Angela Vanden Elzen

Author: Angela Vanden Elzen

Finals Stress Relief in the Library

We are happy to report that a variety of finals stress relief options will be available for Lawrence students in the library this weekend.

Our friends from around campus will be hosting the following stress relief events on the first floor of the library:

  • Kappa Alpha Theta will be selling cupcakes to raise money for CASA of the Fox Cities:
    Saturday, noon-6pm
  • Asia-A will be encouraging origami as a study break:
    Saturday, 7-10pm
  • The Wellness Committee will be bringing in chair massage and will have healthy snacks:
    Saturday, 1-3pm

We’ve set up a couple of stress relief options ourselves, available during all open library hours over reading period and finals:

  • Cut out a paper snowflake to decorate our tree. We have templates of Anthony Herrera’s awesome Star Wars snowflakes, Doctor Who TARDIS and Cybermen, as well as some more traditional designs. We also have plain paper available for those who’d like to exhibit their own creativity. The paper and tree are located to the right of the circulation desk.
  • Create with LEGO bricks! We’ve set out a collection of LEGO bricks on a table in front of the reference desk for some fun creativity time.

OF course, from group study rooms to individual carrels, the library has whatever type of study space you need.

Gettysburg Address Turns 150

Lincoln at Gettysburg
Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863. Enlargement from glass plate negative. Brady-Handy Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress Digital ID # cwpb-07639.

Today is the 150th anniversary of the delivery of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. President Lincoln had been invited to deliver “a few appropriate remarks” at dedication ceremony of the soldiers’ cemetery at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg.  Edward Everett, a leading orator of the time, had spoken for two hours prior to the President’s address. The audience was taken by surprise when President Lincoln’s address had drawn to a close after approximately three minutes. Upon completion, the address was met with “long continued applause,” as well as three cheers from the audience. Some favorable reviews from newspapers around the country were published in the November 20th issue of The New York Times,

Chicago Tribune: “The dedicatory remarks by President Lincoln will live among the annals of man.”

Springfield (Mass.) Republican: “Surprisingly fine as Mr. Everett’s oration was in the Gettysburg consecration, the rhetorical honors of the occasion were won by President Lincoln. His little speech is a perfect gem; deep in feeling, compact in thought and expression, and tasteful and elegant in every word and comma. Then it has the merit of unexpectedness in its verbal perfection and beauty… Turn back and read it over, it will repay study as a model speech. Strong feelings and a large brain are its parents.”

As well as unfavorable reviews.

Chicago Times: “The cheeks of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat, and dishwatery utterances.”

Care to read it for yourself? The text of the speech that has been inscribed on the wall of the Lincoln Memorial can be found on this Library of Congress page. If you’d like to see the original drafts, The Library of Congress owns what is known as the “Hay Draft” and the “Nicolay Copy” and has made them available as part of their online Gettysburg Address exhibition.

The Mudd Library’s Lincoln Reading Room contains an interesting collection of Abraham Lincoln-related documents, pictures, and works of art- including bronze casts of President Lincoln’s hands and face.

Sources:

“Contemporary Reactions.”  The Gettysburg Address. Cornell University Library, 2008. Web 18 November 2013.

“Gettysburg Address.” Encyclopedia of American Studies. : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010. Credo Reference. Web. 18 November 2013.

“Gettysburg Address.” The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Houghton Mifflin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Credo Reference. Web. 18 November 2013.

“The Heroes of July.” The New York Times. 20 November 1863. The Learning Network: Teaching and Learning With The New York Times. Web. 18 November 2013.

President Warch Convocation Recordings Available for Streaming

President Warch

President Rik Warch’s convocation addresses are well-known for their humor, wit, and poignancy. Professor Mike Hittle has said, “Rik’s words clearly energized Lawrence.” In honor of President Warch, and to make his words more accessible, we have begun making audio recordings of his convocations available to be streamed from Lux, Lawrence’s institutional repository.

President Warch’s convocation speeches are the beginning of a larger collection of Presidential addresses that will be collected and made available in Lux.

Interested in a more extensive collection of President Warch’s convocation addresses? The Mudd Library has multiple copies of his book, A matter of style :reflections on liberal education, Lawrence University Matriculation Convocation Addresses, 1979-2003. This book can also be purchased from the campus store, KK’s Apparel and Gifts, in store and online. A Kindle edition of this books is also available.

