G. R. Little Library - Elizabeth City State University

G. R. Little LibraryVolume III Issue 8Spring 2009Elizabeth City State UniversityNewsletterthis issue…Media Center Ribbon Cutting Ceremony: pg. 2Inaugural Friends of the Library Banquet: pg. 3Discovering Our Hidden Treasures: pg. 4Library Vertical Files: Still Treasured: pg. 5WAVY-TV 10 co-anchor &author Don Roberts hostedthe 1st Annual Friends of theLibrary Banquet on Nov. 1,2008 at the K. E. WhiteGraduate Center

From the Desk of theDirector ofLibrary ServicesOn behalf of the G.R. Little Library staff, itis my pleasure to share with you the 8th issue of the Library’sNewsletter.It is hard to believe that another calendar year is almost at anend! By the time this newsletter is copied and distributed, classeswill be halfway finished this semester and the thoughts of students,staff, and faculty alike will all be turning towards final exams,grade submission, graduation and, most of all, summer break. Ithas been a progressive spring semester for the library staff. Newservices, policies and a much needed update to the library’s webpagewere implemented this semester. As the library looks forwardto the arrival of SACS, PACE and UNC Tomorrow initiatives andstate budget constraints during these tough economic times, it iscrucial that we set our goals and priorities early.I encourage you to explore our collections, use our services, andmake recommendations for acquisition and other improvements.Whether you are using our electronic resources in the library, athome, at work, or from other locations, we encourage you to explorein depth the wide variety of resources available. We hopethat having access from any computer or wireless Web device, anytime of the day or night helps our patrons to perform their researchmore effectively.Thanks to Sponsored Programs the library received Title IIIfunds for 20078-2008 in the amount of $139,000.and $17,500 fromthe State Library of North Carolina-Library Services and TechnologyAct. With these funds, a newly renovated library instructionalclassroom and a multi-media workroom were developed. These aredesigned to allow faculty to bring their classes in for library instructionsessions and for students to come together for small groupassignments. The library even has wireless access and plugins forethernet, so patrons can bring their laptops. The library is nowworking in conjunction with the IT Department to implement laptoploans for students.Of all the accomplishments the library had during the year, nonecould compare to the library successfully hosting its first ever“Friends of the Library Banquet”. This affair turned out to be morethan expected.Finally, the library staff is here to assist you in your scholarlypursuits and welcome your comments. We appreciate all of youwho have taken part in this semester’s activities. and hope thatmore of you will be part of the 2009-2010 excitement! Watch ourhomepage for details on other services and library events. From allof us at the G.R. Little Library, we hope you have a prosperous &enjoyable summer.Thank you for your patronage.]âtÇ|àt `|wzxààx? XwA WARibbon Cutting CeremonyCelebrates LibraryRenovationsElizabeth City State University’s G. R. Little Library held an officialribbon-cutting ceremony at 3:30 p.m. on February 19, 2009 tocelebrate newly refurbished library space. These upgrades include astate of the art Library Instructional Classroom and a Media WorkRoom. Months of planning and partnerships with Sponsored Programsand Information Technology made this a landmark achievement for theG. R. Little Library. The Director of Library Services vision of greatlyimproving the library’s equipment and services have now become areality.The program included brief remarks byDr. Barbara L. Johnson, Associate ViceChancellor for Academic Affairs; Dr. JuanitaMidgette, Director of Library Services;and Mrs. Patricia Gibbs, Director of SponsoredPrograms. Several students werepresent and two were assisted by Dr.Midgette in cutting the ribbon for each ofthe newly renovated areas.Mrs. Patricia Gibbs, Dr. BarbaraJohnson, Dr. Juanita Midgetteand eager student open theLibrary Instructional Classroom.Mr. Dennis Brown, Distance EducationLibrarian provided guests with asample instructional presentation in theLibrary Instructional Classroom. Dr.Midgette noted that this classroom was designed to be used by instructorswho desire to bring their classes over for an instruction session onthe use of library resources, and/or by the university campus to conductinformational training sessions. The room is equipped with twentycomputer workstations, a laser printer, an instructor’s computerequipped podium, projector, and viewingscreen.ECSU Sophomore, BrittanyMckenzie officially opens theMedia Workroom for use.In addition, Mr. Brown also presented anoverview and demonstrations on how to usethe newly acquired equipment that is housedin the Media Work Room. This equipmentincludes a microtek scanner, TV monitor,laminator, desktop and laptop computers,overhead projector, boom box with a viewingscreen for multi-listening purposes, microfilmmachine, CD/DVD player, CD duplicator,and a portable podium which has both a handheld and headsetmicrophones.Library staff and students alike beamed with pride as this ceremonylaunched a new era of learning and instruction for the library. Refreshmentswere served and Dr. Midgette was applauded for this superbproject.Submitted by: Cheryl E. Leigh, Acquisitions Library Technician2 G. R. Little Library Spring 2009

