Library Notes

The leadership teams in the MSU Libraries and at MSU as a whole continue to monitor closely the developments here and around the nation and world related to the global pandemic commonly known as COVID-19. This LibNotes article provides updates related to service changes being implemented by the MSU Libraries.  In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MSU Libraries has a new online guide to the various library services and collections available online. Many thanks to Tracy Stout and everyone…

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Jim Coombs, Associate Professor of Library Science and the Maps and GIS Librarian at the Missouri State University Libraries, plans to retire at the end of this academic year. He is the only maps librarian in the state of Missouri. Jim has served generations of users of the MSU Libraries for 40 years! A retirement reception is being planned for July. The exact date, time, and location will be announced soon. Congratulations, Jim!

Holly Kouns, Tracy Stout, and Shannon Mawhiney will attend MSU LEAD (Leadership, Education, And Development), a university program that prepares leaders and supports MSU’s vision of: Being an employer of choice by providing supervisors opportunities to explore their leadership capabilities. Being a responsible and transparent steward of the University’s resources. Working for a continuous improvement in programs, policies, and procedures. Being collaborative, to promote meaningful partnerships that further the university’s goals. This series of training sessions will focus on the…

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Approximately 75 people attended the “Ghosts of Gatsby” special evening last Friday in the Crystal Room of Kentwood Hall. When the Kentwood Arms opened in 1926, it was the most elegant hotel in Springfield, and glimmers of that former glamour were evident last Friday.  This “Speakeasy Soiree” was organized and produced by Ann Marie Daehn and Jim Baumlin, two MSU faculty members, with support from the MSU Libraries, particularly Craig Amason. The evening included a performance of the operetta “Ghosts…

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This year Paige Harp, coordinator of the Infant Through Grade 12 (IG12) efforts of the Missouri State University Libraries, is serving as chair of the jurors who will decide the fourth annual SEE-IT awards, sponsored by EBSCO. The shortlist of finalists will be announced this spring, and the award will be made during the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago in late June.  According to EBSCO, “The SEE-IT (Stories Engagingly Expressed — Illustratively Told) Awards were created to recognize and showcase…

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Susanna Reichling recently represented Missouri State University at the 89th Annual Music Library Association  (MLA) National Conference held in Norfolk, VA. While there, she presented a “lightning session” on “Using Augmented Reality (AR) as a Discovery Tool in the Library,” highlighting three ways that augmented reality layers can be added to bulletin boards, displays, shelf tags, and even individual books on the shelves to help engage users with the collection. According to the conference website, “These short presentations will convey…

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This January, Paige Harp, the Coordinator for the Children’s and Young Adult Book Review Board of Missouri (BRB), presented four review writing workshops with the 5th grade classes at Phelps Center for Gifted Education.

On Friday evening, February 28, 2020, approximately 30 people gathered in the Santa Fe Room of the Library Station on North Kansas Expressway to celebrate Black History Month by listening to award-winning storyteller Gladys Caines Coggswell. Ms. Coggswell is a recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award by the Missouri Humanities Council and author of the book, Stories from the Heart: Missouri’s African American Heritage. Ms. Coggswell was assisted in her presentation by Angela Williams, her apprentice.  This “Feast of Stories” event…

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An exhibit on the history of the Plaster Student Union (PSU) bowling alley is now on display on the 3rd floor of the PSU, using material from the University Archives in Meyer Library’s Special Collections and Archives.  Included in the display are photos and documents ranging from the 1960s to the 2010s.  The bowling alley on the 1st floor of the student union recently closed after more than 50 years, due to decreasing popularity with students and increasing maintenance costs.  The…

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The oversized books in the main circulating collection of the MSU Libraries are being moved and consolidated in the newly renovated Skylight Area on the east side of the Second Level of Duane G. Meyer Library. The new location will make the collection of oversized books more accessible and browsable for everyone, with every topic in one convenient location. The new furniture is comfortable and attractive.  Feel free to stop by anytime the library is open to see the newly…

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