Friends of the UNCG Libraries

As my first full semester as Interim Dean and calendar 2016 comes to a close, I have been reflecting upon how much libraries, librarians, and access to information are essential to vibrant communities. Our donors make it possible for the UNCG University Libraries to shine as teaching and learning partners for the students, faculty, friends, and region which we serve.  Because of your generosity we—and they--are stronger, better, and more vital. Here are just a few of the initiatives your assistance has fostered this year: ·          Growing and digitizing our unique collections such as the Cello Music Collection, the Women’s Veteran’s Historical Project and the Book Arts and Book Binding Collection. These collections distinguish us among research libraries and we make them available to users worldwide. ·          Working with faculty across the campus to develop low cost, high imp...

UNCG students were greeted this fall with a completely refurnished Reading Room on the first floor of Jackson Library. Improvements include 24 new workstations with double monitors and a wide variety of flexible seating in appealing colors.  We added numerous white boards as well. As you can see in this brief video, students are flocking to this new learning space.  It's often hard to find a seat!

Terry Brandsma, Information Technology Librarian at UNC Greensboro, was recently recognized by OCLC as one of the 12 “superstar collaborators” among the more than 8,900 users from 3,500 libraries worldwide that use the online OCLC Community Center.  Since the Community Center was launched in July 2015, these 12 superstars collectively participated in more than 500 community conversations where they shared workflows, sought and gave advice to peers, contributed ideas on how to improve products, and interacted with product teams.  Terry is the Libraries’ system administrator for both WorldShare Management Services (the OCLC integrated library platform) and WorldCat Local (the OCLC public discovery interface). The superstar collaborators were first recognized at the WorldShare Management Services Global Community & User Group Meeting, held recently in Dublin, OH. Additional details can be found in  this OCLC Next blog post .

The Libraries are delighted to welcome Hollie Stevenson-Parrish  as Director of Communications and Marketing.  She will join us on January 3, 2017. Hollie received her BA in English from Wake Forest University and a Master of Public Affairs from UNC Greensboro.  Hollie brings several years of experience in public relations, marketing and communications. She comes to us from Hospice and Palliative Care where she has been Public Relations and Communications Manager since 2012.  Prior to that Hollie worked at UNCG as Assistant Director, Marketing and Creative Services for Annual Giving, at Winston-Salem State University as Marketing and Membership Coordinator and at the Enrichment Center as Communications and Public Relations Coordinator.

Here are a few of the events we have lined up for next spring: Monday, February 13, 2017 . Book discussion of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson ,  led by Dr. Saundra Westervelt of the UNC Greensboro Sociology Department. 7 pm. in the Hodges Reading Room.  Free and open to the public. Tuesday, March 21, 2017 .  Book discussion of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, led by Dr. Chuck Bolton of the UNC Greensboro History Department. 4 pm in the Hodges Reading Room.  Free and open to the public. Wednesday, March 29, 2017.  Friends of the UNCG Libraries Annual Dinner.  The speaker will be  Ray Suarez, former host of National Public Radio's  Talk of the Nation and author of numerous books including The Holy Vote:  The Politics of Faith in America and Latino Americans:   The 500-year Legacy That Shaped a Nation.  6 pm in Cone Ballroom, Elliott University Center.  Ticketed E...

An expansion of the UNCG University Libraries'  Digital Library on American Slavery will provide a unique, centralized database of bills of sales indexing the names of enslaved people from across North Carolina.  People Not Property - Slave Deeds of North Carolina is a collaborative endeavor between the UNCG University Libraries, the North Carolina Division of Archives and Records and the North Carolina Registers of Deeds.  When complete the project will include high resolution images and full-text searchable transcripts.  It is led by Richard Cox, the Digital Technology Consultant in the University Libraries, who was recently featured in an article in the Asheville Citizens Times about the project and how it helped one family find information on its ancestors. Hopefully the project will eventually expand beyond North Carolina. More information on the project.

