Smith Library Center News

The One book, One case, One Exhibit features a new work by Belgian book artist, Christine Kermaire:  Resilience of Al-Mutanabbie Street.  She created this work in response to a call for book artists to react to the bombing of a street in Baghdad that was regarded as the “heart and soul” of the literary and intellectual community. Artists were asked to make works reflect “memory and future” – what was lost that day.

This is a new acquisition in Special Collections.  The exhibit is on the second floor of the library near the main elevator.  Contact: K. Stallard, x 1221.

Inspired by the book design work of Dave Eggers and McSweeney’s, the Smith Library Center held a Biblio/Graphics contest during the weeks leading up to Eggers’ The Writer’s Voice lecture, inviting students to design new covers for their favorite books. From the great entries we received, our panel of judges selected three winners, with a tie for first place!

Stop by the Smith Library Center Foyer to these and several of the other entries!

First Place

Evan Rodriguez
2666 by Roberto Bolano

Roberta Minker
Sewing Made Easy by Mary Lynch and Dorothy Sara

Third Place

Noël Kalmus
WEETZIE BAT by Francesca Lia Block

On November 1st and 2nd, Dave Eggers visited campus as the 2011 The Writer’s Voice speaker. While at Southwestern, Eggers gave a public lecture (to a full Alma Thomas Theater), held a book signing, met with Philosophy and Education classes, was interviewed by a student for the Megaphone, and had lunch with a group of students. Throughout the two days on campus, many students, faculty, and staff had the opportunity to interact and ask questions of Eggers, with those discussions covering the broad range of writing, publishing, educational, and other endeavors with which Eggers is involved.

Below are a selection of photographs from Eggers’ visit to campus.

Last weekend, the Smith Library Center hosted a booth at the Texas Book Festival.  We had a great time talking to festival attendees about The Writer’s Voice series and Southwestern University. In addition, we were able to meet several SU alumni, parents, and potential future Pirates!

Here are a few photos from the weekend:

The Writer's Voice booth at the 2011 Texas Book Festival, featuring a wide variety of Dave Eggers' work.

The Writer's Voice at the Texas Book Festival.

What brings our student workers and Stormtroopers together? Dave Eggers, of course!

Dana, getting ready for the steady stream of festival-goers on Saturday.

Debbie, talking about The Writer's Voice Series on Sunday afternoon.

Come join us at the Texas Book Festival!

This weekend, the A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center will be hosting a booth at the Texas Book Festival, promoting The Writer’s Voice series, the Library, and Southwestern University. The festival will run from 10am-5pm on Saturday, and 11am-5pm on Sunday.

The festival includes author talks, book signings, exhibitor booths, live music, and food. You can see the full schedule of festival events here.

Hope to see you there!

Announcing

A Night of Lettered Enjoyment

Any University without the gathering of literary souls is one I would not attend
– Timothy McSweeney

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 8:00pm
Prothro Room, Smith Library Center

In honor of Dave Eggers’s visit to our campus, the Smith Library Center invites the Southwestern community to attend an evening of literary games, readings, conversation, and delectable refreshments.

Members of the Southwestern community are invited to present their favorite selections from McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, or any of Mr. Eggers’literary endeavors. You can learn more about Eggers’ works by visiting the Dave Eggers LibGuide.

Selections must be read aloud in 5 minutes or less. Participants should be prepared to read and explain their choice of selection in front of an audience. Dramatic readings are also encouraged!

As an added bonus, winners of the Biblio/Graphics contest will be announced and prizes awarded.

If you are interested in participating in the event, please send an email to morriss@southwestern.edu.

We look forward to seeing you there!

In order to provide inspiration for the Biblio/Graphics book cover design contest, a display including a variety of works by Dave Eggers’ publishing company, McSweeney’s, has been installed in the Library Foyer.

Submissions for the Biblio/Graphics contest are due on October 17th, and winners will be announced on October 19th.

Stop by and check out these great examples of book design!

Have you ever wished you could design a better cover for your favorite book?

Dave Eggers’s publishing company, McSweeney’s, is known for creative book design. As part of the Writer’s Voice series the Smith Library Center is sponsoring Biblio/Graphics, a contest to celebrate the art of the book.

We invite Southwestern students to design covers for their favorite books. Submissions can be in any format, but must be no larger than 12” x 12”. An expert panel of judges will choose the top three designs, which will be featured in a library exhibit and viewed by Dave Eggers, and the winning designers will receive prizes! See the McSweeney’s display in the library lobby for inspiration.

All submissions due no later than October 17^th. Drop off designs at the Circulation Desk c/o Carol Fonken. Please include your name and contact information with your submission.

Winners will be announced on Wednesday, October 19^th.

This summer, with the help of ITS, we added off-campus access to our licensed databases through the library website. Instead of needing to go through the portal when you need to access a database from off-campus , you can now simply click on any of the databases on our Databases A-Z, Databases by Subject, or Subject Guide pages; or in our various LibGuides. If you are off-campus, you will be asked to enter your SUEID and password, and will be directed to the database.

If you have any questions, contact Jesse Saunders by email, or at x1585.

Who knew you could cook on a car engine?!  Check out “Manifold Destiny – A Selection of Cookbooks from the A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library.” The works, along with free recipes, are on exhibit in the library foyer as you enter. Bon Appetite!