Library Notes

The Digital Humanities Lab Faculty Advisory Committee is working to distribute funds to Missouri State University faculty. Comprised of 9 faculty members and co-chaired by Dr. Jason Jolley, associate dean of the Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities and Rachel Besara, interim dean of the Missouri State University Libraries, the interdisciplinary committee is seeking ways to support scholarship by encouraging scholarship related to the Digital Humanities Lab.  The committee, which convenes monthly, is currently writing the guidelines for…

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On December 12, 2024, the Duane G. Meyer Library hosted its annual What’s Brewing? event for employees of Missouri State University from 5:00-7:00 p.m. The mixer was largely put together by MarComm student assistants Ellie Mallett, Kayla Stehr, and Brynna Wehner. This year’s party featured several local breweries, including 4×4 Brewing Company, Hold Fast Brewing Company, Wire Road Brewing Company, Springfield Brewing Company, Log Boat Brewing Company, and Mother’s Brewing Company. A musical selection was provided by retired librarian Craig…

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After selling out of 2024’s Saving Bull Creek by Robert Kipfer and Loring Bullard, the Ozarks Studies Institute ordered a reprint which is now available for purchase. This second edition has updated footnotes, but that’s not all. Now, the full-color book is more vibrant, according to Pressroom Operator Steven Townsend, because of updates to the printing technology in Missouri State University’s Printing and Postal Services department. In Saving Bull Creek, authors Loring Bullard and Robert Kipfer provide a sensitive, multifaceted overview of the…

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On the first level of the Duane G. Meyer Library, patrons can find a display of National French Week projects created during the fall 2024 semester. Encased in glass, the objects are the work of approximately 28 students from the classes of Jeff Loughary, an Instructor in the Languages, Cultures, and Religions Department at Missouri State University. The works, which includes paintings, sketches, photographs, and artifacts, showcase the culture of France and French Polynesia. It will be on display until…

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On behalf of everyone at Meyer Library… Happy Holidays! Best wishes for winter break!  If you’re bored and longing for a book, you might try making a snowasaurus. Picture of vintage snow dinosaur on Missouri State University campus. Photo courtesy of Tracie-Gieselman-France of Special Collections & Archives. See you next year!

After the success of Living Waters: Springs of Missouri and Saving Bull Creek, the Ozarks Studies Institute is publishing retired Springfield biologist Loring Bullard’s memoir. This third book is now in production, with publication on track for 2025. Currently titled An Environmental Journey: Tales of Tragedy and Hope from the Heartland, this eloquent book reflects on the 73-year-old author’s life from his 1950s and ’60s urban and rural American childhood through college and adulthood and up to his retirement and…

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It has been almost two years since the Missouri State University Libraries launched the library media specialist graduate certificate program in partnership with the College of Education. Thus far, it has done very well. According to the Graduate Program Director, Crystal Dicke, the program, which began in January 2023, currently has 59 enrolled students. “We are the fastest growing graduate certificate at the university,” said Tracy Stout, Head of Research and Instructional Services in the Duane G. Meyer Library and…

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On Monday, December 9, 2024, the Duane G. Meyer Library hosted its first ever Fizz & Focus, a soda bar to refresh students who were studying for finals. 339 students participated in the event, which took place in the library’s lobby.  Brynna Wehner, a sophomore at Missouri State University and a Marketing and Communications Assistant, came up with the idea for Fizz & Focus. “Right now, soda bars are popping up all over the place,” she said, noting that a…

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The Duane G. Meyer Library has hired two Distributed User Support Specialists. Scott Goodwin and Joshua Brotherton were hired in November after much anticipation. “November is the month of Thanksgiving in many ways,” said retired dean, Tom Peters, who presided over the library at the time of their appointments.  Distributed User Support Specialists (DUSS) do many things for the library. They facilitate the smooth operation of computer workstations and other technology. From scheduling student worker to training and supervising student…

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Reading through the acknowledgements for a new book on the history of the Landers Theater brings back memories of Covid. As author Kara DeBacker notes, Special Collections staff were willing to work with her to make the archival holdings contained in MSU’s Meyer Library available for her project. The resulting work, The Landers: Biography of a Theater, is a riot of color images, memories, and details about the people and productions in the theater. “It’s always exciting to see the…

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