Happy Halloween from the Hill Freeman Library and Spruill Learning Center!

Have a spooky but safe holiday this weekend!

If you don't have a costume, or you just want to get into the "spirit" a little early, come on out to the library today for face-painting and temporary tattoos, "Year of Oceania"-style, courtesy of Stephanie Olsen. She will be decorating the
student body" until 5:00 today! Come check it out, and check out how cool you can look!

Here's a video from RUTV about last weekend's impressive Trick or Treat event! My children go every year, and I am always so proud of how you guys go all-out to decorate and dress up for this event! The kids of Waleska thank you!

Face Painting in the Library this Friday!!! Happy Halloween!!!

Year of Oceania Presentations this Thursday in the Library!

Please come out to the library on Thursday, October 28th, to hear some informative presentations on the Year of Oceania from two of Reinhardt's own! From 2pm to 2:45, Dr. Theresa Ast will present "The Island of the Colorblind." (Can you imagine what it would be like to live in a society in which everyone was literally colorblind since birth? How would that affect the way you perceived things and spoke about the things you saw and experienced?) Then from 3pm to 3:45, Professor John Yelvington will speak on the liberation of the Philippines in World War II.


As always, remember our ongoing essay contest! Just read any Year of Oceania book, see any Year of Oceania movie, or attend any Year of Oceania event--for example, this one! Then write a brief review (two paragraphs are sufficient, and send it to Stephanie Olsen at sfo@reinhardt.edu. The winning essay each month wins a "Year Of" t-shirt!

Meet Melissa Doyle, our newest staff member!

"Are we allowed to ask you what you're doing in there?"

Our newest staff member has been a source of some curiosity to students studying on the third floor of the library. She wears a lab coat and has been spotted wheeling book carts out of a plastic-sheeted room in the back corner. Well, I am here to put the mystery at rest! Melissa Doyle, who started working with us last month, is not our resident mad scientist, and we don't keep her locked away in a plastic room so she can conduct her nefarious experiments in seclusion. She's been hard at work cleaning books for our new Triplett Military History Collection.


There were over 120 boxes of books, magazines and other media which needed to be cleaned before they could be processed and put on the shelves. Melissa expects to complete the job this week. After that, she'll finally get to emerge from what she calls "the bubble" to work at the reference desk and help with the next phases of the Triplett process.




I asked Melissa a few questions about her background, career goals and impressions of Reinhardt so far:

Where did you go to school?

MD: I went to Florida State University, where I double majored in Creative
Writing and Humanities with Art History concentration. I am in the MLIS
program at University of North Texas for my Masters in Library Science.

What attracted you to library work?

MD: I think it’s what I was always meant to do. I love books and learning, and
I especially love sharing information with other people.

What do you like best about working at the library?

It’s such a comfortable place, with couches and artwork and books
everywhere, and great people I’ve gotten to know so well. After too many
years in a cubicle farm, I look forward to work every day.

What are your future career plans?

I hope to become a full librarian here at Reinhardt one day. I’ve been
inspired by working on TMMC and want to expand on the Southern history and culture theme of the collection, as well as continue to develop the libraryas it grows. I’d love to see our library become a predominant institution in Southern history and culture one day, especially with so much of it in this area.

What do you think of Reinhardt?

It’s a great school! When I first came up here I immediately felt at home.
Everyone is so nice and easy to talk to, and I love all of the activities
the school has going on.

What are your hobbies and interests outside of work?

I read a lot. I also hula hoop, craft, and explore. I love getting in my
car and just seeing where I end up.

Technical services librarian Joel Langford says Melissa has been a wonderful addition to the library staff. "She has taken on a rather daunting, unexciting project with great enthusiasm. She is very self-motivated and works tirelessly all day on a very tiring task. She is careful and precise in her work, and I hope her experience here will benefit her in her pursuit of a library career as much as she will be beneficial to us."

Special guest blog: "Rising from the Ashes," Part One: My Yearbook Experience by Sam Morton

A visitor to the Reinhardt archives in the Hill Freeman Library and Spruill Learning Center can learn much about the history of the school just from perusing old yearbooks. Our collection of the Cherokee Phoenix dates back to 1948, but stops abruptly in 2004, the last year Reinhardt had an official yearbook. What record will current Reinhardt students leave behind them if they have no yearbook?

