Welcome to our Fall 2021 University Libraries eNewsletter!
Fall may be my favorite time of year. I enjoy the more moderate temperatures (although I could do without so much rain), the leaves are turning, the colors are bright, and evening walks around my neighborhood are beautiful!
As the semester is in full swing, we are seeing a lot of traffic in Kresge Library - and I love that! This is a very different fall semester than my first one here last year. With a high percentage of our students, faculty, and staff vaccinated, more students are attending in-person classes on campus and it is good to see more people in the building. Our doors are open to everyone now, so please visit us any time. (Library hours) Please remember that the indoor mask mandate continues to be in effect in all buildings and completion of the health screening form is required for everyone who comes to campus. The Daily Health Screening Form can be accessed here.
We have been busy since our last newsletter went out in the spring. The OU Libraries Board of Advocacy planned and hosted two fundraising events this summer and early fall: a staged reading of Alabama Story, written by OU alumnus Ken Jones, and a virtual wine and cheese tasting presented by local experts. I hope you will join us for the next celebration of OU Libraries!
Read on for more details about these fun events and other library highlights.
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| | What's New at Kresge Library?
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Miller Presentation Practice Room Opens to Students
OU Libraries celebrated the opening of the Miller Presentation Practice Room, a new space to support students in preparing for class presentations, public speaking opportunities, and interviews. The room was made possible by the generosity of Oakland University charter class member Beverly (Bev) Donato Miller, and is named in honor of her family and fellow alumni, husband Ronald, and children Robert and Katherine. Thank you Beverly for this wonderful addition to the library!
Read Bev’s story here.
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Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Accessibility Task Force is a Good IDEA!
In the spring of 2021 the University Libraries formed a new group charged with promoting a welcoming, respectful, and inclusive environment in the University Libraries. The Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Task Force will be facilitating a learning community for library employees around a different IDEA theme each semester, starting with the theme of race in fall 2021. As part of this semester’s efforts, library faculty, staff, and student employees are reading the book White Fragility by Robin Diangelo and participating in diversity training through the OU Center for Multicultural Initiatives.
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| | Kresge 60th Anniversary News and Events
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OU Photos Now Digitized
The Kresge Library is celebrating its 60th anniversary since opening its doors in 1961. To commemorate this special milestone, the OU archives and digital services teams, along with colleagues across the university, have created some wonderful new resources from the archival photo collections.
Check out the new library history video. This video was developed by Horatiu Zglimbea from the Video Services Department as part of the "OU Through the Decades series."
The library’s archives team has also created a new online exhibit including hundreds of photos now digitized and accessible here on the library's website. More photos will be added as the team digitizes the university’s entire historical photograph collection.
You can help support archives preservation and digitization projects by making a gift here.
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Kresge Library on the Cover!!
We are thrilled to share the news with you that Kresge Library is featured on the cover of this month's C&RL News, a national publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
Over the summer Polly had the idea of submitting a photo to ACRL to celebrate our 60th anniversary, and Dominique took up the charge and got it done! The issue premieres just in time for tomorrow's anniversary.
This is the caption that Dominique wrote for inclusion:
"Sixty years ago, on October 27, 1961, students wheeled books and periodicals from their temporary storage to the newly completed Kresge Library building on the campus of Oakland University. Leading the way were Provost Donald O'Dowd and Chancellor Durward B. (Woody) Varner. The young university had opened in fall 1959, and the new library was only its third building. Varner selected the highest point of campus for the library's home to symbolize the unique contribution of a library to a university campus."
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60th Anniversary T-shirts
are a Big Hit!
If you look around campus you can see students sporting the new Kresge Library 60th anniversary t-shirt. These shirts were a big hit at the Grizz Fest during welcome week, and then again on October 27th when we celebrated the library’s opening. We handed out over 800 t-shirts in various sizes. The front of the shirt has the OU Libraries logo, and the back of the shirt has the 60th anniversary graphic. The 60th Anniversary graphic, which you can see at the beginning and end of this newsletter, was designed by Amy Pelkey, the founding manager of the MakerSpace. Well done, Amy!!!
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| | Future Events at Kresge Library - Save the Date
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Dispelling Conspiracy Theories
with Katie Greer, Associate Professor, University Libraries
Wednesday, December 8, 2021 | 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Conspiracy theories are not new, but the social web has given them a new environment in which they thrive. Join us for this Zoom Webinar, as Professor Katie Greer helps us to learn the tools to identify and counteract bad information.
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Lit to Film Book Club
"The film was nothing like the book!"
Join us for a stimulating and unique approach to the classic book club, as the Lit to Film Book Club explores the transition and interpretation of literature on the silver screen. Members read the monthly book and then watch the movie together at the library. There will be lively discussion on plot details, themes, and the movie's fidelity to the book. All are welcome.
Where: Nyberg Room (room 242), Kresge Library
When: First Tuesday of the month at 6pm
Masks and daily health screening are required.
Upcoming features:
Dec 7 - News of the World by Paulette Giles
Jan 4 - About Schmidt by Louis Begley
Feb. 1 - Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
March 1 - Room by Emma Donahu
Apr. 5 - Trumbo by Bruce Cook
May 3 - Princess Bride by William Goldman
June 7 - Native Son by Richard Wright
Contact: Anne Zacharias at switzer2@oakland.edu for more info.
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| | Recent Events at Kresge Library
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Alabama Story comes to Oakland University
Live theatre came to the campus of Oakland University last August 21st, in the form of a staged reading of Alabama Story, a six-actor, one-set play inspired by real events and created by Kenneth Jones, an Oakland University alumnus. Jones described his play as “… a romance, a political thriller, a memory play, a workplace drama, a tearjerker, a comedy, a discussion about race, censorship and political desperation, and a rumination on the power of books. Most importantly, it’s a play about how we behave when we face terrible circumstances — how character is revealed in times of transition, change and crisis.”
Russell Moore, vice-chair of the Libraries’ Board of Advocacy, brought the idea to the Board as a fundraiser and headed up the committee to make his idea a reality. The reading took place on the beautiful lawn of the John Dodge House with over 100 people attending on that steamy Saturday afternoon. The play was put on by the BareBones Theatre under the direction of John Rutherford. Through the incredible generosity of sponsors and attendees, the library made over $10,000 to use toward refurnishing the 2nd floor spaces for students.
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Kresge Library in OU Trivia Night
In celebration of Kresge Library’s 60th anniversary and OU Homecoming week, we dove deep into the OU Archives to bring you all the “strange but true” trivia OU Libraries has to offer. Polly Boruff-Jones, Dean of the OU Libraries, and Dominique Daniel, library professor and archivist, set the record straight as more than 50 contestants made their best guesses for a chance to win awesome OU prizes.
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Time to Wine Down
with Cheese Pairings
On Friday, October 15th, the OU Libraries Board of Advocacy sponsored an event that gave everyone attending a chance to “wine down” with cheese pairings. The fundraiser was an on-line wine and cheese tasting event co-sponsored and hosted by Kimberly Judd, from The Cheese Lady, Rochester; Jean-Jacques Fertal, from Rochester Wine; and Hélène Fertal, from Birmingham Wine.
Attendees were treated to a tasty and educationally delightful “tour” of wines and cheeses from the southern regions of France, Argentina, and South Africa. The photo above shows the inspired and welcoming table set by Russell Moore as he hosted friends in his home for the evening.
A portion of the proceeds from the event was given to the OU Libraries.
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