ETBU Library Blog

I remember the first time I walked into a real, honest-to-goodness library.  My elementary schools at that time really only had small rooms (basically closets) with books that our teachers could check out for us - and one room that was a little bit bigger that had someone sitting at a school desk where we could sign the check-out cards with our name and room number.  But I can still picture the scene in front of me when I walked into that public library for the first time. I was seven or eight.  We had just moved to a new state, and for the first time had access to a really good public library system.  We walked through those doors and I was absolutely in heaven.  The shelves full of colorful books and people browsing through them.  The activity at the circulation desk.  But it was the smell that was vivid to me - partly the mustiness of some of the books - but also the glue that held the card pockets in the books and the clear cellophane-like d...

“It is worse still to be ignorant of your own ignorance.” – Saint Jerome Last year I was given a daily desk calendar (you know, those calendars you forget to tear off daily and so you end up ripping out a chunk every few weeks) that featured humorous answers given by students on tests. Mixed in with the often hilarious exam answers were quotes related to education. The entry from Wednesday, June 26 has been taped to my computer monitor in my office ever since. “It is worse still to be ignorant of your own ignorance.” This is a quote is taken from Saint Jerome’s (who is also the Patron Saint of Libraries ) Letter 53 is a daily reminder and warning that yes, even as a librarian, I am constantly in danger of being ignorant of my own ignorance. I see this play out in real time often when I visit classes to instruct students in the ways of becoming more information literate individuals. Recently, I listened as a student told her classmates that this class (meaning the one...

As a reference and instruction librarian here at ETBU, I often find myself lost in the stacks or the archives just marveling at the resources that are available to our students. The sad thing is, many of these resources one might never know about unless they were looking for that specific item and proceeded with wisdom to ask one of your ETBU librarians where you might find it. We have incredible information that many people aren’t aware of – this is the librarian’s lament. Apparently, I’m not alone in this lament as a fellow librarian over at UGL in Illinois touched on the same idea in the post “Listful Thinking” which includes a lovely bucket list for their soon to graduate students. It is a beautiful attempt to help those future alums soak in the value of their college library just one more time before they head off to new adventures (and new libraries). To our soon to graduate 2014 seniors:  We, the librarians and staff of Mamye Jarrett Library eagerly awaited you...

As you might imagine, things are pretty quiet in Jarrett Library during the summer. Now that the academic year is over with and May term has ended we have approximately 10 weeks when we lock the front doors and catch up on all the paperwork and activities we didn't get to do from August through May! Occasionally we even get to get ahead and begin preparing for the return of everyone in August. One of the major things we do is try to finish up our usage statistics so we can run the final reports and find out how many of our resources (books and e-books, journals and e-journsl, DVDs and streaming videos, etc.) were used during the previous year. Books that are checked out or renewed are done - the system takes care of that as you check things in and out. However, we have to input statistical information from our vendors so we know how many times an article was accessed from say, Victorian Literature and Culture or Journal for the Study of the New Testament . It usually takes us thro...

The library staff wants to welcome Ms. Elizabeth Bradshaw as the Library Associate for Evening Services. She will be working the Sunday-Thursday evening shifts, so many of you are likely to seek her help as you begin your research. Ms. Bradshaw is a graduate of the University of North Texas where she majored in political science. She is also planning to pursue a Masters degree in Library & Information Science from UNT. It is with great sadness that we also say farewell to Mrs. Alma Ravenell, who has been the instruction librarian at Jarrett Library since 2002. She has accepted the position as Library Director at Wiley College and her last day will be Friday, September 4th. A reception will be held in her honor on Wednesday, September 2nd from 2-4 PM and you are cordially invited to come by and bid Mrs. Ravenell bon voyage.