In March 2010, we are celebrating 30 years of recognition of women’s historic contributions to the growth and strength of our Nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways. It was President Jimmy Carter who issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the week of March 8, 1980 as the first National Women’s History Week. Later the National Women’s History Project (NWHP) worked to lobby Congress to expand the week into a month. In 1987, a Congressional Proclamation designated March as the “Women’s History Month.”
The theme selected for this year’s celebration is “Writing Women Back into History.” You will find a display of library books, CDs and DVDs in the Periodical Reading Room by and about women who were artists, engineers, scientists, warriors and much more.
When you visit the display in the Periodicals Room, you can see materials representing the variety of experiences that comprise Women’s History, from the letter writers in Revolutionary War times in Women’s Letters through to Laura Brodie’s account of the admission of the first female cadets at VMI in 1997. In between are the biographies of suffragist Susan B. Anthony; America’s first female doctor, Elizabeth Blackwell; pilot Amelia Earhart; anthropologists Margaret Mead and Mary Leakey, and Maria Stewart, America’s First Black Woman Political Writer.
The National Women’s History Project website is here, and their facebook page is here.
The Friends of Preston Library in concert with the VMI Honors Program will host a program on Wednesday, 3 March 2010 at 5 p.m. in the Turman Room of Preston Library. The guest speaker will be James L. W. West, III. Dr. West is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English at Pennsylvania State University. He will discuss his book on William Styron, Letters to My Father.
A native of Newport News, author of Sophie’s Choice, The Confessions of Nat Turner, Lie Down in Darkness, A Tidewater Morning, and other celebrated works, William Styron will be remembered as one of the most important writers of the 20th century. Last month, Jim West’s book received a front page review by the Times Literary Supplement.
Copies of Letters to My Father will be available for purchase at the program and for the author to sign. Please join us for an educational and engaging talk and discussion by Professor West of this major American writer. Refreshments will be served.
Cadets, it’s the home stretch. Exams start Monday. This means two things: 
1. The library will be open late (see below hours schedule) so you can get in some quality studying.
and…
2. The return of Preston Library’s Coffee Break!
Last December and May you came, you saw, you drank hundreds of cups of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate a night. We’re bringing it back! Put it on your calendar, December 12th, the return of the coffee break.
Coffee will be available at 8 p.m. (2000 military time) every evening beginning Saturday, 12 December through Saturday, 19th December. So grab your books, mugs, and head over to Preston Library for the best study break on Post.
Coffee has been generously donated by Aramark and tea and cocoa by the Friends of Preston Library.
Exam Hours:
Sat, 12/12 0800 – 2300
Sun, 12/13 1300 – 0200
Mon, 12/14 0800 – 0200
Tues, 12/15 0800 – 0200
Wed, 12/16 0800 – 0200
Thurs, 12/17 0800 – 0200
Fri, 12/18 0800 – 2300
Sat, 12/19 0800 – 2300
Sun, 12/20 1300 – 0200
Mon, 12/21 0800 – 1630
We are delighted to welcome Maj. Accacia Flanagan to Preston Library. She joins our Reference Department along with Lt. Col. Janet Holly. Maj. Flanagan recently received her master’s degree in library science from Simmons College. Her B.A. degree is from Smith College. Prior to coming to VMI she worked at the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University. Please join us in welcoming Maj. Flanagan. We look forward to working with her.
Celebrate YOUR Freedom to read and right to choose your book during Banned Books Week, September 3 to October 3.
Most of the books featured during Banned Books Week were not banned due to the efforts of librarians who fought to keep them in their collections. Just imagine how many more books might be challenged—and possibly banned or restricted—if librarians, teachers, and booksellers did not use Banned Books Week each year to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights.
If you are curious about the books that made the “Frequently Challenged Books” list, check out the American Library Association’s web site:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/index.cfm
And check out the display of banned books located in Preston Library’s lobby.
Circulation–Generous loan policies facilitate your academic endeavors. For details, see Circulation Information for Faculty or contact Lt. Col. Susan Hastings at 464-7607.
Course Reserves–Course Reserves includes print, audio-visual, and electronic materials, selected by faculty for use in their classes. See detailed information about Submitting Materials for Course Reserves or contact Lt. Col. Susan Hastings at 464-7607.
Interlibrary Loan–If we do not own an item you need, we can quickly obtain it from another library. There are no limits and no fees for this service. Logging on to the Interlibrary Loan system lets you place requests, check their status, and access documents received electronically. For more information, contact Dr. Megan Newman at 464-7570.
Library Hours–This link gives information about regular hours, as well as reduced hours during academic breaks and FTX.
