Attention Students:

Please return or renew your library materials before you leave for the Holiday Break.  Library materials left behind in your dorms will become delinquent over the break if forgotten and you will return to some hefty fines.

If you need to bring items home with you over the break, just let us know that so that we can adjust your due dates.

You may contact the Circulation Desk at 570-941-7524.

Thank you and have a great Holiday!

Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, there is no technical support for printers or computers from

4 p.m. Wednesday, November 24 until 3:30 p.m. Sunday, November 23, 2010.

One of the reasons why I love working at Weinberg Library is because it gives me the opportunity to hear some of the great speakers the University attracts. On Wednesday, November 17th, Barry Edelstein spoke about his Broadway production of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino as Shylock. Edelstein discussed whether or not the play is antisemitic. He claimed that it depends on the context and the interpreter; and he highly recommended two books which are in the Weinberg Library collection: Shakespeare and the Jews by James Shapiro (PR2825 .S44 1996) and John Gross’ Shylock : a legend and its legacy (PR2825 .G76 1992) . His hopeful conclusion was that time passes, and that human society grows, “we know what hatred costs and we can put an end to it”, and “hatred destroys; staging it-heals.”

Taking the extra time to be courteous, Kathleen Rinaggio,  ambassador for the University of Scranton and Weinberg Library Circulation Clerk, changed an ordinary day for a visiting New York Times writer into an  “unexpected little moment” that “was the high point of my staycation”,  said Joe Queenan in a recent essay.  A discussion of “That Championship Season”, a play written by Jason Miller, started Kathy’s trip down memory lane. Reminiscing about Robert Mitchum, Martin Sheen and Paul Sorvino, Kathy – an extra in the 1982 film version of Miller’s play – shared her experiences with Queenan.  Kathy then suggested The Piazza dell’Arte as  Queenan’s next stop in downtown Scranton.  Commenting on the bust of Jason Miller there, Queenan stated that “Putting up a statue honoring a writer that hailed from Scranton shows more imagination and class.”

Queenan’s essay ” Post Cards From My Literary Staycation” in the New York Times can be found at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/books/review/Queenan-t.html