Library Groundbreaking

On a gorgeous Spring afternoon Union University held a groundbreaking ceremony to symbolically begin the process of building a new library. The groundbreaking was held at 5pm. There was an Invocation Dr. Gene C. Fant and then some dedicatory readings by Anna Beth Morgan (The Library Director), Gary Carter (Business Services), Student Leaders Karl Magnuson and Melanie Taylor and finally Norm Hill from the board of trustees. Then everyone sang the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness" followed by President Dockery's expressions of appreciation. After the dirt was ceremonially turned over the University Provost Carla D. Sanderson offered a prayer of dedication and every one sang the Doxology acknowledging that all blessings flow from God.

A video from news Channel Ch. 7 reporting the groundbreaking is embedded below. You can check out many photos of the groundbreaking on our Library's facebook page.

This groundbreaking was the symbolic beginning of construction on Union's new library which will begin later this year. The impetus for the library was a very generous donation by The Bill & Carol Latimer foundation. In light of this Union has launched a library capital campaign to help raise the funds to see this project to completion. You can find out more about the library campaign and how it can be supported here.

As President Dockery stated this new library "will serve as a complete academic resource center to serve the research and resource needs of a 21st century academic community". The library staff is extremely enthusiastic about this new facility and how it will help us to meet the need of student and faculty at Union.

National Library Week & Groundbreaking

This week is National Library Week and so we at the Emma Waters Summar Library at Union are really excited to celebrate! National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It was first sponsored by the American Library Association in 1958. "It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use".

At Union we can celebrate National Library week this year in a big way because tomorrow at 5pm Union University will hold a groundbreaking ceremony to start building a new library. The entire University and to be sure the library staff have been hopefully anticipating a new library. It has been encouraging for all of us to watch this project move forward from it conception and now to this symbolic ceremony. As President Dockery has said this is a "hopeful and meaningful indicator for the Union community that the project continues to move forward". So for us at the Summar Library there is no better time to have this ceremony than National Library Week.


Another cool that is going on is that Proquest (A major provider of library resources) is offering many valuable databases free this week. That is really something cool to explore. You can explore over 26,000 eBook titles through eBrary or do some research with Historical Black Newspapers. You can try some of the free Proquest resources here.
So Happy National Library Week Union!

Memphis Library Trip

Central stairway at SW Tenn Community College

This past Friday a few us from the library, Anna Beth, Jenny and myself traveled to Memphis to visit a few recently built and quite impressive libraries. We brought along with us Jon Abernathy, director of disability services, who not only made the trip more fun but also helped us think about how we can serve those at Union with disabilities.  The libraries that we visited were Southwest Tennessee Community College, Rhodes College and The University of Memphis Law Library. Here is a link where you can view all of the photos that I took on the trip. Memphis Library Photos. There are a few things that I take away from the trip. 1) Regardless of how beautiful and spacious the library building, librarians always have to think about how they use that space to best serve the students, faculty and other library users. 2) Traditional and even sacred architecture can help students feel more connected to the their studies and the higher ideals of a university. 3) The final thing is that students want a variety of comfortable seating and study space to interact with peers and with technology.

Library Chess Table

Aside from these major thematic issues of how libraries can be built to best serve a University community there a few things that I saw at these libraries that I thought were cool. One was upscale modular or moveable offices with frosted glass that both maintain privacy and allow the librarian like myself to be available to the public. Another was a chess table in the library. Having a chess table in the library is a great idea in my opinion if it could be well done and used. Outside seating would be nice. There was a roof terrace at the University of Memphis Law Library where students could sit outside on a nice day and study. Finally, a café area that  is open late or even all night that provides drinks and food to students as they write those papers and prepare for those exams could be a great use of space. Rhodes College was doing a great job with their café; as you can see below that it was busy. Also notice in the photo the moveable white board. This was available for students to use for group study and I think these are also a great idea.

Busy Library Café at Rhodes College

Overall the trip to Memphis was really eye opening. I am thankful to Anna Beth for giving us this opportunity to experience other library buildings as we think about moving to a new space at Union. I think we learned a lot about the library as space and how we can think about our services to best meet the needs of the Union community. While books will be an important part of libraries for years to come, libraries will also be really interactive spaces that incorporate a lot of group and individual seating and technology. These sorts of things can make the library the heart of an academic community.

Cardinal & Cream Article on The New Library

Amelia Krauss had done a great job in reporting on the announcement of a new library at Union. Below is the original article published in the Cardinal & Cream on October 6, 2011.

A New Home for the Library at Union

Union University's Emma Waters Summar Library is entering into an exciting new era in which a new, state-of-the-art library building will provide students with opportunities to study in new ways and take advantage of new technology.
Take a quick look at the official detailed plans for the new library on Union's campus here.
You'll find links to updated information, including comments from Dr. Dockery, the video embedded above that details the future of the university's library, frequently asked questions, and floor plans.
You also can read about the history of Union libraries and find out more about how to give to the fundraising effort.
For instance, anyone can donate online, and a pledge card can be accessed on the site.
Did you know that every dollar given or pledged can be doubled when donated under certain conditions? Find out more here.
Did you know that the new library building would house 60,000 square feet of space (the current facility is half that size) for holdings, meeting rooms, video conferencing, a writing center and more? Even a cafe also could be included on-site.
There's a lot to look forward to, so visit the official site to learn more. In the meantime, we hope that you will visit the current library to find out how we can assist you.

Library Director Discusses the New Library

In this episode of the Summar Library Podcast Paul and I introduce and interview Anna Beth Morgan, the director of the library. She discusses her coming to Union and the earliest mentions of the possibility of a new library. She then discusses the time line of recent events including the announcement of a library feasibility study this past December, the preparations of the library staff for a new library and this past Friday’s announcement that the board of trustees have approved Union University to go ahead with the library project,hoping to break ground one year from now. Anna Beth discussed attending library building conferences and visiting other academic libraries to understand more about trends in library building projects today. We discussed the potential for having a heritage room in the library, possibly a café and even a family study area. We also thanked and bid farewell to our graduating student library employees.

New Library Space!

The empty space beyond Miller Tower where the future library will be. Photo. 5/3/2011

Many of us here in the Summar library feel very privileged to be a part of Union University. I felt that Union was a special place when I first visited the campus last spring to interview. It was clear at that time as an outsider that Union was headed in a positive direction.  I believe that the leadership  at Union is making great decisions contributing to our growth and ability to work towards academic excellence. Last spring after reading "Renewing Minds", it was clear to me that Union was headed in a strong direction to build an excellent, christ-centered institution of higher learning. 

It was exciting news this past Friday when the board of trustees approved a plan that would look to have the new library completed by 2013. You can read about the board of trustees meeting and all of the exciting news in the Union Press Release.  You can also read the announcement in the Jackson Sun Press Release.

Many might ask the question, "with so many resources available online, why do we need a new library building?". With everything going digital many have wondered what the future of the academic library will be. I have tried to answer this question in a post that was written back in August in which I outlined the library as web, services and space. I think President Dockery has made a statement that looks to the future and defines the library as "not only a warehouse for books, but a technological center that connects students and scholars with other research opportunities that would not have been possible even a decade ago”. Statements like these show that President Dockery has an exciting vision for what the library can be in the digital age. As a librarian I am willing to follow this vision.

In fact all of us at The Summar Library are happy to be part of this project with the direction provided by Dr. Dockery, Provost Sanderson and all of Union's leadership. We hope to do all that we can to make this a successful library project for our students and faculty.