Gilbert E. Griswold – Carved Cane

What’s new in the library? Whether you’re stopping by Millie’s or coming in for a class, take a moment to look at our newest display. In the case in front of John Menihan’s portraits of the Wilmots is a carved wooden cane. But not just any cane. Look again. The cane consists of beautifully carved animals rendered in fantastical style.  The handle is crowned with a mythological hybrid horse but other creatures emerge as you look closer.

The cane was carved by Gilbert E. Griswold (1857-1947). Griswold was a sculptor originally from Pennsylvania who moved to California, first to San Francisco and then to Los Angeles in 1907. He was active in his field until his death in San Bernardino, CA.

The cane was donated to Nazareth College’s Art Department in 1994 by Kenn Scullin, a California native who had relocated to Rochester. It came into his family’s possession along with a table also carved by Griswold. A note states that it was given to the donor’s uncle by the artist for “helping him in time of need” after the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

The library staff is very excited to have this carving on permanent display for our community. It really is a wonderful piece of Americana for everyone to enjoy and is quickly becoming a treasured addition to the library’s growing art collection.

Deborah Janetos, Reference Librarian and College Archivist

National Library Week is April 9-14!

There is no better time to show your love of school, public, and college libraries!

All this week you can show your support for all the wonderful work that libraries do in our communities.  Here are a couple of ideas from the American Library Association:

• Visit your local library and see what they're up to!  And we don't mean just us...the Pittsford Community Library is just down the street!
• Show your support on social media:
• Use hashtags #nationallibraryweek and #librariestransform on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
• Follow I Love Libraries on FB and Twitter

• April 12 is Take Action for Libraries Day
• Libraries need your help, so consider getting involved by talking to your elected representatives about the importance of libraries to your community. #fundlibraries
• Take time to reflect on how a library or librarian has helped you achieve something in life.  Then share that knowledge with someone else!

Above all, go out and enjoy your libraries! 

References:

American Library Association:  Celebrate National Library Week

Historical posters from the Archives

This week's post comes to you via one of our Library Archives Student Assistants--enjoy!

Over the years the Arts Center at Nazareth College has been home to countless productions and performances. Students, faculty, and the public alike have enjoyed the entertainment fostered by the Arts Center since it was first built in 1967. Keep reading to see how productions at the Arts Center have been presented throughout the years.

I think it’s fascinating to look at the productions that have come through the Arts Center. As I was sorting through the theater production posters in the Nazareth College Archives, I found some that caught my eye! From famous musicians and dancers to our own Nazareth College Drama Club, the stage has seen many wonderful performances.

It's funny to think that in 1973 students were still on campus for New Year’s Eve! Now that is right in the middle of our winter break. Imagine ringing in the New Year with your friends while watching this exciting performance!

The bright pink and green color on this poster really caught my eye.This poster is one of the many that advertised a production presented by the Nazareth and St. John Fisher Drama Club. Hopefully the Naz-Fisher rivalry didn’t get in the way!

This poster describes the 70’s to a tee! I love the groovy vibe that is captured in the wavy graphics and warm colors. Not to mention tickets were only $1.00!

The color of this poster is so bold! Created in 1994, this poster is evidence that graphics and design have certainly improved throughout the years. This poster is for the production of a classic, William Shakespeare's The Tempest, presented by our very own Nazareth College Theatre League!

This poster advertises one of the many dance performances and recitals here at the Arts Center! Aside from theater productions, the Arts Center has seen many dancers over the years! The Murray Louis Dance Company performed at Nazareth in 1975!

If you are interested in these or any other theater production posters, please visit the New York Heritage digital site to see the Nazareth College Poster Collection or contact the Nazareth College Archivist, Deborah Janetos at djaneto1@naz.edu.

Christiana Rowlands ‘21

Students: We need your input--please take the library survey!

UPDATE:  The survey is now closed.  Thanks to all who participated!

From March 19-March 30 the library is running a student user survey.  The survey is anonymous and will take about 10-15 minutes to complete.

Participants will get a chance to win a $50 or $100 Amazon gift card!

The Nazareth College Library is committed to providing students with the academic resources, study spaces, and research assistance that they need.  The results of this survey will help us achieve those goals--your feedback is very valuable to us!

Please click here to complete the survey, or copy and paste the link into your browser: https://naz.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_42toMZFQ0n7doc5

If you experience any issues or have questions about the survey, please contact us.

Women's History Month Film Series: Women Who Fight!

March is Women's History Month!  Celebrate by watching some fantastic films by and about women at The Little Theatre.

This month The Little Theatre in Rochester is celebrating Women's History Month with a collection of documentary and narrative films about trailblazing women. 

Special speakers, including local educators and women's right advocates, will lead audience discussion after most of the films.

The series is sponsored by The Little Theatre and by The Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Rochester.

