Odum Library Blog

We had another great year for ReadFest, held last Friday on VSU’s beautiful front lawn! Odum Library welcomed 170 pre-kindergarten students to VSU to celebrate reading.

The Chic-Fil-A cow was on hand to keep the kids entertained.

Volunteers from the College of Education read big books to the children.

Dr. Ondrusek from the Master of Library and Information Science Program used puppets to tell a story.

Things aren’t all serious at Read Fest! The kids loved getting temporary tattoos. We hope their parents didn’t mind too much!

The kids loved showing off their new temporary tattoos.

Isn’t that one of our librarians showing off her temporary tattoo? I think so!

The kids enjoyed some time at the jumprope and hula hoop station where they were able to wiggle out some energy.

Hula hooping is harder than it looks!

The kids went through about a dozen stations overall, where they enjoyed hearing stories, watching puppet shows, meeting the Chic-Fil-A cow, getting temporary tattoos, making visors, hula hooping, and more! They all went home with goodie bags, including books donated by the Student Council of the International Reading Association (a student group within the College of Education). They seemed to have a great time, and so did our librarians and our volunteers!

Thanks to everyone involved for making Read Fest 2012 a great experience!

Today (Tuesday, April 10, 2012) is National Library Workers Day!

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This is a day to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers. Do you have a favorite library worker? Nominate them online to be in the Galexy of Stars! Take a break from your term papers and come say hello to your favorite library worker today. We always love to see you. After all, libraries may work because we do, but we work because of you!

Why go to the movies when you can read one instead?

Courtesy of Zach Weiner @ Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

For the sake of comparison, consider:

Going to the movies:

• The national average for movie tickets is going on $8.
• You’ll watch about 30 minutes of previews and 2 hours of entertainment.
• You can buy really expensive snacks or feel immoral for sneaking them in.

Reading a book:

• Books offer hours and days of enjoyment!
• They’re free for checkout at the library!
• You can read them over and over!
• You can read them anywhere, not just in a dark room with soda and popcorn all over the floor.
• This holiday season, you can read them at home while you’re trying to avoid interaction with extended family members.
• We can’t guarantee it, but there probably won’t be anyone kicking your chair while you read.

So, what are you waiting for? The library is open this week. Come check out a movie you can read (we also call them books). Here are some of our movies in book form:

Atonement by Ian McEwan

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Scott Pilgrim (comic book) by Bryan Lee O’Malley

True Grit by Charles Portis

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

(Did you notice that we didn’t mention the Ilighttway series? Oh… until now. Oops.)

Of course, we don’t have anything against watching movie-movies if that’s what you prefer. Check out some of our newest DVDs here.

We know it’s crunch time around VSU. You still have several papers to write and finals to prepare for. Hopefully, though, you’ll get to see your family for Thanksgiving and have a chance to relax a bit.

Of this fact we are (almost) certain: you are not a robot.

Robots love to work; that’s what they’re made to do. But people like you (and me) need some leisure time. We can’t just work non-stop. Yes, you should get some work done on your papers over Thanksgiving if you can bear it. At the end of the semester you’ll be glad you did. Let your brain relax some, too, and read something just for fun!

Did you know that Odum Library has a whole collection of popular books that we purchase just so you’ll have something fun to read every now and again? From murder mysteries to romance novels and even the latest political propaganda “non-fiction”, we don’t care what you read. We just want you to check out a book and enjoy yourself. Think about something other than your grades for a few hours, your brain will thank you.

If you can’t find something you like in our popular collection (which is on the main floor by the copy room, by the way), head over to South Georgia Regional Library (SGRL) and browse their books, too. With their PINES system you can borrow popular books from all over the state. So if you’re dying to get your hands on Men who Knit and the Dogs who Love Them, SGRL can make that happen!

Why not take one of the classes taught by your very own reference librarians? We’re offering two different courses this spring:

LIBS 1000: Introduction to Library Research (1 credit) is an all-online class that will teach you the research skills you need to find great information for all of your research papers. As the Undergraduate Catalog describes it, this course is “[d]esigned to promote an awareness of Valdosta State University Library Services and general information resources, including the role of information in society, research skills, the Internet, and critical thinking skills” (p. 381). The CRN is 22572. This course will be taught by Ginger Williams.

PERS 2750: Exploring the Information Society (2 credits) is “[a]n exploration of information, examining how it is generated, evaluated, organized, and used. Students investigate the impact of information in society from regional, national, and global perepective with a focus on the political, economic, and ethical aspects” (p. 415). The CRN for this course is 22573. This course will be taught by Jeffrey Gallant and Michael Holt.

What are your plans for Fall Break? If you don’t have any yet, why not spend some time in Odum Library? The building will be open normal operational hours, so stop by to check out our new art exhibits or work on improving your midterm grades.