One Reinhardt student, Sam Morton, is embarking on a quest to raise the Cherokee Phoenix, like its mythical namesake, back up from the ashes. She will be chronicling this effort here on the library blog. Here in the first installment, Sam describes her personal experience of working on her high school yearbook and what it has meant for her.

I do believe that Reinhardt University is in dire need of a yearbook.
How did I come to this conclusion? It’s a simple, professional opinion.

During my sophomore year of high school, I joined the yearbook staff. It wasn’t my first choice for an elective class (I wanted to take Drawing 1 with all my heart), but it turned out to be the best accident ever. I was assigned to the ads section and realized quickly, that even though working in ads wasn’t the most interesting section in the book, I loved everything about the yearbook process. I loved researching stories, interviewing people, and designing layouts. The photographic aspect however, was my favorite. I loved learning about the cameras, the techniques used to take a great photo, and how the photos should be placed in the book to achieve ultimate aesthetic value.

Yearbook class gave me something to be passionate about. Because I knew this product would be given to people in my school and displayed around the community, I always wanted to do my best. As a newbie though, it was difficult to get my ideas in the book.

My junior year was where I realized my love for graphic design. This has come to be my major in college and I’m lucky that I realized my love for the art so early. I know what I want to do with my life because of my experiences in yearbook.
No longer a newbie, I was able to have a real influence over the content of the book. My stories were published. My photos were chosen. My ideas were listened to and expounded upon. I really felt accomplished and productive. It was a new feeling to me. My passion simply grew. I worked harder in that one elective class than I had ever worked in any of my core classes during my entire life. I wanted to do a good job so badly that I frequently lost sleep due to photo editing jobs. Making deadline was paramount.

Because of all of this hard work, I was chosen by my advisor to be Editor-in-Chief of the yearbook staff during my senior year. This, by far, was the hardest, yet most rewarding thing I had ever done.

I had to learn to speak publicly and convey my ideas effectively. I had to assign jobs, settle disputes, and even learn to get angry when my staff members were wasting time and not turning in assignments by deadline. I held my staff members to high expectations and when they pulled through, I was very proud of them. It was more work to be an editor than I had anticipated, but when the year was over and our book was published, I felt completely satisfied. My staff had done a great job and created the best yearbook of my high school yet.

Keep watching this space for further updates on the journey to revive the Phoenix! If you're interested in being part of this effort, see Sam, or send me a message at amm "at" reinhardt.edu, and I will pass your contact information on to her. Sam, thanks for sharing your experience with us!

Dingo ate my baby: Year of Oceania movie this Thursday

On Thursday, October 21, at 2 pm in Lawson 104, the Year of Oceania program will present the 1988 Australian film A Cry in the Dark, starring Meryl Streep and Sam Neill. The film is based on the real-life case of Azaria Chamberlain, a 9-week-old infant who disappeared from a campground near Uluru in August of 1980. Her body was never found.
Azaria's mother Lindy (Streep) claimed she saw a dingo carrying off the child. Although an initial inquest accepted Lindy's account as true, public opinion began to swell against the Chamberlains, who were accused of killing their baby and trying to cover it up. Eventually Lindy was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor. Three years later new evidence caused the case to be reopened.

Meryl Streep was nominated for an Academy award for her performance. The movie won the Australian Film Institute's award for Best Film. Streep and Neill both took home the Australian Film Institute's best acting awards, and Fred Schepesi won as best director. In 2008 the American Film Institute included A Cry in the Dark in its list of the top ten best courtroom dramas.

Library director and Year of Oceania committee member Michael Martinez will be on hand to lead a discussion and answer questions about the film.

Remember the ongoing essay contest! Just read any Year of Oceania book, see any Year of Oceania movie, or attend any Year of Oceania event. Then write a brief review (two paragraphs are sufficient, and send it to Stephanie Olsen at sfo@reinhardt.edu. The winning essay each month wins a "Year Of" t-shirt!

Australian Consulate to speak at Glasshouse Oct. 20

Tomorrow, October 20, the Year of Oceania will present a special guest speaker. Duncan Cole, the Australian Consulate General and Trade Commissioner in Atlanta, will speak at the Bannister Glasshouse (located in the Hasty Student Center) from 2 pm until 3:45 pm.

