*24 Hour study rooms in Herrick and Scholes are available anytime! Stop in to the service desk during library hours with your AU ID to receive the access code.
In observance of September as Color Blindness Awareness Month, Alfred University will be giving away two pairs of EnChroma glasses designed to help people with color blindness. EnChroma, the Berkeley, CA company co-founded by Alfred University alumnus Don McPherson ’84 M.S., ’88 PhD, donated the glasses to the University.
People can register for the free drawings—hosted by Alfred University Libraries—during Family Weekend/Homecoming, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Sept. 23 and 24. To enter, go to Herrick Memorial Library and Samuel R. Scholes Library—during the hours of operation listed below—where interactive EnChroma displays will provide information on color blindness and how the glasses were developed. Anyone who visits the display—students and their families, staff, faculty, alumni, local community members—can enter to win a pair of EnChroma glasses.
Visitors can also try on one of the pairs from the libraries’ circulating collection of EnChroma glasses. Herrick and Scholes libraries each have 10 pairs of the glasses, which can be checked out and borrowed for up to seven days.
Following are the hours of operation of Herrick and Scholes libraries during Homecoming/Family Weekend:
EnChroma was co-founded in 2010 by Don McPherson, a co-inventor of the EnChroma lens technology. McPherson, who earned master’s and doctoral degrees in glass science engineering from Alfred University, serves as EnChroma’s chief science officer.
There will be one drawing at Herrick and another at Scholes; people can enter both drawings. Registrants will be notified by Monday, September 26. Email: libraries@alfred.edu for more details.
Alfred University Libraries will host its first Team Trivia Night of the fall semester from 8 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10 in Herrick’s Bookend Lounge.
Returning as host of Team Trivia Night is Mike Allen of Elmira. His trivia questions cover a broad range of topics such as current events, sports, geography, and history. He intersperses his trivia questions with pop music, making for an enjoyable evening for those participating.
After a two-year Covid-induced hiatus, this will be the twelfth year that Mike has been hosting Team Trivia twice a semester at Herrick Library. He has also hosted at Hornell area restaurants for more than a decade.
Groups are welcome to come to compete as a team; individuals are also welcome to play either solo or to join others to compete for the prizes awarded to the top teams.
Pizza and soft drinks along with milk and cookies will be provided, free of charge, to all participants.
Additional Team Trivia events at Herrick Library have been scheduled for the 2022-23 academic year have been scheduled for Saturdays, Nov.10, Feb. 18, and April 15.
Stop by and check our AU Libraries’ Pride displays at Herrick and Scholes!
While supporting the voices of those in the LGBTQAI+ community is a year-round commitment, Pride Month presents an opportunity to really foreground the issues, ideas, and art of the LGBTQAI+ community.
Not only is Pride Month a time for celebration, but it is also a time for remembrance of the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City. This event, also known as the Stonewall Uprising, sparked a new wave of activism and tradition, which has grown over the past few decades.
According to the American Library Association, LGBTQ+ content is one of the most often cited reasons books are banned or challenged. Alfred University Libraries seek to be active partners in support of the LGBTQAI+ community, the freedom to read, and a welcoming and inclusive space for all. Here you can read the full AU Libraries Commitment to Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression including progress on our action items.
Examples of Materials on Display (stop by for more!)
Below are some of the voices on display through June. Stop into either Herrick or Scholes Library for more materials and resources!
Spanning 125 years, Art and Queer Culture is the first major historical survey to consider the ways in which the codes and cultures of homosexuality have provided a creative resource for visual artists. Attempts to trouble the conventions of gender and sexuality, to highlight the performative aspects of identity and to oppose the tyranny of the normal are all woven into the historical fabric of homosexuality and its representation. From Oscar Wilde to Ryan Trecartin, from the molly houses of eighteenth-century London to the Harlem drag balls of the 1920s, the flamboyant refusal of social and sexual norms has fueled the creation of queer art and life throughout the modern period.
