Extended Hours for Fall 2010

The library's end-of-semester extended hours began this week and will continue through Thursday. The library will be open until midnight all week. We'll also be open until 2:00 a.m. during final exams.

December Extended Hours
Sun.	Mon.	Tue.	Wed.	Thu.	Fri.	Sat.
	6 8 a.m. – 12 a.m.	7 8 a.m. – 12 a.m.	8 8 a.m. – 12 a.m.	9 8 a.m. – 12 a.m.	10 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.	11 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
12 2 p.m. – 2 a.m.	13 8 a.m. – 2 a.m.	14 8 a.m. – 2 a.m.	15 8 a.m. – 2 a.m.	16 8 a.m. – 12 a.m.	17 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.	18 Closed
19 Closed	20 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Photo credit: Creative Commons license

Welcome to the New Oxford English Dictionary online

The OED website got a face-lift on December 1, 2010. There's a new design and new functionality. In addition to easier navigation, John Simpson, editor of the OED says " Perhaps the most important new feature involves the Historical Thesaurus to the OED, published in book form in 2009. The entire text is now integrated with the OED Online"

History Day 2010 in the Library

In a few moments the History Program will begin its annual History Day program. All faculty and students are welcome to attend as History Senior Seminar students will present their research, via poster presentations, from 12:30-2:00 on the library's main floor.

Please join our student scholars for the presentations today!

Day of the Dead Presentations

Photos by Joel Bullock

Tomorrow brings our ninth annual presentation of the Day of the Dead altars. The students of Eric Vaccarella's Spanish 301 (Conversation) class will present their work in Spanish on the library's Main Floor. It all starts tomorrow, November 2, at 11:00 a.m. Dr. Vaccarella will be on hand to answer questions about the altars (ofrendas) and the Día de los Muertos tradition in English.


Last Thursday was our Day of the Dead set up day. This has long been one our favorite days in the library. For about an hour or so, Dr. Vaccarella and his students engage in a flurry of activity. When the time is up, the library foyer is transformed into a festive scene of candy skulls, colored tissue paper (papel picado,) and cempasuchil flowers (known as the flower of the dead, or "flor del muerto" in their native Mexico.)

The entire community is invited to see the altars when our students present their work tomorrow. Also, don't miss Joel Bullock's photos on our Facebook and Flickr.

Early Images of Humans

This story was featured on Yahoo!News yesterday. It discusses the recent discovery of humans in a Cincinnati waterfront daguerreotype taken in 1848. In the photograph, there are two men standing on the dock located on the left side. The story goes on to compare this discovery with that of the earliest known image of a human in Louis Daguerre's 1838 photo of Paris. In Daguerre's picture, there is a man getting his shoes shined in the lower left hand corner.

Ghost Stories and Condie Cunningham's Door at the Library

This week the library shares one of Montevallo's most enduring haunted tales. The door to Condie Cunningham's Main Hall dorm room is now on display at our Ask Here Desk. This week you may come by and see the door, read the official accounts of Condie's unfortunate demise, and share your own Montevallo ghost stories.

The door will be on display through tomorrow, Wednesday, the 27th and again from Friday, the 29th through Saturday the 30th.

The haunting continues on Saturday afternoon when library faculty and staff will recite Montevallo's famous ghost stories from various locations on campus. The stories will be told from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. Saturday.

Celebrate Montevallo history and our haunted past this week at your campus library!

Darkness into Life: Remembering the Holocaust

A poignant exhibit opens today in the gallery of Parnell Memorial Library in Montevallo.

For Birmingham residents Max Herzel, Ruth Siegler, Martin Aaron, and Riva Mirsch, their memories of the Holocaust are a complicated patchwork of loss, suffering, grief, bravery, and hope. These men and women, along with five others, survived the horrors of the Holocaust and came to settle in Birmingham. Their stories are told in Darkness into Life, an exhibit of original paintings and photographs on display at Parnell Memorial Library Gallery October 25 through December 4. The exhibit, produced and sponsored by the Birmingham Holocaust Education Committee, is co-sponsored by Parnell Memorial Library and the Montevallo Arts Council.

Darkness into Life was created by artist Mitzi J. Levin and photographer Becky Seitel, who spent hours with each of the survivors to better comprehend what they experienced as children and young people during the Holocaust. Levin's paintings focus on the survivors' lives before and during the Holocaust; Seitel's photographs depict the survivors' present-day lives in Birmingham. Montevallo resident Deborah Layman is the the education and publicity coordinator for the Montevallo exhibit.

Former MHS English teacher Jane Clayton has arranged for every class from Montevallo High School and Montevallo Middle School to have docent-guided tours when the students visit the exhibit. Teachers will be given follow-up classroom activities and resources to further explore issues raised by the exhibit.

A special program and reception at Parnell Memorial Library on Sunday, November 7, at 2:00 P. M. will feature traditional Jewish music played by a Klezmer band organized by Dr. Alan Goldspiel, Chair of the Music Department at the University of Montevallo.

The exhibit is free and open to the public during library hours. Guided tours for groups are available by appointment. For information, contact deborah.layman(at)gmail.com.

Upcoming Events at Carmichael Library

Your campus library is busy with programs, displays, and other events in the weeks ahead. Here are some highlights:


Program: Issues in Literature for Children and Young Adults: Censorship and the Young Person's Right to Read.
Wednesday, October 20, 4:00-6:00 p.m.

The Montevallo Branch of AAUW and Carmichael Library will host a program on "Issues in Literature for Children and Young Adults: Censorship and the Child's Right to Read" on Wednesday, October 20, at 4:00 p.m. in Carmichael Library. At this session Pat Scales, UM graduate, prominent member of the Association of Library Services for Children, and Chair of the prestigious Caldecott Committee in 2003, will discuss Censorship Issues and the Child’s Right to Read. Mary Beth Rodgers, Barbara Belisle, and Loretta Cobb will comment on books such as The Boy with the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, The Red Hills of Alabama by Barbara Belisle, and Tales from the Heart of Haiti by Patti Marxsen. Jane Clayton will moderate the discussion. The public is cordially invited to attend.

Family Day in the Library
Saturday, October 29

The library will be the site of faculty meet and greets with parents. In the afternoon, library staff and faculty will tell some of Montevallo's famous ghost stories from sites across campus. More information about UM Family Weekend can be found at the Division of Student Affairs web site.

