Not surprisingly, most of us who work in the library also like to read. And summer is a great time for reading — no assignments, more free time, even more light.  Here is a list of books we thought you might enjoy this summer. If you have any recommendations of your own, leave us a comment!

From Dan Daily:

• The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk by Jennifer Niven
  The Ice Master tells the tragic story of the 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition. Now, the entire Canadian Arctic Expedition was not marked by tragedy, but the Northern Party of the expedition, which was abroad the vessel Karluk suffered much, lost much, and, perhaps, unnecessarily. Jennifer Niven gives us a gripping account of the decisions, mistakes, heroic efforts, and will to survive that characterized the expedition. While most of the Western world plunged into the Great War, the expedition team, under the absentee-direction of the renown explorer and anthropologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson (Stef), launched into the western Canadian Arctic. Not all would come back; some blamed Stef. Niven, whose own story is perhaps not typical of those who write polar history, gives us a fascinating, carefully researched addition to the history of polar exploration. Among the dozen or so books of polar history that sit on my bookshelves, The Ice Master is the best-told tale.

From Anne Mead:

• The Appeal 2008 by John Grisham

From Sherri Langton:

• After the Leaves Fall by Nicole Baart
• Light from Lucas by Bob Vander Plaats
• Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

From Anita Vogel:

• Cosmos Coyote and William the Nice by Jim Heynen
  A young adult fiction selection
• Eat, Pray, Love: One woman’s search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
  See Anita’s review on this
• The Peace Book by Todd Parr
  A wonderfully illustrated children’s book

From Greta Grond

• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
  In this novel, an elderly man recalls his days on a circus train. After dropping out of veterinary school during the Depression, the narrator travels with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, caring for the exotic animals. With robust characters — hey, it’s the circus - and a setting so alive and unique, this book is one you will not soon forget.

If you’re interested in delving into one topic this summer, Anita suggests a collection of Karen Armstrong’s writings about comparative religion. These books are all in Ramaker’s collection:

• A history of God: the 4000-year quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
• The battle for God
• Feminist theology: a reader
  Edited by Ann Loades, it contains essays by Armstrong
• Islam: a short history
• Jerusalem: one city, three faiths
• Through the narrow gate

Have a great summer!

Elizabeth is a New York journalist with amazing charisma! However she is a worrier and has bouts with depression. This book is about her journey through Italy, India, and Indonesia seeking emotional and spiritual healing. I found her honesty refreshing and her oddball sensibility amusing.

Extended library hours begin Saturday, May 3.

Saturday       8:30am - 10:00pm

Sunday         1:30pm - 2:00am

Mon-Wed      7:30am - 2:00am

Thursday       7:30am - 8:00pm

Friday           8:00am - 5:00pm

Sat/Sun         CLOSED

Coffee, lemonade, and snacks served Sunday-Wednesday, 6:00 - 9:30 pm

Good luck on finals!  Have a great summer!

JSTOR, one of the journal databases available to students, recently made significant changes to its web site.

In addition to a new look, JSTOR also changed some functional aspects of the site:

• You can create an account and save citations indefinitely, allowing you to better track your research.
• You can limit searches by discipline and by journal title, making for more targeted results.
• When you are presented with a Results list, you can search within those results as well. 

The Quick Tips box on the search page is helpful and is a great place to go if you want to learn more.  And, of course, you can always ask a reference librarian if you have any questions about JSTOR.

I’d like to take this opportunity to say that it has been a pleasure to serve you this past year in all your interlibrary loan needs.  As we wind down the end of the year, please make sure that you are aware of the following important dates:

LAST DAY TO REQUEST BOOKS

Monday, April 28

LAST DAY TO REQUEST ARTICLES

Wednesday, April 30

ALL BOOKS BORROWED THROUGH ILL DUE BACK

Friday, May 2

Good luck in all your finals, term papers, projects, etc. during the next couple weeks, and best wishes to all those who are graduating and moving on!

To those who are returning, ILL will have a very different look next fall.  Over the summer we will be implementing a new ILL management system called ILLiad.  (See what they did there?  They used ILL, which stands for Interlibrary Loan, and then added the ”-iad” to create the word Illiad, just like the story by Homer.)  This program also uses a document delivery system called Odyssey.  (Isn’t that all so clever?!) 