The University Libraries' Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA), along with the Library at Wake Forest University, recently hosted a "Hop into History" event at Gibbs Hundred Brewing Company in downtown Greensboro.  Forty UNCG alumni, Libraries' staff and others came to view exhibits based on a Halloween theme. Items included creepy dust jackets, the infamous McIver death mask and a William Jennings Bryan life mask. Hop into History is designed to engage the greater community to learn about the collections in SCUA.

Lynda Kellam, Data Services Librarian and Assistant Director of International & Global Studies, has been invited to join the  NMC's Horizon Project Library Panel of Experts , which will produce the  NMC Horizon Report: 2017 Library Edition. These bi-annual reports examines key trends, significant challenges, and important developments in technology for their impact on academic and research libraries worldwide.  The report is a collaboration between the NMC and the University of Applied Sciences (HTW) Chur, Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) Hannover, and ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, with the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) as key dissemination partner. More information about the Horizon Reports and past editions are available on the  NMC website . http://www.nmc.org/nmc- horizon/

The University Libraries hosted a workshop by the Open Textbook Network on September 9, 2016  Over 35 UNCG faculty attended the workshop led by Rajvi Jhangiani, psychology professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Vancouver, Canada. Major points  Jhangiani covered  included: – The burden of cost for higher education is trending toward the student, with less support by state funding. – Textbook prices have risen at a much higher rate than inflation. – Average student nationally spent around $1300 for textbooks and course materials for 2015-16. – To cope with the cost, students nationally are delaying purchasing a textbook, purchasing older editions, sharing a textbook with other, or never purchasing the textbook. The workshop was part of a larger initiative by the Libraries to reduce educational costs for our students.  In the spring, University Libraries will open applications for faculty to apply for incentive grants to encourage instructors to ...

Faculty promoted and/or tenured in 2016 were honored at the promotion and tenure attainment recognition event held on Monday, September 26 in the Virginia Dare Room of the Alumni House. This program, jointly sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the University Libraries, offers honorees the opportunity to select a book (or other resource) that has special meaning to them. The titles are added to the Libraries collection. A display is mounted next to the Reference desk in Jackson Library, and photos of the honorees with their selections are posted here  http://library.uncg.edu/info/ events_and_awards/recognition/ 2016/   We are particularly pleased to be recognizing three library faculty members who were granted tenure: Keith Gorman, Jenny Dale and David Gwynne pictured here.

On September 22, 2016 the Libraries celebrated receiving a $1,000 grant from  Sisters in Crime , a national organization devoted to supporting women crime writers.  The Libraries will use the funds to enhance the  Robbie Emily Dunn Collection of American Detective Fiction  in Special Collections and University Archives. Pictured here are members of the  North Carolina Triad Chapter  of Sisters in Crime presenting the check to Dr. Keith Gorman, Assistant Dean for Special Collections and University Archives and Kathryn Crowe, Interim Dean. Chris Roerden, President of the chapter is first row, far right.

Looking for Palestine , by Najla Said, is the Keker First Year Common Read for this year.  Dr. Jeff Jones from the UNCG History Department  will lead the Friends’ discussion of this book at 7 pm on Monday, October 10 in The Hodges Reading Room in Jackson Library.     The daughter of the famous intellectual and outspoken Palestinian advocate Edward Said and a sophisticated Lebanese mother, Najla Said grew up in New York City, confused and conflicted about her cultural background and identity. Said knew that her parents identified deeply with their homelands, but growing up in a Manhattan world that was defined largely by class and conformity, she felt unsure about who she was supposed to be, and was often in denial of the differences she sensed between her family and those around her. She may have been born a Palestinian Lebanese American, but Said denied her true roots, even to herself—until, ultimately, the psychological toll of her self-hatred began to ...

Amy Harris Houk has been appointed Head of the Research, Outreach and Instruction (ROI) Department at the University Libraries at UNCG, effective August 1,  2016.  She replaces Mary Krautter who retired in July. Amy was serving as Assistant Head of ROI since December 2015 and as Information Literacy Coordinator. Before joining the Libraries full-time in 2006, she worked as a Reference Intern for two semesters.  Amy received her B.A. in Elementary Education and American Studies from UNC Chapel Hill.  She also worked as host of a radio show and as an elementary school teacher. She received her MLIS from UNC Greensboro. Amy has published and presented widely on information literacy, assessment. Her article “Curriculum Mapping in Academic Libraries” article in New Review of Academic Librarianship   was selected as a Top Twenty Article for 2015 by the ALA Library Instruction Round Table. Amy serves on the North Carolina Library Association's Executive...

