EIU Booth Library

Finals Week stress? Booth Library has you covered!

Posted on December 7th, 2020

Although classes are online, your friends at Booth Library are here for our students preparing for Finals Week! A series of activities is planned to help students de-stress at the end of the semester.

Would you like to send words of encouragement to a student or send a special message to your friends and family at home? Fill out this online application with your personalized message, and your friends at Booth Library will mail a postcard on your behalf! There’s no charge to participate. We have you covered!

https://www.eiu.edu/booth/sendcard/

Beginning Wednesday, Dec. 9, take a photo of yourself wearing a mask in Booth Library and post it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. All participants will be entered into a drawing to win an Amazon gift card. Be sure to tag Booth Library with #BoothLibrary. The deadline to enter is noon on Thursday, Dec. 17.

Beginning Thursday, Dec. 10, stop by the library to pick up free puzzles, coloring pages and relaxation tools such as stress balls, ear plugs and journals. These items were provided by Booth Library and through a Redden grant received by the library and the Public Health Department. Get yours while supplies last!

Watch for other special messages and activities on the Booth Library social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Recording of U.S. Poet Laureate program available

Posted on November 11th, 2020

U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo read from her book, “An American Sunrise,” during a special virtual event on Jan. 30. The program was part of EIU Booth Library’s Big Read program.

Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke/Creek, read from “An American Sunrise” and participated in a moderated Q+A discussion. A recording of the program will be available until March 1 on YouTube here.

Harjo’s program was sponsored by Booth Library, the Broward County Library (Florida), Broward Public Library Foundation Inc., and Florida Center for the Book. The event was part of the annual Lions in Winter festival sponsored by the EIU Department of English.

In 2019, Harjo was appointed the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold the position. She has since been reappointed to the position twice, with her third term scheduled to begin in September 2021. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Harjo is an internationally known award-winning poet, writer, performer, and saxophone player of the Mvskoke/Creek Nation.

In “American Sunrise,” Harjo’s eighth collection of poems, she revisits the homeland from which her ancestors were uprooted in 1830 as a result of the Indian Removal Act. The book explores the power of nature, spirituality, memory, violence, and the splintered history of America’s indigenous peoples.

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

Road Scholar to give a peek into the American Indian way of life

Posted on October 13th, 2020

A special program to discover the world of the American Indian is planned on Nov. 9 in celebration of Native American Heritage Month. The program is part of EIU Booth Library’s Big Read program.

Illinois Humanities Road Scholar Kim McIver Sigafus will present “A Peek Into the American Indian Way of Life Through Their History and Oral Traditions” at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Doudna Fine Arts Center on the EIU campus. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this program will be available by livestream only. It is free and open to the public. To watch the program live, click here.

This presentation will invite people into the world of the American Indian to discover what it once was to be Native, and what it means to be Native now. An Ojibwa, Sigafus will be dressed in her traditional Native regalia, and will present on Native culture through oral traditions, language, and history. She will discuss Native encampment life and will drum and sing an Ojibwa lullaby.

Kim Sigafus is an internationally published award-winning Ojibwa author and speaker. Her family is from White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. Kim’s Ojibwa name, Bekaadiziikwe, means “Quiet Woman.” In her Native regalia, Kim has presented Native American programs at venues across the Midwest.

This program is presented by Booth Library and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and is funded through a grant from Illinois Humanities.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts that is designed to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Booth Library received a $14,000 Big Read grant to support a community reading program during the 2020-2021 academic year.

The local NEA Big Read program focuses on the book “An American Sunrise,” by Joy Harjo, the first Native American to hold the position of U.S. Poet Laureate.

Local programs sponsored by many community organizations will take place through April 2021.

Free paperback copies of “An American Sunrise” are available at Booth Library. The book will be provided to students in EIU English classes, as well as to high schools in the region through the Eastern Illinois Writing Project and Eastern Illinois University Teaching with Primary Sources initiatives.

Additional programs will be added to the schedule and will be updated on The Big Read website at https://library.eiu.edu/bigread. For more information, contact Janice Derr, Big Read project director at Booth Library, at jmderr@eiu.edu or 217-581-7555.

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

About the Presenter:

Kim Sigafus is an internationally published award-winning Ojibwa author and speaker. Her family is from White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. Kim’s Ojibwa name, Bekaadiziikwe, means “Quiet Woman.”

In her Native regalia, Kim has presented Native American programs at venues across the Midwest. The genres she writes include romance, children’s picture books and plays, as well as Native American fiction and non-fiction. When she’s not working, she makes dream catchers and Talking Feathers, and drums and sings.

She resides in Freeport, Illinois with husband Andy and their two dogs, Animosh and Miika.

This program was funded by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Road Scholar Speakers Bureau, a program that provides organizations statewide with affordable, entertaining, and thought-provoking humanities events for their communities.

Programs planned for NEA Big Read!

