Thanksgivukkah and more

With Thanksgiving over and Hanukkah a blink from ending, the library has stepped up it's celebration of the late fall into winter holidays. Stop by our Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter pages to see what library has to offer for those celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. Don't forget that you can come into the library where you'll find the items we've shared online and to borrow those items that strike your fancy. As a added bonus you can see our book tree complete with ornaments.

The library staff hopes that all your final projects, papers, and exams go well.

Library Hours for the Thanksgiving Break

The library will be open regular hours through Friday, November 22.

Saturday, November 23, we will be open 7:30a-12:00pm and closed Sunday, November 24.



Monday - Wednesday, November 25-27
We will be open 8am-5pm (closed each day 12-1 for lunch).

The library will be closed Thursday through Sunday, November 28-December 1.  

Regular hours will resume 7:30am on Monday, December 2nd.  

Have a wonderful

Holiday!

Thanksgiving Cornucopia

What is better than turkey and all of the Thanksgiving trimmings? Spreading out the Thanksgiving holiday for a couple of weeks so that the yummy delights of that day can be enjoyed to their fullest, of course.

While we can't serve a Thanksgiving buffet in the library everyday before Thanksgiving, we do want to share some library resources that have recipes, tips, and even craft ideas to ease the Thanksgiving planning process.

To see the featured books and DVDs, head over to our Facebook, Pinterest, and Tumblr accounts. These pages will be updated each school day. By the way, we are only highlighting a portion of our available Thanksgiving resources on these sites. If you want to know more about the history of Thanksgiving or if you need just the right recipe for cornbread stuffing, stop by the library and one of the librarians will be glad to help you.

Happy Halloween: Book Spine Poetry

Halloween Is. . . 

The Monster

Pumpkin Pumpkin

Applesauce Season

Jibberwillies at Night

Halloween Is. . .

By Gail Gibbons; JF G

With bright illustrations and simple text, Ms. Gibbons describes the Halloween holiday for young readers.

The Monster: How a Gang of PredatoryLenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America-and Spawned a Global Crisis

By Michael W. Hudson; 332.72 H886m

The monsters featured in this scary story are the predatory lenders on Wall Street, and the author presents how the lenders duped people and contributed to the financial crisis.

Pumpkin Pumpkin

By Jeanne Titherington; JF T

What happens when a boy plants a pumpkin seed? It grows into a pumpkin, of course. Follow Jamie’s story as he plants a pumpkin seed, watches the pumpkin grow, and harvests fresh seeds out of the mature pumpkin.

Applesauce Season

By Eden Ross Lipson; illus. by Mordecai Gerstein; JF L

A family spends time together making applesauce in this story. If you want to make some applesauce with your children, there is a recipe for applesauce at the end of the story.

Jibberwillies at Night

By Rachel Vail; illus. by Yumi Heo

Jibberwillies are the pesky creatures that come out at night and prevent little children from going to sleep. Find out how one girl gets rid of her jibberwillies. 

If you haven't already seen the festive Halloween posts that we've done on our Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest pages, be sure to head over there to see the spooky and not so spooky Halloween titles that you can check out from the library. Stay tuned to all of these sites (and our blog!) too because we will continue our holiday posts for the Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa holidays. The library staff wishes you a fun and safe Halloween. 

A Little Tractor and a Big Record

Drumroll please. . . Today is Jumpstart’s Read for the Record day. All over the world parents, teachers, librarians, relatives, and friends join together to read a single book in order to promote literacy. This year the chosen book is Otis by Loren Long. The Sullivan University Library and Learning Resource Center has a copy of Otis, so you can participate in this marathon read-a-thon too. 

For more information about Otis, check out these two videos.  

Want more books to read? Here is a list of all of the titles selected for the Read for the Record program. 

Otis by Loren Long; JF L (available at the Sullivan University Library)

Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad by David Soman

Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats; JF K (available at the Sullivan University Library)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle; JF C (available at the Sullivan University Library)

Corduroy by Don Freeman; JF F (available at the Sullivan University Library)

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper; JF P (available at the Sullivan University Library)

Happy reading everybody!

