Friday, March 23, 2012

Celebrate Scholars Week (March 26-30)

The Walker Library is celebrating MTSU Scholars Week (March 26-30) with an exhibit featuring new faculty publications. Recent works by MTSU professors can be seen in the display case in the 1st floor Periodicals room.




















Check out the full Scholars Week schedule of events for more ways to participate in MTSU's annual celebration of scholarship and creativity.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Concert in the Library!!!!

James E. Walker Library will host a concert in tribute to Mississippi John Hurt at 6 p.m. Friday, March 30, in the library’s first floor atrium. Doors open at 5:30.

The Fedora Brothers, also known as Bruce Nemerov and Gene Bush, will perform numbers made famous by the blues legend to mark the closing of an exhibit about his career.

The display was produced by the Arts Center of Cannon County in partnership with the MTSU Center for Popular Music with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Following the concert, the exhibit will move to the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Miss., where it will become part of the permanent collection there.

Hurt was a self-taught guitarist and singer whose performances at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, in coffeehouses and on the college circuit, influenced a generation of folk, blues, country and bluegrass artists.

Nemerov, a former audio specialist with the Center for Popular Music, produced the CD “John Work III: Recording Black Culture” and won a Grammy award for writing its liner notes.

Bush was a friend and student of Mississippi John Hurt in the 1960s before moving to Nashville in the early 1970s.

The Arts Center of Cannon County will have available for purchase at the event “Discovery: The Rebirth of John Hurt,” a CD release from its Spring Fed Records label. Copies of “Mississippi John Hurt: His Life, His Times, His Blues,” a new biography by Phil Ratcliffe (University of Mississippi Press), also will be available for purchase.

This event is free and open to the public.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Renovated Spaces are OPEN!!!

The Walker Library has fully implemented its Library Renovation Project. Spaces all over the building were updated with more technology and new furniture supported by funds received from state appropriated stimulus money.

These collaborative learning spaces grew out of conversations with students. They said that even though they have 24/7 access to information, they still need a retreat from their noisy dorm or apartment. Students told us they must have a place where they can get still get research help but also have a spot that is conducive to studying either alone or with a group. These spaces accomplish that.

Students now have full use of all of these remodeled and repurposed spaces!!

The library was designed to have areas for quiet study. However with the implementation of new Designated Quiet Zones (and the 7' signs over your head) it is now easier than ever to find a quiet place to go. Check out these new areas on the 3rd and 4th floor, just beyond the elevators.



As a part of the renovation project more Group Zones were created. Areas on the 1st and 2nd floors, Group Study rooms on all floors, and room 446 on the 4th floor are all designated as Group Zones. While individuals may work here, collaboration is encouraged and noise levels may be elevated.



Group Study Rooms are located on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors. All rooms have a computer and a whiteboard. Students can check out markers at the Service Desk on the 1st floor. The rooms on the 4th floor are reservable.

Presentation Practice Rooms—Two large group study rooms on the 2nd floor (248B and 201D) are equipped with large wall-mounted monitors and recording devices to allow students to practice and record presentations. These rooms are available to checkout online.




Meeting Place 2 & 4 are semi-enclosed spaces in rooms 248 & 446. The areas can accommodate up to 16 & 36 people respectively. The areas feature flexible furniture and movable whiteboard partitions. A laptop may be checked out and hooked up to large screen monitors for presentations.



The Research Commons on the 1st floor is a place to access, collaborate, create, and get help. Over 100 individual and team computer workstations; modern, flexible furnishings; and expert technical staff and research librarians are at your fingertips.





TeamSpot is located in the Research Commons on the 1st Floor. It features a wall-mounted large screen monitor and software capable of displaying several laptops at once. Sharing ideas with your study partners is easier than ever.







The Lounge is located on the 1st floor, just past the elevators. It has soft seating, newspapers, magazines, and a collection of the New York Times Bestsellers. There are also 2 large TVs w/ streaming news.


Friday, March 9, 2012

New Display in the Library

2012 marks the 100th anniversary of MTSU having a federal depository library. The Walker Library is celebrating this mark with an exhibit housed in two display cases located on the 1st floor (one case is located in the atrium and one is just past the elvators). This exhibit highlights some of the books, documents and even games from the Walker Library's Government Documents Collection.


Walker Library’s collection includes:


· Books


· Maps


· Microfiche


· Access to thousands of electronic resources


. Congressional documents


. Materials from Agriculture, Commerce, Interior & Defense departments.


The Federal Depository Library Program, established by Congress in 1813, ensures that Americans have access to Government information. Depository libraries collect, organize, maintain, preserve, and assist users with information from the Federal Government at no cost to the libraries or it’s users.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Spring Break Hours

While some of you are at the beach we will be here. Yes, that's right, the Library is open during Spring Break! Come see us -- it will be quiet in here. Have a restful and/or productive Spring Break.

Walker Library Spring Break hours:
Sat, March 3: 8:00-5
Sun, March 4: closed
Mon-Fri, March 5 - 9: 8-4:30
Sat, March 10: closed
Sun, March 11: 1pm - midnight

See library hours for the whole semester.