Posted on June 16th, 2020

Several programs are planned as part of The Big Read program in East Central Illinois. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts that is designed to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Booth Library at Eastern Illinois University received a $14,000 Big Read grant to support a community reading program during the 2020-2021 academic year.

The local NEA Big Read program will focus on the book “An American Sunrise,” by Joy Harjo, the first Native American to hold the position of U.S. Poet Laureate.

Local programs sponsored by many community organizations will take place between September 2020 and April 2021. The schedule of public programming this fall is as follows:

• Big Read kickoff and keynote address, Sept. 15, 6:30 p.m., virtual presentation, “From Wilder’s ‘Little House on the Prairie’ to Harjo’s ‘An American Sunrise’: Words Matter,” presented by Dr. Debbie Reese, a former schoolteacher and assistant professor who is widely known for her blog, American Indians in Children’s Literature. Reese will look at the story of Joy Harjo, who writes that in 1830 with “the American soldiers at our backs,” her people left their homelands for Indian Territory. Thirty-nine years later, Charles Ingalls took his family — including his 2-year-old daughter, Laura — from their cabin in Wisconsin to Indian Territory. Reese will talk about the works of Harjo and Wilder and ask that we consider how their words shape what readers know about the place called America and the people that call it home. This program is sponsored by Booth Library. To participate, click on this link in your Internet browser.

• Tarble Reads virtual book discussion, Sept. 16, 5-7 p.m., via Zoom: “An American Sunrise” will be discussed. Free copies of the book are available. Please contact the Tarble Arts Center at tarble@eiu.edu or 217-581-2787 for information on how to participate online.
• “A Peek Into the American Indian Way of Life Through Their History and Oral Traditions,” Nov. 9, 6:30 p.m., presented by Kim McIver Sigafus: This presentation will invite people into the world of the American Indian to discover what it once was to be Native, and what it means to be Native now. An Ojibwa, Sigafus will be dressed in her traditional Native regalia, and will present on Native culture through oral traditions, language, and history. She will discuss Native encampment life and will drum and sing an Ojibwa lullaby. This program is sponsored by Booth Library and funded through a grant from the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau.
• Book discussion, Dec. 1, 4-5:30 p.m.: EIU Buzzard Hall Room 1180: The Academy of Lifelong Learning’s Literary Divas book club will discuss “An American Sunrise.” For more information, contact the Academy at 217-581-5114 or email academy@eiu.edu. This program is limited to 10 people; pre-registration is required.

Anyone who would like a free paperback copy of “An American Sunrise” may contact Booth Library. The book will be provided to students in EIU English classes, as well as to high schools in the region through the Eastern Illinois Writing Project and Eastern Illinois University Teaching with Primary Sources initiatives.

Additional programs will be added to the schedule and will be updated on The Big Read website at https://library.eiu.edu/bigread. For more information, contact Janice Derr, Big Read project director at Booth Library, at jmderr@eiu.edu or 217-581-7555.

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

Edible Book Festival winners named

Posted on April 27th, 2020

Booth Library’s 10th annual Edible Book Festival was held virtually to celebrate National Library Week April 19-25.

Because of restrictions due to COVID-19, this year’s festival was held virtually. Participants created an edible art work based on a book and submitted photos of their entry. Then members of the public were invited to vote online for their favorites.

The winners were as follows:

First place: “Jaws,” by Georgia Ryan, Carol Ryan and Jeremy Ryan; based on the book, “Jaws,” by Peter Benchley.

Second place: “Pineapple Couch: A Mother’s Day Surprise,” by Luke Grant, Marissa Grant, Mark Grant and Sher Lanham; based on the book “Henry and Mudge and the Funny Lunch,” by Cynthia Rylant.

Third place: “The Best Way to Identify a Bird Nest is by the Bird in the Nest,” by Jacqui Worden; based on the book, “Peterson Field Guide to Birds’ Nests,” by Hal Harrison.

First-place winner Georgia Ryan, who helped to created “Jaws,” said they were glad the library had the Edible Book Festival again this year, as they have enjoyed attending in the past. “My son, daughter and I had lots of fun making this creation out of Rice Krispies, icing and assorted candies.”

The second-place entry, “Pineapple Couch: A Mother’s Day Surprise,” was created by 6-year-old Luke Grant. “Luke came up with this idea and did the construction on his own except for one grape dog. He had a blast. The green apple is the father, the red the mother, and the clementines are Luke and his brother Mark. The grape dogs are their pet dogs Sally and Barky.”

Third-place winner Jacqui Worden said she used a grapefruit half and linguini spaghetti to make her bird’s nest, and the habitat was made of leaf lettuce and twig pretzels.

Festival organizer Michele McDaniel thanked all of the participants in this first-ever virtual contest. “It was so much fun to see the photos of the entries come in, and we had a great turnout in people voting, too!”

All of the Edible Book Festival entries will be viewable in EIU’s institutional repository, The Keep, at https://thekeep.eiu.edu/edible_book_festivals/.