The Friends of the UNCG Libraries will hold their first book discussion of the new academic year on Monday, September 19 at 4 pm in the Hodges Room on the second floor of Jackson Library's original building. The book selected is Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay: Reflections on Art, Family, and Survival , by Christopher Benfey.  The book was chosen to complement the 75th Anniversary of the Weatherspoon Art Museum this year. Reviewer Adam Goodheart of the New York Times Book Review called this NY Times Notable Book of 2012, "a book about earthen vases, epic voyages and ancestral blood. Part memoir, part family saga, part travelogue, part cultural history, it takes readers on a peripatetic ramble across America and beyond."  From the red bricks of North Carolina to the Black Mountain College to highly prized white clay, this is a book North Carolinians can especially enjoy.  The discussion is free and open to all. Dr. Emily Stamey is Curator of Exhibitions at ...

The UNCG University Libraries 2015-16 Innovation Grant was awarded to Isabella Baltar of the Libraries' Preservation Services Division for her project "No Boundaries in Preservation."  Mrs. Baltar used the funds to develop instructional videos and posters on basic preservation and conservation of books and documents.  A native of Brazil, Mrs. Baltar created the materials in English, Spanish and Portuguese to make the information available to a wide range of communities within the United State and Latin countries. They cover topics such as preventing water disasters, cleaning books and paper, best practices for small digitization projects, brittle paper repair and archival storage enclosures. The videos and posters are available to everyone -- hence "No Boundaries!" Click here for more information and to view the videos and posters. For more information please contact Isabella Balthar at ibaltar@uncg.edu

I n a new initiative, the University Libraries awarded $1,000 stipends to three faculty members to provide support to revise their spring 2016 courses to incorporate more information literacy and increase librarian involvement. The faculty selected partnered with several UNCG librarians to develop new assignments and assessments that enhanced student learning.   Dr. Thomas Jackson, History 391 Historical Skills and Methods,worked with Kathy Crowe (Libraries' liaison to the History department) Lynda Kellam (Data Services and Government Information Librarian), and Kathelene Smith (Photographs, Artifacts, and Textiles Archivist) to  incorporate library databases, historic census and polling data, and archival materials relating to the sit-ins of the 1960s. Ms.Stephanie Hudson collaborated with Amy Harris Houk (Libraries' liaison to the School of Education) on ELC 381 The Institution of Education. The class included a series of scaffolded assignments centered around ...

We welcome Jenay Solomon as our 5th Diversity Resident. She began on July 25 and will be with the Libraries for two years. Jenay comes to us from Nebraska where she received her BA in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and her MLS from Emporia State University.  Jenay worked as a Graduate Research Assistant and Graduate Administrative Assistant in the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State.  She was also a Student Reference Assistant in Research and Information Services and in Diversity and Multicultural Services at the Love Library at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  She was an American Library Association Spectrum Scholar in 2014. In her spare time Jenay enjoys reading, painting, cooking and listening to  variety of music. She lives with her dog, Jade, and cat, Lacey.  She also likes to travel and counts Palau (where her father is from) , England and Scotland among the places she's been so far. Jenay is very excite...

Joe Bruchac Joe Bruchac is a storyteller, an author, a poet, a musician, a teacher and professor, a publisher and  editor, a mentor, a father, and a grandfather, among other things.   His work spans the past fifty years, and he remains one of this country’s great resources bringing an appreciation of Native American values and perspectives to his readers and listeners. Joe was raised, in large measure, by his grandmother and grandfather in the house in which he still lives In Greenfield Center near Saratoga Springs, NY.  Intrigued and drawn to his Abenaki heritage on his mother’s side of the family, Joe changed his college major at Cornell from Wildlife Conservation to English and Creative Writing, and later earned a Ph.D.  When he finished college, and wanting to do something meaningful with his life, he and his wife Carol went to West Africa for three years to live, teach and work in a school library and bookstore.  Perhaps known first as a poet, th...