Media Services–Media Services offers faculty training and consultation in the selection and use of multimedia software and hardware. Media equipment is also available for short-term loans for presentations. For more information, visit the Media Services page or contact Ms. Cathy Wells at 464-7567, or Maj. Michael Brickler at 464-7655.
Meeting Rooms–To reserve a room, please contact Ms. Brianna Page at 464-7228.
Off-Post Access–Allows you to use Preston Library’s subscription databases and other electronic resources from off-Post.
Ordering Materials–Each academic department is allocated a budget to order library materials, and we welcome your purchase requests. The Book Order Request Form and the Serials Request Form are available online. Also, each department receives Choice cards with reviews of new scholarly titles. Contact your department head to learn how Choice cards are managed in your department. For details, see our Collection Development Policy, or contact Ms. Linda Covington at 464-7574.
Reference and Instruction–Reference librarians offer one-on-one consultation to individuals and library instruction tailored to the needs of your classes. They are available to answer research and general questions as well as to demonstrate the use of print and online resources. Ask a Librarian provides reference assistance via Instant Messaging. For more information, contact Lt. Col. Janet Holly at 464-7571.
VIVA–Virtual Library of Virginia is a consortium of academic libraries in Virginia which purchases major electronic resources cooperatively and works to improve Interlibrary Loan between its members.
Well cadets, we’re in the home stretch. Exams start on Saturday so you know that means two things:
1. The library will be open late so you can get in some quality studying.
and…
2. The return of Preston Library’s Coffee Break!
Last December you came, you saw, you drank hundreds (literally, hundreds) of cups of coffee a night. So, we’re bringing it back! Put it on your calendar, May 1st, the return of the coffee break.
Coffee will be available starting at 8pm (20:00hrs for those of us on military time) every evening beginning Friday, May 1st, through Friday, May 8th. So grab your travel mug and head down to Preston Library this Friday night for the best study break on Post.
Coffee and supplies have been generously donated by the Friends of Preston Library.
Attention Cadets!
Do you like free pizza?
Do you want to help Preston Library improve its services and collections?
Do we have a great deal for you!
Preston Library’s online survey will be available until Thursday, 16 April. Fill out the survey, print the last page, write your name on it, and bring it to the library.
A drawing will be held on Friday , 17 April, and 4 lucky cadets will win 2 pizzas and a 2 liter bottle of soda from the PX.
What are you waiting for? Go take the survey.
Preston Library would like to thank Dining Services for generously donating this year’s survey prizes.
Dr. Lewis Sorley provided the Friends of Preston Library with an engaging Spring Program Thursday, March 26, at 3:00 p.m. in the Turman Room of Preston Library. Dr. Sorley spoke on “Adventures in Research” and revealed several fascinating tales of discovery learned in the course of his research. We learned how his scholarly “detective work” tracked down a member of Gen. Creighton Abrams’ World War II tank crew, how rescuing the records of Lt. Col. Harold Cohen from a fire resulted in his receiving the Distinguished Service Cross–fifty years after the war in which he earned it, how he discovered the secret location of Abrams’ command staff tapes, and other tales of research adventures. A lively and informative question and answer session followed and all had a good time.
Dr. Sorley is the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Army Historical Foundation. In 2007, he received the General Andrew J. Goodpaster Prize for military scholarship. This spring he serves as VMI’s Gottwald Visiting Professor of Leadership and Ethics. A third-generation graduate of the United States Military Academy, Dr. Sorley earned his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. In his academic career he has served on the faculties of West Point and the Army War College. His U.S. Army assignments include tank and armored cavalry unit commands in Germany and Vietnam and staff service for the Secretary of Defense and Army Chief of Staff.
Dr. Sorley’s latest book is Honor Bright: History and Origins of the West Point Honor Code and System.
Garrett Peck '90 and Chairman of the Friends, B. Drummond Ayers, Jr. '57
The Friends of Preston Library is delighted to have Garrett Peck, ’90, as our speaker, Friday, October 17, at 1500 hours in the Turman Room. Garrett is the author of The Prohibition Hangover which is provocative social history of American attitudes towards alcohol since the end of Prohibition which was repealed 75 years ago this year. In his investigations for the book Mr. Peck interviewed hundreds of people on all sides of the alcohol debate and travelled extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Germany, Israel, and other areas of the world.
Mr. Peck is a freelance writer for the alcoholic beverage industry and contributes regularly to Beverage Network. He has also written articles about alcohol for The Washington Post, Wine Spectator, Sante, The Forward, and the Northwest Current. In addition to writing about alcohol, he leads the Temperance Tour in Washington, D.C.
Please join us for what will surely be an interesting and engaging program. Refreshments will be served.
