From the Archives & Special Collections: Introducing Peer Research Specialist Julia Schiff

My name is Julia Schiff and I’m one of the new Peer Research Specialists in the Archives & Special Collections. I’m a junior double majoring in Comparative Politics and Studio Art. Though I have spent many hours studying in the library, this will be my first semester working here and I’m so excited! I first discovered the A&SC as a freshman. I was writing for The Trail and my editor assigned me a story about the history of activism at Puget Sound. I stumbled into the archives in search of a story and left with an appreciation for our history and the ways we document it.

I believe it is essential for members of this community to understand our history and to investigate our past as a university. Knowing where we have come from is such an important aspect of our growth. I didn’t quite realize this until I read a Trail article in the May 7, 1992 issue. It was about the campus response to the Rodney King verdict and the Black Student Union rallying around King. Looking into past protests, young organizers, and social movements on campus led me to question our future. What will activism look like in the next 20 years? What will it look like in the coming weeks?

This process is what inspired me to work in the A&SC. I want community members to look into our past and use the collections to inform the future. I want students, like myself freshman year, to be inspired by our history and use it to navigate their time at Puget Sound. My main goal as a Peer Research Specialist is to share my passion for our history, show students how crucial it is to understand how far we have come and to be knowledgeable about our institutions. Everyone deserves access to our history and everyone deserves the opportunity to learn about who we once were. The past is inspiring and that is why I work in the Archives & Special Collections.

The Archives & Special Collections has drop-in hours on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM or is open by appointment.

By Julia Schiff

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Fall Zine Series: Join Collins Library for an informal series of events that celebrate zines and zine culture!

Tues. 9/24:  Zine Reading Hour, 5:00-6:00pm, Archives Seminar Room
Drop by to browse our collection of over 300 zines! We have zines on issues of identity, social justice, politics, fan culture, and much more.

Thurs. 10/2:  Making Zines, 5:00-6:00pm, Makerspace
Come learn about the creative tools & resources in the Makerspace and join us in making a collaborative zine!

Tues. 11/12:  ZAPP Zine Presentation by Seattle Public Library’s Abby Bass, 5:00-6:00pm, Archives Seminar Room
The ZAPP (Zine Archive & Publishing Project) Collection, part of the Seattle Public Library, contains over 30,000 zines, rninicornics, and other self-published and small press titles. Arts, Recreation & Literature Librarian Abby Bass will share more about this amazing collection.

Room locations in Collins Memorial Library:
Archives Seminar Room is located on the 2nd floor. Makerspace is located in the basement.

Puget Sound is committed to being accessible to all people. If you have questions about event accessibility, please contact 253.879.3931 or accessibility@pugetsound.edu

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Wandering Book Artists – Peter and Donna Thomas, October 16, 2019, 2:00–3:30pm, A&SC Seminar Room, Collins Memorial Library

From their web site: http://www2.cruzio.com/~peteranddonna/

Imagine living in a tiny home and moving across the country to share your art? That is exactly what the wandering book artists, husband and wife, Peter and Donna Thomas do. They will be visiting Collins to share their story and it should be an interesting one for sure! Watch his music video with his ukulele – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygN-VMCSr0A.

Peter and Donna Thomas are book artists, who live and work in Santa Cruz, California but also travel around the country as “Wandering Book Artists” in their “Gypsy Wagon Artist’s Bookmobile.” Their journey to becoming wandering book artists began in the 1970s, when, dressed like Robin Hood and Maid Marion, they sold blank books at the Renaissance Pleasure Faires in California. They constructed a small gypsy wagon to use as their booth, a colorful and charming vehicle that they always dreamed of taking on a road trip around the country. But pulling that wagon was a white-knuckle adventure…it wobbled and rocked like a ship at storm. That wagon served them well for many years, until 2008 when it burned in a wildfire, leaving only a pile of melted metal and memories. They cleaned up the wreckage then, with the assistance of Raucina Cabinets in Midpines, CA, they started building a new and more roadworthy trailer, modeled after a “Reading” wagon, one of the many styles of horse drawn homes, or vardos, made for Romany travelers in England during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

 

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Did you know that Collins Library has a collection of children’s books?

