![library employee comm[unity] graduates](https://i0.wp.com/library.smcm.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/63/2016/10/library_community.jpg?resize=1000%2C651&ssl=1)
Library student worker Miranda McLain was recently named the Point News Editor-in-Chief. At the Point News, she has work her way up from assistant editor as a first year student, to Arts and Entertainment editor, and finally Editor-in-Chief.
Miranda is currently a Senior English and Political Science double major, with a minor in Ed. Studies, working on an SMP to write a series of political, creative non-fiction, long form articles in which she interviews campus speakers and alumni to find out how their college experiences led them to their current field.
Miranda has worked in the Library as a circulation assistant since Fall of 2015. She volunteered at her school library in high school and thought the SMCM Library job would be a great way to stay involved on campus as a commuter student.
As a student worker, Miranda enjoys getting to talk to a lot of different people, and learning about the wide variety of classes and SMP topics while she helps people search for books in the collection.
For more information and to see statements from other campus departments and groups:
Support & Solidarity for SMCM Students: Information and Resources
http://libguides.smcm.edu/support-and-solidarity
We are part of a community that values: intellectual, creative, and scholarly exploration; the power of a diverse community; and relationships built on mutual respect, integrity, and trust. We also live in the real world, and we believe that by engaging in ongoing dialogue, our community can shape the changing world. We can try to make this world a better place.
As a library, we have a responsibility to be a space welcome to all, where the free access to information and the free expression of ideas foster and encourage open discourse in our community. As members of the St. Mary’s community, we recognize the important difference between expression of a dissenting point-of-view and expression meant to belittle, dehumanize, and harm others.
We in the library, archives, and media center condemn the recent events at the Natty Boh hunt and all previous incidents of bigotry, bias, harassment, and hate speech that have occurred on campus and through various social media outlets. These actions are antithetical to what we want our college and our community to be. We stand in solidarity with our students who are targets of hateful speech and actions.
Veronica Arellano Douglas
Curtis Barclift
Cheryl Colson
Justin Foreman
Raven Glidden
Conrad Helms
Bonnie Kangas
Alan Lutton
Pamela Mann
Alex McGough
Carol Morris
Kenneth O’Connell
Celia Rabinowitz
Kent Randell
Brenda Rodgers
Linda Russell
Katherine Ryner
Rob Sloan
Joe Storey
Amanda VerMeulen
Alan Lutton, Library Office Administrator, received the LGBTQ Advocacy Award at the 2016 Lavender Graduation on April 8.
The award “recognizes contributions to or advocacy on behalf of gender and sexual minorities at St. Mary’s College of Maryland” by “students, faculty, and staff who have enhanced campus life, advocated or implemented campus policies that have improved campus climate, and/or increased visibility and awareness for all underrepresented gender and sexual identities.”
Previous recipients include Rachel Honig, Staff Therapist and Advocate (2015), and Celia Rabinowitz, former Director of the Library (2014).
Congratulations Alan!
Exciting news! The SMCM library has a new Research and Instruction Librarian.
Amanda VerMeulen joined the library team on August 3, giving her a few weeks to get her bearings on a way too quiet campus before the excitement of the start of the Fall semester.
Science is fun! Photo credit: Veronica Arellano Douglas
Amanda (last name pronounced vur-MULE-in, because we were all wondering) comes to St. Mary’s from the College of Southern Maryland, where she worked as a librarian for almost three years.
At SMCM you might see her in your first year seminar or hanging out with the science types as the library liaison to Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Environmental Studies, Mathematics & Computer Science, Neuroscience, and Physics (plus Economics, for good measure).
And because everyone wants to know: Amanda has a BA in English from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, an MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, and an MLIS (<–that’s the library one) from Dominican University (it’s in Illinois).
Come see Amanda in her office (Library 125), at the Reference Desk, send her an email, or give her a call to get research help, wax nostalgic about CSM (for all those transfer students out there!), or discuss the finer points of naming your pets after minor character on The Wire (her dog’s name is Mr. Cheese, after Cheese Wagstaff, so…ya know).
Today, Friday the 27th of June, is Celia Rabinowitz’s last day at the SMCM library. In the five years I have worked with her I have seen many sides of Celia, only some of which you may have seen . . .
Celia checking out books
feeding students in the library
making speeches
admiring cake
and opening presents.
All this happened in the library at one time or another and so we wish her goodbye, from the library.
The library hires lots of students. They do all sorts of things both behind the scenes and at the circulation desk. Over the years they have checked out books, refilled paper trays, given directions, put barcodes in books, reshelved thousands of books and even relocated the DVD section from behind the circulation desk to the public shelves. But what do they do when they aren’t working in the library? Really cool stuff. Read long time library employee Ted Pugh’s article, “Playing His Cards: The Legacy of Paul Reed Smith and the Guitars that Built Him,” in The Mulberry Tree. And Ted doesn’t just write about PRS guitars, he plays one.
Ted Pugh and Scott Taylor
The SMCM Career Development Center has a fantastic Professional Fellowship Program for interested sophomores, juniors, and seniors. You can get a great internship-like experience at a greater pay rate ($10 / hour) than your average student worker. Last year, the library’s PFP student, Taylor Robb-McCord, started work on a new video series: The SMCM Library in 60 Seconds. This year, we’re looking for a new PFP student to continue the series and put their own creative spin on it.
We’re calling our PFP position an Instructional Media Fellowship. You can learn more about it on the CDC website, but here’s a brief description:
The library is seeking a creative student interested in video production or advertising to help develop the “SMCM Library in 60 Seconds” video series. The fellow will develop instructional videos promoting library services and resources to the SMCM community.
To apply, email me, Veronica Arellano Douglas with your
You can also call (240-895-4265) or email me with questions about the position!