Exhibit and Presentation: Day of the Dead
Exhibit runs from October 28-November 9. Presentations on Tuesday, November 2, 11:00 a.m.

Carmichael Library will commemorate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in the library lobby for the ninth consecutive year. The library will host a showing of ceremonial altars (ofrendas) built by students of Dr. Eric Vaccarella's Spanish Conversation class. This year's ofrendas will also serve as a commemoration of the Mexican Bicentennial of Independence (1810) and the centennial of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. All the honorees are Mexican. They include Mario Moreno Cantinflas (film actor), María Felix (film actress), Sor Juan Ines de la Cruz (17th-century poet and advocate for the rights of women), Pedro Infante (signer and actor), and Frida Kahlo (painter).

The public is invited when our students present their work at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 2nd. The presentations will be made in Spanish. The altars will be on display from October 28th - November 9th.

We hope to see you here!

Sigma Delta Pi Photography Competition

Photo by Wolfgang Staudt. Creative Commons license.

Sigma Delta Pi, Chapter Epsilon Eta

VI Photo Contest Moments Around the World

The Spanish Honor Society, Sigma Delta Pi, is now accepting entries for its sixth photography competition.

Photo Contest Details

• The contest is open to any University of Montevallo student, faculty or staff.
• The theme of this contest is "Moments Around the World." Pictures accepted may be from travels within the USA or abroad taken between October 2009 to August 2010.
• Participants must print out, sign, and return the Contest Rules and Entry Agreement Form when submitting their entry. Failure to submit this form will invalidate the contest entry.
• You may pick up the Contest Rules and Entry Agreement Form in the Foreign Language Office (Comer 101).
• Sigma Delta Pi will not accept any electronic submissions.
• Entries are limited to 3 pictures per person. Please place all entries in one package.
• Photos may be in one or two of the categories described below, and will be judged on the beauty and quality of the photo.

Categories

• Entries will be divided into three categories 1) People, 2) Places or Landscapes, and 3) Weird Wonders (funny, unique, or uncommon pictures.)

Submissions

There will be a special box in the Department of Foreign Languages in which students may place their entries. Also, students may send submissions to:

Sigma Delta Pi
Department of Foreign Languages
Station 6410
University of Montevallo
Montevallo, AL 35115

Deadline

Sigma Delta Pi accepts entries from Monday September 23 to Monday October 25, 2010.

Questions

Please email Dr. Leonor Vázquez-González at vazquezl@montevallo.edu with any questions.

Our Presidential Heritage

Over the next few days, I hope everyone will stop by Carmichael Library and view our display about Montevallo's presidents. The presentation features photos, a few artifacts, and brief highlights from each administration. The display coincides with Founders' Day 2010 and the inauguration of Dr. John Stewart as the University of Montevallo's 15th President. October 14th will mark the institution's 114th year of operation.

Click here to see a few more photos

Click here for this years Founders' Day schedule

Special thanks to Jamie Rawls, Archives student worker.

Founders' Day 2010 Schedule

Photo by Matt Orton

This week's Founders' Day events include the inauguration of Montevallo's 15^th president, Dr. John Wesley Stewart III. Be sure to check UM's Inauguration 2010 page for details on the many events happening this week.

The library will be closed on the morning of Founders' Day, Thursday, October 14^th. We'll open at 12:30 p.m. Our new coffee shop, Ollie's Simply To Go, will open at 3:00 p.m.

Happy 114^th birthday, UM!

Conference Hightlights

Over the past few days, I've had the opportunity to sit in on a number of excellent and exciting research presentations. One session that really grabbed my attention was titled, Of Bits, Bytes, and Books: Use and Meaning in Digital Humanities and the Emerging Library. While we have all heard about the how great digitization is, this group of presenters spoke about serious research problems that have risen in the past couple of years.

The Historic Columbia Foundation's Kyra Herzinger began by comparing digital information dissemination to a buffet style restaurant, meaning that objects were sometimes loosely arranged into arbitrary categories from which the consumer can pick and choose without sifting through the totality of the collection. She went on to say that digitization can cause objects to loose their intrinsic value. For example, a person can view the scanned version of a diploma, but viewing the physical artifact allows the researcher to see if and how the diploma was framed, displayed, etc. She also warned that archivist have a tendency to scan aesthetically pleasing collections and while overlooking documents that many may consider important.

Melanie Griffin, University of South Florida Special and Digital Collections Librarian, expressed concern about the research value of Victorian sensation novels in the digital format. Paraphrasing her description of Victorian sensation novels, Griffins states these are works "appearing between 1860 and 1880 England that are marked by adultery, illegitimate children, poisoning, bigamy by women, paranormal activity, and drug use." Many of these novels were first published in serial format then as as multi-volume sets, then as condensed single-volume books. Additionally, many authors wrote a "base text" and publishers sometimes add details and drama might appeal to their audience. Obviously, this poses problems when presented in the digital format. Often times only one edition is presented and usually it is the most attractive copy or the shortest version. Researchers could be led to believe they are looking at the only copy or the finished text, while in reality the physical archive may contain multiple runs of the novel presented in book and serial format.

Finally, Patricia Sasser, University of South Carolina, discussed musicology and the lack of coherent digital resources available. She states that the study of music history lacks clear and centralized tools and researchers depend on sources ranging from information in scholarly databases in other subjects to YouTube. Sasser laments that even the Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology tool, meant to actively collect citations in a bibliographic format, is not comprehensive and lacks standardization in its information gathering techniques.

All three presenters highlighted problems that are applicable to almost any field in this new technological age and are worth exploring by scholars and practitioners alike. While digitization adds a significant geographic convenience for researchers, many collections are still worth a visit.

Greetings from Maryland

The morning began with David Gracy's keynote address. Before joining the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, he served as the 14th Texas State Archivist. While in this position, he began a project that has evolved into a book titled, The State Library and Archives of Texas: A History, 1835-1962.

During his address, Gracy spoke about how the idea of funding libraries has always been popular with politicians until the actual budget request is made. He cites specific instances of this throughout Texas history beginning with the group that gathered at Washington-on-the-Brazos to found the Republic of Texas in 1836. The men loved the thought of ordering books on law and government to aid them in writing a constitution and actually created a committee to explore the idea further. The committee regarded this purchase as essential for the survival of Texas, but in the end declined to actually buy the materials because it just wasn't the right time.

