Volunteers and Donations for the Library’s Annual Book Sale

LIBRARY BOOK SALE 2013 Call for VolunteersThe Library will host its Annual Book Sale the weekend of April 27th.  As always, proceeds will benefit the Friends of the Library endowment fund in support of WML’s collections and services.  If you are a student and would like to earn service hours, please consider volunteering.  We will need help pricing, organizing, and selling the books.  For more information or to sign up, please contact Ellen Judge at Ellen.Judge@scranton.edu or stop by the Center for Service & Social Justice, DeNaples 205B.

The Library is also seeking donations of tag sale items and current hardcover and paperback books in good condition.  No encyclopedias or old textbooks please.  You may drop off your contributions in the donation boxes at our Monroe Ave entrance.

Finding New Books Made Easy

WML Research GuidesThanks to the Library’s Cataloging Department, finding new books has never been easier.

Now, if you want to see what new books have come in for a specific subject, then all you have to do is visit the Library’s Research Guides at www.scranton.edu/library/researchguides.

You would then pick a subject, for example “History.” In the History Research Guides page you will see useful links which direct you to helpful Databases, Reference Books, Websites, and contact information for the Librarian Subject Specialist; but now there is also a link to “New Library Books.” Clicking New Library Books will take you to the library’s Catalog and a display of all of the new books that the library has acquired for that specific Academic Department!

GLBT History Month

October is GLBT History Month, and the Scranton Inclusion student group will be celebrating the achievements of GLBT icons throughout history.  If your interest is piqued by the flyers you’ll be seeing around campus, why not stop by the Library to learn a little more about GLBT history?

We have some relevant books, like…

You can also read the works and biographies of GLBT icons including…

And don’t forget that you can take a look at our GLBTQ Inclusion Research Guide for additional resources on GLBTQ issues.

Distinguished Author Book Discussion

The Templar Legacy
The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry

Did you enjoy the films National Treasure or The Da Vinci Code? Are you fascinated reading about Alexander the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, Napoleon, or other historical figures? Have you wondered how authors combine research, adventure, and storytelling?

The works of Steve Berry, who will be awarded the 2011 Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author award on March 19, 2011, combine these elements. Read one of his books and come talk about it with others. The Weinberg Memorial Library will be hosting this event in room 305 from 12:00noon to 1:00pm on Wednesday, July 28, 2010. Bring your lunch. Cookies and drinks will be provided. If you’d like to participate or want more information, contact Bonnie Oldham. Call x4000 or e-mail oldhamb3@scranton.edu

National Library Week to be Celebrated at the University

This year, the Weinberg Library will join libraries through the nation in celebrating the importance and value of libraries to their communities, whether they serve  a public, academic, or school population. To begin our celebration, we’d like to invite you to participate in our second Gaming Night, which will kick off the week. Following a very successful maiden run in February, library patrons responded to a survey which asked if it the event should be repeated. The positive response was overwhelming, so on Monday evening April 12 from 8-11 P.M. you may try your hand (and foot) at a variety of Wii games, including Wii Fit, Wii Sport, and Mario Kart. Free refreshments – pizza, wings, and more will be offered, and if Wii isn’t your forte, traditional board games will also be available. Come and take a break from your studies for a while — you may even win one of our great prizes! While you are in the library, stop at 4th floor Quiet Study Room to view the display of favorite books by library staffers. A wide range of fiction, non-fiction and children’s books will be featured, each with the staff member’s name. Finally, the Library is rolling out our newest reference service — Text a UofS Librarian.  If your phone is equipped with a basic texting service, you may text a message to our reference desk at 570-687-8787 any time the Library is open. Questions about book locations, library hours, and library holdings can be quickly answered through our texting service.

And although our annual Book Sale starts next weekend (April 23-25), it is still not too late to donate books to the sale. Boxes are positioned in the  Monroe Avenue side lobby of the Weinberg Library. All donations are welcome!

Come and celebrate National Library Week at the Weinberg Library.

Book Sale 2010: The Preparations Begin

We’re T-minus 73 days to the kickoff of Book & Plant Sale 2010, and the Library staff is already busy getting ready for our biggest annual event.  Clear your calendar for April 24 and 25, since this year’s sale promises to be one of our best yet.

The Library has started collecting donations of used hardcover and paperback books, along with videos, CDs, records, and tag sale items.  If you’re doing some early spring cleaning and would like to donate, please drop off your contributions in the donation boxes at our Monroe Ave entrance.

Recruitment of this year’s class of volunteers has also begun. We’re looking for students, patrons, and friends of the Library to help us price, organize, and sell our books.  Give Barb E. a call at 570-941-4078 and let her know what times you’re available.

And in the meantime, feel free to start thinking about where you’ll start your browsing when the doors open. Cookbooks? Nonfiction? Barb’s famous “Special Treasures”? The fragrant flowering plants? Whichever section catches your eye, shop with a happy heart, knowing that your purchases benefit the Friends of the Library endowment fund and support the collections and services of the Weinberg Memorial Library.

Scratches, a poem by William Bernhardt

At the end of Saturday’s Distinguished Author event, award recipient William Bernhardt read one of his poems, titled “Scratches,” to the audience.  The attendees loved it, and so many people wanted a copy that we asked Mr. Bernhardt if we could post it here on Infospot.  He agreed – so here, in its entirety, is “Scratches.”

Scratches

This is how it begins;
scratches on signs, on blocks
on a white page. Then the
scratches start to dance.  They
recombinate, they collect sounds
they call your name.
Like so much in childhood
they are ciphers, full of secrets
but once you learn the dance
the secrets of the world
and more, are revealed.
You learn to read.

You learn:
manners from Goldilocks
curiosity from George
gluttony from Peter
the importance of nonsense from Alice.
You set sail with Jim Hawkins, raft with Huck
row with Mole.
You learn that love is eternal, from Catherine
but so is madness, says the first Mrs. Rochester.
Jeeves helps you laugh
poetry helps you cry
Atticus shows you how to do both, with courage.

Not only have the scratches shaped the world
they have shaped your world.
They have taught you how to see.
Now you need never be afraid.
Now you will never be alone.
In the darkest night
in the deepest solitude
the scratches will call to you.
You will open the covers.
They will reach out their arms and say
“Hey! You thought you were the only one?
You’re not.”

Copyright 2009 William Bernhardt

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!