Students Needed for Focus Groups (FREE PIZZA!)

Frostburg State University’s Lewis J. Ort Library is committed to its contribution to the academic success of our students.  Last spring we asked students to complete a Student Success Survey. We have compiled the data gathered from the survey and have determined that we would like to hold several focus groups to further understand how the Ort Library can contribute to your success.

We are looking for some more volunteers who would be willing to share their ideas about how the Ort Library can contribute to their success at Frostburg State University.



If you would like to be a part of one of the focus groups, please stop by the Circulation Desk in the library to sign up or e-mail tmmastrodonato@frostburg.edu
 
There will be two  focus groups held.

The dates and times for the focus groups, which will last for 45-60 minutes, are:

• Monday October 30 at 4:00 pm
• Wednesday November 1 at 12:00 pm

As a thank you for your participation PIZZA and beverages will be provided.

New Library Displays for October

The Ort Library is pleased to present several new displays in the library for the month of October.

The first display, located on the 3rd floor celebrates National Chemistry Week, October 22 - 28. This year's theme is Chemistry Rocks! The display highlights information on geochemistry and showcases several rocks collected by our library staff.

The second display, also located on the 3rd floor, celebrates the Independent Lit Festival that is held each year at FSU. The display highlights information about independent literature.

The third display is located on the 4th floor and highlights the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's publication of the 95 Theses. The display provides some information about why the 95 Theses were written and showcases some of the resources we have in the library on this topic.

The fifth floor has our last display on the resources that our government documents area has to offer. The library will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary as an Federal Depository Library in December. Thanks to Ron Clark for creating this display.

The displays will be up through the end of October.

Banned Books That Shaped America

Have you read The Great Gatsby? What about Moby Dick or Gone with the Wind? If so, these are just a few of the thousands of titles that have been banned at some point by a school, library or other organization for inappropriate content. 

Each year, hundreds of books are challenged and subsequently reported to the American Library Association. Often, the books that make it on ALA’s Challenged Books list, are the same books that have a profound impact on society and the way its readers view the world. ALA recently released its Top Ten Challenged Books of 2016 which included books like Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell and This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki. 

 Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association, ala.org/bbooks/NLW-Top10 

In 2012, the Library of Congress created an exhibition of Books That Shaped America “to spark a national conversation on books and their importance in Americans’ lives.” This year, the Banned Books Coalition cross-referenced this list with ALA’s Challenged Books lists to create a list of Banned Books That Shaped America. This list inspired the display below, which can be spotted on the third floor of the Ort Library. 

Celebrate your freedom to read by picking up one of these titles at the library today!

Banned Books Reading

Members of Sigma Tau Delta, FSU's English Honor Society, hosted its annual Banned Books Reading in the Lewis J. Ort Library on the evening of October 3rd. Participating student readers chose books that had been banned in the past as controversial like Stephen King's The Shining and Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games and read selections.

Every year since 1982, the American Library Association has celebrated the freedom to read through this event. Banned books on the 2017 list included Little Bill, Looking for Alaska and This One Summer. 

Librarians and teachers resist the attempts of censors to restrict access to targeted books by celebrating rather than condemning banned titles. Banned Books available for circulation at the Ort Library were displayed throughout the week. 

Government Documents: National Park Service, Department of the Interior

Come see a new display of government documents regarding the National Park Service located on the second floor of the Library!

The National Park Service, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior, is a system of over 400 areas encompassing 84 million acres in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These areas include national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and the White House. (NPS, 2017)

Did you know that Maryland alone has 28 areas designated by the NPS? Even in our own back yard lies the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, which begins in Cumberland, MD and terminates in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Each year, the National Park Service publishes documents through the Government Printing Office regarding these areas including books, guides, pamphlets, maps, and more. As a member of the Federal Depository Library Program, the Ort Library receives copies of these materials and adds them to our collection of Government Documents, to be made available to the public. National Park Service materials published by the Department of the Interior may be found on the second floor, in the Government Documents section, under the SuDoc class I. Other circulating government documents may be found on floors four and five. 

Non-print materials used in this display were loaned by the National Park Service, courtesy of Rita Knox, and NPS volunteer, Francis Zumbrun. Thank you!