“Since the IMU is closed this semester, we’ve seen a lot more students studying in the library,” says Kathy Magarrell, Head of Reference and Library Instruction. “When students are here studying they need food. Especially on Sunday afternoons when there are few other options nearby.”

Frost will focus his exhibit pieces on “Saving Collections: Storm and Salvage” and “Saving Collections: Recovery and Protection.”

The Gallery Walk is Friday, October 3 from 5-8 p.m. in downtown Iowa City.

Mark Sandler, Director, Center for Library Initiatives, Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) will give this year’s library speaker series presentation on Wednesday, October 1at 10 a.m. in the Senate Chamber of the Old Capitol.

The “if’ here suggests we need to be doing some things now to assure the future well-being of our nation’s libraries.  First and foremost, we have to look beyond the past glory days of the local library and visualize what services will be relevant and desirable at a time when readers everywhere will have myriad opportunities for accessing needed information.  Libraries should be flourishing in 2020, but they need to get busy dreaming up their futures before the tides of change start overflowing the banks. 

A reception will follow the presentation in the North Exhibit Hall in the Main Library at 11:30 a.m.

Hey! Rock the Vote! Here’s a link to the MySpace/ Rock the Vote / College Bowl challenge:  www.myspace.com/ultimatecollegebowl.  Right now Iowa State is in the top ten, while UIowa isn’t even on the board.  We can’t let those Cyclones beat us!

What issues are important to you?  Environment?  Education?  Economy? Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? Constitutional rights?  In the last presidential  election, Iowa chose the winner by fewer than 11,000 votes—one third of the University of Iowa student population.  It’s your decision, your voice, your vote.

These are a few of the reasons that UI Libraries is making available Johnson County Voter Registration Forms, online voter information, and election resources in the UI Libraries collection http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/govpubs/us/elections.html .

Print the form online, or pick up the form in the Main Library.  Don’t have a stamp?  We’ll take it to the Johnson County Auditor’s Office for you.

When is Election Day? November 4, 2008

Who’s eligible to register to vote in Johnson County, IA?
If you are the person named on the voter registration form
If you’ll be 18 years of age by election day
If you are not currently judged by a court to be “incompetent to vote”
If you do not claim the right to vote anywhere else
If you have not been convicted of a felony (or have received a restoration of rights)
If you are a citizen of the United States
If you live at the address listed on your voter registration form

When is the deadline for Voter Registration?
5 p.m. Saturday, October 25.

Can I register to vote on Election Day?
Yes, but you’ll need to provide proof of local residence and identity.  If your Iowa driver’s license has an old address you can use a lease agreement, utility bill, bank statement as proof of residence.  If you don’t have an Iowa drivers license, you may use a photo identification card such as an out of state drivers license, student i.d., passport, or i.d.  issued by an employer as proof of identity.  However, it is recommended to register to vote in advance  to avoid long, slow moving lines on Election Day. Here’s the election day registration procedure.

Von also serves on the Hubbard Task Force for the Retention and Success of African American Men Associated with the University of Iowa.

The mission of the African American Council (AAC ) is to promote and improve the quality of life of African American faculty, staff and students at the University of Iowa. The African American Council is poised to address the changing needs and concerns of African Americans on campus.

To this end, through service and action, the AAC promotes awareness of important African American concerns and contributions to the University, while advancing the University’s commitment to diversity and academic excellence.

Wednesday, September 24
1:45 AM
4:00 PM
8:00 PM

Thursday, September 25
4:00 AM
5:00 PM

Monday, September 29
2:45 AM

Friday, October 3, 2008
6:30 PM

Additional playbacks will be scheduled later.

On Tuesday, September 9, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. in Room 107 EPB, Masahiko Shimada will host a screening of the 2004 opera Jr. Butterfly (a sequel to Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, that tells of the tragic romance of Butterfly’s son). Mr. Shimada will give an introduction to this opera, for which he wrote the libretto to music composed by Shigeaki Saegusa. The originalperformance was recorded at the 2006 Puccini Festival. Mr. Shimada will also be available to answer questions.

Mr. Shimada is (b. 1961) is an award-winning author, one of the most decorated writers and commentators in Japan today. In addition to writing numerous fiction publications, Shimada founded and directed a successful theater group during the 1990s and continues to work in performing arts. He currently teaches at Hosei University. In June-July of this year he presented a television lecture series on opera (eight 25-minute programs), which was broadcast by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation.