Library Tours during Week 2

During Week 2, the library will be offering drop-in tours of the library for students who would like a quick overview of our resources and services.  Times are:

September 30 at 11am and 5pm

October 1 at 10am and 5pm

October 2 at 9am and 5pm

October 3 at 10am and 5pm

If you  would like a tour and cannot make these times, we are happy to set up additional times as needed -- just talk to a librarian.  

Banned Books Week

This first week of classes is also Banned Books Week, and the Sullivan University Library and Learning Resource Center has observed this week with a book display and several Facebook posts. Check out our Facebook page to learn more. See if you can guess some banned or challenged books featured on the Facebook page.  

What are banned books and why is the library promoting them?

A banned book has been removed from a library because of a successful challenge against its content.

A challenged book is one in which someone attempts to have it removed from the library or restrict where it can be shelved in the library.

The librarians at Sullivan University call attention to banned books and Banned Books Week to encourage students, faculty, and staff to think critically and to celebrate the freedom to read whatever book(s) they choose.

Several banned or challenged books are available for check-out in the Sullivan University library, so stop by the library today to borrow one or two of them. Ask one of the librarians if you need help finding one of the banned or challenged books or any other titles of interest.

Fall Break Hours

Going Back to School Can Be Fun

Ready or not, school starts (at least for Fayette County students) tomorrow. Are you or your children nervous about that first day? If so, stop by the library to borrow these back to school titles to share with your family. The call number for the books is after the book description. Ask one of the librarians if you need help finding a title.

Argus by Michelle Knudsen- Sallie’s egg doesn’t hatch a chick like the eggs of the other children in her class. Her egg hatches into a. . . dinosaur. Yikes! JF K

Butterflies in My Stomach by Serge Bloch-Phrases that we take for granted like, “Opening a can of worms,” or “Butterflies in my stomach,” seem strange and almost scary to a boy who is unfamiliar with them. Humorous illustrations will probably have you and your child laughing out loud. JF B

A Few Blocks by Cybele Young-Ferdie and his older sister Viola trek to school on the first day of classes. Ferdie’s fortunate that his big sister can show him the ropes at school. Or is he? JF Y

Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? By Audrey Vernick- Buffalo’s first day of kindergarten is a little tough, but when he listens to his teacher and follows the rules, he knows that school will be ok. JF V

Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney-Loveable Llama Llama’s first day of preschool is kind of hard because he misses his mama. JF D

Marshall Armstrong Is New to Our School by David Mackintosh-The new kid Marshall Armstrong is a little different from his classmates. When he invites them to his house for a birthday party, the other children wonder what kind of party he will have. JF M

Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten by Hyewon Yum- Is it the kindergartener or his mother who is more nervous about him going to kindergarten for the first time? JF Y

Rosie Sprout’s Time to Shine by Allison Wortche- Rosie’s classmate Violet usually gets all the attention and praise in class. An unexpected turn of events changes who gets noticed though, and it is quiet Rosie who shines in the end. JF W

School Bus by Donald Crews-For the youngest child who may be starting preschool this year, this title has simple words and an object that children can quickly relate to, a school bus. JF C

2013 Student Survey Results

Each year during spring quarter the library conducts a survey asking students to give us their opinions about the library's resources and services. Responses are analyzed to determine how well student needs are being met by the library and find ways to improve. 215 students (or 26% of enrollment) responded to the 2013 survey.

Survey questions offer students the ability to both rank the library using a numerical ranking as well as make a written comment to a question. Examples of some of the numerical ratings include:

• 98% of students visited the library over the last year to use resources or ask for assistance 
• 87% of students rank the library service very important to their education 
• 75% of students use the library’s database collection at least once each week to help with their classes 

Editorial comments give students an opportunity to provide specific feedback and suggest improvements.  Since some comments are emphasized by more than one student, we have listed a few below with the library's response to the suggestion.  

