Love Your Library

We all know that Valentine’s Day is in February but did you know that February is also Library Lovers’ Month?  That’s right, the entire month is dedicated to celebrating the place that so many of us hold near and dear to our heart—the library.  This magical place is devoted to reading, organizing, finding, studying, preserving, and adoring books. Libraries also offer a place to work on group projects, access computers, and enjoy special exhibits.  They provide a quiet, safe space for reflection, comfortable seating for relaxing, and archives full of unique treasures.  And, of course, libraries offer intelligent, dedicated staff, who provide a variety of services including valuable research help!  Join us this month in celebrating all the great libraries out there—past, present and future!

A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.–Shelby Foote

Take a look at our WU Reads Reading Guide for a selection of library-related books available in our favorite library, the Mark O. Hatfield Library!


Top 10 Checkouts

Ever curious about what library materials have checked out the most?  CNN recently published an article about the New York Public Library and their top ten checkouts. The book that has been checked out of the New York Public Library the most was “A Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats (a whopping 485,584 checkouts since it was first published in 1962).  Coming in at number two was “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss (~470k), followed by George Orwell’s “1984” (~442k), “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak (~436k),  “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee (~423k), and “Charlotte’s Web” (~338k) by E.B. White.

Here at the Hatfield Library we were curious what Willamette’s top ten looked like, keeping in mind that Willamette University’s demographics are quite a bit different than the New York Public Library.  Plus, we have also changed methods for tracking our checkouts over the years, from tallying hand-written and stamped due dates at the back of books, to digital catalogs and integrated library systems (ILS) that automatically track checkouts.

In 2012-13 we switched to our current ILS (Ex Libris), and a lot of our historical checkout data became not very accessible.  (Technically, each item still has past checkout information embedded in each individual record, but it would be too time consuming to sift through all of our 400,000+ records.)  To calculate our top ten we used the data in our current ILS catalog to identify which books have been checked out the most since 2012 (excluding use of the item within our library and course reserves).  Several of the books had the same number of checkouts, so we decided to group them together to get more book titles on this list.  Here are our results!

Books

1. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, by Sigmund Freud (25 checkouts)

2. The History of Sexuality, by Michel Foucault (19 checkouts)

3. All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel, by Anthony Doerr
(18 checkouts)
– The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

4. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, by Judith Butler (17 checkouts)
– Karl Marx, Frederick Engels: Collected Works, by Karl Marx
– Republic, by Plato
– The Norton Anthology of English Literature, by M.H. Abrams

5. All About Love: New Visions, by Bell Hooks (16 checkouts)
– Borderlands: The New Mestiza, by Gloria Anzaldua
– Chronicles of Willamette, The Pioneer University of the West, by Robert Gatke
– Shakespearean Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism…, by Laurie L. Harris
– Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
– The Iliad, by Homer
– The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander

6. Documents of Soviet History, by Rex A. Wade (15 checkouts)
– Finding a Sense of Place: An Environmental History of Zena, by Bob H. Reinhardt
– History of Economic Thought: A Critical Perspective, by E.K. Hunt
– Plautus, by Titus Maccius Plautus
– The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X

7. A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth L. Ozeki (14 checkouts)
– Literary Theory, an Anthology, by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan
– On the Road, by Jack Kerouac
– The Complete Marquis de Sade, by Marquis de Sade

8. Orientalism, by Edward W. Said (13 checkouts)
– The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath
– The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz
– The Spirit Catches you and you fall down: a Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures, by Anne Fadiman
– Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

9. Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates (12 checkouts)
– Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
– Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine
– Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, byBell Hooks
– Infinite Jest: a Novel, by David Foster Wallace
– Invisible Cities, by Calvino Italo
– Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf
– The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
– The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen, by Saint Hildegard
– This is how you Lose Her, by Junot Diaz
– To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf
– Watchmen, by Alan Moore

10. A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway (11 checkouts)
– A Small Place, by Jamaica Kincaid
– Black Skin, White Masks, by Frantz Fanon
– Economic Report on the President Transmitted to the Congress, by the United States President
– Howl: and Other Poems, by Allen Ginsberg
– Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes
– One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
– Pasado Perfecto, by Padura Leonardo
– The Black Woman Oral History Project, by Ruth Edmonds Hill
– The Beak of the Finch: a Story of Evolution in our Time, by Jonathan Weiner
– The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations, by John Baylis, Steve Smith, and Patricia Owens
– The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
– The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
– The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, by Giorgio Vasari
– The Next Scott Nadelson: A Life in Progress, by Scott Nadelson
– The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts, by Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper
– The Trouble with Unity: Latino Politics and the Creation of Identity, by Cristina Beltran
– Ways of Seeing, by John Gerger


Tree of Giving Results

Thank you all for your donations to this year’s Tree of Giving!  This year we collected 205 books, many of which were brand new.  We also received 21 gloves (plus 1 hat), 1 school bag, 3 pairs of socks.  Thank you everyone for your kind donations!


