Pilcher and Robertson Attend Book Signing

On November 1st, authors Heather Pilcher and Cyndy Robertson attended a book signing at the ULM Art Crawl. Attendees were able to purchase a copy of their book University of  Louisiana Monroe, which is part of the Campus History Series. This book has a lot of forgotten details about our campus and includes photos that chronicle the history of the ULM campus throughout the years. 

Happy Halloween from ULM Library Faculty!

Left to Right: Rebecca Yantis, Megan Lowe, Heather Pilcher, and Jessica Louque.

New Librarian Hired in Fall of 2018

Our newest Reference Librarian, John Swearingen received his Masters in Library Science at The University of North Texas in 2009. He has worked over 14 years in libraries and has been employed in academic libraries in Texas and in Qatar. Mr. Swearingen also worked as a medical librarian in North Carolina for Carolinas HealthCare System. This experience will serve him well as the new liaison librarian to Pharmacy and the Health Sciences. He also published a book in 2016 titled: Where is Sam Houston Buried? A Tour of the Gravesites of the Governors of Texas.

ULM Librarians Attend Workshop

On Friday, October 5th, ULM Special Collections Coordinator Heather Pilcher and Reference Librarian Rebecca Yantis attended an archival workshop at ULL hosted by the Louisiana Historical Association.  In the workshop History Lost? Saving Louisiana’s Archival Heritage, topics discussed related to the threats to Louisiana’s archives, funding issues, and archival preservation.  Pilcher and Yantis hope to attend a series of workshops about archival preservation being offered during the spring of 2019.

ULM IT And Library Take Action On Noise Complaints

By Maren Williams, Coordinator of Reference

Recently we've seen some complaints about noisy late-night crowds in the 1st-floor computer lab area. The ULM Library and Information Technology (IT) are working on long-term strategies to address the issue. For now, please let us know at the time that it's happening! Go to the Circulation desk and ask to speak with night supervisor Dennis Pruden, or call the desk at 342-1063.

Long-term solutions are also in the works. We have rearranged and relocated some furniture in the lab area that tends to attract socializers rather than studiers. In the near future, IT will also add another lab on the 2nd floor, which will likely be quieter due to its distance from the POD. Additionally, smaller groups of computers were moved to floors 3, 4, and 5, so there will be plenty of options for those needing  quiet. Floors 4 and 5 are designated quiet floors and computers can be found on the bayou side. Also, new signage is on the way for placement around the elevators and the general area where the computers are located.

SGA Funds New Charging Stations in SUB And Library

Two new charging stations were purchased courtesy of the ULM Student Government Association, and these have been utilized frequently since this summer. One is located on the first floor of the Student Union Building, and the other is on the first floor of the ULM Library. The stations have Apple, Android, and Micro-USB charging cables. The stations read active ULM IDs, which will both lock down and secure the items, and also open the locker after use. The ULM Information Technology is administering the charging stations, and Wayne McDaniel in IT has said, “It’s a free, easy, and secure way for students, faculty, and staff to lock-up tablets and smartphones for charging”. 

Faculty Feature: Heather Pilcher

Heather Pilcher began working in the ULM Library’s Circulation department in the spring of 2002.  While working in the library, she earned her M.S.L.S. from the  University of North Texas and an M.A. in History from ULM.  In July of 2012, she was hired as tenure-track faculty in the Reference department. Pilcher became the Interim Coordinator of Special Collections in the spring of 2016 with the position becoming permanent in 2017. ULM Library is also proud to announce that Pilcher was granted tenure in the summer of 2018. 

Pilcher is dedicated to researching and promoting history and has extensive knowledge of both local and campus history. She self-published her first book, Beloved Home, in 2009.  Beloved Home is a young adult historical fiction novel set in 1905 in Monroe, Louisiana. 

Her second book, a pictorial history of Atlanta, Texas, Images of America: Atlanta, was published in 2011 with Arcadia Publishing.  Her most recent publication, a pictorial history of ULM titled: The Campus History Series: University of Louisiana Monroe, came out in January of this year.

Pilcher has been volunteering with The Family Promise of Ouachita program for several years.  She is also interested in animal welfare and enjoys spending time with friends and family, with the latter also including Bobby her 16-year-old Chihuahua and Francie her 4-year-old Yorkie. 

ULM Special Collections & Archives- News Clippings

These Buildings Were New In 1962

New Books in September 2018

Gunby Letters Collection Uploaded to Louisiana Digital Library

Heather Pilcher, ULM Special Collections  Coordinator, is happy to announce that the      Gunby Letters Collection is now available for viewing through Louisiana Digital Library at

http://louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/ulm-gunbyletters:collection

Gunby Letters Home is a collection of mostly letters, written home by the Gunby children, to their mother, Ellen (1866-1933). Their father, Andrew A. Gunby (1849-1917), was a prominent lawyer and judge in the state of Louisiana. He was very active in both the community of Monroe and the state of Louisiana, especially as it related to education. Together, A.A. and Ellen Gunby raised five children: Edith (1886-1978), George (1889-1962), Sarah (1891-1914), Olive (1893-1979), and Thomas (1897-1967).

Thomas (1897-1967) was the fifth child of A.A. and Ellen. Most of the letters in this collection were written by him, between the years 1915 to 1924. The major portion of his letters were written in France, during WWI. Thomas retired as a Colonel from the Army in 1953. After his sudden death at the age of 69, the Northeast Louisiana community named a local dam in his honor. The Thomas S. Gunby Dam is located near Hebert, LA. Other letters in the collection were written by his siblings, Olive and George.