More pleasurable books to read
Expand the leisure reading section.

More book for entertainment

To make leisure reading more available to students the library offers the Paperback Exchange collection. Primarily fiction books in a variety of genres are available in a take one/give one format – trading books means what is available is always changing and evolving for the next person. The Paperback Exchange is located on the shelves across from the reference desk, stop by today for something to read.

Why don’t you provide textbooks?

The library does not have textbooks in the collection for many reasons--they are expensive, highly prone to theft even when they are not allowed to circulate, and quickly replaced by new editions. If they are allowed to circulate, they tend to be checked out almost constantly, which leads to increasing demands to purchase more copies. Unless a copy is purchased for each enrolled student--which is simply not feasible—having textbooks available will only benefit a small number of students with the vast majority disappointed and angry. This situation doesn’t serve our mission, which is to provide the best possible service to as many students as possible.

The online databases can be very confusing

Provide more information on the resources that are available and how to use them.

In addition to the material physically in the library, the library offers database searching for journal articles (many of which are full-text) by subject as well as electronic copies of books. The list of these resources is available on the library’s web page along with tutorials on how to get started. If you need a particular type of resource or would like a quick demo on how to use the databases, stop by the library desk anytime – we’d love to tell you more about what you can find!

Enforce a whispering policy.

For it to be more quiet so we are able to study if we want or take an exam without distractions. 

sometimes it can get loud in there just from people having study groups

The library offers many services out of our space – computers & printing, study tables, browsing for library books and DVDs, paperback book collection, magazine & journal research – just to name a few. During certain times of the day things can get quite busy in the library. The library staff want to help each student use our resources and asks everyone to respect their fellow students and behave appropriately. If you are having problems, please talk with us and let us know how we can help!

The library appreciates each student that took time to respond to our survey. Thank you!!

Tweet, Tweet, Twitterature

Two authors irreverently rewrite well-known novels (and plays) in the form of tweets.  From bestsellers like The DaVinci Code to classics like Shakespeare’s plays and To Kill a Mockingbird, nothing is off-limits. Be warned though, flipping through the pages of this book will zap away time just as quickly as browsing through Facebook does.

Twitterature: The World’s Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less by Alexander Aciman and Emmett Rensin; 818.607 A181t

Mom, I’m Bored

As summer winds down children probably have exhausted their supply of activities which keep them occupied. Why not share some great books with them? The Book Sense Best Children’s Books has a list of recommended children’s books for preschoolers all the way up through high school students, and the Sullivan University library has a few of these titles that you may borrow. Chase the boredom blues away with some good books.

Book Sense Best Children’s Books; R 011.62 B724

What's Your Mood?

We’ve shared with you books about beaches and vacations, but what about books for any mood and any location? Hallie Ephron’s book, 1001 Books for Every Mood, is full of book recommendations for nearly every mood imaginable. In the mood for a good laugh (or cry)? What about taking a walk on the wild side? With 1001 books, surely there is something here to suit your current mood.

1001 Books for Every Mood by Hallie Ephron; R 011.73 E63o

Staycation. What's a Staycation?

All of the talk about beaches and their great views is wonderful, but what about more economical dreams? For those who want to save their money and still take a day off, the book The Great American Staycation, is a handy resource full of ideas for vacationing without taking an expensive vacation. The retreat ideas recommended in Wixon’s book can be done within 100 miles of home, wherever home may be. Check out the book to get some ideas to prepare for your next staycation.


The Great American Staycation by Mat Wixon; 790.121 W835g

An Endless Summer of Beaches

The list of beaches featured in the Best Beaches DVD includes beaches from all over the globe. The typical beach activities like hang-gliding are part of the DVD experience, but viewers can also see a dive to a WWII wreck site and whale watchers off the coast of Baja. For just over 90 minutes, this beach break won’t take too much time away from studying or other work.

Best Beaches; DVD 910.9146 B561