National Library Week 2008

Musselman Library kicked off the 50th Anniversary of National Library Week on April 21st with a Notes at Noon concert called Opera Scenes Spectacular. Later in the afternoon students and staff alike were invited to celebrate the opening of the week with a giant sheet cake. The cake provided a much needed pick-me-up for students nearing the end of semester rush.

Other events throughout the week included a display of Musselman Library Staff suggested reading, viewing, and listening items. The display changed daily and offered staff members' favorite items from Musselman's collections and encouraged students to check out the items throughout the week. A graffiti wall allowed students to tell the staff about the pros and cons of Musselman Library from their eyes.

Another part of the week long celebration encouraged students to grab crayons and draw a picture of what libraries mean to them. The competition yielded seven contestants. The seven drawings were displayed for a week of voting following National Library Week. The tally resulted in a win for a picture of a free cup of coffee. Truly our midnight free coffee, hot chocolate, and tea has left a lasting impression on Gettysburg College students.

Somewhere over the rainbow...

...lies the pot of gold we like to call Musselman Library:

This shot was captured by Professor Larry Marschall (Physics) on Tuesday, February 5, about 5:15 p.m. Thanks, Larry!

I want a job like that!

You could be the next Barbara Holley Library Intern!

We are now accepting applications for the 2008-09 Library Intern. If you would like to explore career possibilities in library and information science or museum studies, consider applying.

Our current intern is Tara Wink, Gettysburg College Class of 2007, who graduated with a double major in History and German. Tara knew she was interested in archival work, but she didn't bet on working with blood (here's Tara getting dressed up for the Halloween Parade):If you don't work in a library, how are you going to join a nationally ranked book cart drill team like Gett Down With Your Funky Shelf? This tasty item looks great on Tara's resume, and it might be just the thing for you, too.
Librarianship. It's more than you think.

Trick My Book Truck

At the aforementioned study break, Musselman Library hosted a Trick My Book Truck contest. No fewer than FIVE daring students (or student teams) decorated trucks for the competition. And folks, the competition was fierce.

First, behold the mellow and groovy vibe emitted by the Yellow Submarine entry:

Another group was inspired by pom poms and came up with The Magic Bookcart:

Let it not be said that we don't have holiday spirit around here! Santa will find an easy ride on this smooth book truck: Some library student employees went for broke in this piece, entitled "Gettysburg Trapped in a Snow Globe." Note that two campus landmarks are rendered in construction paper (Musselman Library and Pennsylvania Hall): And finally, the winner of the Student Choice Award! The voters have chosen the fantastically three-dimensional Griffin!

Thanks to all the students who participated in this fun contest. Same time, same place, next semester, eh?

Finals Study Break

Join the library for a study break! Stop by and grab some snacks, including homemade cookies and assorted “brain food” and participate in games and other creative activities!

When: Monday, December 10 from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Where: Musselman Library, Room 18 on the ground floor.

** Play Guitar Hero or Dance Dance Revolution on the big screen, or choose from an assortment of card and board games.

** Participate in the “Trick my Book Truck” competition in teams or singles to decorate the library’s junky old book trucks. All craft supplies will be supplied by the library staff but students are welcome to bring their own items. All entries will be judged in the library throughout finals week and the winners of “Trick my Book Truck” will be announced by December 15. Prize for the best design will be awarded after the break.

Click here to see examples of the National Competition’s winners and get those creative juices flowing!
http://www.unshelved.com/PimpMyBookcart/2007/

Questions? Contact Tara Wink at twink@gettysburg.edu.

Looking for a place to study?

There are several options for studying around campus:

• Musselman Library (3 computer labs, almost always open)
• Glatfelter Hall (3 computer labs, rooms 201, 203, 204, open 24 hours)
• McCreary Hall (computer lab, room 204, open until 11pm)
• Science Center (open 24 hours)
• Breidenbaugh Hall (open 24 hours)
• Schmucker Hall (open 24 hours)
• CUB (open until 11pm)

What's your favorite study spot?

3rd Place Finish!

BOO! Musselman Library's own book cart drill team, Gett Down With Your Funky Shelf, won a third place finish in our category at the 2007 Gettysburg Halloween Parade. Pretty good for our first time out!

Mobile music and general coolness were provided by AV guru Travis Mathna from Gettysburg College's IT department - thanks for playing with us, Travis.

As always, we would be nothing without our funky choreographer, Katy Mattson, from Gettysburg College's Office of Career Development.

More photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8105814@N06/sets/72157602671961876/

We already have some ideas for next year, so those Cub Scouts who placed second had better watch out! Ha!

Do you guys even shelve books?

Some pundits proclaim that the book is dead, and libraries aren't needed. This picture might suggest that we have no books to shelve and our book carts are gathering dust (or spider webs):

But no! In fact, libraries and librarians are constantly evolving, and so we have a new art form: the book cart drill team. Our team, Gett Down With Your Funky Shelf, will be gettin' downtown on Tuesday (10/23/07) to join the Gettysburg Halloween Parade. Kickoff time is 7:30. See you there!

(We'll be the zombies with the book carts.)

congrats! you am winnar!

You never know what you're going to find in the library.

Today, Holley Library Intern Tara Wink '07, went to the vending machine to buy a snack. In the change compartment, she found a clue written on a slip of paper. The clue read "On a chair - Room 201 - 2nd Floor."