This software will streamline the way you request and receive items, and will put more control in your hands (i.e. you will be able to track every request you make from the time you submit the request, until the time it is ready to be picked up). 

When you return to campus in the fall, you will have the opportunity to create your own ILLiad account, and start to see and use the benefits of this new program.  We’re very excited to have this wonderful system coming to Ramaker and NWC!

Enjoy your summer, and God bless in whatever you may do!

Congratulations to our National Library Week winners!

Jesse Nieuwenhuis (student)

Ardith De Jong (staff)

Thank you to everyone who participated in our drawing

and/or attended our open house!

~ Ramaker Library Staff ~

 It has been said that the “Best Things in Life are Free” AND that“Money can’t buy the Most Important Things in Life.”  Some of these FREE things that I enjoy in my life are:

Free Learning…

At Northwestern I learn something new everyday.  This learning comes in variety of ways —student and faculty research, community people sharing stories and projects, new books arriving at the library, Kathleen Norris, Minding Place workshops….the list is endless!!!  Libraries are the best place in the world—FREE to everyone with no discrimination allowed — a wonderful place that supports lifelong learning!!

Free Events…

Northwestern students, faculty, and special guests sharing their gifts and talents through music, theatre, and athletic events, lectures, discussions, poetry readings, not to mention host family activities, Ethnic Fair, SSP & SOS stories….all FREE!

Other Free Things I Enjoy in my Day to Day Life

Nature – Outdoor activities such as flower gardening, long walks, bicycling, camping, as well as Iowa vistas and sunsets.

Conversations – with grandchildren, friends, and family and listening to the wisdom of our elders.

Comfort food – Cooking old family recipes and trying new recipes.  When my granddaughter asked me, “What is a cannoli?’ (which was mentioned in a book she was reading) we had to give a new recipe a try and we were delighted with the results.

Random free things we can give away—smiles, laughter, honesty, kindness, compassion, gratitude, acceptance, and making a difference where we can.

The Best things in life are really FREE!

This winter I read a wonderful book called Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. It was published in 2007 and is the true story of one man’s journey as he climbed K2, (the second highest peak in the world) located in northern Pakistan.

After failing to reach the summit he descended through the mountains feeling sick and lost. He ended up in a remote rugged mountain village in Baltistan. The people of the village took him in and showed him great kindness. Seeing their isolation and poverty, when he left Greg promised to return and build a school for their village. Back home Greg worked very hard to raise the money to build the first school. His personal sacrifices and dedication in keeping his word to the villagers inspired him to follow through and build the school. Greg and his organization have built many more schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the last decade. Three Cups of Tea is an amazing story and I highly recommend it!

April is National Poetry Month. First celebrated in 1995, National Poetry Month is the Academy of American Poets’ annual celebration of poetry.

I wondered why they picked April. I had some guesses, but thanks to the Academy of American Poets’ web site, I now know for certain:

With input from booksellers, librarians, poets, and teachers, the Academy chose a month during the school year so that schools and students could participate fully. February is Black History Month and March is Women’s History Month, so April seemed a logical choice. Also, there are many wonderful poetic references to April:

T. S. Eliot wrote, “April is the cruelest month.” It is our hope that National Poetry Month lessens that effect.

On a lighter note, Chaucer wrote:

Whan that April with his showres soote
The droughte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veine in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flowr

Finally, Edna St. Vincent Millay asked, “To what purpose, April, do you return again?” For National Poetry Month, of course!

I recently discovered a short poem I like by a former American poet laureate, Ted Kooser. Since the Northwestern community has spent time recently analyzing our place here on the prairie, Kooser’s A Birthday Poem resonated with me. Using a cow as the comparison, he describes both the sun and himself. A fellow Midwesterner (born in Iowa, even), Kooser uses what he encounters everyday to describe more than what is there. You can read the entire text of the poem on the Library of Congress web site.

Ramaker Library holds most of Kooser’s books in its collection, if you’re interested in reading more.

 

 

 

National Library Week is April 13 - 19

Ramaker Library will be celebrating with prize drawings and refreshments.

We encourage faculty, staff, and students to register for $25 to Barnes & Noble at any time during the week.

(Register in the library OR type your name and campus email in the following form and click submit.)

Join us for cake, cookies, & coffee on Wednesday, April 16 — 1:30 - 4:30 pm in the library lobby.

We hope to see you there!