Middlesex Gets the Oprah Treatment

Shortly after it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, I grabbed the audio book version of Jeffrey Eugenides novel Middlesex. What a blast it was commuting for those three weeks. Without a doubt, this was the best reading of a book I have come across yet. The narrator, Kristoffer Tabori, is a genius in using his voice and creating a distinct (and often hilarious) persona for each of Eugenides’ characters.

Now, Middlesex is enjoying a second run at fame, having recently been selected by Oprah Winfrey as one of Oprah’s Books. The call number for the library’s copy is 813.54 E87m.

Coming Soon: Bestsellers

One of the more frequent suggestions we receive is for the library to purchase more books for recreational reading. While the primary goal of our collection development plan is to support student needs within the curriculum, we acknowledge the benefits of stocking books that people really want to read. Indeed, in creating an updated strategic plan for the library over the past year, librarians developed an initiative called Culture of the Book. (See the full strategic plan here.) This plan calls for the library to highlight and strengthen its book collection, as well as create programs and services that get people reading books and talking about books.

Our first initiative will be to bring current bestselling fiction and non-fiction into the library. We will accomplish this by using a leasing program, Brodart’s McNaughton Plan. This will allow the library to bring in new books each month and send back those that are proving to be shelf-sitters.

You should find these books in a separate section (yet to be determined) of the main library by the beginning of the fall semester. Stop in, borrow a book, and let us know what you think.

Library Film Collection

The Neil Hellman Library owns approximately 1,800 films (in VHS and DVD formats). People often are looking for a listing of the films the library has; however, any list we create is quickly out-of-date. A better way to determine what films are available is to search the online catalog.

To help you navigate the catalog, we have created a help page on the library web site. (Go to finding aid for films.)

One helpful hint: If you really want a complete list of films available, use VIDEORECORDING as the keyword for your search. In fact, doing a simple keyword search in the catalog for VIDEORECORDING (even without going through the process of limiting to the DVD and VHS collections) will pull up a list of the library’s films.

2007 Booker Prize Announced

The prestigious Man Booker International prize was awarded this week to Nigerian author Chinua Achebe.  Often referred to as the father of modern African literature, Achebe best-known work is Things Fall Apart, published in 1958.  The major theme of his work is the social and political impact of European colonialism on the people of Africa.

The Neil Hellman Library owns a number of Achebe’s books:

• Arrow of God (call number: 896 A177a)
• Hopes and Impediments: Selected Essays (809 A177h)
• Man of the People: a Novel (896 A177m)
• Morning Yet on Creation Day: Essays (820.966 A177m)
• No Longer at Ease (809.8896 C437p)
• Things Fall Apart (896 A177t)

New Library Web Site

On June 18, the library will release an updated version of its web site. The revision does not represent a radical departure from the older version. The main goal in revising the site was to make it easier to use; in particular, we wanted to use language and phrasing that would lead students to the correct resources.

We have maintained a link to the past for those of you who might want to use the old web site. You will see this link at the top of each page.

As the College undergoes the process of revising its whole web site over the next year or two, the library will be part of that larger project. We are always eager to receive feedback from users, but with this new site and another revision in the near future, we are particularly anxious to hear what you would like added to our web site. Please feel free to comment to this post or send your comments through the link on the web site.

Link to the new site.