Gracy closed his speech by pointing to the lack of research being performed on library history, especially on state libraries and archives. He argued that this is fertile ground for exploration and research on the institutions themselves is as valuable as what they contain.

Off to another round of sessions and then a trip to Annapolis.

Delta Gamma Gets Caught Reading

Photo and graphics by Joel Bullock

The ladies of Delta Gamma were in the library earlier this week with some of their favorite books in hand. The Zeta Nu chapter of the sorority was founded in 1991 and now includes over 50 sisters.

We caught the ladies in the main floor browsing area of Carmichael Library just in front of our new coffee shop, Ollie's Simply To Go Café. The library café offers fresh coffee and tea, as well as snacks, salads, and sandwiches.

We asked a few of the Delta Gammas to talk to us about what they were reading.

Kate Lewallen, Chapter President, History and French major

Carmichael Library: What are you reading?
Kate: Un Americano a Fusine Laghi, by Robert McCall

Carmichael Library: Why did you choose this book?
Kate: My grandfather wrote this book about the time he spent in northern Italy immediately following World War II. He was a soldier in the 88th infantry that helped secure the border with Yugoslavia.

My grandfather is one of my biggest role models, and I love having this piece of his history, especially since I got to see these places with him and the rest of my family a few years ago.

Carmichael Library: How do you use your campus library?
Kate: I use the upstairs area as a quiet place to study. I also use the Interlibrary Loan service a lot.

Olivia Tennant, Chapter Public Relations Officer, Undeclared major

Carmichael Library: What are you reading?
Olivia: Big Fish, by Daniel Wallace.

Carmichael Library: Why did you choose this book?
Olivia: I saw the movie and I thought that it would be a fun book to read.

Carmichael Library: How do you use your campus library?
Olivia: I use the ground floor area for study all of the time. I make "A"s on tests that I study for here!

Mattie Owens, Political Science major

Carmichael Library: What are you reading?
Mattie: Paper Towns, by John Green.

Carmichael Library: Why did you choose this book?
Mattie: Because I love the author dearly.

Carmichael Library: How do you use your campus library?
Mattie: I use the library to meet with groups: it's a good place to meet with friends. I've also been stopping in at Ollie's a lot this past week!

Olivia Timpson, Art major

Carmichael Library: What are you reading?
Olivia: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling

Carmichael Library: Why did you choose this book?
Olivia: I'm a huge fan of the series. I read all of the books when I was younger and I'm now re-reading them to remember what happens in them and to renew my love of the series.

Carmichael Library: How do you use your campus library?
Olivia: I use the computers for research and spend a lot of time in the second floor quiet study area.

Thanks to the ladies of the Delta Gamma Zeta Nu chapter for appearing in this edition of Get Caught Reading. Be sure to stay tuned to our updates here and on Facebook. You never know who we'll catch curled up with their favorite book!

Library Research Seminar-V

Library Research Seminar-V will begin in a little more than 24 hours with a large number of librarians descending on College Park, Maryland. The official start will happen first thing Thursday morning as Diane Barlow and Trudi Hahn welcome conference attendees and introduce our keynote speaker, David B. Gracy and his presentation, Is There Counsel in those Curtains? Research Agendas for the Times. Both Barlow and Hahn represent the University of Maryland's iSchool where they serve as Associate Dean and Professor of the Practice, respectively. Dr. Gracy is the Governor Bill Daniel Professor in Archival Enterprise at the School of Information, University of Texas at Austin.

Celebrating National Tutoring Week

In celebration of National Tutoring Week, The Learning Enrichment Center will host a series of events. The Center will host an Open House, Wednesday, October 6^th from 2:00-4:00 p.m. in the lower level of library. Come and enjoy refreshments, meet the tutors and see what the LEC has to offer!

LRS-V?

LRS-V is the Library Research Seminar-5: Integrating Practice and Research. The conference is organized and hosted by the iSchool at Maryland and major sponsors include the American Library Association's Library Research Roundtable, the Institution of Museum and Library Services, the University of Maryland's College of Information Studies, and OCLC.

The main purpose of this event is to "bring together a diverse community of scholars from academia and practitioners from libraries and archives who are interested in research that informs policy-making, decision-making, and best practices." The seminar's schedule is full of exciting offerings, ranging from archives and librarianship in the age of Web2.0 to information dissemination through graphic novels. One featured speaker, Anne S. MacLeod, will offer a presentation on modern art influences found in picture books for children.

How does this conference relate to Carmichael Library? Recently, I was fortunate enough to receive a fellowship to attend. From October 6th-9th, I plan to sit in on many of these presentations and hope to be inspired to broaden my own research activities and forge stronger connections with Montevallo's research community. Over the next two weeks, I'll use this blog to share my LRS-V thoughts and experiences.

I also encourage you to take a few moments and check out these related blog posts.

The New England Journal of Medicine

The New England Journal of Medicine has provided free electronic access to their content, back to the first article in the year 1812. According to their website:

"The more recent part of the archive from 1945 through 1989 is presented in an HTML format similar to that used for current issues, with full text, tables and figures, PDFs, and tables of contents. The older archive from 1812 through 1944 contains tables of contents plus PDFs of individual articles. The entire archive is fully searchable. This is possible because every page of the Journal was first scanned, using high-resolution technology to produce PDF files, which were then read, using optical character recognition, to produce the HTML. Tagging and indexing according to specialty were done by computer algorithm and Medline tags as far back as they were available. These processes are not perfect, and readers may find some errors that have been missed, especially in the older content. The entire archive consists of 8498 issues with 486,434 pages and 145,969 articles with 75,649 images.

Click here to have a look at the index.

Coffee Shop Opening!

Carmichael Library's Coffee Shop, Ollie's Simply To Go Café, will open on Friday, September 24, at 9 a.m.!

Hispanic Heritage Month 2010

September 15^th marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. This national observance began in September 1968, when Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to proclaim National Hispanic Heritage Week. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan expanded the observance into a monthlong celebration taking place between September 15^th and October 15^th.

I have long wondered why this observance begins in the middle of a month and runs through the middle of the next month. September 15^th was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Additionally, two more countries celebrate their independence around the same time. Mexico celebrates its independence on September 16^th and September 18^th marks the date of Chilean independence.

We've selected a few websites and reference materials from the Carmichael collection to recognize this national observance.

