Library Notes

Reach for the Little Green Light. Register at https://www.facebook.com/events/2222746537842810/ The Roaring Twenties—21st century style—is now upon us. What better place for a Soirée than the Kentwood Crystal Room, dancehall site of Springfield’s first radio broadcasts? The MSU Opera Theater will be turning the clock back, transforming the Crystal Room into a speakeasy for its March 6 Missouri premiere of the modern opera, “Ghosts of Gatsby.” Supported by MSU Libraries, the Opera Theater is pulling out the stops for this fundraiser: salon…

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On Tuesday afternoon, February 25, 2020, the theater troupe that has been performing The Milly Project for a year now made a special performance for Leadership Springfield Class 38, which includes Lindsey Taggart and Tyler Drenon from the Missouri State University Libraries.  Milly Sawyers was a black woman, a former slave, who was pulled out into the street and beaten by some of Springfield’s founders after gaining her freedom in 1835. Two years ago, Giacomo (Jack) Bologna, a reporter at…

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Rebekah McKinney has been named the new library director for Missouri State University – West Plains. She will direct both Garnett Library on the West Plains campus and Barbe Library in Mountain Grove.  Prior to coming to MSU-West Plains, Ms. McKinney served as library director at the Jung-Kellogg Learning Center at Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis. That Learning Center was renovated in the Fall of 2019.  She will assume her new role and responsibilities on March 24th.  Welcome, Rebekah! 

Meyer Library administration collaborated with faculty members Laura Derrick and Nancy Asay and approximately 50 of their students enrolled in HID 201 – Studio 1 during the Fall 2019 semester.  This class focused on observing and assessing of MSU Library space use with the goal of making recommendations for changes and projects. Some of their findings and recommendations are below. Student Observations: The Second Level atrium is the space most consistently populated by studiers Stairs are used by more users…

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Rachel Besara has received a Missouri State University International Travel Award for her to co-present “More than You Bargained for: Using ROI to Demonstrate the Value of a Library Tutoring Program” with Michelle Demeter, Head of Instruction and Undergraduate Services, New York University Libraries and Jessica Barman, Systems Technical Support Analyst, Florida State University Libraries at the Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries (QQML) Conference in Barcelona, Spain, in May of this year. This award supports the presentation of original…

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The Missouri State University Libraries has an ongoing program of recording, archiving, transcribing, and making available to the public oral history interviews. Yesterday Dean Peters had the honor and pleasure of conducting an oral history interview with a colleague here at the MSU Libraries, Jeffrey Lawson. Here’s the “it’s a small world” tale that provided the impetus for this interview: After Red Foley “discovered” little Brenda Lee in Feb. 1956 in Augusta, Georgia, Red asked Bryan Bisney, the director of…

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In the spirit of the public affairs mission of Missouri State University, faculty and staff members of the MSU Libraries serve many organizations and groups in various ways. For example, Shannon Mawhiney, Digital Archivist at the MSU Libraries, currently serves as the President of the Christian County Historical Society and Museum, which was organized in 1976 “for the purpose of promoting interest in our heritage and preserving the history of Christian County.” The Christian County Museum, located at 100 E….

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Every member of the Library Science Faculty at Missouri State University engages in Teaching/Librarianship, Research, and Service. Joshua Lambert, Associate Professor of Library Science, has graciously agreed to help the MSU Libraries position itself for continued success by focusing the Teaching/Librarianship aspects of his professional life on the following areas:  60% Research and Instructional Services (one-shot information literacy lectures, for-credit teaching, research consults, LibGuides, etc.) 20% Digital Scholarship Support Services 20% Stacks Strategist and Statistics, including building coordination tasks in…

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Last week Distinguished Professor Jim Baumlin from the MSU Department of English donated to the MSU Libraries an original copy in good condition of the Saturday, August 31, 1861 issue of Harper’s Weekly: A Journal of Civilization. The cover contains a full-page etching of “General Lyon at the Battle of Springfield,” which is now commonly called the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, which was fought on August 10, 1861 twelve miles southwest of the square. Although the Son of the South…

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On Saturday, February 3, Special Collections and Archives of the Missouri State University Libraries, had the opportunity to join one of the many celebrations of Black History Month in Springfield. Tracie Gieselman-Holthaus shared selected items from the Ora Logan Collection that focused on Mrs. Alberta Ellis (Ora Logan’s mother). She was the owner of Alberta’s Hotel, a local business promoted in the Green Book. In addition to business cards and photographs, the hotel’s Tourist Register was opened to display to names…

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