Ever since I headed off
to the first day of kindergarten in an awesome watermelon-print jumpsuit, I
have loved the beginning of a new school year. For me, the start of this year
is a milestone that rivals that melon-clad day, because I am as new to the University
of Montevallo as the freshmen who will arrive on Thursday.
In my transition to
Montevallo I’ve managed to avoid some
of the perils that will inevitably befall these new students: the mad dash to
claim the “good” side of the dorm room, the indigestion from too much dining
hall pizza, the shock of sitting in a college classroom for the first
time. But as I’ve started my new
position as a Reference and Instruction Librarian at Carmichael Library, many
of my experiences reflect those that await UM’s incoming freshmen: exploring a
beautiful new campus, meeting new friends and colleagues, and having
discussions with them that inspire “new little firecrackers of ideas going off every
day” (to quote The Bell Jar, a book I
read and loved while sitting at my desk on the “good” side of my freshman dorm
room).
Since I feel such a
connection to the UM freshmen who will be launched into college life through
the backseats of minivans later this week, I’m especially excited about the Library Mystery that we’ve been
planning as part of Take Flight Weekend.
Students will explore library spaces and resources, led by some of UM’s
longest residents: the King family members who are buried in the graveyard on
campus.
The ghosts of the King
family have all kinds of stories to tell the new students: tales of settling
the area in 1817, building the King House on the land that would become UM, and
having near-death experiences on Civil War battlefields. One ghost, Lylleton King, even comes to grips
with his accidental death at the hands of his scatterbrained brother, Nathanial
King:
To wish the new
freshmen luck in college, these friendly ghosts will lead students to Edmund
King’s gold, which is rumored to be buried somewhere on campus. The ghosts are surprisingly tech-savvy: all the clues will be delivered using QR codes that students will scan
with the library’s new ipads.
Working with my new
friends and colleagues on the Library Mystery has helped me appreciate some of
Montevallo’s history, and we hope that this will be true for the students who
participate as well. I look forward to
working with our new freshmen, returning students, faculty and staff as I start
fresh at Montevallo.
The Library Mystery will take place on Thursday (8/23) at 10 pm. Students can register here.
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