Reference Works

• Lehman, Jeffrey. Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. Detroit: Gale, 2000. Ref. E184.A1 G14 2000
• Meier, Matt S. and Margo Gutiérrez. The Mexican American Experience: An Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003. Ref. E184 .M5 M4535 2003
• Meyer, Nicholas E. Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Americans. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. Ref. E184.S75 M49 2001
• Navarro, Sharon Ann and Armando Xavier Mejia, eds. Latino Americans and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004. Ref. E184.S75 L3557 2004
• Oboler, Suzanne and Deena J. González, eds. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. New York: Oxford UP, 2005. Ref. E184.S75 O97 2005
• Stavans, Ilan, and Harold Augenbraum, eds. Encyclopedia Latina: History, Culture, and Society in the United States. Danbury, CT: Grolier Academic Reference, 2005. Ref. E184.S75 E587 2005
  

Web Sites

• Hispanic Heritage Cultural Tour - From the Smithsonian Institution, an exploration of historic pieces in the museum collection plus quizzes and activities
• Hispanic Heritage in the Americas - An Encyclopedia Brittanica collection of biographies, speeches, images, and other documents
  
• Hispanic Heritage Month on Biography.com - Featured biographies, photos, a trivia game, and more
• National Hispanic Heritage Month - Hosted by the Library of Congress, this site links to audio, video, and historic documents

Photo credit: "Mexican Independence Day celebration, La Habra, (Sept. 16) 1920s."
Photo courtesy of Orange County Archives. Creative Commons license.

Announcing the 2011 Book Review Competition

Enter the annual Book Review Competition!

Deadline: February 15, 2011
Winners will be announced on Honors Day, April 13, 2011

September 7, 2010 marked the start of the 2011 Carmichael Library Book Review Competition. The Competition was established in 1982 to foster student interest in critically reading and evaluating a recent work of fiction or non-fiction. Winners of the competition receive an award certificate with a monetary prize, and they are recognized at the Honors Day ceremony in the spring.

For full details on competition rules, check out our Book Review Competition web page. Happy reading and good luck!

An Evening of Montevallo History

Eclipse Coffee & Books will host Montevallo Memories on Thursday, September 9th from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. To celebrate the re-release of Eloise Meroney’s Montevallo: The First One Hundred Years, Dr. Mike Mahan will serve as the moderator of a panel of long-time Montevallo denizens who will share their memories of their home town. Audience members are invited to share their memories as well or ask questions of the panelists. Speakers will include Carmichael Library's own Barbara Belisle, as well as J. A. Brown, John Kirby and Bill Plott. Copies of the Meroney book will be available with proceeds to benefit the Montevallo Historical Society.

Also, if local history is your thing you won't want to miss the current gallery exhibit at Parnell Memorial Library, Montevallo Downtown "Over the Years." The exhibit is curated by Becky Bolton Crisswell and will remain on display through October 20^th.

Heatherly, Jones Profiled in UM Research Publication

Photo by Matt Orton

Congratulations to our own Carey Heatherly, who was profiled in the latest edition of Pathways to Discovery. Produced annually by the Division of Academic Affairs and the Public Relations Office, Pathways highlights the scholarly achievements of the faculty and students at the University of Montevallo.

In this third edition of UM's campus research publication, Carey's profile highlights his work in the University Archives. He discusses his interest in campus history, specifically the life and career of Captain Henry Clay Reynolds, the first president of the Alabama Girls' Industrial School (now the University of Montevallo.) He also talks about his current project with Dr. Clark Hultquist on a photographic history book of Montevallo.

Also appearing in this edition of Pathways is Carmichael Circulation Desk Assistant Mercedes Jones. Readers of this blog will know that the Guntersville native traveled to Brazil this past year. Mercedes presented her research into Brazilian art and history at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research in April.

Congratulations to all of Montevallo's student and faculty scholars!

Welcome Back!

The new academic year is underway, and it's bringing a number of exciting changes to Carmichael Library. The Computer Lab has moved out of the room it had been in on the ground floor, and it's now much more accessible to students. Instead of showing a student ID card, students will now log in to use these computers. The Lab Assistants will be happy to help you if you have any problems using the computers.

The Learning Enrichment Center is also on the ground floor, immediately to your right as you come off the elevator. Check in here is you are looking for tutoring or other help with your classes.

The University Archives will be moving from the small space it had occupied into the former computer lab space. This will give us much more space to house this important collection, and it gives us a space where we can better control the temperature and humidity to help preserve the materials. We hope to have that move completed by the end of the Fall Semester.

Finally, coffee is coming to the library! We hope to be opening a coffee shop, in cooperation with Sodexo, on the main floor of the building to your left as you enter the building. More details on this project are coming soon.

STAT-USA database is closing its doors.

After more than 25 years of operation, STAT-USA is closing its doors. Service will cease September 30, 2010. Access to government information from STAT-USA is a key source of current economic and trade information from many government agencies. Whenever possible, the Library will provide new links to source agency websites for all data series in STAT-USA. If you have any questions please contact Kathleen Lowe, Reference and Instruction Librarian, 665-6109.

Librarian of Congress announces six classes of works exempt from digital copyright

The Librarian of Congress has announced the classes of works subject to the exemption from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. Persons making noninfringing uses of the following six classes of works will not be subject to the prohibition against circumventing access controls (17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)) until the conclusion of the next rulemaking. According to Nate Anderson of ars technica, "This time, the Library went (comparatively) nuts, allowing widespread bypassing of the CSS encryption on DVDs, declaring iPhone jailbreaking to be "fair use," and letting consumers crack their legally purchased e-books in order to have them read aloud by computers."

The Nation's Largest Libraries by number of volumes

The American Library Association recently released an updated fact sheet listing the 100 largest libraries in the United States by volumes held.

The Top Five include: The Library of Congress, Harvard University, Boston Public, Yale University, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Auburn University at number 95 is the only Alabama library to make the top 100.

July 4th Holiday

Carmichael Library will be closed Friday, July 2nd through Monday, July 5th for
Independence Day. We will reopen Tuesday at 8:00am.

Creative Commons image, taken by NightRPStar:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjanoodles/69744905/

New Audio Books for June 2010

Every now and then we like to list some of the recent additions to our downloadable audio book collection. Here are a few items we've added to the Carmichael catalog this week.

7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis, by Bill George.