Odum Library:

Friday, October 21: 7:45AM to 9:00PM

Saturday, October 22: 9:00AM to 9:00PM

Sunday, October 23: 12:00PM to 2:00AM

Monday, October 24: 7:45AM to 2:00AM

Tuesday, October 25: 7:45AM to 2:00AM

Even though the building will be open all weekend, the reference librarians won’t be on hand to answer your research questions. (You can still send them an email through the Live Chat link and someone will get back to you with assistance as soon as they can.) Staff will be available at the circulation desks to help you check out a book, get items on reserve, send faxes, and all of the other wonderful things they do for you.

Reference Desk (including Live Chat):

Friday, October 21: 8:00AM to 5:00PM

Saturday, October 22: closed

Sunday, October 23: closed

Monday, October 24: 8:00AM to 6:00PM

The hours will be back to normal starting Tuesday morning, October 25.

It seems like classes just started and we already get to take a long weekend! We hope you have plans to do something fun (and safe!) this weekend. If you want to work on homework all weekend, we won’t stop you, but we will ask you to find another study spot.

The Library will be closing at midnight Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011 and reopening at 7:45AM on Tuesday, Sept. 06, 2011 in observation of Labor Day. This includes the Internet Café.

You probably know the old saying… you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. Even your friendly library staff needs a day off every once in a while. 🙂

No problem- you can reset it on your own! Log into one of the library’s computers using the guest account. (This login information is also displayed on the screen.)

Open up a browser and go to www.valdosta.edu, then follow the link to BlazeVIEW. Underneath the ‘Login to BlazeVIEW’ button you’ll see a link to reset your password.

Click on the link to reset your Active Directory (computer lab) password, your BlazeVIEW password, or both. Follow the directions on the screen.

Tip: You can choose to synchronize your BlazeVIEW and Active Directory passwords if you don’t want to have to remember two different ones.

Your new password must meet the following requirements:

• Must be 8 to 20 characters
• Contains at least one upper and lower case letter
• Contains at least one number
• Must not resemble a real word

Click on the ‘Change Passwords’ button and you’re finished. You can then log off of the computer and log in with your own Active Directory account. Using your own account lets you save items in your My Documents folder, use Microsoft Word and other programs, browse to non-VSU websites, and much more.

Summer is almost over. Have you read a good book lately? We have many of the New York Times bestsellers available for you to check out today. Many of them are in our Popular Books collection by the second floor copy room. Stop by to browse and to see the new, beautiful artwork we’ve brought into the library.

Remember that faculty, staff, students, and community borrowers can check books out at Odum Library. If you don’t know what to read next, here are a few titles to get you started:

Fiction

• The Help by Kathryn Stockett (3rd floor shelves, PS3619.T636 H45 2009)
• The Confession by John Grisham (2nd floor Popular Books, PS3557.R5355 C66 2010)
• Hell’s Corner by David Baldacci (2nd floor Popular Books, PS3552.A446 H46 2010)
• A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin (3rd floor shelves, PS3563.A7239 C58 1999)
• Whiplash by Catherine Coulter (2nd floor Popular Books, PS3553.O843 W47 2010)
• Sizzling Sixteen by janet Evanovich (2nd floor Popular Books, PS3555.V2126 S59 2010)
• Tough Customer by Sandra Brown (2nd floor Popular Books, PS3552.R718 T68 2010)
• Family Ties by Danielle Steel (2nd floor Popular Books, PS3569.T33828 F36 2010)
• A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin (3rd floor shelves, PS3563.A7239 F39 2005)
• The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva (2nd floor Popular Books, PS3619.I5443 R46 2010)
• Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs (2nd floor Popular Books, PS3568.E476345 S65 2010b)

Non-fiction

• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (2nd floor Popular Books, D805.J3 Z364 2010)
• Bossypants by Tina Fey (2nd floor Popular Books, PN2287.F4255 A3 2011)
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (2nd floor Popular Books, RC265.6.L24 S55 2010)
• Outliers by Malcom Gladwell (2nd floor shelves, BF637.S8 G533 2008)
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (3rd floor shelves, HV5132 .W35 2005)
• The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (3rd floor shelves, HV6248.M8 L37 2003)
• The Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne (2nd floor Popular Books, E99.C85 P3835 2010)

Students… where are you? Odum Library can be very, very quiet between semesters. The first week of classes is right around the corner, and it’s going to be hectic. (It’s always hectic, don’t you think?) We can’t wait for thousands of eager young minds to come back through our doors, and we’re looking forward to welcoming new students (and faculty) to VSU this fall.

For you overachievers out there who have already bought textbooks, sharpened pencils, evenly divided notebook paper between subjects in your Trapper Keeper ®, and ironed your back-to-school outfit, we have plenty of quiet places for you to come get a head start on the school year! Do you know where this one is?