Library Notes

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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Author of Ozarks noir fiction, Jake Hinkson, will visit Springfield in early April to speak about his latest novel, Dry County. Jake Hinkson: Talking About Noir Fiction Thursday, April 2, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. The Library Center on South Campbell Avenue  Jake Hinkson is the award-winning author of four novels, a novella, a short story collection, and a book of essays. Dry County is a story of blackmail and murder set in the Arkansas Ozarks along Highway 65. Hinkson will…

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The renovations to the Skylight Area on the east side of the Second Level of Duane G. Meyer Library on the Springfield campus of Missouri State University are almost complete. New carpeting has been installed, and all-new furniture is being assembled for users of this area.  Also, special new shelving is being assembled that will hold our oversized volumes. When the renovation of this area is complete, it will become another popular study area. This renovation project is just one…

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The Springfield African-American Read-In, chaired by MSU Library Science faculty member Grace Jackson-Brown, is sponsoring several special events in February. The MSU Libraries is a co-sponsor.  On Friday evening, February 28, beginning at 7 p.m., enjoy a storytelling presentation with storyteller Gladys Caines Coggswell in celebration of the Springfield African American Read-In. Ms. Coggswell is recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award by the Missouri Humanities Council. She will share stories that she has collected professionally over many years, as well…

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Over forty years ago, in the late Seventies, a documentary film team, led by faculty and staff from Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University), documented the life, culture, and society in Shannon County, Missouri, one of the more impoverished areas of the multi-state Ozarks region. The footage gave rise to two separate but related documentary films: “Shannon County: Home” and “Shannon County: The Hearts of the Children.”  These films always have been available in earlier video formats, and…

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