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Beginning August 24, the Albert B. Alkek Library and Round Rock Higher Education Center (RRHEC) Library Services moved to their regular fall and spring semester calendar and hours providing students with access to the library and its collections and services.
During fall and spring semesters, the Alkek Library is open from 1 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Sunday; from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday; from 7 a.m. to Midnight on Thursday; from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday; and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. These hours are now observed throughout the semester, according to Pat Hawthorne, Director of Research & Learning Services for the Alkek Library.
“In the past, the Alkek Library was open shorter hours for the first three weeks of the fall and spring semester, and then observed the longer hours from the 4th week on,” Hawthorne explained. “In talking with students and others, we learned that students knew there were two schedules but were not necessarily sure why this was or when the change occurred. A suggestion was made to go with one schedule to eliminate confusion and to provide access for students, so we did,” Hawthorne stated. The new schedule using the longer hours will be observed throughout the semester beginning this academic year.
Library staff also reviewed data and learned more about patterns of use during the past year. For example, use during the 24 hour extended hours offered during midterm and final exam periods is significant and heavy, Hawthorne explained. “The number of people entering the building during this period spikes and shows healthy use indicating to us that the 24 hour access is valuable to our students.” The library will continue to offer 24 hour access during midterms (October 9 to 14) and during finals (December 4 – 14).
Analysis of the data showed that use drops late on Friday evenings and was also low for the first two hours on Saturday mornings. The library hours will be reduced slightly during those two weekend times. The library will close two hours earlier on Friday evenings at 8 p.m. during fall and spring semesters. The Library is traditionally open on Saturdays during fall and spring semesters and summer sessions; Saturday hours will be 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. year round. The library is closed on weekends when school is not is session.
Centrally located next door to the LBJ Student Center, the 7-story Alkek Library is a popular place for students on the San Marcos campus and is open long hours to ensure students have access to library resources and services and a safe, comfortable place to study on campus. In addition to study space, the library provides computers and printers and access to high-quality academic-oriented print and electronic information resources so that students can complete course assignments and research projects. Librarians and staff provide personal research assistance and are available at various service points in the building and via email and online chat.
Summer session hours were also modified. From June to early August, the Alkek Library observes hours that meets the needs of students attending classes in Summer Session I and II. Summer session hours are 2 to 9 p.m. on Sunday; from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday; and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. This schedule also includes modifications – closing one hour earlier on Sunday evening and the change to an 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule on Saturdays. Hours for summer examination periods remain the same as in the past.
When school is not in session (during intersessions, interim periods, Spring Break, and on Energy Conservation Days), the Alkek Library is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and closed weekends.
Holiday hours vary. For specific information on the library’s hours, visit the Alkek Library web site for complete information at: https://www.library.txstate.edu/about/calendar-hours.html
Library hours for the Round Rock Higher Education Center Library Services differ. Those hours are 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and closed on Saturday and Sunday. For specific information on RRHEC Library hours, visit their web site at: http://rrhec.library.txstate.edu/about/hours.html
-- Submitted by Pat Hawthorne, 8/23/2011
Katie Salzmann, Lead Archivist in the Wittliff Collections, has been awarded a Development Leave by the Albert B. Alkek Library. She will use her 4-week leave in 2012 to pursue a book project, King of the Hill and Philosophy, with Open Court Publishing to add to their series Popular Culture and Philosophy which was created to bring high-quality philosophy to general readers.
Processing the Wittliff Collection's King of the Hill archive, composed of 118 boxes of materials documenting the writing and production history of the Emmy-award winning television show, prepared Katie to provide expertise on King of the Hill, to form an editorial partnership with a former colleague, Chris Blakely, who teaches philosophy at Louisiana State University, for the book project.
Katie is the third recipient of the Alkek Library's Development Leave Award. Steve Davis, Assistant Curator of the Wittliff Collections, and Elaine Sanchez, Head of Cataloging and Metadata, are previous recipients. The Development Leave Award is designed to provide librarians and curators with an opportunity to engage in research, writing, study, and similar projects benefitting the library, the university, the professional and society.
-- Submitted Joan Heath, 7/25/2001
What do J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series have in common? And what do these two smash hits have in common withBrave New World (Aldous Huxley), To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee), Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger), The Color Purple (Alice Walker), The Chocolate War(Robert Cormier), and the ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r series (Lauren Myracle)?
Since 2001, these books were listed among the top ten most frequently challenged books, according to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. Individuals and groups across the country have sought to ban these specific books from bookstores and libraries and in schools for a wide variety of reasons.
If banning books seems to be an infringement of your First Amendment rights and freedom of speech, you are not alone in feeling this way. During the last week of September each year, librarians, booksellers, publishers, teachers, and others demonstrate their support for free speech during Banned Books Week (BBW), an event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment and its protection of basic freedoms of religion, expression (speech), press, assembly, and petition. Challenges to specific books and attempts to ban books provide students and other members of the Texas State University community with real world examples of First Amendment issues, this year’s Common Experience theme at Texas State.
Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States. Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.
If you feel that the First Amendment provides freedom to read as a critical part of your free speech and expression rights, you can speak out – and make your film debut on YouTube at the same time. This year, individuals have the opportunity to join readers from across the United States and around the world and demonstrate support for free speech by participating in a virtual read-out of banned and challenged books that will culminate during the 30th annual Banned Books Week (Sept. 24-Oct. 1), the only national celebration of the freedom to read. Individuals, libraries and bookstores are uploading their individual videos to a special channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/bannedbooksweek) by submitting a reading of up to two minutes. The Albert B. Alkek Library and RRHEC Library Services encourage students, faculty, and staff to individually participate in this virtual read-out as part of the 2011-2012 Common Experience.
The virtual read-out is the centerpiece of an expanded Banned Books Week, which focuses attention on the censorship of books in schools and libraries. The American Library Association (ALA) reported 348 challenges and bans in 2010. The most challenged book was "And Tango Makes Three," an award-winning children’s picture book, based on an actual incident, that tells the story of two male penguins who hatch an abandoned egg and parent the chick. The book has been on the list of most frequently challenged books for five years. Each year since 2001, ALA publishes a list of the top ten banned books of the year – to see the titles year by year, visit the website at: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/
21stcenturychallenged/index.cfm
Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Association of American Publishers, the National Association of College Stores, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the PEN American Center. Project Censored and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress also support Banned Books Week. .
To learn more about the freedom of expression, check out the Banned Books section (click on the tab labeled Banned Books) on the Alkek Library’s 2011-2012 Common Experience Research Guide at: http://libguides.txstate.edu/commonexperience2011-2012 or visit the expanded Banned Books Week website at: http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/ to learn more about the virtual read-out. This site also provides an interactive map that shows the location of book challenges in recent years as well as a listing of featured events and a state-by-state listing of libraries, bookstores and other groups that are participating in Banned Books Week.
Three librarians in the University Library were promoted on the Librarian/Curator Career Ladder, effective September 1, 2011, announced Joan L. Heath, Associate Vice President for the University Library.
Lisa Ancelet, Head of Reference Services, was promoted form Associate Librarian to Librarian.
Carla Ellard, Assistant Curator in the Wittlilff Collections, was promoted from Librarian to Senior Librarian.
Kris Toma,l University Archivist & Records Manager, was promoted from Librarian to Senior Librarian.
Congratulations to this professional librarians!
-- Submitted by Pat Hawthorne, 9/1/2011
Choice Reviews Online presents their "Top 25 Books" and "Top 10 Websites" list as a preview for the "Outstanding Academic Titles, 2011", which will appear in the January 2012 edition of their publication.
Every year Choice publishes a list of academic books that were reviewed during the previous year. The compiled list projects those scholarly titles that best can be recognized by the academic community. Near 7,000 books are reviewed, but approximately only ten percent are chosen to place in the list. The editors of Choice make selections by the "reviewer's evaluation of the work, the editor's knowledge of the field, and the reviewer's record".
The criteria, as listed by Choice, are:
Information from this list can be used for any researcher wanting to find the source of the best academic material. The title of this list was "Outstanding Academic Books" until 2000, reflecting the more popular trend of electronic research. Now Choice includes a book title list and an academic website list to ensure researcher's access to all outlets.
The list can be seen on Choice Review's website, and note that the list cites bibliographic information. To get more information about a title the number and publication issue is listed with the title, and the reader will find a detailed evaluation in that issue.
-Submitted by Elizabeth McLellan
Attorney, author, New York Times editor, president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and Chair of several boards and organizations, Caroline Kennedy was the keynote speaker at the 2011 I Love My Librarian Award Ceremony on Dec. 8.
The ceremony acknowledged ten honorable librarians from across the country nominated by more than 1,700 library patrons.
Kennedy’s speech opened with a thank you to The New York Times and their CEO Janet Robinson, Carnegie Corporation President Vartan Gregorian and the Director of Library Services at the NYC Department of Education Barbara Stripling. These people and Kennedy are all aware of the influential role that libraries play in our nation.
Kennedy believes that librarians “live lives of principle and meaning – understanding that the gift of knowledge is the greatest gift we can give to each other”.
Kennedy goes on to talk about historical libraries such as the library of Alexandria and how Thomas Jefferson’s personal library became the Library of Congress. The use of a library has evolved over time, and the sole purpose is no longer to read in quiet rooms and study for exams. Now, the library has become a place for people to socially connect, experience ways to find information through technology and even for immigrants to learn English, or any other language they may be interested in.
Being a librarian is a difficult, yet rewarding career. As the world changes, so do libraries, and to have an effective, useful library, librarians must stay current in media, news, social events and technology.
The I Love My Librarian ceremony gave patrons a chance to honor those that stand out and represent thousands of other influential librarians.
To view Caroline Kennedy's speech, watch minutes 2:00-9:55.
--Submitted by Elizabeth McLellan