The Library and Media Center will have extended hours for all the studying you need to do to prep for exams.
Best of luck!!!!!!!!!
| LIBRARY | MEDIA CENTER | |
| Sunday, Dec. 9 | 12 PM – 1 AM | CLOSED |
| Monday, Dec. 10 | 8 AM – 1 AM | 8 AM – 12 AM |
| Tuesday – Wednesday, Dec. 11-12 | 8 AM – 12 AM | 8 AM – 12 AM |
| Thursday, Dec. 13 | 8 AM – 9 PM | 8 AM – 5 PM |
| Friday, Dec. 14 | 8 AM – 5 pm | 8 AM – 5 pm |
| Saturday – Sunday, Dec. 15-16 | CLOSED | CLOSED |
Library student employee Cam Kelley is quick to recognize everyone on campus she considers “a delight of a person.” Happy to talk about her English major and minor in Theater Studies, Cam takes obvious pride in the SMCM community and the ways we support each other. According to Cam, she is an English major because “I like to have a little joy in my life!” The minor in Theater provides an interesting lens to approach the English major and to enjoy the collaborative process of theater. She has especially enjoyed JCB’s Victorian Adaptations and Leah Mazur’s Costume Design class.
Currently a junior planning to graduate in the spring of 2020, Cam will continue studying at SMCM for an additional year as she earns a Master of Arts in Teaching. While working at a preschool for the past two summers, Cam discovered how much she enjoys working with kids, resulting in her decision to pursue the Master’s degree. Ultimately, Cam hopes to teach at an elementary school and become a published novelist.
Though born in the area, Cam has lived for several years in Wisconsin. Cam has close ties to campus; her parents held the baby shower for a fetal Cam at Queen Anne Hall.
Among the many colleges Cam toured while selecting a school, SMCM stood out. She remembers talking to Robin Bates for almost an hour about some of the exciting SMP projects students were researching. In addition, SMCM stood out as a place full of life and character.
Cam has worked at the library for 1 year, since the fall of her sophomore year. With librarian parents, it was kind of inevitable. Cam remembers years spent keeping herself entertained in the quiet reading area while her parents worked. After briefly considering working at the Daily Grind, Cam decided she prefers books to making coffee and enjoys the chill environment of the library. Besides, everyone at the library is so nice (and we didn’t even have to pay her to say so!). As a bonus, Cam relishes the opportunity to meet virtually everyone on campus and learn about what others are reading and researching.
In addition to her role as a student employee at the library, Cam is a fellow for SMART, the Sexual Misconduct Advocacy and Resource Team. SMART provides a 24/7 sexual misconduct hotline and hosts events on campus to provide sex education to students. Essentially, SMART aims to make sure everyone on campus feels comfortable and safe, and knows where to turn if they don’t.
Cam will complete an SMP that focuses on modern-day monsters and how they represent the fears we have retained over time, as well as those we no longer experience. She will combine her interests in creative writing with her research skills to create an SMP that is part fiction, part essay.
As far as the future is concerned, Cam has many ideas. She may pursue a PhD and a future as a professor or focus on elementary literacy. Either way, you can be fairly certain Cam will be writing. We’re looking forward to reading that novel; in the meantime, we’re glad to have Cam working here at the library with us!
Image: Evan Amos [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Library
Media Center
Have a safe and relaxing break!
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Break is coming up! It’s the perfect time to relax with family, real or fictional. Here are a few books in the LAMC popular reading collection about families…just in case you need an escape from reality. Click on the titles below to check their availability in the catalog.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Call number: (Popular Reading) F LEE
Lee traces the story of a family across generations and countries, through occupation, war, imprisonment, and death. Sunja takes the leap from Korea to Japan, expecting to find new opportunities and make a home with her husband. She’s in for a rude awakening when she encounters discrimination against Koreans, the persecution of her religion, and the arrest of her husband. Despite these setbacks, Sunja uses her wits to persevere as the family’s anchor and a character to root for.
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesamyn Ward
Call number: (Popular Reading) F WARD
Raised by his grandparents, teenage Jojo resents his addict mother weaving in and out of his life, bringing more trouble than nurturing. Preoccupied with caring for his younger sister and seeing visions of ghosts, Jojo resents his mother’s decision to take her children along to bring their father home from prison. Jojo doesn’t know that his mother also sees ghosts, haunted by the traumas of racism and violence in her life as a black woman in the rural South. The trip could yield a greater understanding or permanently sever the ties between family.
Moonglow by Michael Chabon
Kindle edition; ask about Kindles at check out desk
Blending fact and fiction, Chabon recounts the last days of his grandfather’s life. On his deathbed, Chabon’s grandfather relates stories of his miraculous survival of WWII, career as a rocket scientist, the skinless horse in his wife’s hallucinations–stories almost too fantastic to believe. What is true when it comes to family legend? And how much of what we know about our loved ones comes down to the stories we tell and are told?
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Call number: (Stacks) PN 6727 .B3757 Z46 2006
Bechdel’s graphic novel memoir outlines her complex relationship with a strict father, coming out as a lesbian, and a childhood surrounded by literature and death in a funeral home, aka “Fun Home.” Introspective and darkly funny at times, Bechdel almost scientifically examines her father’s behavior to understand her own troubles. Pick this up for the novelty of reading a picture book, stay for the emotional devastation.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Call number: (Popular Reading) F GAIM
Spoil the ending to the TV show for all of your friends or keep the secrets to yourself. In addition to making a great show, the novel stands by itself as a modern classic. Shadow learns he is wrapped up in the affairs of the old and new gods, as well as part of the ultimate dysfunctional family. Gods who settle scores through life-or-death board games, reanimated corpses, leprechauns with magical coins: you’re into it or you’re not. I also recommend the pseudo-sequel, Anansi Boys, available for request through USMAI.
