 Noon until 11:30 pm.

So, while I know most of you will be out and about enjoying what NEPA has to offer this weekend, feel free to come on into the Library and get a leg up on your work for this semester!

One additional note: Our Library Help 24/7 Chat Reference Service will be CLOSED on Monday for Labor Day, but is available all other times throughout the weekend, and resumes again on Tuesday with 24/7 service.

Enjoy the weekend!

Fall 2009 Library Hours

We are just 2 short days away from the first day of classes. This weekend the University will be giving new students a Royal Welcome, and then it’s back to business here in the Library.  Below are the Library hours for Fall 2009, beginning on Monday, August 24th:

Monday-Thursday, 8:00AM-11:30PM

Friday, 8:00AM-10:00PM

Saturday, 12 Noon-8:00PM

Sunday, 12 Noon-11:30PM

And note also, the Library will be OPEN on Labor Day weekend, and on Labor Day itself (Monday, September 7th) from 12 Noon-11:30PM.

And as usual, the 1st floor Pro Deo Room is open 24 hours, 7 days per week.

We wish you a great start to your semester, and look forward to meeting/seeing everyone!

Welcome (back), Bonnie and George!

It’s been a busy year in the Library, with two important Library staff transitions. You may recall that last year at this time, we bid a fond farewell to Katie Duke, Coordinator of Information Literacy, and welcomed George Aulisio as our new Part-Time Reference Librarian. This year saw us searching for a Librarian to take Katie’s place, and our very own Bonnie Oldham turned out to be the best candidate for the job! This meant Bonnie’s position as Distance Learning Library Services Coordinator became vacant, and after yet another search (this time with one of the largest applicant pools ever seen at the Library), our joy was doubled when George emerged as the top candidate for this position. And so, we welcome (back) Bonnie and George, each in a new job role — Bonnie as Information Literacy Coordinator and George as Distance Learning Library Services Coordinator!

George and Bonnie 008
Bonnie and George in their 2nd floor office in the Weinberg Memorial Library

Bonnie was born in Harrisburg, PA, and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia. She has lived in Georgia and New Jersey, and twenty years ago she returned to Pennsylvania, where she has remained ever since. She currently resides in Shavertown. She received her undergraduate degree (A.B.) in History from Chestnut Hill College, her Master of Library Science degree from Kutztown University, and her Master of Science in Organizational Management degree from Misericordia University. Bonnie brings 19 total years of experience in academic libraries to her new role as Information Literacy Coordinator.

George grew up in Old Forge, PA, and still calls Old Forge his home. George received his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy degree from Bloomsburg University, his Master of Library Science degree from Drexel University, and is currently pursuing his Master of Liberal Arts degree at the University of Pennsylvania.

If you are a student or faculty member in the Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Exercise Science and Sport, or Nursing Departments, then Bonnie is the Librarian you will want to get to know. She is the collection development and information literacy liaison to these departments, just as George is the liaison to the Philosophy, Communication, Mathematics and Computer Science Departments. Both are especially looking forward to working more with faculty and students in their collection development areas.

In her free time, Bonnie enjoys cooking and doing crafts – for example, five years ago she made her daughter’s wedding dress. George, who has a deep thirst for knowledge, spends much of his free time pursuing his studies; however, he also enjoys yard work, including cutting the grass and trimming the trees. Both enjoy reading (what librarian doesn’t?), and both can be found sharing the same 2nd floor office in the Weinberg Memorial Library. George can be found in the Library most evenings of the week, Sunday through Thursday, while Bonnie is easiest to find during the day, Monday through Friday. Feel free to stop by and say hello to them – they both welcome visitors!

Smile, Summer’s here! :-)

The end of finals week is 2 short days away… And the sun is out and the temps are high, which means, summer is here! …all of which makes this librarian a happy gal! :-)

It also means the Library hours change in honor of the summer months:

Memorial Day Weekend and the week following:

Saturday-Monday, May 23-25: Closed

Tuesday-Thursday, May 26-28: 8:00 AM-4:30 PM

Commencement Weekend:

Friday, May 29: 8:00 AM-8:00 PM

Saturday, May 30: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM

Sunday, May 31: Closed

Summer Hours:

June 1-August 4:

Monday-Thursday: 8:00 AM-10:00 PM

Friday: 8:00 AM-4:30 PM

Saturday: 12 Noon-6:00 PM

Sunday: 12 Noon-8:00 PM

And of course, congratulations (or conGRADulations, as I like to say *rimshot*) to our graduating seniors, U of Scranton Class of 2009!