Library Notes

As we all are aware, this week’s Clif Notes articulated MSU’s general response to the current Omicron surge. The Greene County rolling seven-day average for reported and confirmed COVID cases (nearly all of them Omicron) is at the highest to date.   I encourage you to read President Smart’s message carefully, because it contains important information about the university’s mitigation strategies. This LibNotes article highlights how these protocols affect the Duane G. Meyer Library building and the people who use it….

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In November 2021 a new general history of libraries was published. The Library: A Fragile History was co-authored by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen, both of whom are affiliated with the University of St. Andrews, a public university in Scotland. The new book has been published in the U.S. by Basic Books.  The authors note that throughout the millennia, libraries have been in a constant state of flux and reconceptualization. Hence the fragility. They assert that “no society has…

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Dr. Robert Flanders, emeritus professor of History at Missouri State University, died last month at the age of 91. In addition to being excellent in the areas of teaching, research, and service for 27 years at SMS/MSU, Dr. Flanders also was an integral member of the group that founded the Center for Ozark Studies, now called the Ozarks Studies Institute (OSI), including serving as its director. More recently, for several years now the OSI has been an ongoing program of…

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Craig Amason, Associate Director of the Ozarks Folklife Festival for the Missouri State University Libraries, has been awarded a 2022 Center for Missouri Studies Fellowship for his proposed study, “The Impact of Immigration in McDonald County in the 21st Century.”  Here’s the announcement from the State Historical Society of Missouri. Note that another Springfieldian, Connie Yen, also received a fellowship. “The State Historical Society of Missouri will award Center for Missouri Studies fellowships in 2022 to scholars working on projects…

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For two hours one day during Finals Week this week, the high anxiety of preparing to take final exams during the current pandemic was brightened by a visit from several pet therapy dogs from Pet Therapy of the Ozarks.  Pet Therapy of the Ozarks, Inc. is a not-for profit Missouri Corporation organized to provide emotional therapy visits to nursing homes, hospitals, schools and other facilities. They are based in Springfield, Missouri and serve institutions within a 50 mile radius. As…

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Scott Fischer, a Library Associate I for the Missouri State University Libraries, graduated this week as a member of the 2020 Class of MSU’s USA Program (University Staff Ambassadors).  The curriculum of the USA Program consists of two types of sessions that are intermingled throughout the program year. The first type of session introduces the cohort members to areas of the university they may not get to see and learn about during their daily work routines. USA members will have…

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Donors to the Missouri State University Libraries provided a record-setting $3.66 million in support in FY21, which ended June 30, 2021. This is a significant increase over the previous record-setting amount of $2.03 million in FY20.  The Missouri State University Foundation reports that most of the funds used to receive various gifts that support the work of the MSU Libraries experienced increases year-over-year. In particular, funds supporting Special Collections and Archives grew substantially, as did the funds supporting various components…

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After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, pet therapy dogs will return to the Meyer Library living room on Tuesday, Dec. 14 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the living room area on the main level of Duane G. Meyer Library on the main Springfield campus of Missouri State University. Students, faculty, and staff are invited to stop by and cuddle with the best stressbusters around. Thank you to our friends at Pet Therapy of the Ozarks for providing this much-needed resource…

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In 1989, a play about AIDS and homosexuality drew a firestorm of reaction in the Ozarks.  The Missouri State University (then Southwest Missouri State University) Theatre and Dance Department planned to perform Larry Kramer’s play The Normal Heart.  Students wanted to bring an awareness of AIDS to campus and chose Kramer’s play, which dramatized the growing AIDS problem in the gay and lesbian community in the early 1980s.