Like any budding librarian, Tara was intrigued. She went to the second floor, and found another clue: "Dickens Studies Newsletter - Vol. 1 - G Floor."

Down she went to the ground floor, where she used MUSCAT, the library catalog, to find the call number for Dickens Studies Newsletter.

From there she followed clues to the 4th floor, 3rd floor, and main floor, where she found this exciting message hidden at page 532 of Contemporary Poets, 5th ed.: Congrats! You am winnar!

She thought we were hazing her. But already know that Tara "am winnar"!

Anyone know who left an enticing trail for a snacker to follow?

Robocalifragilistic

Check out the latest incarnation of the Hidden Talents exhibit in the Browsing Room!

More than a dozen quirky, colorful robots have taken over the main floor Browsing Room this fall with the newest installment of the Hidden Talents series -- Robocalifragilistic. “This is definitely very different from the previous Hidden Talents exhibits,” says artist Sharon Birch, an instructional technologist at the College, who named the exhibit after the nonsensical word supercalifragilistic (meaning “absolutely stunningly fantastic”) from the film Mary Poppins.

“Robocalifragilistic is a collection of paintings meant to resemble the visual layout of a comic. But, unlike a comic strip, there is no implied or intended story line – it’s up to the viewer to put together a sequence of their own choosing, which should be interesting since the majority of the paintings consist of robots having fun.”

The way the robot idea came to Birch is almost as unusual as her paintings. She happened upon a box of Bobbsey Twins books, the popular juvenile series written from 1904 to 1979. She started reading and was hooked, describing them as “hilarious -- every chapter or so there is a humdinger of a sentence that just begs to be exaggerated visually.”

At first she imagined transforming the tales into a comic strip or graphic novel. “Unfortunately, I was stuck with one fundamental flaw to my idea -- I can't draw people,” says Birch. “Most of the time, I get around this by drawing things that don't require representative precision, but to pull off a comic with about 23 human characters was beyond what I could do. Then I had a stroke of genius -- I would make all the characters into robots!”

She never finished the comic, but began using colorful acrylics to paint “robots in everyday life.”
She prefers acrylic because “I can paint a block of color, and come back in 20 minutes and paint the next color without affecting anything else on the canvas. This allows for quick, clean paintings and is ideal for my cartoonish, flat style.”

Gett Down With Your Funky Shelf

Check out this YouTube video of Musselman Library's very own book cart drill team. This is our inaugural performance that brought home the silver book cart from the 3rd Annual Book Cart Drill Team World Championships at ALA in Washington, DC! Enjoy!

Musselman Library Brings Home the Silver!

Musselman Library's very own Book Cart Drill Team took 2nd Place at the 3rd Annual Book Cart Drill Team World Championships at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Washington D.C. this past weekend. The team, "Gett Down with Your Funky Shelf," literally brought home the silver - book cart that is... (thanks to the event's sponsor, DEMCO). A YouTube video of the performance will be available within the next few days, but meanwhile you can view photographs from the event on Flickr.

This DVD ROCKS!

Here's a great DVD to check out this summer: Schoolhouse Rock!

If you grew up in the 1970s, you’re probably already humming one of the Schoolhouse Rock’s songs. If you require a little more background information, Schoolhouse Rock presented animated, musical shorts on Saturday morning broadcast television back when I was in the target audience. They were educational (focusing on grammar, math, history, etc.) but decidedly fun! Who remembers ‘Conjunction Junction’? How about ‘I’m Just a Bill’ or ‘We the People,’ which is why I can recite (most of) the U.S. Constitution today? A personal favorite is ‘Verb! That’s What’s Happening!’

I recently checked out this DVD and took it in the car on a 3,000-mile road trip to Texas. It was a huge hit with our whole family – the 4-year-old, the 2-year-old, and the thirtysomething set. As a bonus, my preschooler can now tell you what a noun is! Revisit your inner child by checking out this DVD.

You'll find it on the ground floor of the library with the DVDs at call number LB1555 .S35 2002.

And speaking of summer reading . . .

Thanks to Meggan's previous post, you all know that Musselman Library has once again published its annual Summer Reading booklet.

But rather than just leaving it at that, a few of us thought we might share our reviews from the booklet with you. So to get the ball rolling, here's my entry from the booklet on Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky. You can find this title in the library's book collection at PQ2627.E4 S8513 2006--in case you want to, ahem, check it out. (A little library humor for you . . . very little.)

Suite Française is definitely not your usual summer "beach trash," but instead is an altogether enjoyable read. It's a beautiful, unfinished novel that Némirovsky wrote while living through the invastion and occupation of France during the early years of World War II.

The story follows several characters in both urban and rural areas as they try to deal with rapidly changing events and alliances while living alongside of and under German military forces. Némirovsky, who died at Auschwitz in 1942, never finished the novel; the story goes that her daughters kept the manuscript for years without reading it, assuming it was a journal of the events that would be too painful to explore. The novel was only published in the original French in 2004, and then released in the U.S. in English in 2006.

Despite the grim backstory, Suite Française is a lovely, poetic work, chronicling the events of the time with humor, pathos, and generosity. Némirovsky humanizes all sides of the struggle, offering a nuanced portrait of citizens, soldiers, survivors, and collaborators of all classes and calibers.

It's such a pity that the author did not live to finish her work. It's such a joy, though, that what she did finish survives to this day.