The Return of the Daves

Just in time for the service awards luncheon on March 30th -- the Library received a visit from two Learning Resource Veterans: retired Dean Dave Williams and retired head of Instructional Support and Development Dave Lavis.



(the Two Daves, back row center)

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Reference and Instruction Czarina and all around Super Librarian Anne Anderson on her 15-year anniversary at the College.

Congratulations, Anne!

Did you know...

The top five landing pages on the NOVA webiste were:


1. NOVA home page
2. NOVA Connect
3. Library
4. Webmail
5. Employment



The top five most searched terms were:

1. Bookstore
2. Library
3. Parking
4. Testing Center
5. Nursing


If you are looking for the Library homepage, look no further than: www.nvcc.edu/library

Spring Break!

Spring Break is here!

Spring Break hours are:

Monday, Tuesday Wednesday March 5 - 7: 8.30am - 7.30.pm

Thursday, Friday March 8 & 9: CLOSED

Saturday March 10: CLOSED

(normal hours resume on March 12th. Enjoy the break!!)

Student Art in the Library

Two new student artworks recently joined the library collection -- both 3D sculptures in black and white:

These dioramas may be viewed on the Upper Level in the study lounge near the newspapers.

Many thanks to the student artists who donated them!

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day. To celebrate, check out one of these titles on love and romance:

Extravagant Expectations: New Ways to Find Romantic Love in America. HQ801 H7155 2011

Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romatic Love. BF575 L8 F53 2004

Modern Love: Romance, Intimacy and the Marriage Crisis. HQ503 S54 2003

Or watch a romantic movie: search the Library Catalog for "love and romance", limiting to Alexandria and Visual Materials.

Don't miss the chocolates at the Circulation Desk!

Super Bowl - Super Books

More Americans watch the Super Bowl than vote in presidential elections. Cities compete for the lucrative rights to host a game, and ad agencies, merchandisers, security personnel, and celebrity party planners quarterback their own teams starting a year in advance. Super Bowl Sunday is a national holiday for sports fans, who purchase 1.5 million large-screen TVs in the week before the game, attend one of 7.5 million parties, and eat more food than on any day other than Thanksgiving.

Read up on the big game with these titles:

America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation. GV954 M32 2004

The Billion Dollar Game : Behind the Scenes of the Greatest Day in American Sport Super Bowl Sunday. GV956.2 S8 S7 2009

The Ultimate Super Bowl Book. GV956.2 S8 M36 2009

Power to the People

School Library Petition Exceeds 25,000 Signatures.

Media specialists and other library supporters made their voices heard on an online petition asking the Obama Administration to make school libraries a national priority. Read more about this grassroots activism at School Library Journal.

Overdue? You May Get a Visit from the Library Police

Or indeed the real police, as happened earlier this month in Massachussetts.

Actually, the Alexandria Campus Library will not send the cops after you -- but overdue material will generate a hold on student records which will prevent students from registering, receiving grades or transcripts.

In addition, students should be aware that Resereve Items carry a $2 per hour fine if they are not returned within two hours.

Please note that overdue fines are only a mechanism to ensure the return of high-demand material. So avoid fines and be considerate to other users and please return material on time.

Spring Semester 2012 is HERE!!

Welcome back as the Alexandria Campus prepares for the beginning of classes for Spring 2012.

Library hours return to normal beginning on January 9th.

If you are looking for the textbook for your class, please visit the bookstore to find a list of course texts as well as information on purchasing or renting textbooks.

The Library also has a collection of textbooks on Reserve that students may use for free. Most of these must be used in the Library only. Due to extremely high demand, use of most of these books is limited to two hours at a time. Students may make as many photocopies as they need for their own use.

Faculty can place copies of text books or other course material on Reserve by contacting Kevin O'Hagan.

Happy Holidays!

The Library Staff wish you all a very happy, restful holiday season and a peaceful and successful new year.

Please note the Library is CLOSED for the winter break from Dec 23 - Jan 2.

See you all in 2012.

Over 400 served

During the last week of classes and final exams (Dec 5 - 16) the Libray opened half an hour earlier and closed an hour later to provide extra study time. In those two weeks, over 400 students came into the Library before 8.30 and stayed after 10.

