This week some of the library staff took some time out to pause and consider what we are thankful for:

Jennifer Dean, Dean of University Libraries and Instructional Technology: I am grateful to be here at Detroit Mercy and with everyone in Libraries/IDS.

Sara Armstrong, Associate Dean for Technical Services and Library Systems: I’m grateful for all the people I work with. Not only do we get awesome things done. You’re all fun to work with.

Marilyn Dow, Director of the Dental Library: I’m thankful to be able to assist students and contribute to their education and professional development.

Amy Keyzer, Assistant to the Dean: I’m grateful for the completion of our four new group study rooms! I’m happy to see students using them, even though the rooms still need a few finishing touches. I’m also thankful for the diversity of student organizations, and their presence in the library lobby. They enliven the space, enlighten the curious, and often entice the weak-willed with their baked goods and beverages for sale!

 

Sue Homant, Librarian:I am grateful for the four new group study rooms and for the new Dean of Libraries.

Jill Turner, Librarian: Family, friends and excellent work colleagues.

Karl Ericson, Librarian: I’m grateful for the opportunities that challenging times provide.

Julia Eisenstein, Librarian: I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with faculty and administrators who support the library and value the work of the librarians.

Pat Higo, Librarian: Having a new location for my desk where archive material is closer to work on.

Elizabeth Royal, Instructional Designer: I’m thankful for my really amazing co-workers up here at IDS and all of the people here at the library because they have been so welcoming! They’ve helped me learn a lot of new processes, given great feedback about the projects I’m working on, and helped me get adjusted to everything.

Nathan Blume, Instructional Designer: I’m thankful for the renovated Instructional Design Studio that provides comfortable space for creative collaborations. I am also thankful for the new Detroit Mercy McNichols gate that makes entry to the campus much easier.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you know an non-reader, a struggling reader, or a reluctant reader? Do you have children, grandchildren, neighbors, nieces or nephews learning how to read? Turn them on to graphic novels.

Scholarly studies are showing that the combination of pictures and words aids comprehension and vocabulary for struggling readers. With their clever and entertaining illustrations, condensed text, and unique formats, graphic novels can effectively communicate complex ideas.

The University of Detroit Mercy Libraries has been collecting graphic novels for several years.  The collection includes reconstructions of  the classics, such as Macbeth: the Graphic Novel, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment: a Graphic Novel, or Romeo and Juliet: the Graphic Novel.

Other graphic novels teach traditional school subjects, such as The Manga Guide to Calculus and other manga guides to statistics, electricity, and physics.

And graphic novels can be read for purely entertainment purposes, such as Star Trek. Countdown, Star Wars, the Force Unleashed. II, or Big Nate Goes for Broke.

To find graphic novels in the Detroit Mercy catalog, go to research.udmercy.edu and type graphic novels in the search box.  Click Search.

Contributed by Sue Homant.

IMAX presents the new National Parks Adventure featuring the parks in never-seen-before breathtaking ways.

 

A park exchange series designed to bring parks to life in urban areas and demonstrate the diversity of park experiences is being offered: Redwood National and State Parks visit Austin, Texas, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park visits Chicago, and Thomas Edison National Historical Park visits New York City.

 

Or explore the Centennial Media Quality Photo Gallery representing the unique character of the parks.  Search for parks, programs, or topics.

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/centennial/media-quality-gallery.htm?l=Tags:NPS%20Centennial%2ETags:Media%20Quality

Read about the visionary leaders of the park system: https://www.nps.gov/bestideapeople/index.html

Recently, Sue Homant, Head of Reference Services at the library, discussed her trip to Normandy, France with Cameron Pierson, library intern. Her experiences (and pictures) had them thinking about D-Day and the part librarians played in World War II. So, they dug a little deeper. 

 

American Cemetery, Normandy, France

 

    72 years ago, on 6 June 1944, the Allied Forces landed on Normandy in an event that would become known as D-Day. This was a major turning point in the war, contributing to the eventual defeat of the Axis Powers. Now, in 2016, most of us know of these events, either from our grandparents, school, or the History Channel. Yet, what is lesser known are the efforts undertaken by the American Library Association to insure that our men in uniform, no matter where they were in the world, would still have access to reading material.

    The Victory Book Campaign (V.B.C.) was a program that worked to maintain and enhance library services to those in the Army, Navy, and the Marines. Such services were spurred by the previous World War and laid the groundwork for continued library support, even to this day. Initiated by the leaders of the American Library Association, the campaign itself is said to have had mixed results as it worked within a war-time backdrop. Nonetheless, the program was able to collect in excess of a million books which were used by soldiers for continued education, technical support, and even leisure – something fundamental to morale.

German bunker, Normandy, France

 

     The program coordinated with many organizations (both public and private) to obtain donations from the American people. The books collected and later deemed suitable were an effort to support the mental and emotional wellbeing of the soldiers during such a horrific war. This type of undertaking is astounding even by today’s standards. It serves to remind us of the democratic function of libraries. In appreciating this lesser known piece of history, one cannot think about libraries without also thinking about those democratic values so central to free societies.

Remnents of Allies Mulberry, a floating harbor on Omaha Beach, Normandy, France

 

 

Connor, J. (1942). On to victory with the Victory Book Campaign. ALA Bulletin, 36(9), 552-554. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/stable/25691447

Passet, J. E. (2007). [Review of the book Books and Libraries in American Society during World War II: Weapons in the War of Ideas, by Patti Clayton Becker]. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/article/214299

Weeks, L. (2015, July 4). When America’s librarians went to war. NPR. Retrieved from
http://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/07/04/418840245/when-americas-librarians-went-to-war

Written by Cameron Pierson, Wayne State University LIS practicum student.  Photos by Sue Homant.

Need some summer reading ideas?  Try these books from our collection:

.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, Call Number: PR 6063 .A438 W65 2009

To read a review: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/books/review/Benfey-t.html?pagewanted=all

…

The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan, Call Number: PS 3570 .A48 V35 2013

To read a review: http://www.npr.org/2013/11/09/239172093/amy-tans-latest-mothers-daughters-and-the-oldest-profession

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant, Call Number: PS 3554 .I227 B68 2014

To read a review: http://www.npr.org/2014/12/06/368714299/first-generation-boston-girl-becomes-career-woman-in-diamants-latest

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler, Call Number: PS 3570 .Y45 S68 2015

To read a review: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/04/a-spool-of-blue-thread-anne-tyler-review

The Martian by Andy Weir, Call Number: PS 3623 .E446 M37 2014

To read a review:  https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/andy-weir/the-martian/

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson, Call Number: D 592 .L8 L28 2015

To read a review: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/07/dead-wake-the-last-crossing-of-the-lusitania-erik-larson-review

Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, Call Number: PS 3570 .A657 G65 2013

To read a review:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/books/review/donna-tartts-goldfinch.html

Bird Box by Josh Malerman, Call Number: PS 3613 .A43535 B57 2014

To read a review: http://www.avclub.com/review/josh-malerman-overreaches-chilling-debut-bird-box-204771

Want to find more books?  Call on your friendly UDM librarian for assistance at 313-993-1071.

Sue Homant