Hannah Turner is a new student at Puget Sound and we are delighted she is working in the Library.  Recently Hannah had the chance to learn more about our children’s literature collection and below is a review of some of our most recently purchased books and an introduction to our new “book basket” that is now in the Pacific Northwest Room – or as some call it the Rocking Chair Room.

Drop by and check out our basket of recent acquisitions in our Rocking Chair Reading Room (Pacific Northwest Room)! Below are descriptions of just a few of our many wonderful new books for kids, from picture books to middle-grade novels.

Me and My Fear by Francesca Sanna: A picture book aimed at children dealing with fear and anxiety, Me and My Fear follows a girl who moves to a new country. Her fear, embodied by an imaginary friend, grows bigger to protect her. It tries to convince her to be alone and scared, and she’s sure that no one feels the same way. But she learns that by sharing her fear, she can manage it and become less alone. Call number: PZ7.1.S3553 M3 2018

Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender: Twelve-year old Caroline was born on Water Island during a hurricane – considered bad luck in her culture. She has always been different, getting bullied at school and seeing apparitions that no one else can. Caroline is alone until Kalinda comes to her school from Barbados. As Caroline and Kalinda grow closer, they set off in a hurricane to search for Caroline’s missing mother. Call number: PZ7.1.C317 Hu 2018

The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon: Brothers Caleb Franklin and Bobby Gene are excited to spend their summer exploring the woods behind their house in Indiana. Caleb dreams of traveling, but his father likes to stay close to home. Over the summer, the two boys meet Styx Malone – a mysterious teenager who seems to have been everywhere. Styx tells the boys that together they can accomplish “The Great Escalator Trade” – exchanging one thing for something better, over and over until they get what they want. However, the trades start to get out of control and the brothers realize that Styx might not be what he seems. Call number: PZ7.M2739 Sum 2018

Skyward by Sally Deng: This historical fiction tale, set in 1927, follows three very different girls who all dream of being pilots: Hazel, from San Francisco; Lilya, from Russia; and Marlene, from England. The three girls each get a chance to fly as war threatens their respective countries. Though faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, they follow their dreams with bravery and passion. Call number: PZ7.1.D4646 Sk 2018

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson: When Candice Miller finds an old letter in Lambert, South Carolina, addressed to her Grandmother, she discovers a puzzle that could lead to a great fortune. Candice’s grandmother had tried and failed to solve the mystery, but maybe Candice can do it. With the help of her shy neighbor, Brandon, Candice begins to work out the clues… clues that shed light on Lambert’s complex and often dark history and threaten to unveil family secrets. Call number: PZ7.J63844 Par 2018

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From the Archives & Special Collections: Welcome Back!

Home economics laboratory, circa 1914.

We hope everyone had a wonderful summer and has settled back into life at Puget Sound! Since many of you are new to campus, we thought we’d take a moment to highlight what the A&SC has to offer. A great place to start exploring our collections is our website. The website highlights both the physical and digital resources available to you in the Archives & Special Collections.

Physical Resources:

Since we do not lend out the items in our collections, you’ll need to visit us to see most of our materials. Don’t worry, we are friendly and we love getting research questions – so don’t hesitate to stop by! If you are interested in a particular subject or item, send us an email at archives@pugetsound.edu to set up a research appointment.

  • University Records
    We have a wide range of university records that document our campus’ history from its founding in 1888. Visit us to view a complete collection of the Tamanawas yearbooks, student handbooks, alumni magazines, student publications, photograph collection, and historical artifacts.
  • Manuscript Collections
    The archives also collects materials that focus on a person’s life or organization’s history. Many of our manuscript collections relate to Pacific Northwest history or issues of social justice. To browse some of our manuscript collections, visit Archives West, a website containing our collection inventories.
  • Rare Books
    We have hundreds of rare and unique books for you to read and research in the Archives & Special Collections. Search Primo, the online library catalog, for any subjects you’re interested in and select the “Collins Memorial Library Archives and Special Collections” filter to narrow your results to items found in the A&SC.

Online Resources:

We have multiple digital resources that make it easy for you to do research from home!

