New Books in Religion Area

Last year we surveyed the juniors and seniors about the library, getting their feedback on our facility, services and collections.  Students indicated their desires to have more titles, especially more current titles, that offer specifically Christian perspectives on current topics.

This fall, we added a number of titles in Religion and Christianity.  While this is not a comprehensive list, some interesting additions include the following:

• Christians, The Care of Creation and Global Climate Change edited by Lindy Scott, 2008, New Book Display BT695.5 .C473 2008
• Church, state, and citizen : Christian Approaches to Political Engagement edited by Sandra F. Joireman, 2009, New Book Display BV630.3.C49 2009
• Crazy for God:  How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back by Frank Schaeffer, 2008, BR1643.S332 S33 2008  

 

• From Faith to Fun: The Secularisation of Humor by Russell Heddendorf, 2009,  New Book Display BR115.H84 H45 2009  

 

Check Out Our New Subject Guides

This summer Ramaker Library began creating subject guides for students. These guides, named LibGuides, are intended to help you begin researching in a topic.  We understand that the library can be a confusing place at times; there are just so many online and print resources that it can be difficult to know where to look for information.

These guides point you to the best databases, reference books and journals we have. We also offer tips on how to conduct searches and how to use interlibrary loan.  Some guides also include industry news, recommended web sites and even podcasts. 

While we do not have subject guides created for every subject, we are continuing to add new ones frequently.  To see what is currently available, visit our LibGuides home page.  You can also click the Subject and course guides button on the Ramaker web site.

Going Green at Ramaker

Each year, Ramaker staff looks through parts of the collection and removes items that are out-of-date or damaged. We did not want these books to end up in a landfill, so we began partnering with Better World Books, who resells them, donates them to literacy charities, or recycles them properly.  Did you know that 97% of a book can be recycled as usable fiber?  Here’s how Ramaker’s partnership with Better World Books has impacted our environment.

• 291 books were either reused (sold or donated) or recycled, that’s 394 pounds of books
• 5 trees were saved
• 3,002 gallons of water were conserved
• 416 pounds of greenhouse gases were avoided
• 965 kilowatt hours of electricity were conserved

Pretty cool, huh?

READ!

Librarians aren’t the only ones saying it.  Professor John Vonder Bruegge reminds students to read each time they walk into Ramaker.  As the recipient of Northwestern’s Teaching Excellence award, his poster now hangs on the Ramaker mezzanine. 

Just Added: Tables

Ramaker continues to add to our collection – our furniture collection, that is.  After we rearranged this summer, we thought a few end tables would be nice additions to our furniture groupings. Thanks to the generosity of a local citizen, we now have new (new to us, anyway) coffee and end tables in our cozy lounge areas.  What’s next, Snuggies for everyone?