Our CSA Project

You may have seen emails in the daily announcements inviting the Stevenson Community to participate in our community supported agriculture project. The veggies that arrived today were so colorful, Sue Bonsteel and I just had to take some pictures to share with you so you could see what you are missing! By all accounts, the folks who have participated in this venture have been thrilled with their weekly delivery from One Straw Farm. Several participants have commented that they are learning how to cook new things, and that the taste of these fresh organic vegetables is incredible fresh and flavorful. I am hopeful that we will be able to continue this next summer.

Summer in the Library

Commencement is tomorrow, and the library staff are getting ready for a busy summer of skill refreshment punctuated by a couple of retreats. We will see students, which is always nice, but they'll come in larger groups toward the middle of the summer season. Next week, we'll have a Summon demo, preparatory to choosing a discovery system for the SHARC catalog: the overlay of a discovery system like Summon should enable students to have a more google-like experience searching the catalog and our subscription databases. Other projects: we're picking out a new pattern for anticipated carpet replacement (come and vote for your favorite from the samples available near the library entry); working on a self-guided audio tour that will feature use of QR Codes; I'll be leading a kick-off Deep Dive workshop on the Learning Commons model; library staff will also take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator soon to prepare for a discussion on team-building to be led by Maureen Sullivan in July. Lots going on! Have a great summer!

Read about The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Today's Information Landscape

This just appeared in the  Newsletter of the Commission for Accelerated Programs.

Spring is out there...

As I write this, I have just returned from a brisk Wellness walk around the Greenspring campus. It is late on a Friday, and rather quiet. The squirrels are scampering over snow, and the light is slanting at a lovely angle, transforming the old cottages at the edge of campus. This really is a beautiful setting for a university. In contrast to the peace of this afternoon, the Greenspring Library has been filled to capacity lately, which makes the library staff very happy. We await the arrival of some new furniture and new security gates, coming in March. Library instruction requests are briskly arriving, and that's a good thing, as Martha would say.

 Another librarian and I have registered for the next ACRL (association of College and Research Libraries) Conference, slated for Philadelphia in March. It should be exciting: the keynote speakers are Tiffany Shlain, creator of Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death & Technology; Raj Patel, author of The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy; and Clinton Kelly, co-host of co-host of TLC’s What Not to Wear. This should be very thought-provoking and broadening.

Carol Maxwell, library reference assistant, has just been to the Martha Stewart Show in New York, bringing home a pair of the old-fashioned wax lips we used to buy at the candy store. She reports having a wonderful time, and that she was impressed by how calm and collected Martha remained during the antics of her guests. Carol will soon be off to London!

I hope to see everyone at the exhibit opening for Adam's Crayons this week, featuring works by Barry and Laini Nemmet. It promised to be a wonderful show.