Staff Picks #3: "In the Realms of the Unreal"

For the third edition of Staff Picks, Rachel Evans is our recommender. Rachel is a Graduate Library Assistant at Lewis Library, currently working towards a master in Library Science from Florida State University. Rachel is also a graduate of LaGrange College, with a double B.A. in Art and Music. For her first Staff Picks, Rachel has chosen two titles from the collection.

The first is Henry Darger: In the Realms of the Unreal, by John Monroe MacGregor. This book can be found on the third floor of the library, in the oversized book section using the call number, NX512 .D377 Z83 2002. Here's what Rachel had to say about this book:

For those who love art books and weird outsider artists, this is an excellent choice! This large art book is filled with countless drawings and other works by the late Henry Darger, an artist whose works are truly unique, at times expressing the whimsical fantasies of the artist who created characters which kept his mind company throughout the lonely years of his reclusive life.

The second item is a related DVD from the library collection titled In the realms of the unreal: the mystery of Henry Darger. Directed by oscar-winner Jessica Yu, this film masterfully employs animated sequences in this intriguing documentary to bring to life the enchanted world of a most eccentric artist. Check out this item, DVD ND237 .D37 I5 2005.

This is an excellent documentary that explores the strange world of Darger, an artist you certainly won't hear about in your art history class!

For those whose curiosity has been perked up by this post, here's a little more information about the artist: Henry Darger was an elderly recluse who spent his childhood in an asylum for feeble-minded children, and his adulthood working as a lonely janitor. When he died in 1973, Darger left “300 paintings and 30,000 pages of writing, including his magnum opus — The Realms of the Unreal, a 15-volume, 15,000-plus-page illustrated novel on which he had apparently been working since 1909... Central to the novel are the Vivian Girls, seven blond Kewpie doll-like heroines who are the sweet-souled, ferocious leaders of the Child Slave Revolt… That his little girls…display male genitalia makes Darger’s vision all the more unnerving” (John Anderson, Newsday).

Interested in learning even more about Darger? Check out these helpful links:
Official website
St. Etienne Galleries - the gallery that handles all of Henry Darger's work.
Henry Darger fanpage
Realm of the Unreal: A page about Henry Darger
Henry Darger images at the Hammer Gallery
An essay on Henry Darger's work
Wellspring Website
American Folk Art Museum. Home of the Henry Darger Study Center and Darger artwork in permanent collection.

Staff Picks #2: "Finishing the Hat"

For the second edition of Staff Picks, our recommendation comes from Arthur Robinson. Arthur is the Reference and ILL librarian at Lewis Library. For his staff pick, Arthur has chosen Finishing the hat : collected lyrics (1954-1981) with attendant comments, principles, heresies, grudges, whines and anecdotes, by Stephen Sondheim. This item is located on the top floor of Lewis Library and can be found using the call number, ML54.6 .S69 S66 2010. Here's what Arthur had to say about this item:

Composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim discusses Broadway musicals he’s worked on, including West Side Story and Sweeney Todd, and provides all the lyrics.

The library's collection contains many other items by and related to Sondheim and his work. To find more items like this one, search the library online catalog by author for "Sondheim, Stephen".

Staff Picks #1: "Bury my heart at Wounded Knee"

Starting today, the library blog will feature Staff Picks leading up to the close of the fall semester! Staff Picks will feature a recommended book or item from the library's collection chosen by one of the staff members at Lewis Library. Having trouble deciding what reading material to borrow over the holidays? Staff Picks can help!

For the first edition of Staff Picks, Stacey Davis is our inaugural recommender. Stacey is the Serials & Cataloging Assistant at Lewis Library, as well as an avid reader! For her first Staff Picks, Stacey has chosen Bury my heart at Wounded Knee : an Indian history of the American West by Dee A. Brown.

This book can be found on the bottom floor of the library using the call number E81 .B75 1991. Here's what Stacey had to say about this book:

You'll get more of the "buried" history of the Native Americans from this 1971 bestseller; it is a sad, but enlightening story that will stay with you long after you have read the last page of the book.