As Consulate General, Mr. Cole serves as a representative of the Australian government and works to encourage trade and friendship between his home country and the United States. He also assists Austalian citizens living or traveling in the southeastern US.

Year Of Oceania Trivia Contest!

Without the use of their eyes, what three things did the early Polynesian people know about the ocean water that enabled them to navigate from island to island?

Check your Reinhardt student email for a message from Stephanie Olsen. Reply to the email with your answer, or else come by the library to submit your entry in person.

This contest will run through November 7. All winners will receive a beautiful Year of Oceania turtle logo t-shirt!

Good luck!

Check out the newest addition to the Hill Freeman Library serials collection

INSIDE LACROSSE is now available at the Hill Freeman Library and Spruill Learning Center!!!

Photoblog from Alumni/Family Day 2010

Reinhardt's Family & Alumni Weekend Preview!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Zach Dunbar, Deena Hutson and Gigi Martinez! They are the winners of the Year of Oceania Eyes Tattoo contest!

The aim was to provide the correct number of eyes in the French Polynesian tattoo design pictured here. There are 182 eyes in this tattoo! Zach was closet with his guess of 184, and Gigi and Deena were right behind him with their answers of 185 and 186 respectively.

These three all won a "Year of Oceania" t-shirt.

Stay tuned for our next contest!

Remember, our Year of Oceania essay contest is ongoing. All you have to do is read a book or watch a movie about the Oceania region from our library, or attend any Year of Oceania event. Then write a two to three paragraph summery on the movie, book, or event. Turn it in at the library to either Michael Martinez or Stephanie Olsen. A new winner will be chosen each month.

Good luck! And sharp eyes there, Zach, Gigi and Deena!

Fall Farmer's Market Today from 2 to 6 pm!

Make plans today to come out to the first ever Fall Waleska Farmers Market. The market will be held in the Reinhardt University parking lot behind the Red Sea Church (former site of Waleska Baptist Church) at the intersection of highways 108 and 140.

Reinhardt horticulturist and market guru Zach White will be there selling plants to benefit the Burgess Arboretum at Reinhardt University.

The weather is going to be perfect for strolling around the market and checking out the different booths. All of the vendors are local. They will be selling locally-grown plants; handmade crafts, candles and soaps; homemade desserts, jams, jellies and more.

The Master Gardeners of Cherokee County will be conducting a plant clinic at the market today. They will be available to field any of your gardening questions.

Did you know that the Waleska Farmer's Market at Reinhardt University was voted in August as the 4th best farmers market in the state of Georgia in the America's Favorite Farmers Market Contest? Not bad for our FIRST YEAR! Click here for more information.

See you at the market!

Read for the Record TOMORROW Oct. 7, 2010

Tomorrow, October 7, 2010, you have the chance to help set a world record and help a child in need at the same time.

How? Just go to wegivebooks.org. There you can read the classic, Caldecott-winning children's book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, and help set a record for the most people reading the same book on the same day.

You don't have to wait until tomorrow to start reading. For every copy of the book read on wegivebooks.org, the Jumpstart organization and We Give Books will donate a copy to a child in need. Why not read it today, to donate a book to a child, and then read it again tomorrow for the record?

Be a part of something. Read for the record!

Year of Oceania Movie TODAY: Ned Kelly

Join library director Michael Martinez in Tarpley 213 at 2 pm for a screening of Ned Kelly. This 2003 film stars Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom. Ned Kelly was an Irish-Australian bushranger (analogous to an Old West outlaw) in the late 19th century. Some saw him as a cold-blooded killer; some saw him as a folk hero.

This film depicts Kelly, played by Ledger, in a largely sympathetic light, as the victim of anti-Irish prejudice. Unjustly accused of attacking an officer, Ned Kelly and his friends take to the hills to elude capture and plot to clear their names.



Remember our ongoing "Year of Oceania" essay contest! All you have to do is read a book or watch a movie about the Oceania region from our library, or attend any Year of Oceania event. Then write a two to three paragraph summery on the movie, book, or event. Turn it in at the library to either Michael Martinez or Stephanie Olsen. The winner receives a sharp-looking "Year Of" t-shirt featuring the turtle logo designed by Stephanie Olsen.

A new winner is chosen each month. The deadline for our next contest is October 28.

Despite budget cuts, public libraries will survive...