A grant from the State Library of North Carolina will aid students at East Carolina University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro by reducing their costs for required textbooks. The grant is part of the Library Services and Technology Act and is made possible by LSTA grant funding from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal grant-making agency. The State Library of North Carolina, a Division of the Department of Cultural Resources, awarded a grant to librarians from J.Y. Joyner Library at ECU and Jackson Library at UNCG to develop a two-pronged approach to Alternative Textbooks. Including matching funds from both universities, the  total cost of the two-year project is $184,332.   Sharing best practices, procedures, and promotional materials, the librarians at both institutions will work with departmental faculty to reduce students' textbook costs and increase their academic engagement through two concurrent strategies. One strategy i...

Kayla Johnson, is very excited to be joining the University of North Carolina at Greensboro as a First Year Instruction Librarian this summer in the Research, Outreach and Instruction Department. Though originally from Minnesota, she has been living in Alabama for almost six years while in school and in her job as a Research and Instruction Librarian at The University of Alabama.  She received her MLIS in December 2014 from The University of Alabama, where she also received a B.A. in Anthropology.  Most of her experience has been with First Year Composition, but she also has experience working with the Spanish department, and have focused a lot on campus outreach to freshmen. She is very excited to get the opportunity to continue working with freshmen, because she believes that helping them form a strong academic foundation is a crucial part of ensuring that they have a successful college career. Her hobbies outside of work include reading, hiking, traveling, paddle-boarding...

The 2016-17 Innovation Grant is awarded to Callie Coward, Erica Rau and Carolyn Shankle for "Vintage Viands and the Roaring ‘ 20s." Vintage Viands offers opportunities for students, staff, and the local community to sample foods from an earlier era, and reflect on how taste and ingredients change over time. The event, connected through the Home Economics Pamphlets Collection and the Home Economics and Household Collection, offers attendees an online or physical exhibit. Vintage Viands gathers student attention, creating a memorable experience that places University Libraries in a favorable position. Looking long-term, the event serves as a template for creating accessibility of hidden or limited-use collections to wider audiences; individuals can still enjoy the event, regardless if the collection is for personal use, research, and/or curriculum development. We’re also hoping this project can spearhead a LSTA grant. With the grant, we’d like to modify the Vintage...

Lynda Kellam Karen Grigg UNC Greensboro librarians Lynda Kellam (Data Services and Government Information) and Karen Grigg (Science Liaison librarian) are featured in Databrarianship: The Academic Librarian in Theory and Practice (2016).  Published by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Kellam served as co-editor for the book, and Grigg published a chapter, “Data in the Sciences."  Databrarianship examines how librarians can utilize different methodologies and theories to better curate and organize academic research data. The new release draws “ on the expertise of a diverse community of practitioners, this collection of case studies, original research, survey chapters, and theoretical explorations presents a wide-ranging look at the field of academic data librarianship. ”   Additional information on Databrarianship.

The following information was provided by Assistant Dean of University Libraries Tim Bucknall : Every few years, we do a school-by-school and deal-by-deal cost avoidance calculation for the Carolina Consortium (CC).   This represents the savings as compared to what it would cost each school to receive the same journals without participating in the savings negotiated by the Consortium. I just finished the 2016 CC spreadsheet, and I'm very pleased to report that our collective annual cost avoidance is now $338,437,086. A few fun facts: - UNCG's savings is $9,577,238 from 34 ongoing CC deals (10th biggest savings out of the CC's 184 libraries) - the biggest savers are UNC Pembroke ($11M), Western Carolina ($10.9M), and UNC Asheville ($10.8M) - the biggest non-UNC system saver is Lenoir-Rhyne ($10.6M) - The 17 schools of the UNC System have 329 ongoing CC deals and save $115 million, which is 34% of all the CC savings. - Not everyone saves big. Two schools (both comm...

