Student worker spotlight: Amy Ross!

For senior Amy Ross, Reinhardt College is more than her alma mater. It's practically a family tradition.
"I am related to Joseph Astor Sharp who helped found the college, and my grandfather's mother was in the first graduating class from Reinhardt," Amy told me. She and her sister, Judith, a junior Education major, consider themselves to be "legacies."

Amy, a Biology major, has plenty of history of her own with the library. She's unique among our student workers as she's toiled here all four years of her college career. In fact, she likes to tease some of the newer staff members (including this blogger) that she has "seniority" over us. Amy works at the circulation desk and also helps Stephanie with the interlibrary loans. Amy says she enjoys working at the library because the hours are flexible, and "the staff in the library are wonderful people to work with." (Thanks, Amy--the check's in the mail). She adds that working in the library has helped her learn how to do research the right way, and she's also learned that "librarians are not as boring as people seem to think." (Um, again, thanks, Amy).

"I learned who I truly was at Reinhardt," Amy says. "The college gave me the freedom to be able to express myself and find out what makes me inspired."

We appreciate the hard work Amy has done for us, and are truly going to miss her next year when she heads off to medical school.

"Amy Ross ... is one of the best, if not the best, student worker we have had in the library in my 23 years working here," says librarian Joel Langford. "She is smart, friendly, dependable, trustworthy, and knowledgeable. We will miss her when she graduates, but I know that she will be successful throughout her life."

Little-known facts about Library Staff: Joel Langford

Blame the Federal government for Joel Langford being the Technical Services Librarian at Reinhardt. During his first semester as a freshman at Birmingham-Southern College, Joel was a student worker in Career Services; however, prior to his second semester the Federal government cut its funding for work-study students. When several less needy students were cut from the program, other students, including Joel, were transferred to areas of the college that were deemed to have more vital student worker needs. Joel ended up in the library where he spent the rest of his work-study career until graduating with a degree in History. Not knowing for sure what he wanted to be when he grew up but fondly remembering his days in the library, Joel found a job at the Livingston University library in Livingston, Alabama.

After four years as a paraprofessional at Livingston, Joel entered graduate school at Emory to pursue his Master’ s degree in Library Science. Upon completion of that degree in August 1985, he found a job at small two-year college in North Georgia called Reinhardt. He also found a home. Through all the changes over the years (becoming a four-year institution and now with masters programs, tripling in size, library renovation, and countless new campus facilities), Joel still loves it here. He met his wife here (she’s a former student), and he is proud of the library’s growth in recent years.

One of the many hats Joel wears at the library is that of the College Archivist. In this role he oversees Reinhardt’s historical documents and memorabilia. His knowledge of these materials has earned him the unofficial title of "College Historian"; however, there is no truth to the rumor that he served as Captain Reinhardt’s assistant.

When you enter his office, you immediately notice that Joel collects Coca-Cola memorabilia. What you see is just a small portion of his collection – most of which is boxed away at home. A self-proclaimed Coke-aholic, he has been collecting Coca-Cola stuff since for more than 30 years. He is also a Parrothead, and you will usually hear Radio Margaritaville playing in his office. A big sports fanatic, Joel bleeds orange and blue during football season as he lives and dies with the Auburn Tigers. So if you ever see Jimmy Buffett wearing an Auburn jersey and drinking a Coke, take a picture and send it to Joel.

This date in Literary History

On January 28, 1813, Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice was first published in Great Britain.

The Hill Freeman Library and Spruill Learning Center has the Complete Novels of Jane Austen available on the third floor, call number PR4030 1983, but did you know we also have electronic copies of Pride and Prejudice available from both Netlibrary and eBrary. You're just a few clicks away from enjoying one of the most beloved novels in English literature, in a format Miss Austen probably never imagined! Pride and Prejudice is only one of approximately 80,000 e-books practically at your fingertips. You only need to complete a short, one-time registration in order to view them from the privacy of your own computer.

We also have in our collection the VHS version of the incomparable BBC adaptation starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy (PR4034 .P72 1995). Highly recommended by this blogger and legions of swooning fans!

Congratulations to our student workers!

The Hill Freeman Library and Spruill Learning Center is happy to report that three of our student workers will be "representing us" on the 2009 Reinhardt Homecoming Court! Freshman representative Nahum Vigo-Fas, Junior representative Chris Williams and Senior representative Jason Harmon all put in their time shelf-reading and shelving books for us, and showcasing their winning smiles behind the circulation desk. We are very proud of and grateful for all our student workers and the hard work they do to help keep our library running smoothly.

Be sure to "check out" Nahum, Chris and Jason as they walk the walk Saturday, February 7, following the women's basketball game at 2 p.m.

American novelist John Updike died today

American novelist and short-story writer John Updike died today at the age of 76. Most famous for his Rabbit series (Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit is Rich; Rabbit at Rest and Rabbit Remembered), Updike was well-known as a portrayer of small-town middle class America and as "a chronicler of suburban adultery."

