Library Notes

Earlier this week furniture installers from Scott-Rice unpacked and assembled most of the new furnishings for a major area on the west side of the Second Level of Duane G. Meyer Library on the Springfield campus of Missouri State University.  This is another step in the massive multi-year project to completely redesign and refurbish the public areas of Duane G. Meyer Library.  Once again the Space Committee of the MSU Libraries has done an excellent job of exploring how various…

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Dr. Grace Jackson-Brown, Professor of Library Science at Missouri State University, and Dr. Deborah Robinson, Research Investigator at the Institute of Social Research at the University of Michigan, were notified last week by IMLS, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, that their grant application had been funded. Under the auspices of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, the proposed research, which Dr. Jackson-Brown and Dr. Robinson co-wrote, and which they will co-direct, A Taxonomy of Black History…

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For the past 18 years, since the newer part of Duane G. Meyer Library building opened, we have used a security gate at the top of the interior ramp up to the main level to count the number of visitors. We always knew it was under-reporting the total number of visitors to the building, because some people enter Meyer Library and use the lobby, 101, Outtakes, the vending machines, the restrooms off the lobby, and even the Open Access Computing…

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As we all prepare for the new academic year, in light of our ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, changing user needs and expectations, a university-wide hiring freeze, major systems changes, and increased fiscal constraints, several Libraries employees (faculty and staff) have stepped up to assume additional roles and responsibilities for the MSU Libraries and its users, beginning in August: David Adams will devote more of his professional time and talent to BearWorks, MSU’s Institutional Repository, and our expanding e-publishing…

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The Standard, the student-run campus newspaper at Missouri State University, recently featured a story by reporter Jack McGee about our “Enduring COVID-19” collaborative collecting initiative and included information about the partnership with the History Museum on the Square, the State Historical Society of Missouri, and  the Springfield-Greene County Library District.  Ozarks Pubic Television created a webpage about the “Enduring COVID-19” project that provides more information and links about the collaborative project: If you’d like to submit your story about the…

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During the first half of July 2020 the Missouri State University Libraries received quite a bit of coverage in the local media about various initiatives: On July 9, Anne Baker, Head of Special Collections and Archives, was interviewed by Josh Conaway from KSMU, Ozarks public radio, about how materials in Special Collections are being curated and protected during the current pandemic. You can listen to the interview here.  Also on July 9, Ash Garza, a reporter for The Standard, the…

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With the plethora of changes, dangers, shortages, fiscal constraints, and unknowns we all are confronting this year, the job of establishing the fall hours for Duane G. Meyer Library on the Springfield campus of Missouri State University has been much more challenging than during a typical year. Holly Kouns, Coordinator of Public Services, did an excellent job of considering all of the factors, including previous usage data for the building, to construct the following schedule.  Beginning Saturday, August 15, the…

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The week before the start of Fall Semester always is a busy time on the MSU campus. This year is no exception. Among many things, it’s the week when new faculty members receive orientation.  Because of the current pandemic, including the need to maintain social distancing, Duane G. Meyer Library will play a bigger role in New Faculty Orientation.  On Monday, August 10, the group will meet in the recently renovated Sunderland Foundation Auditorium — Room 101 off the main…

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As we all work together in this new era to create a university library that continues to be safe, productive, and forward-thinking in pursuit of its mission, this summer several employees of the MSU Libraries are transitioning to new roles and responsibilities. This is an ongoing process. Further reallocation of employee expertise and other resources of the MSU Libraries will be announced as details are finalized.  Andy Lokie has been a member of the Library Science Faculty since coming to…

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Forty years ago the Center for Ozarks Studies at SMS (now the Ozarks Studies Institute, an initiative of the Missouri State University Libraries), and Veriation Films produced two documentary films about life in Shannon County Missouri. “Shannon County: Home” was the first film, released in 1981. The films won several awards. Recently Lynn Morrow, who worked on the films, contacted the MSU Libraries with the information that one of the awards never was formally announced at SMS. The award was…

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