With straight talk and clear directions, George shows listeners specifically what they must do to become strong leaders and survive any crisis. His seven lessons include Face Reality, Starting with Yourself; Never Waste a Good Crisis; and Be Aggressive: This Is Your Best Chance to Win in the Market.

Angel's Peak, by Robyn Carr.

Four years ago Sean and Franci broke up when he refused to commit. Now vacationing in Virgin River, Sean is shocked to run across Franci again. He's grown up and wants to give things another shot, but she can't afford to have him break her heart again.

Every Man Dies Alone, by Hans Fallada, translated by Michael Hofmann.

Based on a true story, Fallada tells of a German couple who try to start an uprising by distributing anti-fascist postcards during WWII. But their dream ultimately proves perilous under the tyranny that dominates every corner of Hitler's Germany.

Murder in the Marais, by Cara Black.

Sleuth and computer expert Aimée Leduc, a Franco-American, hunts for neo-Nazis in Paris following the murder of a Jewish woman. As part of her investigation she becomes involved with an Aryan supremacist. First in a projected series.

The Second Husband, by Louise Candlish.

Kate divorces Alistair after 10 years of marriage, swearing off relationships altogether. But that was before she rented the extra space in her flat to the charming Davis Calder, who soon endears himself to Kate and her teenage daughter Roxy. Now married again and fresh off her honeymoon, Kate discovers a shocking secret about Davis and her daughter.

The Secret of Shelter Island: Money and What Matters, by Alexander Green.

Green shows listeners how to face down tough economic times. During this time of uncertainty, Green says it is imperative to reassess our goals and priorities. This is, however, merely the first step in Green's comprehensive four-step program for achieving wealth in any economic climate.

Zen and the Art of Vampires, by Katie MacAlister.

While on a singles tour of Europe, Seattle's own Pia Thomason is looking for a man and trying not to think about her 40th birthday. Too bad her choice of suitors is less than appealing. But when she meets two mysterious strangers in Iceland, Pia becomes immersed in an undead love affair.

The Carmichael collection of downloadable audio now includes over 2,650 titles available to all UM students, staff, and faculty. Instructions on how to access the audio books are available on our website. Happy listening!

State of Alabama Gulf Oil Spill Information

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Information from the Office of Governor Riley
BP issued phone numbers for the following response inquiries:
To report oiled wildlife, please call 1-866-557-1401 and leave a message. Messages will be checked hourly.

To discuss spill related damage, please call 1-800-440-0858.

To report oiled shoreline or request volunteer information, please call 1-866-448-5816.

Press Releases include information about SBA assistance, instructions for applying for oil clean-up jobs, and DIR satellite office locations opened along the Alabama Gulf Coast to assist displaced workers.

Official Deepwater Horizon Unified Command

A Unified Command has been established to manage response operations to the April 20, 2010 “Deepwater Horizon” incident. A Unified Command links the organizations responding to an incident and provides a forum for those organizations to make consensus decisions. This site is maintained by the Unified Command’s Joint Information Center (JIC), which provides the public with reliable, timely information about the response.

Deepwater Horizon Oil spill information for Alabamians

The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and its partners will host three community forums to help provide answers to the public’s questions about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

A forum will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, June 2, at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center, 2350 Beach Blvd., in Biloxi. Forums will take place also at the Mobile Civic Center in Mobile, Ala., from 6-9 p.m. on June 2 and from 9 a.m. until noon on June 3.

Representatives from state resource agencies, the Small Business Administration (SBA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and others have been invited to answer questions and share information about the situation in the Gulf. Topics will include seafood safety, oil impacts on habitats, dispersants and human health, business and personal finance, coping with a technological disaster and legal perspectives.

2010 Primary Election Info at AlabamaVotes.gov

Today marks the date of Alabama's statewide primary election. Complete information on today's elections can be found at AlabamaVotes.gov. This website has a number of tools to assist voters. Among the things one can do at AlabamaVotes:

• Find your polling place
• Check your registration status - - make sure you're already registered to vote!
• Study a sample ballot for your county
  
• Download a mail-in voter registration form
• Obtain information on military and overseas voting

In May, we posted some of the important dates for Alabama's 2010 elections. If you're unable to vote today you may still participate in November's general election. Remember that state law requires voters to register ten days before a voting day.

Polls opened at 7:00 a.m. today and will be open until 7:00 p.m. across the state. Be sure to get out to the polls and exercise your right to vote!

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan

If you are interested in the Supreme Court of the United States and current nominee, Elena Kagan, check out this resource from the Law Library of Congress.

Harbert Writing Center May 2010 Hours

The Harbert Writing Center is open from 10:00 a. m. - 2:00 p. m. during May Term.

HWC Writing Consultants have been trained to help students with writing projects at all stages of the writing process, from brainstorming through editing.

The Center is located in Comer Hall, room 311. Consulting sessions are available on a walk-in basis.

Information on 2010 Primary Elections

The Shelby County Reporter has produced an 2010 Election Guide that is included with this week's newspaper. The so-called "mid-term" elections are important: all seven of Alabama's U.S. House seats are on the ballot, as well as a U.S. Senate seat. Alabama will choose its next governor in 2010 and citizens will evaluate dozens of candidates vying for statewide office. In addition to a list of all of the candidates on the June ballot the Guide contains other helpful information for voters, including this list of important dates:

• Friday, May 21 - Last day to register to vote in primary
• Tuesday, June 1 - Primary election
• Tuesday, July 13 - Primary runoff election
• Friday, October 22 - Last day to register to vote for general election
• Tuesday, November 2 - General election

In addition to the above dates, you'll want to be aware of deadlines for applying for and postmarking absentee ballots. To get a copy of the voter registration form or to get the answers to questions about elections you may visit AlabamaVotes.gov, the state of Alabama's official online election center.

Classical Music Library Streaming Audio Now in Catalog

We're excited to announce a new service today. The Carmichael catalog is now loaded with records that link to individual streaming audio recordings in Classical Music Library. We now have over 2,700 of these in the catalog and this number will only grow as we get more records from the publisher of this database.


The simplest way to find all of these records is to launch a series search for Classical Music Library, but a better way to find these tracks is to use the "musical sound recordings" limiter with a search. The results include streaming audio from Classical Music Library and items from the Music CD collection housed here in Carmichael.


Another feature that I like is the persistent linking to individual albums within the Classical Music Library database. These links, along with the ability to create playlists, give you the ability to return to the same pieces without having to repeat your searches.