Cup of Tea, Anyone?

teapot and cup of teaAs Agatha Christie so wisely said, “Tea! Bless ordinary everyday afternoon tea!” There really is something satisfying about a nice “cuppa” and since January is National Hot Tea Month, we’re taking this opportunity to celebrate this wonderful ancient beverage.  According to the Tea Association of the U.S.A., tea “is the most widely consumed beverage in the world next to water, and can be found in almost 80% of all U.S. households.” Tea was initially used in China for medicinal purposes and there are numerous studies that claim “regular tea consumption supports wellness when combined with a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.” So why not fix yourself a nice cup of tea, grab one of the tea-related titles listed on our WU Reads Reading Guide, and join us in celebrating tea, glorious tea!


Home Sweet Home

During this time of year when holidays abound, our thoughts often turn to “going home.” The concept of home is a powerful one but “home” means many different things to different people.  For some, it is a cozy place where they feel the most comfortable just being who they are.  In the winter, perhaps it is a house with a fire in the fireplace, a friendly lap kitty, a cup of hot cocoa, and a good book.  Or maybe “home” has more to do with the people that live there—family or friends or both! In any event, “home” must resonate with a lot of us or there wouldn’t be all those pithy sayings about the notion of home such as:

 

East, west, home’s best.

Hearth and home.

Home is where the heart is.

Make yourself at home.

There is no place like home.

Welcome home.

 

Whatever home means to you, here’s hoping your home is a happy one!  And while we’re on the subject of “home,” why not take a look at our WU Reads Reading Guide for a selection of home-related books available in the library?


National Adoption Month

Family enjoying a sunset In 1984, President Reagan established a week in November as National Adoption Week proclaiming “it is fitting that we give special recognition to those who are rebuilding families by promoting adoption.” President Clinton expanded the week to the entire month of November in 1996.  The goal of National Adoption Month is “to increase national awareness and draw attention to and support for the thousands of children and youth in the U.S. foster care system who are waiting for permanent, loving families.”  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau estimates that over 100,000 children and youth are waiting to be adopted in the U.S.  This year’s theme for National Adoption Month is “Youth Voices: Why Families Matter.”  Families really do matter and having that sense of belonging and the knowledge that there are people looking out for you, supporting you, and loving you is important on so many levels. Families come in all shapes and sizes and one vital way of creating family is through adoption. For more information, visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway and have a look at WU Reads Reading Guide for a selection of adoption-related books available in the library.


Eat Your Veggies!!

vegetables in a basketWe all know how important fruits and vegetables are to a healthy diet.  Federal guidelines recommend that adults get at least 2 to 3 cups of vegetables per day but just 1 in 10 adults actually meets these recommendations, according to the Center for Disease Control. October is National Vegetarian Awareness Month and the perfect time to explore ways of incorporating more vegetables into your diet and to seek out tasty vegetarian recipes. The North American Vegetarian Society promotes vegetarianism because they believe that a “vegetarian diet has proven health benefits, saves animals’ lives and helps to preserve the Earth.”  To learn more about vegetarianism, check out one of the books from the WU Reads Reading Guide.

Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.–Albert Einstein

Play On…

music scoreIn 1994, President Bill Clinton signed Proclamation 6716 designating September to be Classical Music Month.  The proclamation aptly declares that “classical music speaks both to the mind and to the heart, giving us something to think about as well as to experience.”  When we consider the many talented composers, conductors, and musicians who have created and shared classical music with us through the ages, it seems appropriate that we take time to honor them one and all for their wonderful artistry.  So tune in to your classical music radio station, attend a local symphony concert, or checkout one of the books from the WU Reads Reading Guide and join us in celebrating this special month!

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”–Maya Angelou


Food, Glorious Food

There is a month for every occasion and July is no exception.  Join us as we celebrate National Culinary Arts Month!  This month recognizes the cooks, chefs, bakers, and food lovers who bring joy to our plates every day.  Food is a significant part of every culture; it connects, sustains, delights, and inspires us.  Many of us have favorite recipes from a cherished friend or family member no longer on this earth and every time we prepare that dish or bake those cookies, we are immediately swept up in treasured memories of that important loved one.  National Culinary Arts Month is all about taking the time to think about the foods we put on our tables, considering the recipes that have been passed down through the generations, and celebrating the skill, dedication, and artistry required to be a great cook or chef.  Be sure and check out the WU Reads Reading Guide for an interesting selection of cooking-related books for your reading pleasure!


Ode to the Ocean

Did you know that over 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by ocean waters?  And over half of the world’s population is estimated to live near coastal areas.  Ties between humans and the global ocean are numerous and vast; they include economic, environmental, health, and spiritual links, just to name a few.  The ocean is teeming with life and filled with extraordinary and mysterious creatures of all sorts that have fascinated humankind forever.  It has been an inspiration to early explorers, scientists, artists, musicians, authors, and more for centuries.  The ocean provokes an emotional response from most of us; the sight of the ocean stretching unendingly before us as we stand upon the shore boggles the mind, the feel of the waves on our bare feet tickles and delights us, and the sound of the ocean both comforts and energizes us.  In celebration of the magic of the ocean, June has been proclaimed “National Ocean Month.”  You can learn all about the ocean from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including information about estuaries, marine sanctuaries, coral reefs, and much more.  And don’t forget to check out the assortment of ocean-related books listed on our WU Reads Reading Guide!