University of Iowa Libraries - along with university and community partners  -  has invited the national StoryCorps Project to collect and preserve these stories of everyday heroism and kindness in a program titled, “Under the Current: Collecting Stories from the Flood.”

“We have a responsibility to preserve the experiences of every day people who were touched in profound ways by this historic flood,” said Nancy L. Baker, University Librarian. “This project is a perfect way to say ‘Thank you’ to everyone, whether they volunteered to help save books or photos, sand-bagged, helped a neighbor or simply persevered through surviving the flood. Even more important, however, it that this project preserves people’s stories so that future generations will know first-hand what happened during this significant time.”

Those who would like to share their flood stories or who would like to nominate a pair to interview one another - can call 319-335-5069 or visit: www.lib.uiowa.edu/events/floodstories. The deadline to sign up is Sunday, Sept. 21.

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to take home and share, and is also preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Over 40,000 people have recorded their stories with StoryCorps and millions listen to the broadcasts on public radio and on the Web. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind. 

The local project will include opportunities for 36 pairs of people from the local community – or a total of 72 people - to be interviewed to share their experiences either during or after the flood.

Interviews will be conducted Tuesday, Sept. 30 through Saturday, Oct. 11 with both the StoryCorps staff and local UI student facilitators who are enrolled in Applied Anthropology with Nanette Barkey, assistant anthropology professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Interviews will be held at University of Iowa Main Library as well as at the Iowa City and Coralville Public Libraries.

Interviews are conducted in the following format: two people who know one another and have a shared experience or memories related to the flood, will interview each other for 40 minutes, with a facilitator on-hand to help if needed. These interviews will be archived at the UI Libraries. Interviews conducted with StoryCorps staff will also be archived in the Library of Congress.

Nicole Saylor, Head of Digital Library Services at the University of Iowa, said that the most compelling stories come from two people who have a close connection to one another.

“All you need is a good story and someone to help you tell it,” Saylor said. “The best stories come from conversations between family members, friends or co-workers.”

David McCartney, University Archivist said that many participants in StoryCorps interviews describe the experience as a powerful catharsis as well.

 “Whether it’s a mother and son, two neighbors, a professor and a student or good friends, the most powerful stories come from two people who know one another well,” McCartney said. “Many participants describe this as a way to re-live an experience that may have been happy and exciting or harrowing and painful – but either way, they are incredibly important experiences to preserve for future generations.”

For more information on StoryCorps, visit: http://www.storycorps.net/.

On Aug. 6, 1945, Kajimoto was a student directed to work in an airplane parts factory 2.3 kilometers from the epicenter of where the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Kajimoto is speaking across the Midwest as part of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation’s goal to warn about the future destructive use of nuclear weapons.

Foundation Chairman Steven Lloyd Leeper will speak about the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the call for disarmament. He is a well-known peace activist and the first American to head the foundation. A reception will follow the talk.

“As a Japanese studies librarian in Iowa, I find that there is much about Japanese history and culture that I would like to share with my friends and colleagues here,” says the UI Libraries’ Chiaki Sakai, who helped arrange the presentation. “When I learned about the opportunity from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum to have an atomic bomb survivor visit campus, I thought it could be a way for people learn from her dramatic experiences.”

This talk is sponsored by and in cooperation with the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum. UI sponsors include: the UI Libraries, Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, International Writing Program, the Bose Lecture Series of the Department of Political Science, Department of History, the UI Center for Human Rights and International Programs. Individual sponsors include Yozo Iwashita, Sakuragaoka Junior High School, Teiji Okada, the Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (HANWA), Mariko Mizugaki, Shinichi Kishi, the Hiroshima Peace Action Center, the Hiroshima Council against A- and H-bombs, Iwane Fujii, Takashi Yamaguchi and Yumi Ozaki.

Creative, skilled, highly technical position designing web and print projects for the University of Iowa Libraries. Work as a member of a communications team that connects students, faculty/staff and general public to UI Libraries resources and services. Responsibilities: designs and implements innovative approaches to web communication for the UI Libraries’ website… (for the complete description).