Library Notes

Professor Tracy Stout, representing the Missouri State University Libraries and the Missouri A&OER (Affordable, Accessible Open Educational Resources) Planning Committee, attended the recent Missouri Library Association (MLA) Annual Conference in Columbia with not just one, but two impactful presentations on A&OER initiatives within the state of Missouri. During the panel presentation titled Open Educational Resources (OER) Empowering Missouri Librarians for a More Affordable and Inclusive Learning Experience, Tracy along with other members of the Missouri A&OER Conference Planning Committee, delved into…

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Just a little more than 1,000 miles separate deep-in-the-Ozarks Hammond Mill Camp and Washington D.C., but the two points on the national map got a lot closer during the Ozark Area Community Congress (OACC). Kaitlyn McConnell participated in both, and files this report.  On Oct. 6, deep in the Mark Twain National Forest, they were linked by knowledge through “Revitalizing Local Food Systems,” a panel discussion during OACC, an annual gathering related to sustainability and ways to better care for…

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Friends and supporters of the Missouri State University Libraries on the main Springfield campus continued to be very generous in Fiscal Year 2023, which ended on June 30th. MSU’s Office of University Advancement reports that nearly $3 million was given in FY23, including both monetary gifts and gifts in kind. The gifts came from a wide and diverse group of individuals and organizations to support the various activities and areas of the MSU Libraries, which in turn support student success,…

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The Johnson Library & Museum (JLM) in Osceola, Missouri holds public lectures every spring and fall. The fall lecture this year will be held on Thursday, November 16, 2023 beginning with a smorgasbord meal at 6:00 p.m., followed by the lecture and discussion at 7:00, followed by a tour of the library for those who are interested, conducted by president Thomas M. Johnson II, a grandson of its founder. The event is free and open to the public. Ample parking…

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The annual Children’s Literature Festival of the Ozarks is taking place on the main Springfield campus of Missouri State University today, Thursday, October 12, 2023. The festival provides the opportunity for students to hear authors discuss their writing experiences and share information about their books. Nine nationally recognized authors will be featured, and the event includes two autograph parties, which are open to the public from 8:00-9:30 am and 1:00-1:30 pm in the Plaster Student Union Ballroom. Books by authors will…

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EBSCO, one of the leading supplier of support services and digital content to libraries of all types and sizes, recently organized and hosted a one-day Strategic Summit for Academic Library Deans, held in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Friday, September 29, 2023. Two dozen library deans from a wide variety of academic libraries attended, ranging in size from Colorado College with approximately 2,000 students to Arizona State University, with approximately 144,000 students. Eight members of EBSCO’s team also participated. Many western states…

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The fall/winter issue of OzarksWatch Magazine is hot off the press. Congratulations to managing editor Susan Croce Kelly and all the contributing authors and photographers for another great issue.   Some of the articles are: Brooks Blevins on lumber for baseball bats Steve Wiegenstein on the Language of Trees Mike O’Brien on Missouri’s Pioneer Forest Bob Linder on Logger Larry Hayes Rachel Whitaker on an Arkansas Timber Baron Two reminiscences by Alec Primm and Rich Heffern Three book reviews  …

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Special Collections and Archives, a part of the Missouri State University Libraries, has installed a new exhibit in the lobby of Craig Hall at the entrance to Coger Theatre. The exhibit features images from fifty years of scrapbooks compiled by the Department of Theatre and Dance from the 1940s through the 1990s. Library Associate Jeffrey Lawson carefully digitized pages from the scrapbooks (some of which are very fragile). The scanned images were used in the display, since the original pages…

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Sabrina Lynn Motley, Director of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, has provided the following on-site attendance figures and social media impressions for the Ozarks Program held on the National Mall in DC over a ten day period in late June and early July as part of the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which began back in 1967: On-site Attendance: 626,851  Total Impressions Across Social Media Platforms: 2,230,264  Top Facebook Posts were Ozarks-related (particularly Brooks Blevins and Ozark Mountain Daredevils posts, although others…

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