Odum Library Blog

Focus on the environment this week with a neighborhood cleanup as well as the celebration of Earth Day. On Saturday, April 25, 2015, come volunteer for the Great American Cleanup, sponsored by Keep Lowndes/Valdosta Beautiful, the City of Valdosta, and Lowndes County. Help clean up our area by contacting Keep Lowndes/Valdosta Beautiful at 229-671-3698 to participate.

Earth Day 2015 falls on Wednesday, April 22, 2015. Many government resources for celebration and education this Earth Day are available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. There you’ll find tips for everyday environmental awareness and conservation in the EPA’s efforts for people to make Earth Day, Every Day.

President Obama is visiting the Everglades National Park this week to focus on climate change and conservation of natural resources and to invite you to submit photos of places you’d most like to protect.

More opportunities for research and information about Earth Day and the environment are available through the Library of Congress’s Earth Day Resources page.

Within the state of Georgia, you’ll find more Earth Day information from the Georgia Forestry Commission. However you decide to help the environment this week, also make it an opportunity to learn more about conserving our natural resources.

The Library’s GIL-Find Catalog, Voyager system and all other interrupted services such as Course Reserves, My Library account login and the Equipment Booking Online Form have all been restored.

We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced as a result of this service outage and thank you for your patience.

Valdosta State University’s Odum Library will celebrate International TableTop Day from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 11.

Students, staff, and faculty, as well as the public gaming community, are invited to visit the library to both play and discover new board games, card games, dice games, and more. Many of these games are part of the Tabletop Games Collection at the library.

Children and adults of all ages are welcome and encouraged to bring their favorite games to share with others in attendance.

Pizza and drinks will be served.

Designed to strengthen bonds with family and friends, International TableTop Day activities are coordinated locally by the Odum Library Tabletop Games Committee in conjunction with Valdosta-area partner The Geek Society.

This is the university’s third year celebrating International Tabletop Day.

TableTop Day 2014 was celebrated in 80 countries, over all seven continents, and boasted more than 3,000 events, like the one hosted by VSU’s Odum Library.

Contact Jonathan Klotz in the Odum Library at jrklotz@valdosta.edu to learn more.

ALA’s National Library Week Graphic 2015

Did you know there is a National Library Week? National Library Week is a national observance, sponsored by the American Library Association, which was started in 1958. Each year libraries across the country observe National Library Week with special events unique to each individual library. Here at VSU, Odum Library, in conjunction with the Dewer College of Education and Human Services, sponsors an event called Read Fest. Read Fest is an annual event organized to promote the importance and fun of reading to local Pre-Kindergarten Students.

This year’s Read Fest Event will be the biggest ever with about 300 Pre-Kindergarten students attending. The front lawn, in front of West Hall, will be transformed into several stations for the Pre-K students. The stations will include interactive puppet shows, book reading, arts and crafts, hula hoops and jump ropes, and a special visit from the famous Chick-fil-A cow! For more information about Read Fest and how you may be able to help, contact Brett Williams at bawillia@valdosta.edu.

Be sure to stop by the library next week to thank a library worker. Tuesday, April 14, is National Library Workers Day. The librarians, staff, and student assistants in all of the areas in the library work hard to make sure the library is open, clean, organized, and comfortable so you can enjoy your time here. While the faces you see at the Circulation desks, Reference desks, Media Services department, and Archives department may be who come to mind when you think of library workers, there are many more faces behind the scenes that help keep the library going.

So next week be sure to not only thank the people working with the public services, but remember everyone working hard behind the scenes to provide access to the information you need. If you would like to recognize a library worker, you can nominate that person as a stellar library worker. To nominate a library worker fill in the National Library Workers Day: Submit a Star form.

Here at Odum Library, we can’t help you prepare your taxes, but we can at least help you obtain the information you need.

Odum Library has copies of 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ forms, available in the kiosk near the Reference Desk on the second floor of Odum Library. Other forms, schedules, and instructions are not available this year in print at our library, so the best source will be the forms and publications sites listed below.

Federal forms are available at these links from irs.gov:

• The IRS’s Forms and Publications page offers links to the most popular forms, which are also available in accessible versions.  A link to the entire list of forms is available at the bottom of the forms page.

• Need instructions and tax tables?  Both are also available on the Forms and Publications page.

Georgia forms are not available in print from libraries this year.  The state does have a site, the Georgia Tax Center, where you can create an account for dealing with your state tax issues this year.

• The most popular forms and instructions, including the most often used Form 500 Individual Tax Reform booklet, are available from the Georgia Department of Revenue web site.

• If you prefer, you can request State of Georgia tax forms by calling the forms order line at 1-877-423-6711, option #2, then option #6.

In addition, tax forms from all 50 states are available courtesy of the Federation of Tax Administrators.

Happy Spring!

April is Women’s History Month.  While this FDLP entry is focusing on government information sources as usual, our slide this month features a photograph of a Georgia State Women’s College student volunteers’ traveling Library Project funded through the Nation Youth Administration (NYA) and the Works Project Administration (WPA) to help bring library service to rural communities. (1938 GSWC Bulletin, courtesy of the Archives & Special Collections, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Ga.)

