Thursday, December 4, 2008

Two weeks to go...





Only two weeks to go until we see the end of our 2008 Fall Semester! Hard to believe (as always!) how fast the weeks have slipped by... Students here are busy with final projects, last minute papers, and registering for the next semester which starts on January 12, 2009.


Continuing from the last blog posting, I am happy to share a photo of me holding our new grandson, Braden Andrew. So, this is what a new grandma looks like - and I couldn't be more delighted!


The Library continues to be a hub of activity... We have a new Art Gallery display installed, this time the featured artists are students enrolled in Mesabi's "Digital Photography" class and the "Drawing I" and "Drawing II" classes. Here's a sample of the wonderful works of art produced by our students this semester... These works will be on display in the Library Art Gallery until January 30, 2009.

The Digital Photography class is taught online by instructor Talicia Lerfald, and the Drawing I and II courses are taught on campus by instructor Richard Saukko. These classes will be offered again this coming Spring semester. Unleash your creative talents and enroll in one of these great classes!! You can contact Enrollment Services at http://www.mr.mnscu.edu/

The Library will also be hosting a Reading Open House on Tuesday, December 9 from 2pm - 4pm. This session will feature students in Carmen Seppa's Writing I (ENGL1511) class reading some of their best personal essays written this semester! Drop in anytime during the reading session and listen to some excellent essays while enjoying coffee and treats!


Mesabi's Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society is undertaking a extremely worthwhile project in collaboration with the Library and with BetterWorld Books, a social-profit agency. Starting next week (December 8) PTK will be conducting a book drive, collecting unused and unwanted textbooks, fiction books, children's books, and other books from students, faculty and staff.
This book drive comes just in time to capture the textbooks that often fall into the Dumpster when students are trying to sell their books at the end of the semester, only to find that the book-buyers have no market for them. Instead of ending up in the trash, these textbooks, and all other materials gathered, will be collected, screened, sorted, boxed and shipped to BetterWorld Books. BWB in turn sells the most "sales worthy" books, with our PTK group receiving a portion of the profits for their service group. Other books are sent to BWB for distribution to our "literacy partner" Room To Read, which provides books to schools and libraries in several southeast Asian countries.
Here are the PTK members, gathered in the Library, to plan the strategy for their BetterWorld Books book drive...

Books not acceptable for the BetterWorld Books program will be collected and delivered to the AAUW group at Hibbing Community College, and sold at their annual Book Sale next February. Proceeds from the AAUW sale also go toward literacy programs.

If you have books that are in good condition and would like to donate them to this wonderful project to support world literacy, please bring them to the Mesabi College Library anytime before February 1, 2009!
This Blog may be a bit neglected next semester, as I have been granted a sabbatical for Spring 2009! I have lots of projects I want to tackle, catch up on the professional reading I never have time for, and do some traveling to other college libraries. Of course, I'll leave plenty of time for snuggling that new grandbaby!
Enjoy the Christmas season!