Discovering Our HiddenTreasuresHere’s a recipe for disaster...“Mix several hundred thousand documentsand photographs with humidity, dirt, andbugs and store on high shelves for decadesuntil they are endangered….”This summer University Archivist JeanBischoff and an ECSU student intern, WillElfring (Class of 2009) discovered that theUniversity’s extensive and valuable archivalcollections were co-existing in a little-knownarchival storage area on campus, along with Brown Recluse spiders, boxesof computer printouts from the 1970’s and abandoned Christmas decorations.Bischoff and Elfring’s mission was to bring order to the University’shistoric collections and prepare them for further arrangement and description,in order that they become available for use by students, researchers andmembers of the University community.The Elizabeth City State UniversityArchives was established in 1971 as a unit ofthe Department of Institutional Research ofthe Elizabeth City State College. Today theArchives is a division of Elizabeth City StateUniversity’s G.R. Little Library, and its missionis to house under one roof and makeavailable to researchers the University's diversecollections of records, personal papersand artifacts.Hundreds of boxes of material in the Archives relate to the school’sfounding, its history, student body and leadership, and its long path to becomingone of the University of North Carolina General Administration’ssixteen member-institutions of higher learning. Both the University’s institutionalrecords and its unique historic collections are at the core of the Archives’research materials.Senior and future ECSUChancellor Willie Gilchrist,1973University Archives studentintern, Will Elfring (Class of2009)Earliest Diploma in Archives,1899.By the end of the 2008 summer, the team ofarchivist and intern had banished the all spidersand other unwanted tenants of the archives andaccomplished what they set out to do: locate everybox on a shelf with its contents labeled and its locationlisted in a master database. The upcomingyear will see an Archives website packed with photographsand presentations at campus and alumnievents showing and sharing some of the wonderful“finds” uncovered in the Archives….. Maybeeven those photos from your freshman year youhad HOPED were lost forever!Couple Donates Books tothe G. R. Little LibraryOn September 12, 2008 Mr. & Mrs. Curtis Wrenn donatedtwo new sets of books titled “Great Books Of The WesternWorld” to the G. R. Little Library. These books were presentedto support our religious study minor. The Wrenns wereaccompanied by their minister, Rev. Mr. W. L. Smith. Dr. JuanitaMidgette, Director of Library Services, and Mrs. Helen H.Jones, Acquisitions Librarian, accepted this generous donationon behalf of the library and the University.Mr. Wrenn is a retired hospital administrator and a nativeof Birmingham, Alabama. Mrs. Wrenn is a registered nurse,and a native of Minnesota. Mrs. Wrenn is also a former memberof the Messiah Group and sang under the direction of Mr.Billy Hines, ECSU’ s Artist-in-Residence and director of itswidely acclaimed choir.The Wrenns are members of Cornerstone Missionary BaptistChurch, where the Rev. Mr. W. L. Smith is the Pastor.They are the proud parents of nine children and have beenElizabeth City residents for nine “snowless years.”Submitted by: Cheryl E. Leigh, Acquisitions LibraryTechnicianDr. Juanita Midgette thanks the Wrenns fortheir generous book donation.Submitted by: Jean Bischoff, University Archivist4 G. R. Little Library Spring 2009