We hope you enjoy this new cataloging service! You may direct any questions or comments to me at cooperjd(at)montevallo.edu or (205) 665-6114. We look forward to getting your feedback.

Student Art Exhibition Through May 7

Don't miss our display of student art on the main floor of Carmichael Hall. Now in the library lobby you'll find paintings by the students of Prof. Misty Bennett's ART 429: Narrative Painting class. These pieces were produced in conjunction with our SLEDGEHAMMER: Recollections of E. B. Sledge program that took place last week.

As a part of the celebration of the life and career of Dr. Sledge, Bennett’s Narrative Painting class was given the assignment of creating paintings that tell a story about war for exhibition in Carmichael Library. Though Dr. Sledge famously fought in World War II, the assignment was open to any kind of war throughout history and any kind of personal experience the students may have with war that they wanted to explore in their work.

Participating students include Maggie Blevins, Leslie Carver, Allison Cleveland, Lindsay Dyess, Courtney Harper, Ian Heil, Anna Humphreys, Ryan Moody, Sarah Morriss, Oriana Padron, Jaimi Poole, Danielle Robinson, Austin Self, and Megan Scofield.

Congratulations to Megan Scofield for her winning diptych (located on the South Wall of the Main Floor.) Megan took Best of Show for her work, which deals with some of the iconic imagery of war propaganda. We in the library especially enjoyed her ominous portrayal of Uncle Sam in the above painting.

We also have the pieces produced by our student artists and poets for our recent Prints and Poems event. This year marks the fourth time we've hosted Prints and Poems, and we're thrilled to make it a part of our annual recognition of National Poetry Month. Prints and Poems is an on-going collaborative project between the Departments of English and Art at the University of Montevallo. In the 2009-2010 edition, students from Prof. Scott Stephens’s advanced printmaking class produced original prints that students from Prof. Jim Murphy’s creative writing class responded to. Here is a list of our poets and artists:

Print: untitled, a photo-etching/collage by West Finlayson - Poem: When Pigs Play Chess, by Danielle Robinson

Print: Untitled, an etching by Rachel Fowler - Poem: Playtime, by Teresa A. Whiting

Print: Artes in Allegretto, etching and chine collé by Tenisha Hicks - Poem: Glib, by Sarah Etheridge

Print: Iaido, relief printed etching by Sarah Morriss - Poem: Iaido, by Michael-Paul Smith

Print: “Eek!” Etching by Alana Palermo - Poem: The Lighthouse After Eek, by Matt Goethe

Print: untitled, an inkless embossing by Kyle Reed - Poem: Tangibility in Invisibility, by Charles Trey Stallworth

Print: Self-Portrait, an etching by Kelsey Roberts - Poem: Totems, an ekphrastic poem by Rosie Maguire

Print: untitled, an etching by Marie Smyly - Poem: Of What Remains, by Faiza Malik

Print: untitled, a photo-etching by Scott Stephens - Poem: Vessels, by Jim Murphy

You can see all of these works in the library through Friday, May 7^th. Also, check our Facebook and Flickr for more photos of these pieces.

Photos by Joel Bullock and Jason Cooper

Extended Hours for Spring 2010

It's that time of the year again! Finals Week is nearly upon us and your campus library is keeping the doors open late. We'll be open until midnight for the next four nights. We'll also be here late next week during final exams.

Monday, April 26 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Tuesday, April 27 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Wednesday, April 28 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Thursday, April 29 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Friday, April 30 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 1 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 2 2:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m.
Monday, May 3 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m.
Tuesday, May 4 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m.
Wednesday, May 5 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m.
Thursday, May 6 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Friday, May 7 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 8 Closed
Sunday, May 9 Closed

Good luck to all students as we near the end of the semester!

Photo credit: Creative Commons license

Announcing the 2010 Book Review Competition Winners

On this Honors Day the library wishes to recognize the following students for their winning book reviews:

Division I (Freshmen) Winners

• Brittany Cash
• Darla Allen
• Janet Bermudez
• Devon Edwards

Division I Honorable Mentions

• Dani Swift
• Emily Yundt

Division II (All Students) Winner for Best Review of a Non-fiction Work

• Charlie Foster

Division II Winner for Best Review of a Work of Fiction

• Heather Belles

Congratulations, students!

Sledgehammer: Recollections of E.B. Sledge

The University of Montevallo and Carmichael Library wants to welcome everyone to a special event tonight at Parnell Memorial Library, 7:00 p.m.

E.B. Sledge was a University of Montevallo biology professor whose remarkable World War II memoir With the Old Breed has been acclaimed by such luminaries as Stephen Ambrose, Ken Burns, John Keegan, and Paul Fussell as the best war memoir ever written by an enlisted man. His book, an account of the battles in Peleliu and Okinawa, along with Robert Leckie’s Helmet for My Pillow, form the basis for the current HBO series The Pacific.

Please join us for a discussion on personal experience and its portrayal in life histories, formal histories, and community memory as evidenced in E. B. Sledge’s With the Old Breed and the book's use as a source today through the History Channel, Ken Burn’s The War and most recently HBO’s The Pacific.

The evening will include a performance by the University of Montevallo Chamber Singers and discussion moderated by Clark Hultquist (history professor) Ruth Truss (history professor), Jim Day (history professor) and Kouri Allen (UM graduate student) with special guest Henry Sledge (son of Dr. Sledge).

Misty Bennett's Narrative Painting class has a war-themed installation on the main floor of Carmichael Library. Please drop in before the end of the semester to see these beautiful student paintings!

Prints and Poems 2010

This month will see the return of Prints and Poems to Carmichael Library. This collaboration between UM's student writers and artists has always been a popular event and we hope to see you here.

Prints and Poems will feature the creative work of Scott Stephens' Art 330: Advanced Printmaking, Etching class from Fall 2009 and Jim Murphy's English 461: Advanced Creative Writing — Poetry class from Spring 2010

Prints and Poems will take place on the second (top) floor of the library on Thursday, April 15th at 4:00 p.m.

Related on Carmichael Blog:

• Prints and Poems 2007 Announcement, Photos
  

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

The following information is from the UM Counseling and Career Center:

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month...

The Counseling and Career Center will be engaged in initiatives on campus to raise awareness about sexual violence and promote prevention.

