How was the Gardner-Harvey Library used in 2019/20?

Here are the full annual stats from fiscal year 2020 (the 2019/20 academic year) for several of the Gardner-Harvey Library's (GHL) services. I hope you will find them useful to see how people use the library. 

This was, of course, quite a crazy year.  With the advent of COVID-19, the library was closed along with the Middletown campus and the University in March 2020 (our last open day was March 16, which meant we lost 75 scheduled days in the building (30% of our total days for the year)).  That did impact many of our library services, though we managed to continue our services alongside our Hamilton campus colleagues and in cooperation with our colleagues in Oxford.  We are grateful for everyone's patience with us as we moved to work from home and serve your research needs in the midst of Spring Semester.

These statistics reflect what happened between July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. Some stats we keep locally, others we pull from university-wide or OhioLINK-wide systems, and some are provided by database vendors.

Read on for full details on these and other activities.


On Average
Taking the statistics below and guesstimating a total Middletown community of 2000 students, faculty and staff members (and including community patrons), here's what can be said about the average person on campus. She:

- checks out nearly three items from the library each year (reserves and local/MU/OhioLINK collection items)
- visits the library 17 times per year
- accesses the library web site nearly 7 times per year.
- participates in a library instruction session or an embedded librarian course once per year (if she is a student).

Now on to the detailed analysis!

Both a Borrower and a Lender Be
- GHL patrons checked out 1,547 books and DVDs from us (695 from our local collection, 357 ordered from other MU libraries, and 495 items ordered from OhioLINK - that means that 55% of the items used by campus patrons came from libraries beyond GHL). That is a 49% decrease in total borrowing over 2018-2019. 

- The GHL collection registered 3,149 checkouts (that's the 695 items checked out by Middletown patrons above, plus 1,630 items sent to OhioLINK users, and 824 sent to other MU libraries - that means that 78% of the uses of our materials came from libraries beyond GHL). That is a 29% decrease in total lending over 2018-2019. 

- GHL patrons checked out 2,544 reserve items from us (this includes faculty-placed course reserves, textbooks on reserve, study rooms, laptops, iPads, and other equipment). That is a 26% decrease from 2018-2019. Textbooks on reserve checkouts totaled 458 in 2019-20, a decrease of 13% from 2018-19.

- In terms of building up our collection, Middletown faculty, staff, and students ordered 1730 items to add to our collection this year. That is a 17% decrease from 2018-2019.  

- We registered a total of 5,693 checkouts of items in our collection (reserves and circulating materials). The circulating items at GHL number 32,269, so each item in the collection circulated 0.18 times this year (all items in our library circulate). 


The Quest for Information
- 56 people visit our web site every day. That's a total of 13,477 visits for the year, by 3,909 unique individuals. That's a 34% decrease in visits and an 27% decrease in unique visitors from 2018-2019.
- Gardner-Harvey Librarians also create and maintain subject guides to our databases and other information sources called LibGuides.  In 2019-20, we were responsible for 85 LibGuides, either individually or in cooperation with our colleagues at the Rentschler Library in Hamilton or University Libraries in Oxford.  Those guides received a total of 15,798 visits during the year, for an average of 185 visits per guide.


Helping You Find What You Need
- Inside and outside of the library, we gave library instruction presentations in 39 classes this year, reaching 765 students (a decrease of 26% from 2018-2019). 

- Our Embedded Librarian program reached students from 39 course sections in their Canvas course sites during the academic year (that is a 56% decrease from 2018-2019). We helped over 613 students with their information needs through the program.


A Place for Work, Study, and Remove from the World
- GHL is open 57 hours per week.

- We averaged 192 visitors per day, for a total of 34,442 visits this year.  This reflects a 31% decrease from 2018-2019.  Our best attended day was August 27, 2019, with 543 visitors.  We had 26 days with 300 or more visitors (15% of our open days)

- We regularly schedule the library learning lab (GRD 111) for single class sessions. We also schedule Study Room 110 for class sessions, with four classes meeting weekly in there during the fall semester and two classes meeting weekly during the spring semester during 2019-20.

- Our ten study rooms were checked out 1,314 times this year by students, faculty, and staff members. That represents a 36% decrease from 2018-19.  We opened a new four person study room in the Library SPACE area on our lower level during the year.

- We held several events in the library this year that we sponsored or co-sponsored.  We had a total of 25 events:  11 MUM Book Discussion Group meetings (we went online via Google Meet for March-June), 5 TEC Lab workshops, 4 National Parks geology video/lectures by Dr. Tammie Gerke, our Ohio ghost story presentation with James Willis, a Game Night at the library (co-sponsored with Good Game Well Played), a presentation by Dr. Marianne Cotugno on The Awakening Land, our "Finals Fantasy" Saturday study day, and our inaugural Middletown Maker Faire.  Total attendance for Fall and Spring semesters was 347, for an average of 14 people per event.  

