As of Saturday May 12th, the SAU library has begun to observe our Summer Hours. These hours will be in place over the entirety of the summer break, ending when classes resume on August 21st.
Monday – Thursday: 7:45 am – 9:30 pm
Friday: 7:45 am – 5 pm
Saturday: 10 am – 2 pm
Sunday: CLOSED
As always, these hours are subject to change. Enjoy your summer, everyone!
Make the SAU library your study station for finals. The library will have extended hours starting this Wednesday, May 1st. Those extended hours are:
Wed. May 1st & Thur. May 2nd: 7:45 am – 1 am
Friday May 3rd: 7:45 am – 5 pm
Saturday May 4th: 8 am – 9 pm
Sunday May 5th: 12 Noon – 1 am
Mon. May 6th & Tues May 7th: 7:45 am – 1 am
We will have coffee delivered on both Sunday and Monday night, around 7:00 pm, free for everyone’s enjoyment.
Stressed out from studying? We will have therapy dogs in the library on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. They will come at 7:00 pm and stay until 10:00pm.
As many of you probably know, the SAU Library houses the Archives and Special Collections Department located on the third floor. This department is devoted to housing and preserving materials related to the history of St. Ambrose University. Since this week is National Preservation Week, the Archives and Special Collections department would like to pass on some helpful information about preservation:
Happy National Preservation Week! This national celebration week is an excellent reminder to practice preservation in both our professional and personal lives.
What can I do at work?
Spring clean and determine what to shred, recycle, trash, keep or archive. See the attached handout for tips and visit this link to learn how to prepare material for the archives.
http://library.sau.edu/RecordsMgtProcedure.htm#Preparing_Boxes_for_Archives
What can I do at home?
This week reminds us to be mindful of backing up our files, perhaps organizing our digital photos and videos, recording family histories, and knowing where our vital documents are – birth certificate, social security card, passport, last will and testament, etc.
A resource for managing the digital material in your personal life is the Library of Congress.
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/
In light of the recent flooding, many of you may want to listen to a webcast called “Accidents Happen, Protecting & Saving Family Treasures.” Click on the link “access the webcast now” to download the file.
http://www.ala.org/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webinar/pres/042611
If you would like more information on the Archives and Special Collections Department, please follow the link below:
http://www.sau.edu/Library/Services/Archives_and_Special_Collections.html
A very nice display featuring a variety of the various types of material housed in the department is on display on the 1st Floor of the SAU library. If you have a chance, feel free to come in and check it out this weekend.
Here are the final set of clues for the Letterboxing Hunt. You have until Sunday to find them all and show your stamped books to the Circ or Ref Desk. Have fun!
Clue 9: This stamp can be found in the Jan.-Jun. 1991 Rolling Stone issue which is kept in filing cabinets.
Clue 10: Sometimes it’s nice to listen to a book being read to you. Especially when you’re traveling. Once you locate this collection, you will find your stamp on the 2nd shelf of the wooden case.
A whole batch of new movies have arrived at the library. Here’s a quick preview of just a couple of the new DVDs available to rent:
Argo – Winner of this year’s Oscar for Best Picture, Argo is certainly deserving of the award. With only three films under his belt, actor-turned-director Ben Affleck delivers his best with a gripping and suspenseful story of the CIA attempting to smuggle 6 American hostages out of a very hostile situation in Iran. Based on a true story, Affleck plays CIA agent Tony Mendez, who concocts the idea of sneaking the Americans out under the guise of a Canadian film crew who are scouting for the non-existing sci-fi film entitled “Argo.” Equal parts spy thriller and love letter to Hollywood in the 70’s, Argo is a fascinating true tale of the lengths the CIA went to in order to bring the 6 diplomats home. The film does an excellent job of capturing the look and feel of the time period as well as casting actors with striking resemblances to the actual people involved. The cast is rounded out with great work from John Goodman, Alan Arkin and Bryan Cranston in supporting roles. While Affleck might have been snubbed for the Best Director Oscar, if he continues to produce films of this quality, it won’t be long until he takes home the trophy.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – The first of another trilogy of adventures into Middle-Earth by award winning director Peter Jackson, part one of the Hobbit re-introduces us to a young Bilbo Baggins. Played this time around by Martin Freeman (taking over for Ian Holm, who played the character in the Lord of the Rings), Bilbo is a hobbit who would be quite content to sit peacefully in his snug home until the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and a band of dwarves come to whisk him away on an adventure. Almost ten years after the Lord of the Rings trilogy, due to legal battles, The Hobbit feels like we merely stepped outside for a moment before returning back to the same lush and vivid world we loved in those films. Several returning cast member such as Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchet, Hugo Weaving, and Andy Serkis (fantastic once more as Gollum) make the transition to a new trilogy an easy one. Full of stunning visuals and sweeping scale, the film does suffer from feeling padded due to the fact that its source material has been spread a little thin. As Bilbo would say, “like butter over too much bread.” Padding aside, just to revisit the world and characters we loved in the Lord of the Rings would be reason enough to watch, yet happily the movie provides fun enough of its own to make it worth it.
Les Miserables – More than 25 years after opening in London, the famous stage musical has finally been adapted for the screen. Oscar winning director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) brings together an impressive cast lead by Hugh Jackman as the fleeing fugitive Jean Valjean. Valjean, a man who spent nearly 20 years in prison for stealing bread breaks his parole only to be hounded by Russell Crowe’s Inspector Javert. Along the way, Valjean’s life becomes entangled with factory worker Fantine (Anne Hathaway) and later her daughter Cosette (Amanda Seyfired) and her suitor Marius (Eddie Redmayne). While it received several nominations and awards, the film is not without its problems. Many found Russell Crowe lacking in the vocals required for the role of Javert and the director’s frequent use of close-ups was off-putting to some. Those points aside, Hathaway delivers a heartbreaking performance that was truly deserving of her Oscar win and the trio of Seyfried, Redmayne and Samantha Barks all deliver memorable vocal performances in their roles.
Lincoln – Long a pet project of director Steven Spielberg, Lincoln delivers a biographical film full of heart, humor and incredible performances. Set towards the end of the Civil War, the film finds President Abraham Lincoln (played to uncanny perfection by Daniel Day-Lewis) coming to grips with the question of slavery and its future in a post-war America. Day-Lewis gives us a soft spoken man, weary from years of war and carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, yet he still manages to find the strength to be both endearing and humorous in the face of his trials. Sally Field gives an emotional performance as Mary Todd Lincoln, a wife and mother with struggles of her own. In order to win over the senate, Lincoln most enlist the aid of others such as Mr. Bilbo (a surprisingly funny James Spader, no relation to the hobbit) and staunch abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens. Stevens is played by Tommy Lee Jones, who, if not for Day-Lewis’s amazing acting, would have easily stolen the show. The rest of the cast include the likes of David Strathairn, Jared Harris, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt amongst others. Lincoln is easily one of Spielberg’s best films in years.
(All images courtesy of Amazon.com)
The second week of April, April 7th-13th this year, has been designated as National Student Employment Week.
The SAU Library would like to take this opportunity to thank all of hard working student workers for all that they do here at the library. Though you may only see them working behind the circulation desk or shelving books in the stacks, our student workers are involved in multiple departments. We have students working in Circulation, Reference, Media Services, Archives, Inter-Library Loans, as well as Tech Services. The SAU Library and all of its patrons benefit from having these student workers here helping out with all the various tasks they perform.
Just a reminder: If you’ve had excellent service from a student worker at the library, feel free to stop in and nominate them for our Student Worker of the Month. The library’s way of showing that our appreciation for our student workers lasts all year round.
