2005 Winter Staley Library newsletter

As you may recall from earlier newsletters, we are now in the process of filling the position of Library Instruction Coordinator & Research/Instruction Librarian, following the departure of Jen Masciadrelli in mid-January. If you were paying close attention however, you will note that this description encompasses what were Susan Avery's responsibilities, with the exception of the Archives work that is now being supervised by Amanda Pippitt. Jen Masciadrelli's responsibilities in turn are now the bailiwick of Cindy Fuller. With all the comings and goings recently among the librarians, we have kept shifting the work around!

But the wonders of technology: on the morning of February 11, we posted this position on the job board of The Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. By that afternoon we had received our first application via email!  That same day, the position was also posted in the Rolling Prairie Library System e-newsletter; and the Chronicle of Higher Education will be the third source of candidates. (Though Susan Avery tells us that she is also recruiting for us.) We expect to formally begin the review of applications by mid-March, and we hope to have the position offered and accepted by the end of the academic year.

The librarians are again starting their teaching regimen, primarily in CWRR2 sections (3 sessions each for all 27 sections of the class, for a total of 81 classes shared by the three librarians). As part of the CWRR2 teaching, we are trying out our new MILT modules for these second semester classes. (See the Fall 2004 newsletter for more about MILT.) In addition, we also teach PACE classes (8 so far this semester) and subject-specific classes in accordance with individual faculty requests.

Amanda Pippitt is the recipient of a Librarian Scholarship to attend the Association of College and Research Libraries' annual conference in April in Minneapolis. This is a competitive award, and a well deserved honor for Amanda.

This spring we have welcomed three new student staff workers, Rachel Psinas, Laura Podeschi, and Breann Bolt. Their pictures have been added to our student staff picture page. The student staff helps us maintain the long hours that the library is open during the academic year, performing a wide range of tasks in addition to serving at the Circulation Desk.

One of those student workers, Debbie Myers, says that by now she has literally dealt with every book in the library except in the Archives! She has figured out that in all the time she has worked here, including three summers, she has either shelved or shelf read (for shelving accuracy) everything in our 200,000+ volume collection at least once.

Earlier newsletters


The library's art exhibit space on the second floor, next to the Writing Center, is currently showing the work of two Millikin students, Katherine Burke and Monica Zachar. Each artist also has provided a statement about their works and about how their art fits into their lives. We are very pleased to be able to continue to provide this venue for student art. Barb Bolser coordinates this display with the Art Department.  More details here.

In this space also we recently hosted an African American Read-In in conjunction with Black History month. Professor Anne Matthews, Assistant Professor of English, and Bryant Smith, Director of Multicultural Affairs and International Student Services, were the co-organizers. The event was planned as follows: "On February 7, Millikin will participate in the national African American Read-In. We'll be inviting students to read from works by AA authors, as well as from their own work. We're going to be moving around campus that day, [reading in various places]." We had a steady stream of students coming by during the library's two hours of this event.
Be sure to check each month on the library's new acquisitions by clicking on the above heading. January's new titles have already been added. Also, come browse our display of new books from time to time. Among other current titles, we now have the annual children's book award winners (Newbery, Caldecott, and others).
Related to those award winners, after having seen the rather minimal collection of children's books available in the elementary school library in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic I decided that we (Staley Library) should help augment that collection. Thus, we are assembling a small sampling (10 titles to be precise) of such books to ship. This is an outgrowth of my "other job" of Director of International Programs, in which role I traveled to the DR in January to become more familiar with the programs we offer there.
 

Karin Borei
University Librarian and
Director of International Programs
kborei@mail.millikin.edu
Staley Library
Millikin University
1184 West Main, Decatur, IL 62522
phone 217-424-6214
fax 217-424-3992
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Picture on right by librarian Amanda Pippitt
  This newsletter page format was first created on August 27, 2002
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