- We also hosted sessions for the inaugural STEAM Studio program in Summer 2019, meetings of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in October 2019 and March 2020, and poster presentations by students in GLG 141 and GLG 307 in December 2019.  


What don't we know about how the library is used?
- One key part missing from these figures is off-campus use of library resources: all off-campus use is tallied as MU-wide use, so we do not know how many Middletown patrons are using databases from home (we estimate a lot of you are).  

- We don't have campus-specific stats for all database searches - we're missing uses of Nexis Uni, the EBSCO databases, and other databases that are tracked on a whole-university level.

- We hope you'll continue to let us know what you think about the library, what you need from us, and what materials we should order for the collection.

Thanks to everyone for making the library and its resources a vital part of your academic lives!  We really appreciate the opportunity to meet your needs in the library and remotely during this very unusual year.

The Gardner-Harvey Library Staff

Join us Online! August's Middletown Book for Discussion: Will and Testament

The MUM Book Discussion group will next meet on Tuesday, August 25.  We're moving back to discussing a single book this month (though we always welcome recommendations of other books you're reading, too). Our title is Vigdis Hjorth's Will and Testament.  Here is a brief summary of this tale of Norwegian family dysfunction:

"When a dispute over her parents' will grows bitter, Bergljot is drawn back into the orbit of the family she fled twenty years before. Her mother and father have decided to leave two island summer houses to her sisters, disinheriting the two eldest siblings from the most meaningful part of the estate. To outsiders, it is a quarrel about property and favoritism. But Bergljot, who has borne a horrible secret since childhood, understands the gesture as something very different - a final attempt to suppress the truth and a cruel insult to the grievously injured." 

Here is where you can find the book:

• The Gardner-Harvey Library has a copy available, but we won't be back in the library and able to do curbside pickup until August 10.  We will be open to Miami students, faculty, and staff on August 17. Statewide delivery through OhioLINK will start at Miami on August 10.
• If you order the book through a local public library, many of which have either curbside or in-library pickup available, there are several copies available through SearchOhio.  Statewide delivery is already underway for most public libraries.
• It is also available from Amazon as a paperback, a Kindle book, or through Audible as an audiobook.

Our group is always finding interesting titles to share, and we look forward to the new things you'll bring to the table.  On July 28th, the group shared these titles to add to your reading/viewing lists:

• Conviction, Denise Mina (not recommended)
• The Ghosts of Eden Park: the Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America, Karen Abbott
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J. K. Rowling
• Dreamland Burning, Jennifer Latham
• The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion
• The Outlander series, Diana Gabaldon
• The Dew Breaker, Edwidge Danticat
• Behold the Dreamers, Imbolo Mbue
• Lord of the Flies, William Golding (re-read, but not recommended)
• Allegedly, Tiffany D. Jackson
• The Best American Mystery Stories, 2019
• The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer is Wrong, Chris Anderson 
• Boom, Tom Brokaw (not recommended)
• Among the Thugs, Bill Buford
• Three Floors Up, Eshkol Nevo
• Plainsong, Kent Haruf
• Exhalation,Ted Chiang
• In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado 
• Our Souls at Night, Kent Haruf
• Slow Horses, first of a series of books by Mick Herron

We will meet at 12 pm on the 25th in Google Meet at https://meet.google.com/qkh-anzd-raz?hs=122

You can also join in by calling   +1 669-238-0098‬ PIN: ‪879 690 274‬#   

Add this event to your Google Calendar!  (which includes the Meet and calling information)

Please come along to our discussion to share what you've been reading/watching/listening to/experiencing!

If you're looking for something interesting to read, check out our page of past and future reads at http://www.mid.miamioh.edu/library/bookdiscussion.htm

Join us Online! June's Middletown Book Discussion Group

The MUM Book Discussion group will next meet on Tuesday, June 30 to discuss the book(s) we've each been reading lately.  We have a challenge for this time:  re-read a book you read long ago, and see what your thoughts on it are now.  We suggested books we read (or, ahem, were supposed to read) in high school, or anything where time has passed and a second go might bring new perspectives, or a confirmation of past impressions.

We normally discuss a single book, but given our distributed nature and the lack of easy access to multiple library copies of books, we thought we'd have an open discussion for people to share whatever they've been reading between now and the time of the meeting.  