Readers of American Libraries , one of the profession's most important and respected journals, opened their June issue to read an article about recruiting and retaining volunteers in libraries.  Featured prominently in the article is the program in the University Libraries' Special Collections and University Archives. Assistant Dean Keith Gorman and archivist Kathelene Smith are quoted throughout the article. Pictured here is former Archivist and current volunteer Herman Trojanowksi.

Here's the Fall line-up for Friends of the UNCG Libraries events and programs: Author and Storyteller Joe Bruchac September 9-12 : Children’s Book Author and Storyteller Joe Bruchac will appear under University Libraries sponsorship at the Bookmarks Festival in Winston-Salem on Saturday, September 10, and the National Folk Festival in Greensboro on Sunday, September 11, and will make appearances for elementary age children at selected locations in Winston-Salem on Friday, September 9 and on Monday, September 12 at UNC Greensboro.   See bookmarksnc.org and nationalfolkfestival.org for details. Monday, September 19 : Friends of the UNCG Libraries Book Discussion— Red  Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay: Reflections on Art, Family, and Survival by Christopher Benfey, led by Dr. Emily Stamey  of the Weatherspoon Art Museum in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of the Weatherspoon. 4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library 2nd floor, UNCG.  Thursday,...

St. Leo's, Greensboro's First Catholic Hospital  Dead men tell no tales, but those helped by Greensboro’s history of good medicine and medical care do, and the University Libraries at UNCG is partnering with three other area institutions on a project to make the records of the history of medicine in the Gate City--a total of thirteen unique archival collections--better known and more accessible to scholars, students and community researchers. insurance plan offered by St. Leo's Hospital (click to enlarge) Today's Greensboro Historical Museum, built as the First Presbyterian Church, served as a hospital during the Civil War Early in the twentieth century, for example, St. Leo’s, the first Catholic hospital in the city, was also home to the first of Greensboro's many nursing education programs. Building on this tradition, Wesley Long Hospital, founded by Dr. John Wesley Long and now part of the Cone Health System, had an early program for teaching ...

Dr, Karlene Noel Jennings has been appointed Executive Director of Development for the University Libraries at UNC Greensboro.  Jennings replaces Linda Burr Kemper who retired in January.  Jennings, who comes to UNCG from the College of William and Mary, holds a MSIS from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and a PhD from Iowa State University.  She earned a BA in American History from Washington and Lee, and a Master’s in Higher Education Administration and Museum Management from the University of South Carolina.  Karlene has a distinguished background in library advancement, having served as an external relations professional for 20 years, and as an academic library development for more than twelve years.  She is past chair of ALADN (Academic Library Advancement Network) and past facilitator of DORAL (Development Officers of Research & Academic Libraries).  Dr. Jennings is a Certified Fund Raising Executi...

Group I: British Victorian Literature Collection (click to enlarge) The Jackson Society's Members Choice Event was held recently, and members again chose some rare titles to add to the collections of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives.  In thanking the members for their support, Assistant Dean for Special Collections and University Archives Keith Gorman wrote: "The event was held on Thursday, May 19 at 5:30.  Attendees examined 28 British and American literary works from the 19th century.  All of these rare works were first editions.  Attendees were presented with three groupings of works...Selection #1--British Victorian Literature, Selection #2--Works of Thoreau and Longfellow, and Selection #3--Assorted British and American 19th Century Literature.   Attendees were asked to cast their votes for the three groupings.  They placed poker chips in assigned ballot boxes.  Votes were than tabulated. Jackso...

The University Libraries have been awarded a We Love Libraries grant from Sisters in Crime , an organization of professional women mystery writers.  The grant will be used to support the Robbie Emily Dunn Collection of American Detective Fiction , one of our Special Collections. University Libraries employees displaying books by Sisters in Crime luminary Margaret Maron, whose papers are on long term loan to UNCG The University Libraries will celebrate receipt of the grant at an event at 4 -5:30 pm on September 22, 2016 in the Hodges Reading Room.  The presentation will be made the Sisters in Crime chapter in High Point, NC, called Murder We Write .