Gobble, gobble, gobble

I never knew how many things I didn't know about Thanksgiving. Thanks to the History Channel, I now know enough to annoy everyone at the dinner table this Thursday.

Take the Thanksgiving Quiz to see how much you know, and if you don't know as much as you thought, take a minute to have fun learning.

Thanksgiving Fun Facts

Mayflower Myths

The First Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Proclamation

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Smell That Smell

Now this is an interesting research project... Henry Fountain writes about Digging Into the Science of That Old-Book Smell in the NYT. For all of those who have sniffed and wondered, you aren't alone.

Who Can Serve?

According to a newly released report from Mission Readiness, 75% of young people in the United States are ineligible to serve in the military. Many are under-educated (1 in 4 lack a high school diploma), have a criminal record that precludes their service (1 in 10 have a previous felony or serious misdemeanor conviction), or are physically unfit (27% are overweight). This report has generated a lot of press and concerns about these issues might affect national security. One response is a proposal from Congress that focuses on early intervention to provide early education opportunities.

Snapshot PA Day

Libraries of all types all across PA recently celebrated Snapshot PA: One Day in the Life of Pennsylvania Libraries. Snapshot PA is a project, initiated by the Pennsylvania Library Association and Commonwealth Libraries, to capture the impact that PA libraries have on their communities on a typical day. Once the information from all libraries is gathered, processed, and disseminated, I will share it. In the meantime, here is what we reported from Bailey Library:

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Door count/Customer visits: 2,959
Circulation of monographs and media: 190
Materials borrowed via ILL: 60
Materials loaned via ILL: 30
Reference desk questions: 54
One-on-one (in librarians’ offices) reference questions: 11
Instruction sessions: 1 class / 16 students
Online databases searches: 10,440

We also gathered some wonderful comments, such as the following:

"When I typically think of a library, I have images of women in tiny glasses with angry expressions prowling the aisles of books to pounce on anyone who isn’t being silent and still. While we do have our fair share of women with small glasses, all of the librarians are pleasant to work with. The atmosphere is laid-back, which has allowed Bailey Library to become a central hang-out for students at Slippery Rock University."

If you have any questions about our findings or about Snapshot PA, please contact Cathy Rudowsky at catherine.rudowsky@sru.edu or at 724-738-2657.

We All Have A Story--Or Do We?

This video, in which Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie reminds us that we need multiple stories, is well worth watching. It's good to remember that we should look at people and cultures through a wide lens--

At The End of Slavery

Think slavery ended with the Civil War? Think again. Millions of people today are held in slavery worldwide. According to Foreign Affairs, "it seems almost certain that the modern global slave trade is larger in absolute terms than the Atlantic slave trade in the 18th and 19th centuries."

If you'd like to learn more about this evil and how you can become a modern-day abolitionist, come to a screening of the documentary At the End of Slavery: The Battle for Justice in our Time. Narrated by Danny Glover, this 25-minute film documents the reality of modern-day slavery. Following the film, Jane Smith, who has worked as a researcher for Stop Child Trafficking Now, will briefly discuss what viewers can do to help stop slavery.

November 3, Special Collections, 2nd floor Bailey Library

7:00 and 9:00

Healthfest 2009

24th Annual Healthfest

"Keep Your Health Fine in 2009"

Bailey Library's display for this year's Healthfest (which was held at the Aebersold Student Recreation Center on 10/20/09) was all about some of the best foods (yogurt, eggs, dark chocolate, berries, oatmeal, almonds, Swiss chard & salsa) you can eat. The winner of our "good foods gift basket" was Linda Enis, and the poster was created by our student employee, Roxanne Rubash.