Our group is always finding interesting titles to share, and we look forward to the new things you'll bring to the table.  On May 26th, the group shared these titles to add to your reading/viewing lists:

• James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels (there are 23 of them, starting with Neon Rain)
• The Art of Loading Brush, by Wendell Berry
• She Said, by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
• If It Bleeds, by Stephen King
• The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones, by Stanley Booth
• The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells
• Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault, by Cathy Guisewite
• Two By Two, by Nicholas Sparks
• Snips and Snails, by Louise Baker
• The High and the Mighty, by Ernest Gann
• The Cruel Sea, by Nicholas Monsarrat 
• The White Album, by Joan Didion,  
• Books for Living, by Will Schwalbe
• The Year We Left Home, by Jean Thompson
• Beautiful Hope, by Matthew Kelly
• My Name is Asher Lev, by Chaim Potok
• Wild and Precious Life, Debra Ziegler
• When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi
• The Kingdom, Emmanuel Carrere
• Board Game Arena 

We will meet at 12 pm on the 30th in Google Meet at https://meet.google.com/qkh-anzd-raz?hs=122

You can also join in by calling   +1 669-238-0098‬ PIN: ‪879 690 274‬#   

Add this event to your Google Calendar!  (which includes the Meet and calling information)

Please come along to our discussion to share what you've been reading/watching/listening to/experiencing!

If you're looking for something interesting to read, check out our page of past and future reads at http://www.mid.miamioh.edu/library/bookdiscussion.htm

Additional dates for no-contact in-person returns at Gardner-Harvey Library

No-contact in-person returns

Gardner-Harvey Library will again be accepting no-contact in-person returns of any library materials on Thursday, May 28^th and Friday, May 29^th.

• When and where: Thursday, May 28th and Friday, May 29^th from 1-4pm at the front entrance of the library.
• For safety, staff will wear masks and keep a distance of at least six feet.
• Materials can be placed on the carts provided.
• Please note that we cannot accept the return of rented textbooks or ecampus.com returns. For information on how to return rented textbooks to the eCampus bookstore please use the instructions found at https://tinyurl.com/ydxf64l5 

If you're unable to return your materials during these drop-off hours, you have a number of options to return them.

For print materials like books, journals, newspapers, etc., or small and sturdy equipment like phone chargers and calculators, you can either:

• Drop them in the book drop by the front doors of the library at any time
• or, mail them to:
  Gardner-Harvey Library
  4200 N. University Blvd
  Middletown, OH 45042
• or, hold on to them for now. Fees will not accrue.

For other technology and equipment like laptops, iPads, web cameras, and the like, please contact longjh@miamioh.edu with questions if you aren't able to bring them on Thursday or Friday. Please don't send them tumbling through the book drop! Again, we are not charging any late fees.

For an updated list of online resources and access questions please check out our Continuity Guide, https://libguides.lib.miamioh.edu/continuity

Survey participation - Student use of E-books during remote learning

You are invited to participate in a research project being conducted by the librarians at Miami University Regionals regarding regional campus student usage of library-owned e-books and e-textbooks to complete their coursework. We are particularly interested in understanding your use of e-books since the beginning of remote learning in mid-March.

If you agree to participate, we would like you to complete an online survey (found below). Completing the survey will take approximately 5 minutes. You are free to stop taking this survey if you prefer not to answer any question. Confidential search data will be kept anonymous and secure. Once you complete the survey, you will be directed to a second survey for you to enter your UniqueID for a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card (your responses on the first survey are not connected to your UniqueID and are completely anonymous). The survey will close on May 15.

The project has been approved by the Miami University Institutional Review Board. If you have any questions about this project, please contact Mark Shores at shoresmL@miamioh.edu

Follow this link to the Survey:

Take the survey

Or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser:
https://miamioh.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4T0WtJvXyk1AlFP  

Follow the Gardner-Harvey Library!

The Gardner-Harvey Library at Miami University Middletown is regularly posting useful tutorials, maker projects, historical facts, recommended books, and other developments to our social media channels.  We want to make sure you know the options for following us:

Instagram: askghl

Twitter: askghl

Facebook: askghl

YouTube: Gardner-Harvey Library

We appreciate you connecting with us and accessing all we have to offer.  You can find more resources for remote learning and teaching on our Regional Libraries Continuity guide, and you can also contact us directly.

Staying Connected with the Library: Spring Middmester Newsletter

While our physical location is closed, the library is still here to help you with your research, instruction, and entertainment needs to help you successfully work from home. Check out our Middmester newsletter for more information about accessing online resources and staying connected while you safely stay home. 

Regional Libraries are closing on Tuesday

The Regional Libraries' hours are once again changing.  We are closing the library buildings entirely from Tuesday, March 17 to the end of the semester.  

We invite Miami students, faculty, and staff to make use of our online materials and services to support your remote learning and teaching.

We also ask that you contact us with any questions.

Hours changing at Regional Libraries on Monday

The Regional Libraries' hours are changing to 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday-Thursday and 8:00am to 5:00pm Friday from Monday, March 16 to the end of the semester.  You can see these hours for Middletown and Hamilton and other changes being made to hours at the libraries in Oxford on our hours page.