  • A Sound Past
    A Sound Past is our digital historical photograph collection. Curated by A&SC volunteer John Finney ’67, the images reflect campus life from its founding in 1888 through the 1990s. The photos found in A Sound Past only reflect a portion of what is contained in the archives, but it’s a great place to start!
  • The Trail
    Interested in reading past Trail articles? Our digitized collection of The Trail is a near-complete run of the student newspaper from 1895 through the present. The Trail is completely text-searchable, making research simpler than ever!
  • The Bulletin
    Interested in which courses used to be offered at Puget Sound? Curious about what school rules and policies were like in the past? Visit our collection of bulletins online to learn about the academic history of Puget Sound.
  • Film archive
    Want to catch a glimpse of Puget Sound’s past? Visit the film archive to see unique videos of our campus.
  • Puget Sound Ephemera
    Ephemera consists of materials that were never meant to last: ticket stubs, programs, invitations, announcements, and other items. Our project to digitize ephemera is ongoing but it is current through the 1960s.

Want to contact the Archives & Special Collections? You can:

The Archives & Special Collections has drop-in hours on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM or is open by appointment.

By Adriana Flores, Archivist & Special Collections Librarian

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An essential instruction manual and memoir

Antiracism is a transformative concept that reorients and reenergizes the conversation about racism—and, even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. At its core, racism is a powerful system that creates false hierarchies of human value; its warped logic extends beyond race, from the way we regard people of different ethnicities or skin colors to the way we treat people of different sexes, gender identities, and body types. Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism. This is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond the awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society.

Check this out in the Popular Reading Collection!

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Collins Library Links – Welcome Back Issue – Part II

2013_CollinsLibraryLink

Collins Library Links – Welcome Back Issue – Part II

Art in the Library:  Please take time to stop by the Collins Library and view two outstanding exhibits.  Interwoven Stories showcases pages from a community stitching project developed by Canadian artist Diana Weymar.  Included are 23 pages stitched by members of the Puget Sound community.  All Stitched Up recognizes and celebrates the work of book artists’ where stitching has become an integral part of the visual design.  Included in the exhibit are books from Ohio, Colorado, Minnesota, Texas, California, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Virginia, Utah, New Jersey, Iowa, Michigan, New York as well as Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Mexico and Germany.  In November we are sponsoring a one day Symposium, supported by the Chism Fund, and will be welcoming Diana Weymar back to campus, as well as Adele Patrick, a leader of the arts and founder of the Glasgow Scotland Women’s Library.  If you are interested in having one of these book/paper artists visit your class, please contact Jane Carlin.

Life Skills Collection:  A reminder that the library established a student Life Skills collection a few years ago.  This collection is maintained by librarian Katy Curtis and is located adjacent to the Learning Commons computers.  A guide to the collection is available at this link:  http://research.pugetsound.edu/c.php?g=528954&p=3617600

The purpose of the Life Skills Collection is to help students in college and beyond by providing information and resources for essential life skills in areas such as health and wellness, interpersonal relationships, finances, transitioning to college, developing cultural competency, understanding issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, and developing self-esteem and leadership skills.  On each page of the guide you will also find helpful links and additional information on University of Puget Sound services for specific topics.  This collection is growing!  Please send recommendations for either individual books or topical areas to Katy Curtis, Humanities Librarian at Collins Library.

Makerspace:  You can read about our new services and resources on our Makerspace Guide:  http://research.pugetsound.edu/makerspace.  If you know of a student group that might be interested in using the Makerspace for a standing meeting, please email: makerspace@pugetsound.edu.  If you are interested in holding a class session in the space, email the Makerspace or check in with your liaison librarian.  We can work on sessions focused on book, journal and zine making, team building, 3D printing, laser cutting and much more.