April 19-22 the Counseling and Career Center will be partnering with Housing and Residence Life to provide nightly programming to promote awareness. The programs are open to the UM community and will take place at the following dates, times, and locations:

April 19th - 7:00 p.m. in the Main Hall TV Room
April 20th - 7:00 p.m. in the Hanson Hall Parlor
April 21st - 7:00 p.m. in the New Hall Classroom
April 22nd - 6:00 p.m. in the Brooke Hall Parlor

April 19th and 20th from 11-1, the Counseling and Career Center and SafeHouse of Shelby County are partnering to host an information table in the cafeteria. Teal ribbons will be provided to promote Sexual Assault Awareness. We will also be promoting a white ribbon campaign where men can pledge to work to end violence against women.

For more information about sexual violence and sexual violence prevention please see the following links:

• Rape Abuse & Incest National Network
• The Crisis Center
• SafeHouse of Shelby County
• Alabama Coalition Against Rape
• National Sexual Violence Resource Center

Thanks to the Counseling and Career Center for putting together a display, which you may view on the library's second floor. This exhibit includes books and other resources to raise awareness about this important issue.

Happy National Library Week!

Public, school, academic and special libraries make a difference to millions of Americans, today more than ever. National Library Week is April 11-17.

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April.

Celebrate National Library Week today by visiting your campus library - in person or online and discover how communities thrive @ your library.

On the Web:

National Library Week - A Philatelic Tribute - A great history page about NLW from The Library History Buff

WWII and Montevallo

World War II has descended on Montevallo this spring. At the beginning of March, Jason Cooper posted a blog titled Women's History: The Original Flygirls. Jason's entry highlights a piece that aired on NPR's Morning Edition about WASP, Women Airforce Service Pilots.

On April 19th, we will pay tribute to UM Professor of Biology and author, E. B. Sledge. The event will be held at Parnell Memorial Library in Montevallo. Dr. Sledge's book With the Old Breed is considered by many to be one of the finest war memoirs ever published. The book is used heavily by researchers and serves as a major foundation piece for HBO's miniseries The Pacific.

UM's History Department offers many classes that focus on World War II subject matter and this semester is no exception. Two of these courses are Dr. Ruth Truss' History 481/581 "The United States 1900-1945" and Dr. Clark Hultquist's History 411/511
"Europe 1914-1945.

Finally, UM's University Archives and Special Collections contains a small, but interesting group of WWII materials. Located primarily in the Helen Parrish Collection and the Presidential Papers of Dr. Arthur Fort Harman, the items offer a real sense of what the home front was like during the war years. Harman's Papers contain documents and letters about salvaging items and donating them to the war effort. Scrap paper and tin were highly sought after material. Items in the Helen Parrish Collection include personal correspondence with soldiers stationed in Europe, a piece of Vmail, and war ration booklets (with some stamps still intact). Helen was a student and employee at Alabama College, in the 1940s, and her keepsakes were part of a recent donation to our Archives.

Special thanks to Jamie Rawls for processing the Helen Parrish Collection and to Dallas Hanbury and Kathy Ratcliffe for their research on this project. Also thanks to Hunter Tinsley and Joel Bullock for their digital image work.

April 1st is Census Day

Tomorrow, April 1^st, marks Census Day. This is the day that the Census Bureau hopes to have all surveys completed and in the mail.

According to the Montevallo Chamber of Commerce, each person counted is equivalent to more than $1700 in funding for Montevallo's local government, schools, libraries, and more. And here's another reason to send in your form: due to the cost of training census takers* the Census Bureau estimates that it would save $1.5 billion if 100 percent of households mailed them in.

As of today, 50 percent of Census forms have been returned nationally. Alabama lags slightly behind that rate of return at 48 percent. You can track your own town's participation rate from the Census Bureau's Take 10 Map page.

If you haven't already done so, take ten minutes today to complete your survey and send it in. As the Census Bureau says, "we can't move forward until you mail it back."

* Also known as enumerators! I love that word.

2010 Women's History Makers Breakfast

The 2010 Women’s History Makers Breakfast will take place tomorrow, March 30^th from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. in the Montevallo Room of the Anna Irving Dining Hall. Tickets are required but free and can be picked up from the Office of Multicultural Affairs (6023). Deadline for ticket pickup is March 29th by 5:00 p.m.

Three women will be honored tomorrow morning including Carmichael Library's own Barbara Belisle. The 2010 Women’s History Makers Breakfast honorees are:

Dr. Judy Merritt
Jefferson State Community College
On December 1, 1979, Judy was appointed President of Jefferson State Community College. This appointment marked the first time a woman had been appointed as president of a two-year college in Alabama.

Barbara Belisle
University of Montevallo
On the first day of classes in 1967, Barbara Belisle walked into Montevallo High School; the first African American to teach there.

Alyce Manley Spruell
Spruell and Powell, LLC
Alyce Manley Spruell is the 2009-2010 President Elect of the Alabama State Bar and will be the first woman to head the state bar

For more information contact Robert L. Robinson, Coordinator of Multicultural Affairs by phone at 6023, or by e-mail at robinsonrl@montevallo.edu.

University of Montevallo MBA Program is official

The Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) Friday morning, March 12 approved UM's proposal for a master of business administration degree. The MBA will be offered by the Stephens College of Business beginning this fall.

More information

Library Catalog is Now Available

Maintenance on the library catalog is complete. The catalog will be available tonight, tomorrow, and into the Spring Break.

2-1-1 Connects Alabama

What is 2-1-1 Connects Alabama?

Are you facing difficult times and don’t know where to turn? Are you looking for help with everyday needs? Are you wanting to volunteer? Dialing 2-1-1 is your first step. 2-1-1 is a free, easy to remember number to dial for information about health and human service organizations in your community. By dialing 2-1-1, information is much easier to find.

At 2-1-1 Connects Alabama , you will speak with a real person every time. Call Specialists will assess your needs, help to problem solve and refer you to community-based organizations, government programs, support groups, and other local resources that can help. 2-1-1 Connects Alabama is:

• A local call from anywhere in Alabama.
• Confidential telephone assistance.
• Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Access for persons who have special needs.
• Accurate information about community resources in Alabama.

Women's History: The Original Fly Girls

"Female WWII Pilots: The Original Fly Girls."

Susan Stamberg of National Public Radio's Morning Edition read an excellent piece on the brave women who flew planes for the United States during World War II. The group of female pilots was called the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. While women were not allowed to serve in combat roles, 38 of these pilots lost their lives in the service of their country.

