Friends of the UNCG Libraries

Diane Russeau-Pletcher is a person who likes to go down rabbit holes when she finds them.   Exploring some of those rabbit holes recently brought her to the University Libraries at UNCG  to do research in the papers of Ellen Winston, found in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives.   Russeau-Pledger is the 2014-2015 Research Travel Grant Award recipient of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives. Diane is studying the history of the eugenics movement in North Carolina, especially after World War II, and sees Ellen Winston as a key stakeholder in the state’s program as head of the State Eugenics Board and Commissioner of Public Welfare in North Carolina prior to being named by President Kennedy in 1963 as the first U.S. Commissioner of Welfare in the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW). Not only is the history of the eugenics movement still a current issue in North Carolina an...

(L-R) Anna Koester, Jack Koester, Dean of University Libraries Rosann Bazijrian, Will Koester, Pat Gruber, Ira Gruber, Caroline Koester Pat Sanderford Gruber (’51) and husband Ira live in Texas, so they don’t visit UNCG’s University Libraries every day.  As a student at Woman’s College who majored in English, however, Pat spent a lot of time in Jackson Library, and her love for the libraries at her alma mater remains.   She reminisced about the libraries during a recent visit, and enjoyed remembering that Jackson Library had just opened when she went to school here.  With her husband, daughter Anna and her husband Jack Koester, and grandchildren Will and Caroline, Mrs. Gruber also enjoyed seeing the dormitories where she had lived, and the transformation of what had been her library study carrel into the present-day Reference Services area.  Mrs. Gruber’s mother, Mildred Butler Sanderford, was a member of the class of 1927, and her sisters graduated in 1...

All of the following events are free and open to the public: Thursday, September 4: Poetry Reading by David Roderick from his new book, The Americans (co-sponsored with MFA Writing Program). 8 p.m. Faculty Center, UNCG Monday, September 8: Author and Storyteller Doug Elliott . 7 p.m. EUC Auditorium, UNCG Monday, September 15: Friends of the UNCG Libraries Book Discussion - The Rise of the Creative Class, Revisited by Richard Florida, led by Keith Debbage of the Department of Geography & the Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality and Tourism.  4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library 2nd floor, UNCG.  Thursday, September 18: Reading by Lee Zacharias from her book, The Only Sounds We Make (co-sponsored with MFA Writing Program). 7 p.m. Faculty Center, UNCG Wednesday, October 8: Presentation by Dr. Joy Kasson about author and illustrator Lois Lenski . 4 p.m. Hodges Reading Room Jackson Library 2nd floor, UNCG Thursday, October...

Lynda Kellam UNCG librarians  Lynda Kellam and Jenny Dale, as well as LIS faculty member Jim Carmichael, have authored chapters in a new publication from the American Library Association entitled T he Librarian Stereotype: Deconstructing Presentations and Perceptions of Information Work , edited by Nicole Pagowsky and Miriam Rigby.    Lynda and Jenny co-authored their chapter, “ At the Corner of Personality and Competencies: Exploring Professional Personas for Librarians”   with UNCG alumna Lauren Pressley, now at Virginia Tech. Jenny Dale The Librarian Stereotype serves as a response to passionate discussions regarding the ways in which librarians are perceived. Through twelve chapters, covering topics such as racial and ethnic identity, professional personas, pop culture, and a variety of specific stereotypes of librarians, the book reignites an examination of librarian presentation within the field and in the public eye, employing theories and ...

Several members of the library faculty and staff have recently consulted with other libraries to aid them in using WMS, our library software system. OCLC’s WorldShare Management Services (WMS) manages the ordering, processing, and circulation of library materials, along with holds, book renewals, print reserves, and similar user services. Darinlee Needham provided training on the serials component to the DeWitt Wallace Library at Macalester College.Terry Brandsma, Mary Jane Conger, Marcie Burton, Christine Fischer and Beth Bernhardt consulted with Loyola University of Chicago on the different modules of WMS and how they work. Cathy Griffith and her colleagues in Access Services have also been assisting Guilford Technical Community College in adopting WMS.

Who: Doug Elliott When and Where: Monday, September 8, 2014 7-9 p.m. UNC Greensboro – Elliott University Center Auditorium (Free and open to the public)   Saturday, September 6, 2014  12:00-12:45 pm and 4:30-5:30 pm , Bookmarks Festival, Winston-Salem (Free and open to the public) Whether he's singing about catfish, pontificating on possums, extolling the virtues of dandelions, telling wild snake tales or wailing out a jivey harmonica tune -- internationally-known storyteller and author Doug Elliott will take you on an unforgettable, multifaceted cultural tour of North America's back country. Elliott will appear at several free events in Greensboro and Winston-Salem in September, sponsored by the University Libraries at UNCG with support from the Pam and David Sprinkle Children’s Book Author and Storyteller Fund. Doug's stories derive from his unique lifestyle, as well as his deep interest in plants, animals and people. Since humanity's beginnings our connec...

IT is for Girls is a summer camp at UNCG.  During their week at the University, they made a visit on Wednesday to the University Libraries' Digital Media Center on the ground floor of Jackson Library.  Photos courtesy of Laura Tew.