Obsolete but Still Treasured: Library Vertical FilesWhat did we do before the internet? How did we find outmore about that movie that our colleagues were talking about?Or, let’s say we had just heard that our oldest son has diabetes,and we wanted to know some basic facts tonight? Or, wewere going to Seattle the next week and wanted some travelinfo., maybe to book a hotel?Imagine you were a public librarian and a patron requestedthe contact information for a newly elected Senator, or theyneeded to know how to get from their hotel to their meeting inPhiladelphia. Or let’s say you were an academic librarian,and a student wanted to see the catalogue for a graduateschool they were contemplating. Then another student with awriting assignment had no idea who an obscure historic localperson was, and so didn’t how to look her up.Well, just as folks at home might have been more inclinedin the days before the internet to collect travel brochures orkeep clippings of articles of interest in a file cabinet, so librarianscollected information from all kinds ofsources and kept it in the VERTICAL FILES tohelp them answer certain kinds of questions.Depending on the size of the library this couldmean one file cabinet or it could mean ten ormore six foot tall cabinets. It could mean onelibrarian browsing the newspapers and clippingarticles, and requesting all kinds of informationbe mailed to the library, or it couldhave been a whole team of library workersbusy 9am to 5pm clipping, collecting, weeding,and updating the vertical files.According to my research many libraries are either notusing their vertical files to access information nearly as muchas they did, or not at all. One public library in the U.S. claimsthat it just emptied the “last library vertical file” in existence.Not true! While some are still being used as originally intended,many libraries are continuing to maintain them solelyas a way to retain materials of interest relating to their town,county, or state. Some universities even have their verticalfile materials catalogued and available on the web because oftheir cultural and historical significance.Here at ECSU our now mostly dormant Vertical Files consistof eight tall old dark oak file cabinets that are chock fullof everything : current events articles and brochures on socialissues, items covering events in black history -local and national,government pamphlets and publications, commemorativeprograms, maps, catalogues, poems by local citizens orfaculty, photographs of famous and not so famous people, andmany other types of ephemera; in short these eight file cabinetsare full of what was handy condensed information on awide range of topics. Unfortunately the information is allwoefully out of date-hardly anything has been added for about15 years.As the Reference Librarian one of my assignments is to carefullyclean out the files and condense the materials they contain,to save what is historically or cultural significant and recycle therest. It’s kind of a sad project-knowing how much time and effortwent in over the years to searching, collecting, snipping andsaving, gathering catalogues or pamphlets, and thinking abouthow many questions the files used to answer. The files just sitthere now, mellowing with age, with some items becoming moreinteresting and significant, while most have become just plainobsolete. Library patrons have for a long time and for the mostpart bypassed their contents in favor of the more current, morecomprehensive, and more easily accessible results of a “Google”search.Mostly it’s a tedious job going through the files, folder afterfolder of information that is no longer able to fill our needs. Butevery little while I come across something surprising, unique,and irreplaceable. Brochures produced in the 30’s or 40’s withtheir vintage designs and colors, or from the 50’s and 60’s intheir “modern” style. Sometimes I find a newspaperclipping about someone from Elizabeth City orNorth Carolina from long ago. These items are beingsaved, along with many articles, publicationsand a few vintage “comic books” all pertaining tothe history of Black Americans. There are flyersannouncing African American dancers or musicians,commemorative programs for black artists,and kitschy business or travel advertisements,along with much more. When I find informationpertaining to ECSU these items go to the UniversityArchives where they are carefully preserved.I still have five more file cabinets to methodically sortthrough, and the collection of “jewels” from the vertical file isslowly growing. What shall we do with these fascinating itemswhen the files cabinets are empty? First they will be sorted intocategories and preserved in appropriate archival protective coverings.Then maybe the library will have an exhibit to allow librarypatrons an opportunity to be introduced to them. The itemswill then be re-filed into one of the remaining original file cabinets.Items will continue to be added that “fit” in with the renovatedcollection and donations from the public will be welcome.The collection will continue to be available to the public atthe library, and will continue to inform those who are interestedin these relics of the past that still impact our present, and ourfuture. Students, faculty, staff, and other patrons may find ideasfor topics for papers, inspirations for projects, or even recognizea long gone family member as they “surf” the contents of thevertical files.Submitted by: Susan M. Geiger, Reference LibrarianG. R. Little Library Spring 2009 5