The Year of The Beatles at the Mudd Library

Year of The Beatles displayIf you’ve visited the Mudd this past week or so, you may have noticed a semi-permanent exhibit titled “The Year of the Beatles.”  This coming year we will document the 50th anniversary of the rise of the Beatles’ fame in the United States beginning in the fall of 1963 and ending September 4, 1964 with their first and only appearance in Wisconsin.

Artifacts will include reproductions of documents, such as the program from the 1957 garden fete of St Peter’s Church, Woolton, Liverpool, the studio log book documenting the Quarrymen’s first professional recording in 1958, as well as contemporary items, including 45s and LPs and Beatles memorabilia and also scrapbooks complied in 1964.  There will also be some groovy events on campus such as speakers, presentations, and maybe even a trivia contest.  Keep watching for updates!

We’ll be documenting each of the library’s exhibits all year long on our Year of the Beatles Flickr photoset. We’ve also created a Beatles Pinterest board, containing images of Beatles-related materials available at the Mudd Library.

New Abraham Lincoln Exhibit at the Mudd Library

Abraham Lincoln exhibitThe Mudd Library is currently hosting a new Lincoln exhibit entitled, Abraham Lincoln: A Man of His Time, A Man for All Times.  This exhibit focuses on the life of President Lincoln, following his path from a self-educated young man, to President of the United States and the challenges he faced while President.

This exhibit came to us from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. To learn more about it, see the Gilder Lehrman page– or better yet- come to the second floor of the Mudd Library and see it for yourself! It was installed in the Mudd on October 8th, and will be up through November 5th.

Summer 2013 Coffeehouse Series

Coffeehouse
Susan Goeden shares one of her favorites, The Good Earth by Pearl Buck at the 2012 summer reads coffeehouse session.

This Wednesday, July 10, marks the first of our summer 2013 coffeehouse sessions. Join us, and share your favorite summer read. Don’t have a suggestion you’d like share? Come to hear the Mudd Library staff share our favorites! Coffee and delicious refreshments, as well as fun bookmarks, will be available for all attendees. The session will begin at 10 a.m. and last until 10:45 a.m.

Take a look at the other exiting sessions that will be offered throughout the summer:

July 24: Lux!  More Lux!

Lux, a digital repository of scholarly and creative work produced by Lawrence students, staff, and faculty, is now one year old.  Join us as Erin Dix and Colette Lunday Brautigam tell us about recent additions to Lux, including Harrison Symposium papers, archives of The Lawrentian, and faculty publications.  Birthday cake is a distinct possibility.

August 7: Lawrence in the Civil War

At the start of the Civil War, Lawrence University was 14 years old.  Join university archivist Erin Dix to explore the ways in which Lawrence faculty and students participated on the front lines and coped with the effects of the war at home.   This will be a reprise of a presentation given in January – if you missed it then, join us this time around!

August 21: It’s A Visual, Audio, Video World

Your website, publication, blog, or course material would benefit from the addition of some media, but where to begin?  Come and discover sources for legally-acquired sound and images; Antoinette Powell and Colette Lunday Brautigam will lead us.

All coffeehouses will begin at 10 a.m. and last until 10:45 a.m. Coffee and some variety of yummy refreshment will be provided at each session. All Lawrence faculty and staff are welcome to attend.

Visit our coffeehouse guide for more details and to learn about past coffeehouses.

Introducing: The Katie

Upon entering to the Mudd Library, you may notice a 50 foot long boat hanging above the reference collection. The boat (named Katie) was used by the Milwaukee-Downer College crew team. After it was discovered in a barn by Will Evans ’13, a group of Milwaukee-Downer alumnae raised funds to have it refinished to then be displayed somewhere on the Lawrence campus. The selected location, above the Mudd Library reference collection, is right outside the Milwaukee-Downer room. This special collections room contains a number of important artifacts from Milwaukee-Downer College.

To learn more about how the Katie came to be in the Mudd Library, take a look at our webpage. To see just how we got this boat into the library and hanging from the ceiling, see our photo set.

Canine Therapy 2013

Getting stressed out by end of term projects, papers, and pending final exams? To help you relax, we’ve scheduled our annual Canine Therapy event for Monday, June 3rd from 2-3 pm. For those of you who have not yet attended one of these events, Mudd Library and other Lawrence staff and faculty bring their beloved dogs to the library plaza to share some pets and snuggles with stressed-out students.

So, no matter how stressful you fear your finals week will be- remember that you’ll have the unconditional love of a sweet puppy to make things better.

