Library Notes

Last week the Board of Governors finalized the FY21 Action Plan for Missouri State University. The plan organizes its action steps around several Focus Areas, including: Crisis Management Planning Academic and Career Initiatives Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Student Success and the Student Experience Economic Development Globalization Infrastructure Funding Athletics West Plains Campus The action plans and long-range goals of the MSU Libraries align well with the current MSU Action Plan. Here are just a few examples: MSU: Reevaluate the university’s…

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On Monday evening, July 20, 2020, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi spoke online about how to be an antiracist, the title of his bestselling book. He is a professor of history and international relations, as well as the founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center, at American University, a private research university in DC. The event was organized and sponsored by the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System in Maryland. Dr. Charlene Dukes, the President of Prince George’s Community…

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During the recent shelter-at-home situation during the last half of the spring semester and into the summer months, several pesky leaks in the beautiful Skylight Area on the east side of the Second Level of Duane G. Meyer Library have been repaired.  The new furniture has been replaced, and that space is now ready for use when the fall semester begins next Monday.  The final pieces of furniture in the redesigned area on the west side of the Second Level…

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All current employees of the MSU Libraries are invited to attend an online Zoom meeting next Monday, August 10, 2020, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. CDT.  The Provost of MSU, Dr. Frank Einhellig, plans to join us for the first half of our meeting.  Potential topics of discussion include: Updates for enrollment for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 General budget updates Travel and professional development opportunities in FY21 The new Mask Policy that the MSU Board of Governors is expected…

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Two staff positions in the MSU Libraries are in the process of being reclassified and redefined. The positions are being realigned from functional areas of declining need to a programmatic area of increasing need and workload.  A Library Associate II position focusing on maps and government documents is being reorganized into an Administrative Specialist II position that will focus on supporting the MSU Testing Center, which has been managed by the MSU Libraries for several years now.   A Library…

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Discover how EBSCO Discovery Service Makes Research Easy!   The Missouri State University Libraries now provides the EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS). EDS offers a simple, single search box to explore your library’s collection and electronic resources. It provides easy access to books, journals, articles, and more! In addition, it provides access to open repositories of quality information resources from around the world.   Join us for an online ZOOM workshop. No need to register. It will be offered on the…

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The Missouri State University Libraries invites individuals to apply for an important and exciting new position in our dynamic, forward-thinking library: E-Resource Strategist. Although MSU currently is under a university-wide hiring freeze, resulting in five open positions in the MSU Libraries being frozen, both President Smart and Provost Einhellig approved the launching of this search to fill this vital new position.  This will be a national search. The short version of the job advertisement reads: The Missouri State University Libraries,…

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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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