Leaves of Class XVIII ~ August Winner!

Congratulations to Dr. John Norcross of Clarks Summit, our August Leaves of Class winner, who won a Pro Fitness basket including: 1 3-month membership and 2 personal training sessions gift certificates; sweat towels, key clips, ear buds, club information and more, gift cards and/or certificates from P.J. Scanlan’s, Nana’s Pasta House, Damon’s Grill & Sports Bar, The Windsor Inn, Six East Restaurant, Boscov’s, Salon Sage & Day Spa, The Settlers Inn at Bingham Park, Debbie’s Flower Boutique, Inc., The Bog, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and a Amazon gift card courtesy of William Varady. John also won a set of 4 tickets from Roba Family Farms, and a 1 ct. t.w. diamond bracelet courtesy of Midori Yamanouchi, Ph.D.

There are still FOUR more drawings for Leaves of Class XVIII!

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Leaves of Class XVIII ~ July Winner & August Drawing

We pull our August winner tomorrow – Will it be you?

Congratulations to Donna Rupp of Scranton, our July winner, who won a Coleman Roadtrip portable propane grill courtesy of Fidelity Bank, gift cards from Wegmans, Abe’s Deli, Mansour’s Market, Gold Crown Pizza, Damon’s Grill & Sports Bar, The University of Scranton Bookstore, and TGI Fridays. In addition, Donna won a basket of cheer compliments of Ann Moskovitz, a beach gift basket from The Commonwealth Medical College, a movie gift bag from The Dietrich Theater, 2 theatre subscriptions from The University of Scranton Players, and two tickets to the Wyalusing Valley Wine Festival!

There are still FIVE more drawings for Leaves of Class XVIII. PURCHASE YOUR CHANCES TODAY!

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5.06 ~ The University of Scranton’s Day of Giving

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Don’t judge a book by its cover.

More than just books, the Weinberg Memorial Library is a central hub for collaboration, technology, art, research, and even coffee breaks. Scranton students have 24-hour access to this campus hotspot, as well as 24-hour online access to thousands of special collections and digital resources.

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Thanks to Friends like you, the Weinberg Memorial Library is able to grow the number of resources available on campus and online each year. Today, on The University of Scranton’s Day of Giving, consider making your 5.06 gift to the Library.

Buy a Book on 5.06!
Did you know it costs $75 to add one book to the campus collection? With a gift of $75 or more today, a nameplate will be added to a book in your honor.

MAKE MY 5.06 GIFT

THE THIRD ANNUAL JAY NATHAN, PH.D. VISITING SCHOLAR LECTURE SERIES

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THE THIRD ANNUAL JAY NATHAN, PH.D.

VISITING SCHOLAR LECTURE SERIES

Tuesday, April 26, 2016, 5:30 PM
The Moskovitz Theater, The DeNaples Center, 4th Floor
The University of Scranton

Free and Open to the Public
Click Here to RSVP

For additional information, call the Weinberg Memorial Library at 570-941-7816 or email kym.fetsko@scranton.edu

This free event, which also will include a showcase of Thai art and culture, entertainment and a reception offering Thai delicacies, is all made possible through the generosity of Dr. Nathan, who divides his time between Scranton and New York, where he is a tenured full professor of management at St. John’s University in Queens. He was previously a tenured professor in the University’s Kania School of Management.

The honored guests, with similarly distinguished backgrounds, will bring a perspective to campus that is unique to emerging democracies and will highlight their own research while discussing timely topics of interest to students, faculty and the community at large.

In addition to Dr. Nathan, the panelists are:

▪ The Honorable Pornpong Kanittanon, the Royal Thai Consul General, who previously held multiple Secretary positions in the departments of Protocol, Political Affairs, East Asian Affairs and Information and worked in the Royal Thai Embassies in Indonesia, Japan and the Republic of Korea;

▪ Napadol Thongmee, consul of the Thai Trade Center, who also has held top positions in several Royal Thai Embassies across the globe and has spent 28 years in government service, representing Thai interests in Milan, Italy, Mexico City, Mexico, and Tehran, Iran;

▪ Srimala Waraphaskul, a 22-plus-year executive with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, or TAT, who is responsible for integrated marketing communications, advertising and trade outreach and promotional campaigns to increase arrivals to Thailand from the United States’ Eastern Seaboard;

▪ Korbsiri Iamsuri, director of the Thailand Board of Investment, who promotes North American investment in Thailand as part of the Thailand Board of Investment in New York City.

Celebrate Scranton’s Charter Day with Coloring Pages!