Womenshistorymonth.gov offers links to an interactive 3D model of Amelia Earhart’s flight suit, a collection of nursing pioneer Clara Barton’s archived correspondence and other documents, a PBS documentary on photographer Dorothea Lange, and a feature on women in the military.

Women’s History Month has existed since 1982; view President Ronald Reagan’s proclamation declaring its creation, courtesy of the University of California at Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project.

The National Park Service hosts a multitude of sites honoring women’s history; tour a selection of these sites at the Service’s Inside Story feature.

The Census Bureau’s Facts for Features for March 2015 features interesting facts about women’s history in the United States.  For instance, as recorded in December 2013, the population of women in the U.S. was 161 million, compared to 156.1 million men.

During March 2015, learn more about women’s history, and be sure to honor the contributions of women local, regional, and national.

AfricanAmericanHistoryMonth.gov is but one of many government sources for information about African American History Month. Sponsored collaboratively by the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives and Records Administration,  and other federal government agencies, this site collects information about exhibits, event calendars, educational resources, and more.

For instance, the Library of Congress is hosting through September 12, 2015 the exhibit The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom. The online exhibit features timelines, multimedia presentations, and learning materials for the classroom.

Furthermore, the National Park Service’s cultural resources on African American Heritage page lists sites, exhibits, lesson plans, and more available year-round. The National Gallery of Art features highlights from its collection of works by African American Artists.  Visit the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Documenting African American History site for lessons and exhibits on topics such as the Emancipation Proclamation, African American soldiers in World War I, Frederick Douglass’s 1845 autobiography, and spirituals.

Geographically closer to home, the Civil Rights Digital Library, an initiative of the Digital Library of Georgia and GALILEO, provides a digital video archive, a civil rights portal, and a collection of secondary resource links to online educational content. Keep in mind that all of these information resources are made possible through your state and federal governments at work.

As classes resume for spring semester 2015, we hope you’ll find your way to Odum library to ignite your new year at VSU!  Remember that Odum Library is open its regular hours seven days a week.

Wondering how Odum Library is here for you?  We have quiet and group study areas, computer labs, a coffee shop, printer/photocopiers, and more here for your convenience–just ask at any of our service desks or take a look at our handy floor maps.

Maybe you’ve made some resolutions to try to improve your life in the new year. Whatever your goal, we can find a book or online information to help you get started right.

For instance, the U.S. government is a great source for current authoritative information. If you’re trying to eat better to improve your health and lose weight, ChooseMyPlate.gov offers online advice. Find out more about nutrition and get a free two-week sample menu at the government documents display, near the Reference Desk on Odum Library’s second floor.

Whether it’s dieting and exercise, money management, or stress relief, we’re sure to have resources to help you. Just contact Odum Library’s Reference Desk at 229-333-7149 or the Government Documents Librarian at 229-245-3748 or ecrogers@valdosta.edu for more assistance.

Odum Library will close at 3:00 pm Friday, December 19, 2014 and reopen at 8 am Monday, January 5, 2015 in observation of Holiday Break.

Library questions submitted via website forms or email as after the library closes at 3:00 pm, Friday, December 19 will not receive a response until the library reopens on Monday, January 5, 2015.

GIL Express is unavailable from December 15, 2014 through January 1, 2015.

ILL requests submitted after Friday, December 19 will not be processed until the Library reopens on Monday, January 5, 2015.

ILLiad login will be unavailable on January 3, 2015, from 12:01 am to 3:00 pm,  approximately 15 hours.

Odum Express Delivery Service to faculty departmental offices is suspended from Friday, December 19, 2014, and will resume on Monday, Jan. 5, 2015.

The library’s online catalogs, GIL-FIND@VSU and Classic GIL@VSU, will be unavailable for several hours, starting at 5 pm on Saturday Dec. 20, for a scheduled upgrade.

December marks the semester’s end as well as several winter holidays: Hanukkah December 16th-24th, Winter Solstice December 21st, Christmas December 25th, and Kwanzaa December 26th-January 1st.

Odum Library will be open regular hours until closing at 3:00 p.m. Friday, December 19th.  The library will remain closed until reopening at 8:00 a.m. Monday, January 5th.   For more information regarding library services and hours during the holiday break see this announcement.

December is the height of camellia season in Georgia; learn to care for camellias from the University of Georgia’s Cooperative Extension Service. The game of Bingo. one of only three legal ways to gamble in Georgia, celebrates December as its birthday month.View these Bingo FAQs from Georgia’s Bingo Coordinator. December is also Safe Toys and Gifts Month. The Consumer Product Safety Commission gives up-to-date information on problem toys as well as toy recall statistics.

USA.gov offers information on various holidays and traditions in the United States. These holiday tips can help you  budget your gift-giving, exercise, and diet. Plan ahead with top New Year’s resolutions, and stay safe with more health tips from the CDC.

Stay happy and healthy during this eventful month!