Olive (1893-1979) was the fourth child of A. A. and Ellen. She graduated from Monroe City High School in 1907. She earned her B.A. from Tulane University in 1912 and her M.A.Ed. from Columbia University of New York City in 1916. She began her teaching career at Monroe Normal School as a third-grade civics teacher that same year. She taught at the Ouachita Parish Grammar School from 1930 to 1959.

George (1889-1962) was the second child of A. A. and Ellen Gunby. He graduated from Bingham Military Academy in Asheville, NC in 1904. He received his B.A. degree from LSU in 1909 and his M.A. degree in 1910. George was admitted to the Louisiana Bar Association in 1916 and shortly after began practicing law in Monroe.

 Olive Gunby

Checkout Portable Charging Stations

ULM Information Technology, as a service from STAP, provided portable charging stations in collaboration with ULM Library. Chance  Eppinette said that students can check these out and keep them for several hours a day if they get in a low battery bind between classes. The battery charging stations are compatible with devices that charge with Android, Apple, Samsung, and USB cables. Anyone with a ULM ID can check these out at the Circulation Desk on the first floor of the Library.

New Books in July of 2018

ULM Library Technical Services Catalogs CAES Literacy Lab Collection

The CAES Literacy Lab is a wonderful resource on the ULM campus and is important because strong literacy skills impact an individual's ability to fully participate in society, understand public issues, and lay the foundation upon which labor market skills are built. The lab recently received funding to purchase materials through a grant with Scholastic Inc. A need arose to have these materials cataloged for organizational purposes, and Dr. Lacy Hitt approached the Head of Technical Services, Chuck Hughes to enlist his aid in the effort. The ULM Library Technical Services department, including Miriam Barley and Chuck Hughes, cataloged around 1,500 items for the collection between October 2017 and May 2018.

The Literacy Lab provides ULM education candidates with a professional media lab/curriculum library where candidates can extend their learning, plan their lessons, and have access to materials needed to fulfill course requirements.  The Lab houses a diversity collection useful for helping children embrace differences and be more inclusive. Other materials include children's literature, subscriptions to Mailbox and Booklinks (classroom sources), an electric subscription to a premier children's literature database, a subscription to ed.helper.com, a laminating machine, and literacy, math, and resource materials for lesson planning.

New Books from March & April of 2018

ULM LIbrary Circulates New Webcams

ULM Library, in a collaboration with ULM Computing, purchased 20 new webcams for campus community use. They are on Reserve at the Library Circulation Desk on the 1st Floor and can be checked out for 4 hours. They may be taken out of the Library. Only one Reserve item may be checked out at a time, and remember reserve items have higher fines than other overdue items and can result in blocked borrowing privileges if not returned on time. 

Retired Acquisitions Librarian Emily Higdon Passes Away

Retired Acquisitions Librarian Emily Higdon passed away on April 11, 2018.  She began working in the library on September 1, 1956, when it was located in what is now Bry Hall.  She retired on July 15, 2005.  She remembered well the move from Bry to Sandel Hall in 1963.  She said the library staff was looking forward to working in a building with air-conditioning and new elevators.  Emily’s easy going personality and great sense of humor made her a pleasure to know and work with.  She was beloved by all who knew her and will be greatly missed.

Link to Obituary: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/188728339/emily-alice-higdon

Virtual Reality Room Coming to ULM Library

Universities have always been at the cutting edge of new technologies, driving development and creating the next generation of scientists, developers, and entrepreneurs. One of these technologies is Virtual Reality, and ULM Library is excited to announce that the suite of rooms in Library 205 has been chosen for development as a Virtual Reality room. We wanted to thank Dr. Joydeep Bhattacharjee, Associate Professor of Plant and     Restoration Ecology who is working with the Computing Center to bring VR to ULM. There is hope to establish a VR classroom with 30 individual VR set-ups, and this classroom would be available for classes in the future for uses such as aircraft and healthcare simulations and applications in new media and arts.

Other Spring Library News From Staff Meeting

· The study room wait-list has been re-implemented for high traffic times such as evenings at the library.

· Vaping is a violation of the campus no smoking policy and is prohibited in the ULM Library.

· Plans for the suite of offices down hallway 216 in the ULM Library include testing rooms and a lactation room for nursing mothers.

Tornado Warnings and Safety Drills

On March 27^th, ULM Library staff had a meeting, and Director Megan Lowe discussed safety and drill scenarios for staff training including bomb threats, inclement weather, active shooter, and fire. Staff was assigned to clear different floors in the event of an emergency and ask students to move away from the Library building when evacuating in case of a fire. A space on the north side of the Student Union Building was designated as a gathering place for library staff during emergencies. The very next day on March 28^th, some of that training was put to use. Around 4:30, a tornado warning was issued, and staff used their training to announce the warning over the library PA system and gather students into the service corridors away from the many ULM Library windows. Disaster did not come, but students could take comfort in knowing there was a plan, and ULM Library staff were ready to help.

ULM Librarians Attend Islandora Training

ULM Librarians Heather Pilcher and Rebecca Yantis attended an Islandora training session for the Louisiana Digital Library (LDL) on March the 6th. According to the Islandora website https://islandora.ca/about, “Islandora is an open-source software framework designed to help institutions and organizations and their audiences collaboratively manage and discover digital assets using a best-practices framework.” Islandora gives LDL members, including ULM, an easy-to-use method of uploading, organizing, and displaying digitized collections. ULM currently has five collections on the LDL                                        (http://louisianadigitallibrary.org), and the "Gunby Letters Home" Collection is in the process of being added to the Louisiana Digital Library. A sample of letters from this new collection can be viewed below.