If you're interested in more items related to this topic, check out the following DVD, Bury my heart at Wounded Knee [DVD] : the epic fall of the American Indian, located on the third floor of Lewis Library, DVD PN1997 .B922 2007.

Holiday Spotlight: The Wesley Collection

In light of the Thanksgiving spirit here on campus, Suber Archives & Special Collections at Lewis Library is excited to spotlight the Wesley Collection. LaGrange College has been associated with the Methodist Church throughout the institution's long history, since it's founding in 1831, and is very proud to house such an impressive collection of John Wesley related historical objects in the library's archives area.

John Wesley was born in 1703 in Epworth, England where his father, Samuel, was rector. His mother, Susanna Wesley, was herself a woman of accomplishment. When John was three years old the rectory caught fire and although he was rescued he considered himself, “a brand plucked from the burning.” As a cleric of the Church of England and a Christian theologian, Wesley is largely credited along with his brother (Charles Wesley) as founding the Methodist movement. As a result, Methodism is was a highly successful evangelical movement that originated in the United Kingdom and encouraged people to personally experience Jesus Christ. Wesley's teachings, better known as Wesleyanism, "provided the seeds for both the modern Methodist movement, the Holiness movement, Pentecostalism, the Charismatic Movement, and Neo-charismatic churches, which encompass numerous denominations across the world."

The Wesley Collection at Lewis Library is just one of multiple permanent collections housed in Suber Archives & Special Collections on the bottom floor of the library. Items from the Wesley collection include a variety of figurines, portraits, and an impressive and interesting collection of love feast plates.

The story behind the love feast plates began when John Wesley visited Savannah, GA. There he met the Moravians, who impressed him greatly with their calm during a storm at sea. Upon returning to England in 1783, Wesley participated in a Moravian Love Feast, and proceeded to introduce the concept to the Methodists a year later. The Love Feast celebrates the birth of Christ through scripture reading and prayer, the singing of hymns, the lighting of candles, and the serving of Moravian bread and coffee during which these plates were used. The saying on many of the Love Feast plates is, “The best of all is, God is with us." These words have been purported to be the last words spoken by John Wesley on his deathbed.

Enjoy the following slide presentation, created by archives and special collections assistant Patricia Barrett. The presentation displays many of the items from the Wesley Collection, and includes musical accompaniment by the Sons of Lafayette, an all male choir from LaGrange, GA. The recording is of a live performance of "All That Hath Life and Breath Praise Ye the Lord", which was composed by Rene Clausen (b. 1953) who adapted the text from Psalm 96. This live recording was captured during the choir's 2011 appearance in Cornwall, England.

For more information about the Wesley Collection, visit the new Suber Archives & Special Collections online guide. For more information about the history of the college, visit LaGrange College's website here, or enjoy a pictorial timeline here. For more information about all things John Wesley, visit the following links:

• Life of John Wesley from the United Kingdom
• Emory University Candler School of Theology: Wesley Collection
• Duke Divinity School: Hymns and other info.l
• Listen to one of Wesley's hymns
• Read some of Wesley's Sermons
• Great pictures from University of Manchester, UK
• Hymns and Sacred poems of John and Charles Wesley
• John Wesley Hymns
• Undisputed John Wesley verses
• Overview Wesley

*This blog post was co-authored by Patricia Barrett and Rachel Evans. Images in the presentation above are of items from Lewis Library's Wesley Collection, and were photographed by Patricia Barrett on behalf of Suber Archives & Special Collections. Information in this post was gathered from items and documents in the Wesley Collection, in addition to online sources including the Biography of John Wesley, courtesy of Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

WorldCat: A Candy Shop for Book-lovers!