The Gay and Lesbian Guide to College by John Baez, Jennifer Howd, Rachel Pepper and Princeton Review
Herrick Memorial Library Display LB2343.32 B225 2007 A practical guide to higher education addresses the specific challenges confronting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students during their college career, covering such topics as how to select a college, dorm life, activism, health resources, support networks, and issues and resources for LGBT youth of color.
Herrick Memorial Library Display HQ76.965 .G38 B78 2016
On June 28, 1970, two thousand gay and lesbian activists in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago paraded down the streets of their cities in a new kind of social protest, one marked by celebration, fun, and unashamed declaration of a stigmatized identity. Forty-five years later, over six million people annually participate in 115 Pride parades across the United States.
Herrick Memorial Library Display HQ76.3 .U5 H3695 2009
In television shows such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and movies like Brokeback Mountain, as well as gay young adult novels and other media coverage of queer people – including the outing of several prominent Republicans – queer lives are becoming more visible in the media and in U.S. culture more generally. How does the increasing visibility of queer subjects within mainstream culture affect possibilities for radical and transformative queer activism?
Herrick Memorial Library DisplayHQ73.3 .U6 A44 2019
In Real Queer America, Allen takes us on a cross-country road trip stretching all the way from Provo, Utah, to the Rio Grande Valley to the Bible belt and to the Deep South. Her motto for the trip: ‘Something gay every day.’ Making pit stops at drag shows, political rallies, and hubs of queer life across the heartland, she introduces us to extraordinary LGBT people working for change, including the first openly transgender mayor in Texas, a bisexual activist in Mississippi, the manager of the only queer bar in Bloomington, Indiana, and many more. Along the way, Allen weaves in her own moving story of discovering her identity, venturing out of the closet, meeting her wife, and creating a national network of chosen family.
Herrick Memorial Library Display HQ76.8 .U5 D85 2019
On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village, was raided by police. But instead of responding with the routine compliance the NYPD expected, patrons and a growing crowd decided to fight back. The five days of rioting that ensued changed forever the face of gay and lesbian life. In Stonewall, renowned historian and activist Martin Duberman tells the full story of this pivotal moment in history. With riveting narrative skill, he recreates those revolutionary, sweltering nights in vivid detail through the lives of six people who were drawn into the struggle for LGBTQ rights.
We Are Here presents the bold and nuanced work of Black and Brown visionaries transforming the art world, with a particular focus on queer, trans and nonbinary artists. This collection features fifty of the most influential voices in New York, Los Angeles, and beyond. Striking photography of art, creative spaces, materials, and the subjects themselves is paired with intimate interviews that engage with each artist and influencer, delving into their creative process and unpacking how each subject actively works to create a more radically inclusive world across the entire art ecosystem.
Zanele Muholi by Zanele Muholi, Sarah Allen, & Yasufmi Nakamori
Scholes Library Display NH681.H65 M842 2020
Born in South Africa in 1972, Zanele Muholi came to prominence in the early 2000s with photographs that sought to envision black lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and intersex lives beyond deviance or victimhood. Muholi’s work challenges hetero-patriarchal ideologies and representations, presenting the participants in their photographs as confident and beautiful individuals bravely existing in the face of prejudice, intolerance, and, frequently, violence.
Additional Resources
Below are resources for those looking to further their education, join the community, and keep Pride going all year long!
AU Libraries are hosting extended hours (see schedule below) in preparation for Final Exams. Starting Sunday, May 1st Herrick and Scholes Libraries will be offering free coffee, tea, and cocoa along with cookies to fuel your studying.
There are numerous reservable study rooms, group study areas, and walk-in spaces (no reservation required!) Rooms can be reserved here: Room Reservations
In addition, both Herrick and Scholes have 24-hour-access study spaces. These spaces are for AU students only, so show your AU ID at the front desk of Herrick or Scholes to obtain keycode access to these spaces.
Extended Library Hours for Final Exams Spring 2022:
Library Student Workers Well Represented at Undergraduate Research Forum
Congratulations to all the presenters at this year’s Undergraduate Research Forum held on April 28th, 2022! The event is always an impressive showcase of student talent. Presentation topics ranged from adoption agency discrimination against LGTBQ+ families, grain size analysis of Bahamian beach sand to lab synthesis of Mesopotamian glass. Dean of Libraries Brian Sullivan and Director of Libraries Mechele Romanchock made sure to visit all presenters who work in Herrick Memorial Library and Samuel R. Scholes Library and hear about their work.
