
Preston Library staff hosted a pizza luncheon on Thursday, 2 May, for its cadet assistants in the newly renovated Periodical Room. Each graduating cadet spoke about his or her plans following graduation and received a card signed by the staff. Preston Library’s cadet assistants are outstanding and we could not operate the library without them. We wish them all the best in their exams and in their work following graduation. Well done!
Exams begin Saturday evening, 4 May. Coffee starts Friday night, 3 May. The coffee service will be located in the Periodical Room.
1. The library will be open late (hours below) so you can get in some quality studying.
and…
2. We’ll have coffee, cocoa, and tea.
Coffee, tea and hot chocolate will be available at 2000 starting Friday, 3 May – Friday, 10 May. Grab your books and go to Preston Library for the best study break on Post.
Coffee has been generously donated by Aramark.
Spring 2013 Exam Hours:
Friday, May 3 0800 – 0200
Saturday, May 4 0800 – 0200
Sunday, May 5 1000 – 0200
Monday – Friday, May 6 – 10 0800 – 0200
Saturday, May 11 CLOSED

The Friends of Preston Library awarded Cadet Chelsea Loy with this year’s Camper Award. Board members of the Friends, library staff, and Mrs. Camper’s son, Bob, recognized Ms. Loy for her leadership and service to Preston Library. Ms. Loy worked in Preston Library’s technical services department as a Library Cadet Assistant.
A brief ceremony was held in the library’s Periodical Room and Chairman of the Friends of Preston Library, Major Eric Osborne, recognized Cadet Loy. The award’s namesake, Mrs. Frances Camper was a great teacher and role model for library cadet assistants. Ms. Loy received a letter of recognition, a certificate, and a cash award. Cadet Loy plans to attend graduate school to pursue a master’s degree in public health following graduation. We wish all the best to this outstanding cadet.

Preston Library conducted its 2013 Cadet Library Survey from Monday, March 25 until CAD on Friday, March 29. From the Corps, 328 cadets participated in the survey. Cadet input in these surveys provides the library with helpful information for improving resources, services, and facilities. One lucky cadet, Mr. Brandon Goodwyn ’16, won the $150 Amazon gift card in the drawing for participating in the survey. Congratulations, Cadet Goodwyn! Survey results can be viewed here.


The Friends of Preston Library hosted its Spring Program on Thursday, 4 April, at 3 p.m. in the Turman Room of Preston Library. Our guest speaker was Mr. Richard G. Williams, Jr., who gave an engaging talk based on his recently published book, Lexington, Virginia and the Civil War. In the well-attended program, Mr. Williams spoke about personages associated with Lexington during the Civil war, about the war, and about some of the social issues during that time. Mr. William’s signed copies of his book, Lexington, Virginia and the Civil War.
Mr. Williams is a southern writer, relic hunter, autodidact and raconteur who specializes in Virginia history and the War Between the States. A former contributor to the Washington Times‘ Civil War column, he has also written for Homeschooling Today Magazine, Confederate Veteran, Western & Eastern Treasures Magazine and regularly contributes articles about the Civil War and Virginia history to various publications and websites. He has co-produced two history-related videos: the award-winning Institute on the Constitution and Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story. His writing and historical research involving the Confederacy earned him the Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal from the United Daughters of the Confederacy–the highest honor bestowed on non-members. Williams was born and grew up on battlefields in Virginia’s rural Shenandoah Valley. He is a direct descendant of three Confederate soldiers and is a ninth-generation great-grandson of the Reverend Roger Williams.
Exams begin Wednesday, 12 December. Coffee starts Tuesday night. The coffee service will be located in the newly renovated Periodical Room.
1. The library will be open late (hours below) so you can get in some quality studying.
and…
2. We’ll have coffee, cocoa, and tea.
Coffee, tea and hot chocolate will be available at 2000 every evening starting Tuesday, 11 December through Tuesday, 18 December. Grab your books and go to Preston Library for the best study break on Post.
Coffee has been generously donated by Aramark.
Fall 2012 Exam Hours:
Tuesday, December 11 – Friday, December 14 0800-0200
Saturday, December 15 0800-2300
Sunday, December 16 1300-0200
Monday, December 17 and Tuesday, December 18 0800-0200
Wednesday, December 19 – Friday, December 21 0800-1630

The Superintendent ordered the flag of the Commonwealth to be flown at half-staff on Tuesday, 30 October, in honor of Army CPT Shawn Hogan ’06, who died in a training accident on 17 October. Valedictorian of the Class of 2006, CPT Hogan was a Green Beret assigned to Fort Campbell, Ky. At VMI, CPT Hogan majored in mechanical engineering and earned a minor in writing. He was captain of the VMI cross country team, a member of the indoor and outdoor track teams, and served as a battalion staff officer in the Corps and for the Marshall New Market Battalion.
CPT Hogan served Preston Library as a Library Cadet Assistant and worked in the acquisitions department. He received the Frances W. Camper Award in 2006. This award recognizes outstanding leadership and service to Preston Library. Preston Library is deeply saddened to learn of his tragic and untimely death. He was an outstanding young man who will be missed greatly.
The Friends of Preston Library hosted its Fall Program on Friday, 26 October, at 3 p.m. in the Turman Room of Preston Library. The guest speaker was Lt. Col. Brad Coleman, ’95, who gave a talk entitled “Making National Security Policy: The Historian’s Role.” Brad gave an engaging and educational program on how historians work with various decision makers in the Federal government and the role of applied history in these areas.
Lt. Col. Coleman holds the George J. Collins, Sr., Chair in Military History and is Director of the John Adams ’71 Center for Military History and Strategic Analysis. He received his B.A. in history from the Virginia Military Institute and M.A. from Temple University. He earned his doctorate at the University of Georgia, where he studied military history, U.S. foreign relations, and inter-American affairs. Before joining the VMI faculty, he served as the command historian at U.S. Southern Command, the Department of Defense headquarters for U.S. forces in Latin America and the Caribbean.

On Tuesday, 17 July, Preston Library recognized Lt. Col. Janet Holly’s promotion to Colonel, effective July 1, 2012. Janet’s promotion is in recognition of her long years of excellent service to Preston Library and VMI in providing library instruction and research assistance to cadets and faculty. Attending the event were library staff to celebrate Janet’s promotion. BG Wane Schneiter, Dean of the Faculty, commended Janet for her contributions to VMI and congratulated her on her promotion to Colonel. Congratulations, Colonel Holly!
This weekend we will migrate to a new online library catalog. It will look different from our present catalog and we hope you will like the new interface. More important will be the improved capabilities the new system will provide for discovering scholarly resources. Full-text articles, in addition to books, will be in the catalog. While not everything we subscribe to is included, a great number of databases and online journals are. We hope these changes will facilitate your scholarly pursuits. The existing link to the old catalog should redirect you to the new one.
As always, if you have a question, please contact one of our reference librarians.