Bonus USMAI read:
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Request through USMAI
Ah, sisters–built-in besties, friends for life. Those of you with a sister may recognize these feelings; on the other hand, you may relate all too well to Atwood’s dark tale of the jealousies and betrayals in the relationship between sisters. Our narrator recounts the story of her famous novelist sister, Laura, who died tragically young. But was Laura’s death an accident…or was it intentional?
Remember you can always peruse the popular reading collection on the 2nd floor of the LAMC–with new additions on the 1st floor–and request materials through USMAI. Happy break!
Please welcome Melissa Johnson to the role of Customer Services Supervisor in the Library. Since September 2018, you may have seen Melissa at the Circulation Desk. Stop by and say hi if you haven’t met her yet!
As a native Marylander and resident of St. Mary’s County since 1989, I am so please to join the SMCM Library staff. I am a 2002 graduate of Salisbury University with a BA in 2-Dimensional Design with a crippling fear of showing her work! And what does an artist do when this is the case? You go into retail! So far, my career has centered around customer service and retail management, where I was the Assistant Manager at our local Old Navy for 4.5 years. This is where I became interested in training and developing employees, not only being their resource for company policy and procedure, but a teacher of many life skills. After 15+ years in retail, I decided to switch gears and find a career that is more people focused and not driven by the ol’ mighty $ (and there was no way I would survive another Black Friday/Holiday Season in retail!). Now, I am excited to share my knowledge base and skills with the SMCM community.
One of the greatest things about working at the SMCM Library is being surrounded by books! I’m hoping my new work environment will prompt me to read more of the books that fill my house and not just add to the ever growing reading list that I have compiled throughout the years. It has also sparked my interest in learning (in the classroom, that is, ‘cause you’re always learning!) and I hope to continue my education both professionally and personally. In my spare time, spend time with my friends and family, I watch A LOT of tv and movies (Prime Video is my friend) and try to get away from home to explore new places when I can. I have also rediscovered my interest in photography and am looking forward to taking pictures of this beautiful campus and the surrounding area.
Please welcome our Visiting Teaching and Learning Librarians Jillian Sandy and William Crowell!
About Jillian Sandy
As an Ohioan, I am excited to be part of the St. Mary’s community and enjoy your pleasant East Coast weather (ha)! So far, he campus has been a great environment for me as someone who takes joy in the natural landscape and swings. Before SMCM, I worked in several public libraries in the Dayton area, then made the transition to academic libraries at the University of Dayton. There, I discovered how much I enjoy working and learning with students at the college level. Here at SMCM, I am a Visiting Teaching & Learning Librarian, and will focus much of my time and energy on information literacy instruction for
Core classes. I also serve as the liaison for the departments of Anthropology, Educational Studies, Psychology, and Sociology. I welcome questions about my cat, Bertha Mason!
About William Crowell
William holds a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of South Florida, and a Master of Arts in Media Theory and Research from Southern Illinois University. His research interests include:
As a Teaching and Learning Librarian, William is responsible for teaching information literacy seminars to St. Mary’s CORE 101 students, as well as helping students access resources and conduct research in the library.
Brace yourselves, the book sale is coming…
The annual library book sale is Tuesday and Wednesday, October 2 & 3.
We will be selling books from 9am-4pm, rain or shine outside the entrance to the library. We have books in a range of subjects, so come early and often to get your favs!
Book Prices are $0.50 for paperbacks and $1.00 for hardcovers. Cash only! Sorry no OneCard, debit or credit cards 🙁 [Thankfully there’s an ATM conveniently located in the library lobby. Coincidence or conspiracy????? You decide.]
The Library and Media Center will be open 10am-5pm for the Labor Day holiday.
(Guest post by LAMC Associate Director Kat Ryner)
With mixed emotions we report that Carol Morris retired this summer after 22 years staffing the library circulation desk. While we’ll miss her good cheer and her dependability (imagine working 4 pm until past midnight, 5 days a week, for over 20 years!) we’re happy for Carol as she begins to enjoy her retirement with her husband on the water down in Ridge.
The embodiment of a life-long learner, Carol took many art classes here over the years. Professor of Art Sue Johnson points out that not only is Carol a gifted artist, but her presence in classes elevated every student’s work. Through the many relationships she’s developed with students, staff, and faculty, Carol inspires everyone who knows her.
Students will remember her kindness and her reassuring presence in the library most nights, and of course the way in which she announced the closing of the building at the end of the night. As quoted in a 2014 Point News article “Students Voice Appreciation for Campus Library,” Carol “reached super-star status through “The Library’s Closing Song,” in which she graces every square-inch of the three-story building with a decree that the battle of homework is over, that it’s time to finally call it quits.” A student in the article stated, “I think it should be the anthem of the whole college. It is one of the sweetest sounds that you can hear at night… It’s the swan song that makes you reconsider the decision to pull an all-nighter. I’ve never seen her, I’ve just heard her song. She’s an ethereal creature to me.”
Thank you, Carol, for your years of dedicated service. We miss you!
The Library will be open Sunday, August 26 from 2:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Monday 8:00 am – 12 midnight
Tuesday 8:00 am – 12 midnight
Wednesday 8:00 am – 12 midnight
Thursday 8:00 am – 12 midnight
Friday 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday 12:00 noon – 12 midnight
