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April 2015
Whether you’re planning a vegetable or rain garden, JKM Library has the resources you need!
Stop in to the First Floor and check out books on a variety of garden styles and the plants you’ll need.
Don’t have a green thumb but find inspiration in being outside? Check out either of Jamaica Kincaid’s books on how she finds peace and happiness in the natural world.
April 2015
Get out and explore the city this summer with inspiration from one of the books displayed on the First Floor.
Whether you’re interested in art, architecture, or the culture of Pittsburgh, you’ll find a helpful guide to your summer adventures.
Dates to the biggest festivals and events around the city will be posted in the Lobby for your convenience.
Find something that peaked your interest? Make sure to ask a librarian about how you can find more books about the Steel City!
April 12, 2015
Molly Tighe:
-likes classical music
-has a history of sneaking into libraries
-is in favor of having a library cat
What do you do here at The Jennie King Mellon Library?
I’m the Archivist & Public Services Librarian, so there are two aspects to my role in the library. As Archivist, I manage all aspects university Archives and Special Collections including acquiring, cataloging, and preserving documentation of the university with long-term historical and cultural value. As Public Services Librarian, I
work with students and faculty to ensure that their research and educational needs are met.
What made you choose your current profession?
In many ways, a career in Archives is a logical choice for a former history major and I’ve found it to be a wonderful way to explore how the past has shaped the present. I was also inspired to choose career in the library field after spending many hours in the Harold Acton Library in Florence, Italy while I was a nanny for an Italian family. I
would sneak into this then-private library, which is housed on three floors of a 16th century palazzo, and tip toe down a spiral staircase to the literature section, where I would relax into the ease of my native tongue.
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A Las Vegas Chorus Girl. I love glitter.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
It’s always a pleasure to be contacted by an alumnae about their time at Chatham or to work with Alumni Affairs to help former students and faculty reconnect to their time here. Since I’m fairly new to Chatham, I’m doing a bit of research on the history of the university and I’m enjoying learning about all the amazing men and women
who have played a role in the development of our school. I also really enjoy helping students learn about the resources available to the library to further their academic and research goals.
If you could do one thing to change/improve the JKM Library, with no worries about time or expense, what would you do?
This is totally impractical, but it would be great to have a resident cat. On a practical level, I’d love a cold storage environment to help preserve our film and photograph collections.
What do you like to do on your days off?
I’m a classical music fan, so I attend Pittsburgh Symphony concerts pretty regularly. I love to practice yoga and the weekends are great time to take classes with Pittsburgh’s many fantastic teachers or with a visiting “yoga-lebrity.” I like to go hiking with my husband and we often make road trips to small historical societies or
history sites.
What’s the last thing you checked out?
The Martian by Andy Weir. This science fiction thriller is as heavy on the science, as it is on the thrills. It is being made into a feature film starring Kate Mara, Jessica Chastain, and Matt Damon due in theaters in November.
What book do you think everyone should read? Why?
Whichever book I’m reading so that we can talk about it!
What’s your favorite thing about living in Pittsburgh?
I love the geography and exploring all the neighborhoods tucked into the hollows and the runs. The cultural amenities, restaurants, and all the friendly people are also high on my list of favorite things about Pittsburgh.
What’s one thing you think everyone should do while they live in the city?
Go to a Pirates game! See the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra! Rent a kayak downtown (especially nice on hot summer days)! Buy cheese at Penn Mac!
Tell us some surprising things about yourself:
I did a cultural exchange with Norway when I was a teenager and lived in Trondheim for a month. It is an amazingly beautiful country.
I catalogued a Christmas card sent from John Lennon and May Pang to Andy Warhol when I worked in the Archives of the Warhol Museum.
I take gift wrapping very seriously.
April 2015
April is National Poetry Month! Why not take a selection of poems with you everywhere with the help of an app? POETRY, the appropriately-titled but obnoxiously capitalized app from The Poetry Foundation (publishers of Poetry magazine), can help you search for and save your favorite poems. You can also find new poems to love with the help of the “Discover Poetry” feature, which caused me to happily while away a good amount of time while writing this review.
The app opens and presents you with a curious button: “Spin.” Hitting this button starts a scrolling rainbow of options which eventually settles on a mood and a subject.
On my first try I got “Humor & Youth,” which displayed 25 poems beneath the header. Dragging the colored bar displaying the mood, I was delighted to find that you can search by any combination of mood and subject and the app will display poems that are tagged with both. From gloomy combinations such as “Boredom & Love” to the more colorful “Joy & Celebrations,” this approach allows for an interactive and engaging discovery process. My one complaint is that this view displays only the title of the poem and not the author, so I ended up selecting a number of titles that I would have otherwise avoided. On the other hand, perhaps this allows for serendipitous discovery and destruction of literary comfort zones, or at least the element of surprise.
If you’re looking for poems by a specific author, or trying to locate a poem by title or by a line or phrase, there is also a “Find Poetry” search feature. This may be more useful for poems you have encountered while using the Poetry Foundation website or the POETRY app, as the collection is necessarily somewhat limited. The mobile collection does not include all of the poems available on the Poetry Foundation website, probably due to the issues inherent in obtaining the correct permissions. What the app does contain are poems from Poetry magazine, poems in the public domain, and those poems for which the app creators have secured mobile permissions. New poems are added on a monthly basis.
There is a sharing function which allows you to integrate your Twitter, Facebook, and/or email account. Otherwise, there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of integration between the app and the website proper, so your favorites appear to be accessible only within the app interface. The only other distracting element of the app is its (understandable) struggle to represent poetic structure, so line breaks and irregular spacing may not be reproduced faithfully.
I will admit that I downloaded this app in order to review it, but I’m not giving it up. I will be celebrating throughout April and beyond by browsing through its collection while on the bus, waiting in line, and probably in many other places throughout Pittsburgh. (Don’t worry, Twitter app, I still love you. But it’s National Poetry Month.)
POETRY is available for iOS and Android. - Gesina A. Phillips
April 2015
Yesterday’s celebration of the International Edible Books Festival was a rousing success! Thanks to everyone who participated.
Thank you also to our three wonderful judges for their hard work in selecting the prizewinning edible books:
Dr. Heather McNaugher, Associate Professor of English & Creative Writing
Malik Hamilton, Food Studies student
Amy Lee Heinlen, Librarian and Poet
Serious deliberation was required to select the prizewinners.
And a big congratulations, of course, to our fantastic prizewinners:
Most Creative Literary Interpretation:
Molly Tighe for Tender is the Night Most Creative Ingredients / Use of
Ingredients:
Shuai Lu for Ancient Egypt: The Land and its Legacy
Most Sustainable:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Most Popular Vote:
Rachel Geffrey for Curious George
Grand Prize:
Tiffany Waltenbaugh, Teresa Scibilia, & Lorraine Yanjtovich for The Very Hungry Caterpillar
As of April 13 [2015], the 24×7 lab will be extended to include rooms 103, LCC1, and the large lab (101) during the hours the library is closed. This provides you with a variety of open tables and computer access as well as group study and individual spaces.
We’re sure many of you are thinking “Great! But where’s the bathroom?” For your comfort and convenience, the Eddy Theatre lobby will be open. The Eddy doors nearest the Library will remain unlocked as well as the wheelchair accessible entrance on the other side of the building.
Please note that during the summer, there will not be an expansion – only the original 24×7 room will be available. The doors to Eddy will remain open, however.
[Note: Updated 5/11/2015 to state that the expansion will not happen during summer]
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