General

46 new Spanish language children’s books were added to the Bowdoin Library collection to support the work of students enrolled in Professor Margaret Boyle’s Teaching and Learning Languages and Cultures class and an honors project by Katharine Barrett, Class of 2023, Multilingualism and Community Engagement. 

The titles were purchased from La Librería, Los Angeles, CA, and support the work of Bowdoin-led Multilingual Mainers.

Title list

A new seminar room is coming to Hawthorne-Longfellow Library this summer!  To support Special Collections & Archives’ active instruction program, a 16-person seminar room will be constructed adjacent to the department, on the north side of the 3^rd floor.  This dedicated space will significantly augment the ability of SC&A to meet the growing demands of its program, which reaches students and faculty across disciplines.

The room will provide

• secure, dedicated space for class sessions in which special collections materials can be used safely in a classroom setting.
• flexible, modular furniture to support a variety of instruction modes.
• technology to support working with objects, including a large LCD panel and laptop connection, and a document camera to project and magnify materials.
• a videoconferencing camera to support hybrid events and outside presentations.
• an adjacent anteroom with cubbies, where students can leave their belongings before entering the seminar room.
• an adjacent office/consultation space for the Special Collections Education and Engagement Librarian.

This project is the most recent of the library’s ongoing efforts to think creatively about how to mitigate the limitations of the current building.  We are continually balancing the competing needs of students, faculty, and staff, along with space for collections.  While the project will require the removal of a portion of shelving from the north side of the 3^rd floor, we are extremely fortunate to have the library Annex at our disposal.  Librarians have reviewed the collections shelved on the floor and have identified approximately 7000 volumes for relocation.  As is the case for all materials shelved at the Annex, these volumes will be requestable through the catalog and typically available for pick up on campus within 24 hours.

Over the course of the summer, the 3^rd floor will be shifted to rationalize the collections in call number order.  We do not anticipate any disruption in services while this work is underway.  The entire project—construction and collections shift—will be completed before the start of the coming academic year.

Any questions about the project can be directed to Marjorie Hassen, Director of the College Library.
mhassen@bowdoin.edu | (207) 725-3281

A Mindful Way to Prepare for Finals

Friday, May 13
Baldwin Center for Learning & Teaching, H-L Library 112

• Students are invited to come to the Baldwin CLT / H-L Library for a motivating space and time in preparation for finals. Sign up in CampusGroups or just drop in!
• Peer Academic Mentors, Q-Tutors and Writing Assistants will be available as resources throughout the 6-hour day in the BCLT (H-L Library 112).
• A Cave Day-dedicated research librarian will be available.
• BCLT professional staff Tina Chong and Lisa Flanagan will meet with students on a drop-in basis.
• H-L Library Fishbowl and Pierce Reading Room will be Quiet Cave spaces for uninterrupted work.
• Kick off your Cave Day with Kate Nicholson: yoga stretches at 10:15 a.m. and a motivation and focus meditation at 10:30 a.m.
• You are welcome to come and go anytime during this day. Giving yourself significant time to be productive is advisable.
• Snacks will be provided and raffles to win Bowdoin gift cards will occur throughout the day.
• Participating students may choose from giveaway gifts including Muji pens, stress putty and other fidget toys!

FMI: Tina Chong, Baldwin Center for Learning and Teaching, t.chong@bowdoin.edu

For National Poetry Week 2022, H-L Library invited Bowdoin faculty, staff, and students who are focused on STEM in their study and research to read a poem each day under the Calder mobile.

Monday, April 25
Sue O’Dell, Science Librarian, read Projection by Anna M. Evans.

Tuesday, April 26
Bhadra Mishra, ’24 read an Untitled poem about body hair, by Naina Kataria.

Wednesday, April 27
Dharni Vasudevan, Stanley F. Druckenmiller Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Studies and Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Inclusion, read 3 poems by Hafiz: And for No Reason , It Felt Love , and The Sun Never Says.

Thursday, April 28
Espoir Byishimo, ’22, read A Poem on Benjamin Franklin, author Unknown.

Friday, April 29
Eric Gaze, Director of Quantitative Reasoning Program and Senior Lecturer in Mathematics read Mysteries, Yes! by Mary Oliver.

Our Book Launch Series is Back!  Please mark your calendars and celebrate Bowdoin authors!
Hawthorne-Longfellow Library, 3rd Floor, Nixon Lounge
Thursdays at 4:30 p.m.

September 23, 2021
Barbara Elias, Associate Professor of Government
Why Allies Rebel: Defiant Local Partners in Counterinsurgency Wars

November 4, 2021
Margaret Boyle, Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures; she will be joined by her co-editor Sarah Owens, Professor of Hispanic Studies at The College of Charleston
Health and Healing in the Early Modern Iberian World: A Gendered Perspective

February 3, 2022
Thomas Baumgarte, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Physics
Numerical Relativity: Starting from Scratch

April 7, 2022
Angel Daniel Matos, Assistant Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
Media Crossroads: Intersections of Space and Identity in Screen Cultures

Open to faculty, staff, and students who have card access to H-L Library.

Workshops Offered This Fall for Endnote
and Zotero!

Attend a citation management workshop and learn how to…

• Automatically create citations in a variety of styles
• Manage collections of research materials
• Import citations directly from online resources

EndNote for Mac:
Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 2, 3:00 p.m.