NPR highlights the tragic death of 26-year-old Mabel Rawlinson, who lost her life in a training accident. Because she was not technically a member of the military, the government was not required to pay for her burial costs. Also, the American flag was not supposed to be draped across her coffin. (Mabel's fellow WASPs pitched in to provide an honorable burial service and her family draped their lost one with the flag anyway.) These stories were common during this period.

At the start of the WASP program in 1942 the commanding general of the U.S. Army Air Forces, Henry "Hap" Arnold, stated that he was unsure "whether a slip of a girl could fight the controls of a B-17 in heavy weather." Such was the competence and bravery of this group of women that Arnold declared two years later that "it is on the record that women can fly as well as men."

The pilots weren't granted military status until the 1970s. Tomorrow, 65 years after their service, the WASP will receive the highest civilian honor given by the United States Congress. Last July, President Obama signed a bill awarding the WASP the Congressional Gold Medal. The ceremony will take place on Capitol Hill.

Related on Carmichael Blog:

• Women's History Month 2008 post - Includes a bibliography and several external Web links.

Photo credit: Helen Abell, a student of the Springfield Aviation Company and later a member of the WASP. Photo uploaded by the Lincoln Library, Springfield, Illinois as part of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Digital Collections and Content (DCC).

Carmichael Switches to E-mail Notices

You've been asking for it, and we've been working on it. Starting last week, the library has been sending e-mail notifications to most members of the UM community. This includes overdue notices, recall notifications, and more. The change is part of the library's commitment to more sustainable operations. As you can see above, the traditional method of generating notices used a lot of paper!

UM students, staff, and faculty will see library notifications appear in their ForUM email account. Notices generated after the spring term ends, in early May, will be mailed to students' permanent physical addresses.

Photo by Joel Bullock.

Catalog to Be Unavailable March 11-12

Our catalog will be unavailable this coming Thursday, March 11th for planned system work. This outage is expected to continue through Friday, March 12th. For these two days, we will still have access to some holdings information on WorldCat. Feel free to contact us should you need assistance searching for items on those days. We'll post here once the system is again available.

UM Board names Montevallo's 15th president

The University of Montevallo Board of Trustees selected Dr. John W. Stewart III as the University’s 15th president at a special meeting of the trustees this afternoon. Dr. Stewart is vice president for institutional advancement at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla. He will take over as president of the University of Montevallo Aug. 1.

George Walker, chairman of the Montevallo Board of Trustees, said: “We are extremely pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Stewart to lead the University in these challenging times. He has expressed and has demonstrated his commitment to the important mission of the University, which is to provide students from throughout the state an affordable, geographically accessible, ‘small college’ public higher educational experience of high quality with a strong emphasis on undergraduate liberal studies and with professional programs supported by a broad base of arts and sciences.”

Walker expressed his hope that the students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the University will join the trustees in welcoming Dr. Stewart to Montevallo and in supporting him as he leads the University and carries on its tradition as Alabama’s public liberal arts university.

Dr. Stewart was selected as vice president for institutional advancement at Flagler in 2005. He previously served as vice president for development at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Miss.

He brings a unique mix of experience to Montevallo, including marketing, fundraising and even teaching. He received a doctorate in English with a focus on African/Caribbean and Harlem Renaissance literature from the University of Southern Mississippi. He also has an M.A. in English from Washington College in Chestertown, Md., and a B.A. in history from Wake Forest University.

His credentials also include service as director of capital giving at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and as director of major gifts and director of development operations at USM.

Earlier in his career, he held a number of administrative and academic positions at William Carey, beginning there in 1997.

Dr. Stewart was marketing representative and project manager for J.W. Stewart Inc. Industrial Contractors in Delaware from 1983-1997. He was vice president of operations and business development for the company from 1990-1997.

A frequent speaker at conferences, Dr. Stewart has published scholarly articles and book reviews. Recipient of a number of awards and honors during his career, he was selected as the Mississippi Humanities Council/William Carey University Co-Professor of the Year. He has held leadership roles in a number of community and arts organizations, including the Small Business Development Committee in Hattiesburg, United Way and the Florida Ballet.

Toni Morrison and Mark Twain: The Black and White Of It

Alabama Humanities Foundation Scholar, Dr. Elaine Hughes, will speak Thursday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m., at the Parnell Memorial Library in Montevallo. Hughes’s presentation will explore important parallels in the works of two important American authors and social critics: Mark Twain and Toni Morrison. According to Hughes, “Though writing a century apart, Mark Twain and Toni Morrison have dared to explore in their fiction the great truths underlying their cultures’ espoused attitudes and beliefs. From Twain’s indictment of the hypocrisy of the 19th Century to Morrison’s examination of contemporary society’s duality, their voices have provided readers penetrating portrayals of their fellow countrymen. An examination of the historical, political and biographical contexts of major works by these authors reveals the parallels in their social criticism—of the post-Civil-War era and the post-Civil-Rights period in America. ‘Morrison and Twain: The Black and White of It’ is a presentation that attempts to put before an audience those questions about ourselves that we have difficulty confronting: our beliefs, our prejudices, our fears. Through examination of works by two major American writers—writing during tumultuous times in our country—we can understand those elements in our society that shape us and perhaps seek a better understanding of ourselves. Racism was at the root of the problems resulting from slavery; racism remains today at the root of many of our social problems. Literature can provide the vehicle by which each of us, and thus our society, can make that painful journey to self understanding.”

For the past 35 years, Hughes has been a professor of American literature at the University of Montevallo, with a specialty in contemporary literature. She has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in Southern literature and in Alabama literature. She has delivered more than 200 lectures to varied audiences—from high-school honors students to retirees in UAB’s New Horizons—in many locations. In 1998-1999, she received the Carnegie Foundation CASE Professor of the Year Award for Alabama and was the 2007 Recipient of the Eugene Current-Garcia Distinguished Scholar Award. Hughes has been involved with the Alabama Humanities Foundation since 1978 and chaired the board of directors from 2004-2006. She holds the honor of professor emerita from the University of Montevallo.

Barbara Belisle, Mary Jo Buff, Lelia Mitchell, Robin Norsworthy, Mary Lou Williams, and Thomasyne Hill Smith will read from American authors Toni Morrison and Mark Twain. Event sponsors are the Montevallo Branch of AAUW, Alabama Humanities Foundation, and Parnell Memorial Library. All are welcome.