Scholes Library student employees pictured below: Josiah Alexander, Jaron Cheatham, Quinn Fowler, Tim Mayo, Michael Reid, and Molly Smith.
Herrick Library student employees pictured below: Daniel Farchione, Jocelyn Quintas, Eddie Sawin.
Eddie Swain (2nd from r) and co-presentersJaron CheathamJocelyn QuintasMolly SmithMichael ReidTim Mayo
This past fall semester, Haleigh Youll joined the Alfred University Libraries as our newest team member, taking on the role of Public Services Assistant. She is quickly making her mark in the libraries! You may have seen her at the service desk of Herrick Memorial Library or one of her displays in the BookEnd Lounge.
What was your background before Alfred University? I graduated from Olean Highschool in 2017 and completed my undergraduate degree at Alfred University in December of 2020. I am currently taking classes online through the University at Buffalo for a Master of Library and Information Science and am planning to graduate in the spring of 2023.
I have had so many different jobs over the years, ranging from assisting teachers for dance classes, daycare, substitute teaching and even cleaning horse stalls for barns. As far as library experience goes, I was a work-study student in both of the Alfred University Libraries throughout my time as an undergrad. I loved every minute of it. After college, I spent some time working in public libraries but was eventually sucked back into the world of college libraries. As a bonus, I am also currently an Instructional Support Assistant at Alfred State College’s Hinkle Memorial Library too!
What interests you about your current position?
I think what interests me the most is how diverse my role can be throughout the libraries. I feel like I always have different projects to work on and can learn so many different skills. One day I could be working on a project to meet the needs of our student workers and the next I could be creating a display.
What social media platforms do you use?
I think most of the population fell on the TikTok train shortly after the pandemic hit so I would be lying if I said this wasn’t my most used social media app. While I don’t make any videos myself, I love to add funny sounds to videos of my dog Butters (@buildingbutters).
Can you share one of your research tips?
One of my favorite things to do when tackling a large amount of reading or research is using the search function (ctrl+F) and looking for keywords through the document. If I find the article looks highly valuable to the research or assignment, I am completing I’ll go back and read the whole thing. If not, I pass.
Do you have any advice for current Alfred University students?
Take the time to build relationships with your professors. Don’t be afraid to attend office hours or stay after class to ask a question. I know some of my favorite conversations and some of the best advice has come from stopping in to see a professor during their downtime.
What do you like to do for fun outside of work?
I am an animal lover at heart, so if I am not at work, I am spending quality time with my horse Chap, dog Butters or two cats Stella and Otis. The ideal day would be a long cold morning at the barn with Chap followed by an afternoon nap with Butters and the cats.
What is something new you would like to learn?
I will be moving into a new house very shortly that has a greenhouse in the backyard. I am hoping to learn how to manage a small garden. I think I am going to start out with pumpkins, yellow squash, and cucumbers but even that intimidates me.
What do you appreciate about the Alfred campus and community?
I appreciate how welcoming and family-like the Alfred area is. I have never walked down the street without seeing someone smile, or even entered a store without hearing a hello. Sometimes, if I’m having a rough day and take a walk around town and people watch because I know the energy of everyone else will make it better.
Good luck with your finals! You’ve worked hard this semester and this is the home stretch.
AU Libraries are hosting extended hours in preparation for Final Exams (see schedule below). Starting Thursday, Dec. 2nd Herrick and Scholes Libraries will be offering free coffee, tea, and cocoa along with cookies to fuel your studying.
There are numerous reservable study rooms, group study areas, and walk-in spaces (no reservation required!) Rooms can be reserved here: https://alfred.libcal.com…
In addition, both Herrick and Scholes have 24-hour-access study spaces. These spaces are for AU students only, so show your AU ID at the front desk of Herrick or Scholes to obtain keycode access to these spaces.