EndNote for PC:
Thursday, Oct. 14, 12:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 3, 10:00 a.m.

Zotero:
Friday, Oct. 15, 10:00 a.m.
Thursday, Nov. 4, 2:00 p.m.

All sessions are held in the Electronic Classroom, Basement Level, H-L Library

For questions about EndNote, Zotero, and citation managers or to arrange an individual session, please contact: Karen Jung.

For citation management tools, please go to https://bowdoin.libguides.com/citationmanagement.

The Bowdoin College Library lost a beloved member of its family with the death of Judy Montgomery, who was killed in a tragic car accident along with her husband Paul D’Alessandro and their cherished dog Sparrow, on May 26^th in Lewiston.

Judy had retired from the college library in January 2017 after a remarkable 38-year career.  Her affiliation with Bowdoin began in the summer of 1978, when she was hired by then College Librarian Arthur Monke as a government documents assistant (the job category was Typist).  She and Paul had moved to Brunswick after both completed their library master’s degrees at Kent State University.  They had been inseparable since meeting during their first week as undergraduate students at Valparaiso University, where, I have come to learn, Paul patiently edited Judy’s papers and introduced her to his favorite poetry.  While Judy’s professional life was centered in the world of academic libraries, Paul’s career flourished at the Portland Public Library, where he served as a reference librarian specializing in government documents.  Playing to his considerable strengths, he was also the book selector for the poetry collection, a task he particularly relished.  In his work, Paul set a standard for professional excellence and camaraderie that made everyone feel part of the library family—patrons and colleagues alike.  He was both respected and loved throughout his tenure, and his rich sense of humor and boundless intellectual and natural curiosity were sorely missed when he departed after many years of service to the Portland community.

At Bowdoin, Judy’s abilities and talents were soon recognized, and it wasn’t long before she was moved from government documents into the professional position of Catalog Librarian.  In 1985 she was promoted to Assistant Librarian and then in 1994 promoted once again, this time by my immediate predecessor, Sherrie Bergman, to Associate Librarian.  With each new role, Judy’s engagement with the library both deepened and broadened.  Over the years she played a major part in shaping programs and services in reference, instruction, collections, and technology—including managing the project to implement the library’s first online catalog and coordinating the introduction of electronic databases to the campus.  She was also instrumental to library building projects, including the renovation of Hawthorne-Longfellow Library and the planning of the Hatch Science Library.  The annual Children’s Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., which she created and stewarded for 17 years, was a significant contribution to the community and brought her great joy.

There was little at the library that escaped Judy’s participation.  She twice served as Acting College Librarian and she was a key player in a number of collaborative Maine library initiatives, including the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin partnership (CBB) and the Maine Shared Collections Cooperative.  Over the course of her long tenure, she served the college as a member of multiple project teams, search committees, working groups, and task forces.  In recognition of her service, she was honored with the 2012 McKeen Center Staff Award for Commitment to Community, the 2013 Polar Award for Leadership, and, upon her retirement, the title of Associate Librarian Emerita.  Judy’s service was not limited to the library and the college, however.  She worked in many capacities on behalf of the broader Brunswick Community, most notably through her commitment to Tedford Housing, including serving on its board of directors.

As a leader, a colleague, and a member of the Bowdoin community, Judy consistently focused on furthering the library’s mission, with the college’s faculty and students at the forefront.  She strove for excellence and always had the best interest of the library and its users at heart.  She brought her intelligence, creativity, generous spirit, sound judgement, and resourcefulness to bear on everything she approached.  I can say without fear of exaggeration that her impact was felt in every nook and cranny of Hawthorne-Longfellow and the branch libraries.  Upon my arrival at Bowdoin in 2013, I immediately took note that the most-uttered phrase among the library’s staff was “ask Judy.”  And for months following her retirement, I was not alone in thinking “what would Judy do?” when a thorny issue presented itself.  This was due not only to the institutional knowledge Judy had developed over decades, but to the expectation that when turning to her, one could be assured of a reasoned, thoughtful response to a question or concern, as well as the offer of a helping hand.

Judy will be remembered for so many things—her passion, integrity, generosity, and sense of humor, and her dedication to Bowdoin, her deep respect for its faculty and love of its students.  Above all, she will be remembered for her humanity and compassion, and the many kindnesses she bestowed on others.

Judy’s extended community of friends and colleagues is left with a profound feeling of loss, particularly given the tragic, senseless accident that led to her and Paul’s deaths.  Each of us can derive solace from having had the privilege of knowing, working with, and learning from her, and can honor her memory by striving to model the way in which she lived her life.

–Marjorie Hassen, Director of the College Library, on behalf of the entire Bowdoin Library staff

Would you like to hear a story?

The Bowdoin College Library would like to delight, intrigue, comfort, and cheer you with “Read to Me,” a series of readings by Bowdoin College staff.  Each week, we will record and share a brief reading—poems, stories, artist’s books, and more.

The readings started in December 2020 and will continue through spring semester 2021.  Please enjoy listening on Instagram (@bowdoinlibrary), Facebook (Bowdoin College Library), or Twitter (@bowdoinlibrary).

National Poetry Month April 2021

For five consecutive days in April, while the college was enduring the COVID-19 crisis, Bowdoin students helped us celebrate National Poetry Month by reading a favorite poem live on Facebook.  We invite you to have a listen. Let these voices lighten your day.