Updike twice won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, for Rabbit is Rich in 1981, and for Rabbit at Rest in 1991.

The Rabbit Angstrom series and other works by John Updike can be found on the third floor of the library, around the call number PS3571.P4.

Reinhardt cadet uniform on display in the library

At the library, we see students modeling all kinds of fashions, from the immaculately groomed and stylish to the I-was-up-all-night-and-now-I-just-have-to-print-this-paper-before-class look. It's hard to imagine a time when Reinhardt students dressed in gray cadet uniforms and practiced military drills on campus.

Now, thanks to a donation from the Rainwater family, you can get a glimpse into the life of a Reinhardt student from nearly a century ago. The descendants of Doctor Chandler Rainwater, a 1913 graduate of Reinhardt College, have donated his Reinhardt student uniform to the college. It is on display on the second floor of the library, along with Rainwater's diploma. It's a unique piece of history that brings to light a long-ago phase of Reinhardt tradition.

According to technical services librarian Joel Langford, military companies were first established at Reinhardt in 1893. In 1897, military training was made compulsory for all able-bodied male students except for those preparing for the ministry. The students were encouraged, but not required, to wear the college's uniform of "best Confederate grey with navy blue cap. One of the highlights of spring at Reinhardt was the "sham battles" staged by the companies. The battles took place on a field or in a pasture on a nearby hill. One company would hold a fort on the top of the hill while the other two companies attacked. Blanks, firecrackers and even dynamite were used for realism! (Try to get away with something like that now. On second thought, please don't). Occasionally female students would dress as nurses to aid the wounded.

Starting in 1905, female Reinhardt students were required to wear a uniform of "white waist, blue skirt and Oxford cap [mortarboard with tassel]." In 1908, the cadet uniform was made complusory for male students. Soon after World War I when the United States entered a period of isolationism, the military department was discontinued.

Stop by to check out the display, and think for a moment how your student life would have been different had you attended Reinhardt in the early 20th century instead of the early 21st! It may be hard to imagine, but you and Doctor Chandler Rainwater share something in common. You're both part of the proud tradition of Reinhardt College.

(Wonder what your descendants are going to think of your school attire in the year 2109...)

A little Reinhardt library history

Do you know this man?

His name is Robert Hill Freeman, and the Hill Freeman Library is named after him. His portrait looks kindly over the second floor 24-hour study area.

That was the sum total of this blogger's knowledge of the man. Until today, when I consulted technical services librarian Joel Langford. Joel oversees the archives of the Hill Freeman Library & Spruill Learning Center, and he can answer just about any esoteric question about Reinhardt College history. He put into my hands the program for the library's dedication on November 5, 1969, and I got to know a little bit about Robert Hill Freeman.

He was born in Newnan, Georgia in September 1892, the son of Callie Hill Freeman and Robert Wesley Freeman. He was graduated with honors from the University of Georgia and was Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated with distinction from Columbia Law School in 1916.
The following year, Robert Hill Freeman entered the Army, serving in the 82nd Division with the rank of First Lieutenant. He was stationed in France for 14 months, taking part in the battles of St. Mihiel and the Argonne, and winning a promotion to the rank of Captain. Following his discharge from the Army, he practiced law in Atlanta. Upon the recommendation of the Dean of Columbia Law School, Robert Hill Freeman undertook reorganization of the law school at the University of Maryland, subsequently serving as Dean.
Other important posts held by Robert Hill Freeman include President of the Newnan Cotton Mills during the Great Depression, director of the Cotton Textile Institute, director of the American Cotton Manufacturers' Association, director of the Cotton Manufacturer's Association of Georgia, director of the First National Bank of Newnan, and director of the Citizens and Southern Bank of Atlanta, Georgia. Having led such a distinguished life, Judge Robert Hill Freeman died in Memorial Hospital in New York. He was only 52 years old.

On Thanksgiving Day in 1951, Reinhardt College's Administration Building opened. At that time the Hill Freeman Library was housed there, a gift of Robert Hill Freeman's family in his memory.
The new library was dedicated in 1969, and in 2003 was rededicated, following substantial renovation, as the Hill Freeman Library and Spruill Learning Center, honoring both Robert Hill Freeman and the Spruill family. Joel supplied me with the program for this ceremony as well, so I can tell you a little about Mrs. Ethel Warren Spruill. From the program:

"Mrs. Ethel Warren Spruill's connection to Reinhardt dates back to the early 1900s when she first visited the campus as a young girl. With the rededication of the Hill Freeman Library and Spruill Learning Center, the Spruill family name will forever be associated with learning and libraries at Reinhardt. Her ongoing support of students through scholarships, her generous contributions to the Library's growing book and journal collections, and her willingness to underwrite a dream of an expanded and renovated library profoundly touches students of today, tomorrow, and those far in the future."

So the next time you pass through the doors of our library, remember the generosity of those who made our building and our collection possible. (And good luck if you want to try playing "Stump the Archivist" with Joel Langford)!