Talking in the Library

We're having a party

We're kicking off our comfortable shoes, pulling on our party frocks, and our smiles are set to "dazzle".  Hale Library's Great Room has been transformed into a banquet hall with silver plates, candles, and a dance floor.

Other than the fact that everyone needs a good party once in a while, why a party in the library? Well, it's  the Friends of K-State Libraries 22nd annual Gala,"What So Proudly We Hale." Every year, the Gala has a different theme and this year's celebrates our military history collections and academic programs. General Richard Myers will join us as our featured speaker.  General Myers and his wife, Mary Jo Myers, are also our Honorary Gala Chairs.

In addition to good company, good food, good music (the First Infantry Division Jazz Combo will be performing), and good dancing (our Dean likes to boogie), selections from the K-State Historic Costume and Textile Museum and K-State Libraries' Department of Special Collections will be on display.  Here's a sneak peek:

If you miss your favorite study table in the Great Room, no worries, we'll take care of it for you tonight and we should have the detritus cleaned up for you to resume normal studying by Sunday.

Just a little roof work

One of the perks of living in Kansas is the wind. A side effect of the wind is wind damage to roofs.  Thanks to a storm in May, Hale Library's roof suffered wind damage. Crews are now repairing the roof, hence the orange safety fence and the terrifyingly long ladders.  Those ladders, by the way, are the number one reason why I am a librarian and not a roofer.

 
The work should be completed in a couple of weeks.  Sooner, if this cat has anything to say in the matter.

We've got game(s)

If the number of questions we've been getting recently is any indication, K-Staters are hitting the books pretty hard. But what's that they say about all work and no play?

This Thursday, we'll be celebrating National Gaming Day @ Your Library here at K-State Libraries (yeah, we're celebrating it a few days early; we're just that excited!). Join us on the 2nd floor of Hale Thursday between 12:30 and 5 for games of all kinds. Take a study break and play some Wii Sports, or flex your musical muscles with Guitar Hero World Tour. You can even go old school with some classic Atari games. If you're too young to know what that means, that just makes it more fun! If video games aren't your thing, we'll also have tables set up so you can play Battleship, Yahtzee, Boggle, Star Trek Uno, and more.

Come celebrate National Gaming Day with us. Don't you deserve a break? Just look at the fun we had last year:

Short Cuts: Politics of Fashion

Lately I’ve been reading quite a bit about fashion in the news. There was the conversation about these horrific shoes presented at a recent fashion show, discussion of ridiculous fashion-centered apps for the iPhone and let’s not forget the model who was fired for being  too fat (and insanely photoshopped for a Ralph Lauren ad). Granted, these are negative mentions of fashion, but they had me thinking about fashion regardless.

Most importantly, I wonder about fashion and its effect on women in society today. I know, I know, a subject that people either love to talk about or hate to talk about – it’s a conversation starter for sure.

So wondering where I’m going with this whole thing?

Well, if I was a student here at Kansas State, I would be going to class – the Women’s Studies course called “Women and the Politics of Fashion,” that is. It’s a new course that is being offered in the Spring (it’s an evening course during the first eight weeks). Here is what the official course description says:

Women and the Politics of Fashion examines the impact fashion has on women’s lives, both personally and politically, from the past to the present. Some of the topics to be covered include significant moments in design history and how they have both helped and hindered women, the fashion media and its influence on women and body image, the struggles female garment factory workers encounter, both here at home and abroad, and how we might work to create change within the fashion industry.

Seriously, how cool is that? It makes me wish I was still in school and I could take all sorts of classes. There are many amazing courses offered here at K-State and I have to admit, I’m a little jealous of you students. If you are enrolled in this WOMST 300 course, report back to me how awesome it is – heck, I’ll even help you do your research for any papers it might require (granted, I will help you with your research for any class, but whatever).

Politics of Fashion. Sweet.

--m.e. fritch

Short Cuts is a series from K-State Libraries' Instruction Team providing library and research tips and tricks for undergraduates. Please feel free to share our articles and ideas with classes and colleagues - just give us credit!

Shout out to all the Veterans

Today is Veteran's Day, so I'm going to take this time to abuse my posting powers and give a shout out to my Little Brother. Or Sgt. David Coleman, as he prefers to be called. 

If you are fuzzy on the history of Veteran's Day, here are a few links you can check out for more information.

History of Veteran's Day, United States Department of Veterans Affairs

History of Veterans Day

Veterans Day-Military.com

Feel free to give a shout out to your own veteran.

New Leisure Reading Books

Here are the newest books in the Leisure Reading Collection.  They can be found on the east end of the 2nd floor - to the right when you come in the main doors.  Pick out something to read over Thanksgiving break!

Happy 40th, Sesame Street

To kick off the celebration, I give you the Sesame Street theme song, as it was meant to be sung (this is from Season 1 which, for the record, I do not remember because I was not alive, yet.):

And now counting with John-John.  I love John-John because that kid could count.  Couldn't ignore the puppeteer, but he could count.

Reinterpreting Goodnight Moon

Please note that if you love Goodnight Moon, and want to treasure your memories of reading it to the children in your life, you may wish to bypass this review from Bookgasm.

If you're enrolled in English 355, Literature for Children, and have been methodically working your way through The Carrot Seed, Lon Po Po, and Skippyjon Jones and the 84 other children's books on Reserve, this may be the perfect "reset" for your brain.  This review is also good for those who are a little bit twisted.

When the wall came tumbling down

20 years ago today, the Berlin Wall fell. The impact of the Berlin Wall may have faded in the memories of those of us who were alive during its reign, and only be a page in a history book for the generations born after. 

You can relive the excitement by listening to this BBC broadcast of the first strike (courtesy of the Internet Archive):

Or watch this NBC news broadcast from the night of November 9, 1989.  More news broadcasts are available at the Vanderbilt Television News Archive.  Search for "Berlin Wall."

Life Magazine magazine, now available at Life.com, periodically reported on the Berlin Wall in articles or famed photo essays:

The boy who died on the Berlin Wall, Life, August 31, 1962.
Hall, Lee, and Chelminski, Lee. A perilous route dug by a tough platoon of "moles". Life, October 16, 1964.
Up it goes--higher: Wall that divides the world. Life, September 8, 1961.
Berlin Back Then: LIFE at the Wall

Want to learn more about the Berlin Wall? Ask a Librarian! K-State Libraries has inumerable books, videos, journal articles, and more. Want to poke around on your own? Try our Political Science and History resources.

Need help on the 1st floor?

Faithful readers and habitual Hale Library users know that we have recently moved our quiet zone to the first floor. Just because it is quiet, doesn't mean you can't ask for help. If you are on the first floor and need help with research, the scanner isn't working, or you can't find the exit out the building, let one of the librarians know. You may think that because our door is shut, we are too busy to be bothered. Not true! Our door is shut so that our loud librarianing doesn't bother studying students. We live to help. And to be honest, some of us are dying for an excuse to step away from the computer.

And don't forget, if you don't feel comfortable knocking our door, you can always go to the 2nd floor Help Desk.