Celebrating Library Staff Accomplishments:

  • Congratulations to Peggy Burge: Peggy Burge has been appointed as our Interim Associate Director and her new office is Library 119.  Peggy will oversee public and access services in addition to maintaining her liaison work.
  • Digital Heritage Grant: The Collins Library has received a digital heritage grant from the State of Washington to digitize selected papers of the Abby Williams Hill collection.  Hill Archivist Laura Edgar will be the project manager.
  • Digital Narratives Grant/Council of Independent Colleges: We are winding up our grant work on developing approaches to oral history projects funded by the Council of Independent Colleges.  Please check in with Jane Carlin or Peggy Burge for details.
  • Excellence in Action Award: Congratulations to Humanities Librarian, Katy Curtis, for her excellence in action award.  Katy’s nominators praised her commitment to students and excellent teaching.
  • Copyright Questions: Librarian Andrea Klyn will be overseeing copyright concerns and questions.  Andrea recently attended a Copyright First Responders workshop sponsored by the Orbis Cascade Alliance.
  • Congratulations to Eli Gandour-Rood:  Eli was recognized during the recent Lavender Graduation event for his services and support of our students.

Need Information? Don’t forget the Collins Memorial Library – Library Guides
Questions? Contact your liaison librarian
Comments: Contact Jane Carlin, library director
Remember – Your best search engine is a librarian!

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The power of trying

To be our best selves, we must become secure in our insecurities. The Try Guys – Keith, Ned, Zach, and Eugene – reveal their philosophy of trying: how to fully embrace fear, foolishness, and embarrassment in an effort to understand how we all get paralyzed by a fear of failure. They’ll share how four shy, nerdy kids have dealt with their most poignant life struggles by attacking them head-on and reveal their sure-fail strategies for achieving success.

But they’re not just here to talk; they’re actually going to put their advice to work. To demonstrate their unique self-improvement formula, they’ll each personally confront their deepest insecurities. A die-hard meat-lover goes vegan for the first time. A straight-laced father transforms into a fashionista. A perpetually single sidekick becomes the romantic lead. A child of divorce finally grows more intimate with his family. Through their insightful, emotional journeys and surprising, hilarious anecdotes, they’ll help you overcome your own self-doubt to become the best version of yourself.

Find this and more in the Popular Reading Collection!

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Events/Exhibits in Collins Library – Fall 2019

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

  • September 3: Exhibit: All Stitched Up: An international juried book arts exhibition, September 3rd – December 11th, 2019, Collins Library University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
    To stitch is to join together, to mend, or fasten as with stitches – to sew. To stitch is to bring together fabric, paper, wounds of the body, or cultural divides. Stitching can be an act of healing, hope, practicality, creativity, and revolution. All Stitched Up recognizes and celebrates the work of book artists’ where stitching has become an integral part of the visual design. Curators Catherine Alice Michaelis, Jane A. Carlin, and Diana Weymar will jury the show and a print catalogue will be created.
  • September 10: AHSS Symposium, 3:30-5:00pm, Reading Room, Collins Library.
    Registration is required for this event and details concerning registration costs will be posted soon.
  • September 14: Lecture: A Mind at Work: May Morris and Subversive Stitching, 1:30-3:00pm, Collins Library Room 053 (lower level).  Due to limited seating, we are asking you to register for this lecture.  Please click on this link and follow the registration process:  https://pugetsoundbookartists.wildapricot.org/event-3503998/RegistrationIn this presentation, Dr. Wager will explore the work of May Morris (1862-1938), an accomplished designer, embroiderer, public speaker, writer, educator, advocate for social causes, and founder of the Women’s Guild of Arts. Morris’s legacy is tied to her father, William Morris, and his role as the leader of the British Arts and Crafts movement. Recent scholarship and exhibitions have excavated Morris’s embroidery designs, objects, writings, and her influence on artistic communities. This talk will focus on the objects of her creation, and how her works fits into a broader nineteenth-century history of stitching and revolutionary action.
    Anna Wager is the Clarence A. Davis Visual Arts Curator at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY. She directs the exhibition spaces on campus and manages the permanent collection. She also teaches courses related to cataloging, curatorial writing, exhibition design, and the history of museums, through the lens of 19th- and early 20th-century English and American art and material culture. She holds a PhD in art history from the University of Washington, and is a member of the William Morris Society board.
    This event is sponsored by the Collins Library, the William Morris Society in the United States and Puget Sound Book Artists.
  • September 14: All Stitched Up – Opening Celebration, 3:30–5:00pm, Collins Library, Link and Gallery Room.
  • September 24: Zine Reading Hour, 5:00-6:00pm, Archives Seminar Room, 2nd Floor Collins Library. Fall Zine Series: Join Collins Library for an informal series of events that celebrate zines and zine culture! Drop by to browse our collection of over 300 zines! We have zines on issues of identity, social justice, politics, fan culture, and much more.

