Library Notes

For two hours one day during Finals Week this week, the high anxiety of preparing to take final exams during the current pandemic was brightened by a visit from several pet therapy dogs from Pet Therapy of the Ozarks.  Pet Therapy of the Ozarks, Inc. is a not-for profit Missouri Corporation organized to provide emotional therapy visits to nursing homes, hospitals, schools and other facilities. They are based in Springfield, Missouri and serve institutions within a 50 mile radius. As…

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Scott Fischer, a Library Associate I for the Missouri State University Libraries, graduated this week as a member of the 2020 Class of MSU’s USA Program (University Staff Ambassadors).  The curriculum of the USA Program consists of two types of sessions that are intermingled throughout the program year. The first type of session introduces the cohort members to areas of the university they may not get to see and learn about during their daily work routines. USA members will have…

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Donors to the Missouri State University Libraries provided a record-setting $3.66 million in support in FY21, which ended June 30, 2021. This is a significant increase over the previous record-setting amount of $2.03 million in FY20.  The Missouri State University Foundation reports that most of the funds used to receive various gifts that support the work of the MSU Libraries experienced increases year-over-year. In particular, funds supporting Special Collections and Archives grew substantially, as did the funds supporting various components…

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After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, pet therapy dogs will return to the Meyer Library living room on Tuesday, Dec. 14 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the living room area on the main level of Duane G. Meyer Library on the main Springfield campus of Missouri State University. Students, faculty, and staff are invited to stop by and cuddle with the best stressbusters around. Thank you to our friends at Pet Therapy of the Ozarks for providing this much-needed resource…

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In 1989, a play about AIDS and homosexuality drew a firestorm of reaction in the Ozarks.  The Missouri State University (then Southwest Missouri State University) Theatre and Dance Department planned to perform Larry Kramer’s play The Normal Heart.  Students wanted to bring an awareness of AIDS to campus and chose Kramer’s play, which dramatized the growing AIDS problem in the gay and lesbian community in the early 1980s.

Original research by Missouri State University Associate Professor of Library Science, Jessica Bennett, was recently published in the Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learning.

Shannon Mawhiney, the Digital Archivist and leader of the Digitization Lab at the Missouri State University Libraries on the main Springfield campus of MSU,  will receive the 2022 Staff Excellence in Community Engagement Award. This award recognizes Shannon’s long-standing achievements benefiting our community and region, especially her service to the Christian County Historical Society and Museum, The Connecting Grounds, and other activities within Shannon’s community. The award includes a $1,500 honorarium.  The criteria for this prestigious award include: Personal action…

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Vicki Evans, Accounting Specialist for the the Missouri State University Libraries, plans to retire December 31st, after 32 years of service to the University. She began her career at SMS in the Bursar’s Office in Carrington Hall, where she worked for four years as a window cashier, before transferring to the library, prior to the expansion and renovation of the current Duane G. Meyer Library building. Her office was down the hall from where IG12 is now located on the…

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