Extended Library Hours for Final Exams 2021:
Scholes Library: Thursday, Dec. 2nd 8:00 am – 12:00 am Friday, Dec. 3rd 8:00 am – 9:00 pm Saturday, Dec. 4th 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm Sunday, Dec. 5th 12:00 pm – 10:00 pm Monday, Dec. 6th 8:00 am – 12:00 am Tuesday, Dec. 7th 8:00 am – 12:00 am Wed., Dec. 8th 8:00 am – 12:00 am Thursday, Dec. 9th 8:00 am – 12:00 am Friday, Dec. 10th 8:00 am-4:30 pm Saturday, Dec. 11th Closed Sunday, Dec. 12th Closed
Herrick Memorial Library: Thursday, Dec. 2nd 8:00 am – 1:00 am Friday , Dec. 3rd 8:00 am – 11:00 pm Saturday, Dec. 4th 2:00 pm – 11:00 pm Sunday, Dec. 5th 2:00 pm – 1:00 am Monday, Dec. 6th 8:00 am – 1:00 am Tuesday, Dec. 7th 8:00 am – 1:00 am Wed., Dec. 8th 8:00 am – 1:00 am Thursday, Dec. 9th 8:00 am – 1:00 am Friday, Dec. 10th 8:00 am – 4:30 pm Saturday, Dec. 11th Closed Sunday, Dec. 12th Closed
Alfred University Libraries has a new, primary source collection: Black Life in America from NewsBank. This electronic resource explores the African-American experience as recorded by the news media from 1704-1975. Black Life in America includes over 400 African-American publications and draws resources from over 19,000 U.S. and global news sources. The collection offers perspective into centuries of African-American history and culture.
The new Black Life in America database is part of AU Libraries’ ongoing commitment to create more inclusive collections via actively adding the work of BIPOC scholars to library collections and adding resources to support anti-oppression research and work.
The Black Life in America interface can be explored via traditional searching methods, such as using keywords and Boolean operators—it can also be searched via location, using a map to identify and narrow down publications from specific regions and locales.
Black Life in America groups resources into the following historical eras: Arrival in America (Beginning-1783), Antebellum (1784-1860), Civil War (1861-1865), Reconstruction (1866-1877), Jim Crow (1878-1922), Great Migration (1923-1944), and Civil Rights Movement (1945-1975). Within each era, users can find curated information of activist groups and protests, court decisions, education, government, labor, laws and legislation, literature and the arts, military, notable people, religion, science and technology, society and culture, and unrest and acts of violence. There is also era-specific curated information within each historical section.
For more information on how to search and navigate the Black Life in America database, please watch the following video from NewsBank: https://bit.ly/3isu1Iq.
Alfred University Libraries welcomes Melina Sanchez as the Evening Reference Assistant in Scholes Library. As an AU Alum and a former Library Student Assistant herself, Melina is very familiar with the academic needs of college students. In the role of Evening Reference Assistant, she is responsible for library services, assisting students with their research questions and facilitating the use of Scholes Library as well as acting as a supervisor and job mentor to the student employees working evening shifts. Melina brings a strong commitment to customer service and student development to the role.
Q&A with Melina
Melina Sanchez
What was your background before Alfred University?
I graduated from Alfred University in May 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and a minor in Writing. During my sophomore year, I began my journey as a student worker at Herrick Library and then was promoted as a student supervisor during my Senior Year. Currently, I work in the Social Work arena and as the Evening Reference Assistant in Scholes Library.
What interests you about your current position?
What interests me about my current position is being able to work with college students and help them grow in their college journey. Also, being a resource to the college campus and community.
Do you have any advice for current Alfred University students?
Don’t underestimate the seasons you go through; they prepare you for what’s ahead and always enjoy a good laugh.
What do you like to do for fun outside of work?
Outside of work I enjoy writing, listening to music, and spending time with family and friends.
What is something new you would like to learn?
I would like to learn gardening and baking.
What do you appreciate about the Alfred campus and community?
I appreciate how welcoming the Alfred community and campus are and the different opportunities the town provides for individuals to grow.