The WorldCat database, which can be accessed through GALILEO, is not only a valuable database for researchers, it’s an addictive one for book-lovers. As one of my colleagues has said, it’s like being a kid in a candy shop. WorldCat provides citations and information for practically every book (DVD, CD, periodical, etc.) held in any library in the US (and many in other countries), and tells you which libraries have it. WorldCat has many uses:

• You can get full citation information for a book.
• You can identify all books published by an author, or see if your author has published anything new recently.
• You can identify the most recent edition of a book (especially important for textbooks).
• You can see which libraries have a book.
• If you’re looking for a short story, you may be able to identify books in which it’s been published. Many story collections have “contents notes” listing the stories they contain. Similarly, you can search for plays published in anthologies, essays, etc.
• You can check whether a film or TV program has come out on DVD.
• If you’re looking for an individual song or short piece of music, you may be able to identify CDs on which it has appeared (or music scores than contain it).
• By doing a subject search, you can identify books on a given topic (and by using the date function in the Advanced search, you can see what’s been published recently—or about to be published).

Please see me at the Reference desk of Lewis Library if I can help you in using WorldCat, or if you want to order a book or music score from another library on interlibrary loan.

*This blog post authored by Reference and ILL librarian Arthur Robinson on behalf of Lewis Library. "Reading is a treat!" image by Doss Elementary, WorldCat screen shot by Arthur Robinson, Photo of Lewis Library Reference Desk by Rachel Evans.

Librarian Shares Presentation of Interesting Alumni: LC's Extraordinary Women of the Past

A group of LaGrange College friends visited the library Monday, November 14th for an "Extraordinary Women from LaGrange College's Past" presentation by Charlene Baxter. Ms. Baxter is the Public and Technical Services Librarian at Lewis Library.

Using pictures, books and documents from the library collection and Suber Archives, Ms. Baxter shared stories about some of her favorite past graduates, including: Eliza Frances Andrews, class of 1857; Virginia Atkinson, class of 1880; Carrie Parks Johnson, class of 1883; Buford Jeannette Johnson, class of 1895.

One of Ms. Baxter's favorite stories is that of Buford Johnson (pictured here), a truly extraordinary graduate from LaGrange Female College. After graduating at the age of 15, she later taught mathematics and pedagogy, proceeded to earn a Ph.D. at John Hopkins University, and was the second female to be tenured as a full professor there in 1923. Additionally, this outstanding graduate was the first female president of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, the founding editor of Child Development, and authored 3 scholarly books.

* This blog post was co-authored by Rachel Evans and Charlene Baxter.

VHS Sale at Lewis Library

Lewis Library has a large number of VHS tapes for sale for 50 cents each! Come to the library and look through the selection before they're all gone...

Preview "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" app for iPad

Check out this amazing preview of an app for the children's book "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore", the best we've seen yet! This app is available for iPad, so all of you with iPad's out there, check it out! Thanks to children's book author/illustrator Elizabeth Dulemba for sharing this link with us. You can find more apps for children's books at the popular site Moms with Apps.

Children's Author/Illustrator Elizabeth O. Dulemba visits LaGrange College

Tuesday, November 1, 2011 children's book illustrator and author Elizabeth O. Dulemba visited LaGrange College. Mrs. Dulemba spoke to students in the Turner Assembly Room during the 11:15 contact hour, after which she gave a second speech to Becky Alexander's class of education majors on technology and the future of reading. The class was quite unique, including numerous video examples of children's book apps and a hands-on look at the iPad and Kindle from the perspective of a child. The library staff and Education Department would like to thank Mrs. Dulemba for visiting our campus. It was truly a delight! If you missed this event, check out her website at www.dulemba.com. The website includes free downloads of activity and coloring book pages, in addition to more information about her books and apps! We've also included a video example below which Mrs. Dulemba shared with us that we thought was really neat:

A Prezi for Jan Term!

Use the Prezi below to explore the variety of Jan Term options available to LaGrange College students this coming January 2012. If you have never used Prezi before, give it a try! Simply click the arrow to begin, and use the arrows to move back and forth through the presentation. To watch in full-screen, or auto-play (like a movie) click on the "MORE" button at the bottom right. To learn more about Prezi, visit your library's research guide page, Library Technology.

Jan Term 2012 on Prezi

Education students at LaGrange College have been using Prezi's this semester in conjunction with their course work to give class presentations. EDU students, feel free to use this Prezi, or any of the library's Prezi's, as a starting point for your own! Choose the "Make Copy" option, and work from this Prezi as a template.