National Library Week and More!

Beginning Sunday, April 14th and lasting through Saturday April 20th, the Mudd Library will be celebrating National Library Week! We have planned a variety of exciting events. Stop in to celebrate with us!

  • Library Student Worker Appreciation Day: Say ‘thanks’ to our library’s excellent student workers. Tuesday, April 16th
  • Make Your Voice Heard! Take part in a quick usability survey about the library’s new website. Pizza and beverages for all participants. Wednesday, April 17th, 6-8 pm.
  • Get a cookie for asking a question at the reference desk Thursday night from 6-10. Yes, may I have a cookie will suffice.

Take part in the following fun events all week long:

  • Enter in our annual Haiku contest for a chance to win an Amazon gift card.
  • Tell us why you love the Mudd Library.
  • Check out our display of staff favorites. We’ll be adding new favorites all week- so check back frequently.

As if Library Week wasn’t enough fun, members of the Mudd Library staff have also been helping to plan the following events around campus and in the community.

  • The Fox Cities Book Festival lasts from April 17th through April 24.  A variety of festival events are scheduled to take place on the Lawrence campus. Take a look at the festival website for more information.
  • Women and Identity in Gaming Symposium, hosted by the Lawrence University Gaming Club, will be held on April 20th on the Lawrence Campus. This day-long event will feature discussions, activities, and presentations from two fantastic guest speakers. See the Women and Identity in Gaming website or Facebook page for more information.

Meet the Staff: Holly Tuyls

For our most recent ‘Meet the Staff’ feature, we’ve interviewed Library Secretary, Holly Tuyls. Holly manages a wide variety of tasks here at the Mudd. These tasks include, but are not limited to, assisting in organizing and setting up for many library events, recording the minutes at library meetings, taking care of a variety of paperwork and making sure it gets to the correct department, and spreading cheer and goodwill.

How long have you been working at the Mudd Library?  Since April of 2012.

What’s your favorite part of your job?

I love the fact that my responsibilities include a wide variety of tasks; when I get tired of working on spreadsheets, I can water the plants, or count the copy machine money, or do some writing. Also, I am so lucky to have the privilege to work with such intelligent, hilarious, and interesting people.

Share something you’ve done at work that has made you especially proud.

I enjoy making seasonal displays which show off the variety of our available materials, especially the non-academic stuff. Upon declaring October ‘Scary Movie Month,’ I collected and showcased our scary movies, and it was really fun to watch how quickly they got checked out and what titles seemed to be student favorites.

Where did you get your degree? I graduated magna cum laude with an English degree from an amazing institution called Lawrence University in little old Appleton, Wisconsin.  Maybe you’ve heard of it?

What are your hobbies?  I love to read, cook, garden, and do yoga.  I occasionally and intermittently practice the piano as well.

What’s the last book you read that you couldn’t put down?  Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes, which explores alternatives to living on the planet in a creative, rather than consumptive, way.

What are your favorite bands or performers?  Hmmm.  This is a tough question.  I love all types of music and tend to get very obsessive about a performer for a spell, and then move on to the next. Ryan Adams, Neko Case, and Bright Eyes are always favorites. I love seeing live music. This past summer I brought my daughter to Minneapolis to see her first ‘real’ concert: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

List your favorite blogs and/or magazines. I love Bust!  Available in the Mudd on Level A!  I also enjoy Yoga Journal and Yoga International. Blogs I love include The Art of Non-Conformity, Zen Habits, and becoming minimalist.

What groups and/or organizations are you active in (on or off campus)?

I dabble in all sorts of things. We foster kitties for Orphan Animal Rescue.  We’ve done some work in the SLUG garden, helping to build the hoop house.  I take part in a weekly group meditation and flutter about the community taking yoga classes.

Tell us about your family.  My daughter is 12.  She sings in Lawrence Academy’s Girl Choir.  She also plays the piano and spends a lot of time reading.  She is currently big into a manga and anime series called ‘FullMetal Alchemist,’ and also spends a lot of time imagining.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers? As an alum, I can’t stress enough the amazing powers possessed by our reference librarians. While working toward my degree, I would approach the desk with trepidation and the feeling of not wanting to bother anyone.  These presumptions are so far from the truth! The reference librarians are there for the express purpose of helping students learn to engage in quality research, a skill that is of utmost importance as students advance in academia and in the world at large. When in doubt, go to the reference desk!