OCTOBER

October 2: Making Zines, 5:00-6:00pm, Makerspace, Lower Level, Collins Library.
Fall Zine Series: Join Collins Library for an informal series of events that celebrate zines and zine culture! Come learn about the creative tools & resources in the Makerspace and join us in making a collaborative zine!

October 4:  Art & Archives in the Library, October 4th, 3:00-4:00pm, First Floor Collins Library.  Stop by the Collins Library and enjoy a guided tour of the two current art exhibits with Library Director, Jane Carlin. Interwoven Stories and All Stitched Up showcase contemporary book artists and stitching in an international exhibition of unique works.
Join Archivist & Special Collections Librarian Adriana Flores ‘13 in the Northwest Room and learn about the artist Abby Williams Hill, and enjoy a “pop-up” exhibit of Logger memorabilia and history. While you’re here, don’t forget to pick up a unique Logger keepsake! All activities on the first floor of the Library.

October 16:  Wandering Book Artists – Peter and Donna Thomas, 2:00–3:30pm, Archives Seminar Room, 2nd Floor Collins Library. Imagine living in a tiny home and moving across the country to share your art? That is exactly what the wandering book artists, husband and wife, Peter and Donna Thomas do. They will be visiting Collins to share their story and it should be an interesting one for sure!

NOVEMBER

November 1:  Tiny Pricks Project: Tweets, Textiles, and Trump, 4:00–5:30pm, Archives Seminar Room, 2nd Floor Collins Library.  There will be over 700 pieces at the time of the conference. To view pieces created to date, please follow the series on Diana Weymar. Tiny Pricks counterbalances the impermanence of Twitter, social media, and Trump’s overall approach to politics. Weymar, who lives in British Columbia,  is also the founder of Interwoven Stories, a collection of stitched pages that focus on personal narratives and stories.
The project is open for public participation until Trump is out of office and that the series can be followed on IG @tinypricksproject.
Diana is making a return visit to Puget Sound as she also was a visiting artist two years ago and contributed to the project Refashioning Identity, in which members of the Puget Sound community contributed stitched pages.  Pages from Tiny Pricks, Interwoven Stories and Refashioning Identify on display in the Collins Library in conjunction with the All Stitched Up exhibit.  Weymar served as one of the jurors of the exhibit.

As of October 14th, registration for this event has reached the maximum capacity. We appreciate your interest and remind you that the exhibition of Weymar’s work will be on display in the Collins Library until December 12, 2019.

November 2:  All Stitched Up Book Arts Symposium, 9:00-3:00pm, Collins Memorial Library and the Tahoma Room, Thomas Hall: University of Puget Sound.
Collins Memorial Library in collaboration with Puget Sound Book Artists is pleased to sponsor a one day Symposium associated with the All Stitched Up exhibition.
This one day event will focus on the creative process and feature a number of artists represented in the show.

November 12: ZAPP Zine Presentation by Seattle Public Library’s Abby Bass, 5:00-6:00pm, Archives Seminar Room, 2nd Floor Collins Library.
Fall Zine Series: Join Collins Library for an informal series of events that celebrate zines and zine culture! The ZAPP (Zine Archive & Publishing Project) Collection, part of the Seattle Public Library, contains over 30,000 zines, rninicornics, and other self-published and small press titles. Arts, Recreation & Literature Librarian Abby Bass will share more about this amazing collection.

Summer 2019 Events

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Collins Memorial Library acknowledges with respect the Lushootseed speaking peoples

The Collins Memorial Library acknowledges with respect the Lushootseed-speaking peoples on whose traditional land the university stands and the Puyallup peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

PDF document on land acknowledgement: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/consciouselders/pages/1529/attachments/original/1526921069/Honor_Native_Land_Guide.pdf?1526921069

To learn more about the Lushootseed and the Puyallup peoples, please consult these web sites:

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