This Saturday is Charter Day, Scranton’s celebration of the 150th anniversary of its incorporation as a city. There will be lots of events going on all day, but here’s another festive option for creative Scrantonians: Charter Day Coloring Pages!

These Coloring Pages were a collaborative effort between the Lackawanna Historical Society, the Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives, the Leadership Lackawanna #HistoricScranton team, and the University of Scranton Weinberg Memorial Library (we had way too much fun working on our Local History Coloring Book back in February and couldn’t resist coming back for more!).

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The pages feature images of the city and its past. Leadership Lackawanna’s #HistoricScranton coloring pages, created as part of a current class project with the Historical Architectural Review Board, highlight historic buildings and architecture. The remaining pages hold digitized drawings from local history collections housed at LHS, the Scranton Public Library, and our own University Archives and Helen Gallagher McHugh Special Collections. (We also included a few images from books digitized by other libraries that are now in the public domain.) Each digitized image is accompanied by a citation describing the image and its source.

LHS will be printing out pages for coloring contests to be held throughout this week, but you can also download a digital copy and print out your own. Happy coloring, and happy birthday Scranton!

Many thanks to all our partners, and extra special thanks to our Weinberg Memorial Library students and staffers who helped with selecting images and making them coloring-friendly!

Color Our Collections: Local History

The library, archives, and museum world is abuzz this week with #ColorOurCollections, a weeklong cultural heritage coloring fest dreamed up by the New York Academy of Medicine and the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

As coloring fans ourselves, we couldn’t help but toss our hat into the ring. We’ve already shared a University Archives coloring book this week, but today we turn our gaze outward to our beloved city of Scranton.

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Local History Coloring Book (PDF)

All of the pages in the book were created using images from the Library’s digital collections, most of which were digitized from original drawings, photographs, and publications from our University Archives and Helen Gallagher McHugh Special Collections.

We hope you enjoy our book, and we can’t wait to see what colors you bring to our collections!

ICS Exhibit Reception

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On Tuesday, November 3 at 6pm the Weinberg Memorial Library will host a reception for “We Teach Wherever the Mails Reach,” an exhibit celebrating the 125th anniversary of the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton (ICS). This event is free and open to the public.

Professor William Conlogue of Marywood University, and author of Here and There: Reading Pennsylvania’s Working Landscapes and Working in the Garden: American Writers and the Industrialization of Agriculture, will talk about the history of ICS at the reception for the exhibit in the fifth floor Heritage Room of the Weinberg Memorial Library.

Founded in 1890, ICS originally grew out of a question and answer column written by Thomas J. Foster, publisher of Colliery Engineer and Metal Miner. Foster’s column helped mine workers, many being recent immigrants with limited English, to pass required mine safety exams. The column proved so successful that Foster created a correspondence course on coal mining.

Over the years ICS expanded into a variety of technical fields as well as providing basic courses in English. The company has been a leader in career-focused distance and blended learning for over 125 years. More than 13 million people have enrolled in their programs to further their education and learn advanced skills to better position them for life success.

ICS has changed names a number of times since 1996. The ICS location is currently operated by Penn Foster Career School, which is a regionally and nationally accredited post-secondary distance education school and considers ICS to be its predecessor.

In 2002, the Weinberg Library was given a collection of ICS materials by the company. These materials, primarily from the ICS marketing department, are the focus of this exhibit celebrating the history of the company.

The exhibit will be on display in the Weinberg Library’s fifth floor Heritage Room through Friday, December 11, 2015. For more information, please contact Special Collections Librarian Michael KniesMichael.Knies@Scranton.edu (570) 941-6341.

The Weinberg Memorial Library and Scranton Reads Present: “Rebel Without a Cause”

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Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

 

The Weinberg Memorial Library and Scranton Reads: One City, One Book Initiative present a free screening of  “Rebel Without a Cause”. This landmark film about alienated youth follows the tormented central characters during a single tumultuous night. James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo star as the angst-filled teens.

Join us for this classic film on Friday October 9, 2015 at 7 p.m. in Room 305 of the Weinberg Memorial Library. Kevin Norris will lead a discussion following the film and refreshments will be provided.

This screening is held in conjunction with the Albright Memorial Library and is open to the public.

Contact sharon.finnerty@scranton.edu for reservations or information.