The next screening is on International Women's Day 2018, Thursday, March 8.  Here is a short description from Rotten Tomatoes:

Viktoria (Maya Vitkova, 2014, Bulgaria)

"Dreaming of the West, Boryana is determined not to have a child in communist Bulgaria. Nonetheless, her daughter Viktoria enters the world in 1979, curiously missing a belly button, and is declared the country's Baby of the Decade. Pampered by her mother state until the age of nine, Viktoria's decade of notoriety comes crashing down with the rest of European communism. But can political collapse and the hardship of new times finally bring Viktoria and her reluctant mother closer together?"

You can find out more about this film, and the others in the series, on The Little's website.  

If you'd like more information, please contact Ilka Datig at idatig5@naz.edu.  She is a member of the organizing committee and will be happy to you more about the series.  

Academic eBook Collection: A new way to find ebooks

The library recently purchased a new collection of ebooks from EBSCOhost, the Academic eBook Collection.

Here is a description of the collection from EBSCO:

This growing subscription package contains a large selection of multidisciplinary e-books representing a broad range of academic subjects. The breadth of information available through this package ensures that students and scholars will have access to information relevant to their research needs.

Offering more than 170,000 e-books, this collection includes titles from leading university presses such as Oxford University Press, MIT Press, State University of New York Press, Cambridge University Press, University of California Press, McGill-Queen's University Press, Harvard University Press and many others. Additional academic publishers include Elsevier, Ashgate Publishing, Taylor & Francis, Sage Publications and John Wiley & Sons.

Subject Coverage Includes:

Art
Business and  economics
Education
Language arts and discipline
Literary criticism
Medical
Performing arts
Philosophy
Poetry
Political science
Religion
Social science
Technology and engineering
Other academic fields

When looking at a book, you can either jump to a particular chapter in the Table of Contents, or view the entire book as a PDF.

The interface gives you a lot of options for reading the book:  you can save, print or email a selection of pages, or save the entire book to a folder with an EBSCO account.

You can view and read the entire book online.  Most ebooks have a limit to how many pages you can download or print.  In that case, you may want to decide which chapter is most important to you.

One of the best features of ebooks is that you can search for a particular word or phrase.  To do so, click on the "Search within" button to look for the terms of interest.

You can find all of our ebook collections in our A-Z databases list.  If you have any questions about using ebooks, please contact the Reference Department.  Happy reading!

Serendipity: Women’s Suffrage and African American History Month

Serendipity is a wonderful word, one I think about a lot in my library research setting. Although librarians use designated subjects heading to help delve into research topics, oftentimes we find ourselves following the unexpected, and off we go on tangential threads. These excursions can lead to surprises, some helpful to our research, others just plain interesting. You learn a lot along the way. That’s what happened when it was time to arrange books for the library’s February display.

First up, books on women’s suffrage. It’s been 100 years since New York State finally granted women the right to vote after decades of struggle. We all know about Susan B Anthony’s role in the movement. Hopefully you have visited her home in Rochester as well as the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in nearby Seneca Falls, New York. If not, add them to your list of must-dos.

But while thumbing through books for the display, I came across names and photos of women not as familiar to me. I was struck by the beautiful photo and inspiring story of Mary Church Terrell, an early African American advocate of both women’s suffrage and civil rights. So serendipity struck and led me to discover others including Ida B. Wells, weaving a beautiful thread to and throughout the African American History Month display in the adjoining large case.

Ida B. Wells

Mary Church Terrell

So next time you’re in the library, please take a look at some of the interesting and relevant books we offer on these subjects, and  pause to learn a little about the many courageous and inspiring women who paved the way for all of us. Serendipity...

--Deborah Janetos, Reference Librarian & College Archivist

Selected Books at Nazareth Library:

Terrell, M. (1996). A colored woman in a white world (African-American women writers, 1910-1940). New York : London: G.K. Hall ; Prentice Hall International.

Lorette Wilmot Library   Nazareth Main Collection   323.092 Ter  

Jones, B. (1990). Quest for equality : The life and writings of Mary Eliza Church Terrell, 1863-1954 (Black women in United States history ; v. 13). Brooklyn, N.Y.: Carlson Pub.

Lorette Wilmot Library   Nazareth Main Collection   973.0496073 Ter, Jon  

Wells-Barnett, I., & Royster, J. (1997). Southern horrors and other writings : The anti-lynching campaign of Ida B. Wells, 1892-1900 (Bedford series in history and culture). Boston, MA: Bedford Books.

Lorette Wilmot Library   Nazareth Main Collection   323.092 Wel  

Thompson, M. (1990). Ida B. Wells-Barnett : An exploratory study of an American Black woman, 1893-1930 (Black women in United States history ; v. 15). Brooklyn, N.Y.: Carlson Pub.

Lorette Wilmot Library   Nazareth Main Collection   323.092 Wel, Tho