The popular tradition of late-night study break snacks also made a repeat appearance -- students sustained their studying with coffee, tea, cookies & granola bars.

Unexpected excitement also occured on Thursday 15 Decemeber when a police incident adjacent to campus caused a lockdown. Over 200 students sheltered in place in the Library until the campus was evacuated.

Lockdown resolved

Around ten pm last night the situation resulting the Alexandria Campus lockdown was resolved.

(above: "lockdown snacks")

Many thanks to Library staff who remained on campus throughout the evening to assist students, provide snacks, and keep the library safe and comfortable. Throughout the evening the mood in the Library was generally positive, students were supportive of each other and upbeat, and staff reacted with calm and grace.

Library services at the Circulation Desk, Reference Desk and Library computer stations were maintained as normal until the Library was evacuated.

LOCKDOWN

Shortly before 6pm today the Alexandria campus was locked down following an ongoing incident adjacent to the school but not on campus. Students, faculty and staff were advised to remain indoors and away from windows. Campus was crowded with students taking or preparing for final exams.

Students took refuge in the Library where staff served "lockdown snacks."

People remained calm and studying continues in the Library.

Evening classes were cancelled.

NOVA History online!

Interested in learning about NOVA’s history? NOVA History Collections is an online archival
repository for more than 500 photographs, student publications, commencement programs, yearbooks and other documents from 1965 to the present. The repository is full-text searchable, and users can download, save and print any document or photograph in our collections. This project was initiated and developed by Alexandria Campus Library Specialist David Anderson. He is collaborating with Travis Nace, Chystie Greges, Maureen Townsend, Nathan Mueller and Stephanie Sharkey to build collections for each NOVA campus.

Visit NOVA History Collections at http://nvcchistory.contentdm.oclc.org/.

NOVA History Collections is part of an effort to begin preserving historical information about the
College. As NOVA approaches the 50th anniversary of its founding, that information will become more and more valuable. While the libraries have retained many of NOVA’s documents and photographs since the 1960s, some items have been lost or destroyed over time. Others may be in filing cabinets, desk drawers or boxes throughout the College, just waiting to be discovered and archived! If you have any documents or photographs that could be added to our archival repository, please contact Anderson at daanderson@nvcc.edu.

Extended Hours!

Just in time for final exams, the Library will once again extend its hours to provide more time to study, opening half an hour earlier and closing an hour later.

Library Extended Hours

Dec 5 - Dec 8: 8am - 11pm

Dec 9: 8am - 5 pm

Dec 10: 9am - 4 pm

Dec 12 - 15: 8am - 11pm

Dec 16: 8am - 5 pm

Dec 17: 9am - 4 pm

Join us for late night study breaks -- coffe and snacks -- at 10pm.

Happy Thanksgiving

The College is closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday from noon on 23 Nov until Monday 28 Nov.

Library Featured in Psychological Thriller

The Elyria Public Library featured in a "cameo" role in the recent film Take Shelter.


Libraries. You never know where they will turn up!

What's that smell?

It's that time of year again -- the corn plant is blooming!

(above: dracaena fragrans, or corn plant)

NOVA Faculty and Staff take VLA Conference by Storm

The attendee evaluations from the VLA 2011 Annual Conference are in -- and NOVA faculty knocked it out of the park:

"Rebecca Kamen's presentation was outstanding."

"These have to be the best two keynote speakers I've heard in a long time. Both were amazing and inspiring. Thank you so much! Also, every single session I attended was interesting, informative, and engagingly presented. Well done!"

"Great conference, the best I have been to in years!"

"Thoroughly enjoyed the opening session with Rebecca Kamen"

"Rebecca Kamen was out of the box, and simply fascinating."

"Excellent conference. There was a good mix of sessions for many different interests and audiences. Kamen was an outstanding keynote presentation."

"Rebecca Kamen's program was probably the most interesting VLA or even ALA program I've attended."

"I believe this year, more than any other, provided me with more intellectual take-aways than I could list. The sessions were excellent, and I enjoyed every one that I attended."

"This was the best conference I've attended."

"One of the best VLA conferences I've attended."

"This was for me THE BEST CONFERENCE EVER!"