Library Exhibit: 125th Anniversary of the International Correspondence Schools (ICS)

125th Anniversary of ICS

The International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania grew out of a question and answer column written by Thomas J. Foster, publisher of Colliery Engineer and Metal Miner. In 1885, Pennsylvania passed a Mine Safety Act, which required miners and inspectors to pass examinations on mine safety. Foster’s column helped mine workers, many being recent immigrants with limited English, to pass the exams. The column proved so successful that Foster created a correspondence course on coal mining. In 1890, Foster, who had relocated his publishing venture from Shenandoah to Scranton’s Coal Exchange Building, incorporated the “The Colliery Engineer Company,” creating the foundation for a formal school. In 1891, Foster and mining engineer Alexander Dick founded the “The Colliery Engineer School of Mines.” Until the International Textbook Company incorporated the school in late 1894, the names Colliery Engineer School of Mines, School of Mines, Correspondence Schools, and the International Correspondence School were used interchangeably. By early 1895, the school was officially known as the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania or ICS for short.

The first class enrolled 500 miners but within eight years, more than 190,000 students had enrolled in a variety of courses. Besides the initial classes related to mining, ICS expanded into a variety of technical fields as well as providing basic courses in English. By the first decade of the twentieth century, over 100,000 new students per year were enrolling in ICS courses; by 1910, a million cumulative enrollments had been achieved; and, by 1930, four million. By World War II, ICS’s reputation was such that it was given the War Department contract to develop the department’s training manuals. In 1916, ICS created The Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences in what is now the Scranton Preparatory School building. ICS was located on Wyoming Ave until 1958 when they relocated to Oak Avenue.

ICS Buildings
ICS Locations: Above- General Offices, Below- Women’s Institute (Now Scranton Prep)

ICS continued to thrive after the war but by the 1990s greater educational offerings had reduced the role of correspondence schools. ICS has changed names a number of times since 1996. The ICS location is currently operated by Penn Foster Career School, which is a regionally and nationally accredited post-secondary distance education school and considers ICS to be its predecessor.

In 2002, The University of Scranton Weinberg Library was given a collection of ICS materials by the company. These materials, primarily from the ICS marketing department, will be the focus of an exhibit celebrating the history of the company. On Tuesday, November 3 at 6:00 PM Professor William Conlogue of Marywood University, and author of Here and There: Reading Pennsylvania’s Working Landscapes and Working in the Garden: American Writers and the Industrialization of Agriculture, will talk about the history of ICS at a reception for the exhibit in the Heritage Room of Weinberg Memorial Library.

This exhibit will be on display in the Weinberg Library’s fifth floor Heritage Room through Friday, December 11, 2015. For more information, please contact Special Collections Librarian Michael Knies Michael.Knies@Scranton.edu (570) 941-6341.

 

Happy Birthday, Scranton: Kickoff to the 150th Anniversary Celebration

Scranton150Tomorrow morning at 9:15 am, the City of Scranton will kick off its year-long Sesquicentennial Anniversary Celebration. Scranton was incorporated as a city on April 23, 1866, so next spring (April 23, 2016) will be the city’s 150th birthday.

While the University of Scranton itself wasn’t around back at the very beginning (founded in 1888, we just celebrated our 125th anniversary in 2013-2014), we’re proud of the close ‘town and gown’ relationship we’ve had with the city of Scranton throughout our shared history.

Here at the Weinberg Memorial Library, we’re looking forward to joining in the fun throughout the anniversary year. Beginning in May, each month of the City celebration will highlight a decade (or two) in the city’s history, and here on our Library blog we’ll be highlighting how the University grew alongside the city during that time.

Our University Archives and Helen Gallagher McHugh Special Collections include many rare and unique resources related to the history of the City of Scranton, its residents, and its major institutions.  For example, the Library holds the records of the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton – and in the fall, we’ll be exhibiting materials from this collection in celebration of the 125th anniversary of ICS (now known as Penn Foster), which was founded in 1891.

We’ve been working on digitizing archival and special collections materials and making them publicly available for searching and browsing in our digital collections, but there’s always more to do. We’re currently tossing around new ideas for increasing public, digital access to local history materials with some of our friends on campus (the History and Communication Departments, Royals’ Historical Society, Hope Horn Gallery, and Community Relations) and in the community (the Lackawanna Historical Society, the Everhart Museum, Scranton Public Library/Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives, and Marywood University). More to come on this as our plans develop!

At the state level, we’re collaborating with other academic and public libraries on a broad initiative to establish a Pennsylvania service hub for the Digital Public Library of America, which will make Pennsylvania history and cultural heritage more accessible and discoverable to students, teachers, genealogists, historians, scholars, and others in our communities and around the world.

So happy birthday, Scranton! Let’s get this party started.