Student Research and Creative Activity Conference online presentations 2020

Posted on April 15th, 2020

The Stay-at-Home order for Illinois and our transition to online instruction has not and will not deter the excitement for learning and expression of EIU students! The EIU Sandra and Jack Pine Honors College  presents the 2020 Student Research and Creative Activity Conference this year through the D2L Brightspace course management system. Oral presentations will be accessible to any participants through the links provided below.

Collaborate Ultra Session
(Running from 12:45-5 pm – sign in for as long as you like, when you like)

https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/eec50c6601a14c9cbe33a3af39793765

Phone Access – +1-571-392-7650 PIN: 652 600 8249

Schedule

download presentation abstracts.

12:45 pm – Welcome and Recognition of Winners of the Distinguished Faculty Research Mentor Award   (Richard England, MC)

1 pm  – Culture and Identity (Dr. Richard England, Moderator)

Maya Hunter, Political Science, Foreign Languages
Faculty Mentor:  Dr. Paul Janssen Danyi, Political Science
The Role of Language Education in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding: The Case of Cyprus

Kathrine Gosnell, History
Cultural Hybridity in Burials During the Egyptian Ptolemaic and Roman Periods

2 pm – English Studies (Dr. Suzie Park, moderator)

Alexis Lawson, English
The Christian Recorder (1854)

Maria Ruettiger, English
The Significance of Women’s Hair Post-WWI

Angela Steineman, English
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Bess Winter
The Cast of a Giant’s Shadow

3 pm – Sensory Ethnography (Dr. Angela Glaros, moderator)

Ryan Moore, Sociology
Faculty Mentor Angela Glaros, Sociology and Anthropology
Elbows Straight: Bodies, Space, and Power in Student-Led Organizations

Grace Osborn, Biology
Faculty Mentor Angela Glaros, Sociology and Anthropology
Smelling Cultures: Sensory Participation in a Laboratory Space

4 pm – Sustainability Studies  (Dr. Nichole Hugo, Moderator)

Yasmine Ben Miloud – Sustainable Energy (GRAD)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nichole Hugo
Analysis of sustainable community development: A case study of a college town

Christine Kariuki – Sustainable Energy (GRAD)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nichole Hugo
Sustainability Initiatives tracking and measuring in EIU

Martin Osei – Sustainability Studies (GRAD)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nichole Hugo
Design of an Insulated Solar Electric Cooking Stove

Manjil Puri – Sustainable Energy (GRAD)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Peter Ping-Liu
Techno-economic study of Solar Powered Electric Vehicle Charging Station for rural midwestern town of the USA case study EV installation at Sarah Bush Hospital

Vote now in Edible Book Festival!

Posted on April 8th, 2020

To launch the 2020 National Library Week celebration, Booth Library is holding its tenth annual Edible Book Festival.

Thank you to all who entered our first-ever virtual competition! We have 14 very creative artworks for you to view. Please vote for your top three favorites (in no particular order) at http://booth.eiu.edu/ebf2020vote. Voting will close Saturday, April 25, at 4 p.m. Winners will be announced on Monday, April 27.

EIU Comic Con canceled

Posted on March 19th, 2020

CANCELED: Due to EIU campus restrictions related to the COVID-19 coronavirus, the EIU Comic Con scheduled for March 28 at Booth Library has been CANCELED! We are sorry for the inconvenience and thank everyone for their enthusiasm for our event!

Edible Book Festival canceled

Posted on March 6th, 2020

CANCELED: Due to EIU campus restrictions related to the COVID-19 coronavirus, the Edible Book Festival scheduled for April 20 at Booth Library has been CANCELED! We are sorry for the inconvenience and thank everyone for their enthusiasm for our event!

Sign up for free Research 101 workshops

Posted on February 10th, 2020

Students who need tips for conducting research are encouraged to attend free workshops at Booth Library.

Seminar 1: Researching the Literature with Steve Brantley will be offered at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 in Room 4450 of the library.

Topics to be covered are:
– What are your online research destinations?
– How do you know when you have enough?
– Identify key journals and key databases.
– Understand controlled vocabularies and how they can benefit your research.
– Learn about open access, open research, and alternative sources for research.

Seminar 2: Organizing your References Using Citation Management Software with Kirstin Duffin will be offered at 7 p.m. March 3 in Room 4450 of the library.

Topics to be covered are:
– Save your sources to one convenient location and access via the cloud.
– Create formatted citations and your reference section in seconds (really!).
– Understand the software options and features in Mendeley and Zotero.
– Export citation information using library databases.

Seminar 3: Submitting your Thesis with Ellen Corrigan will be offered at 7 p.m. March 10 in Room 4450 of the library.

Topics to be covered are:

– How to submit your thesis online via The Keep
– What happens to your thesis to achieve certification by the Graduate School
– How to order personal or departmental print copies of your thesis

Register for the free seminars at https://library.eiu.edu/instruction/thesis101.html.

For more information contact Steve Brantley, head of Research, Engagement and Scholarship, at 581-7542 or jsbrantley@eiu.edu.