We are coordinating in this hours change with Regional Technology Services, which will have the same hours in the computer labs on each campus.

We invite Miami students, faculty, and staff to make use of our materials and services to support your remote learning and teaching.

Libraries support remote learning and teaching at the Miami University Regionals

Be sure to check our Continuity of Services at Your Regional Libraries guide to support your remote learning and teaching, and to find trustworthy facts about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Miami's response.

CANCELED: Dr. Tammie Gerke’s National Park Talks: White Sands (at Middletown)

The White Sands National Park talk, scheduled for Wednesday, March 18 at 4:45pm has been canceled.

We hope to be able to hold Dr. Gerke's next National Park talk on Big Bend on April 15 at 4:45pm.  Please watch for additional announcements closer to the time of that event.

Sublimation Printing in the TEC Lab Makerspace!

April 7 | 11:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.

Room 125 Gardner-Harvey Library

Middletown Campus

 Add this event to your Google Calendar.

Stop by the TEC Lab in the Gardner-Harvey Library to learn about sublimation printing. From mugs to shirts, sublimation printing can create high quality custom items. Participants can create their own item using this special ink printing technique while learning about the process and the types of items this method can be used with. Limited to 1 blank item per person. Additional sublimation blanks can be purchased at minimal cost. 

New books (and more) added to the Gardner-Harvey Library in February!

We are adding many new items to the collection each month, and making sure that you can see them on display! Take a look at our New Books shelves or skim down our new materials list of items we added to the collection in February! We added 110 books, e-books, DVDs, and other items during that time, thanks to your selections and suggestions. The list can be sorted by call number, area of our collection, or by title.

Here are eight titles from the list, to give you an idea of what we've been buying: 

• Revisiting Jonestown : an interdisciplinary study of cults / Domenico A. Nesci
• The false cause : fraud, fabrication, and white supremacy in Confederate memory / Adam H. Domby
• Election meltdown : dirty tricks, distrust, and the threat to American democracy / Richard L. Hasen
• A woman like her : the story behind the honor killing of a social media star / Sanam Maher
• Baptism of fire / Andrzej Sapkowski
• Parasite [videorecording] / directed by Bong Joon Ho
• The resisters : a novel / by Gish Jen
• Stealth : the secret contest to invent invisible aircraft / Peter Westwick

This tag will show you all of the prior lists of new materials, in reverse chronological order. We are eager to hear from you about individual items you would like us to buy, or types of items we should be on the look out for, or general subject areas we should build up in the collection.

Thank you for all of your suggestions and requests!  If you have a suggestion of something to order, please use our "Tell GHL to Buy It" form, email Amy Carmichael (carmicae@miamioh.edu), or drop by the library with your request. And pass your general suggestions or comments about the collection to us in those same ways.

Thanks again for keeping our collection vibrant and your information needs met!

March's Middletown book discussion group title: The Bell Jar

The MUM Book Discussion group will next meet on Tuesday, March 31 to discuss Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar.  We will meet at 12 pm in Room 124 in the Library.   Add this event to your Google Calendar.  This discussion is part of the "Hidden Figures 2" programming for Women's History Month, presented by the Miami University Regionals Diversity Council.

Here is a brief summary of the title, along with links to request the book from Miami, OhioLINK, and SearchOhio libraries (Just click "Request" and choose "Miami University" from the dropdown list.  Then enter your UniqueID and password, and the library from which you would like to retrieve the item):  

"When Esther Greenwood wins an internship on a New York fashion magazine in 1953, she is elated, believing she will finally realize her dream to become a writer. But in between the cocktail parties and piles of manuscripts, Esther's life begins to slide out of control. She finds herself spiraling into depression and eventually a suicide attempt, as she grapples with difficult relationships and a society which refuses to take women's aspirations seriously."

Miami, OhioLINK and SearchOhio

Read the book (or read something else interesting), then come along to our discussion to share what else you've been reading/watching/listening to/experiencing, and help us plan our future readings.  

Have an idea for a book to discuss?  Let us know and check out our page of past and future reads at http://www.mid.miamioh.edu/library/bookdiscussion.htm

"Recycling" by nhighberg is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Dr. Tammie Gerke’s National Park Talks: White Sands (at Middletown)

For our second Park Talk of the spring, Dr. Gerke will review the geology and majestic views at White Sands National Park. 

Join us on Wednesday, March 18 at 4:45pm.  Add this event to your Google Calendar!

The event will be held in the Library S.P.A.C.E. on the lower level of the Gardner-Harvey Library.

All are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be provided.

"Dunes @ White Sands" by Revo_1599 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Survey participation - Student use of E-books

You are invited to participate in a research project being conducted by the librarians at Miami University Regionals regarding regional campus student usage of library-owned e-books and e-textbooks to complete their coursework. Results will inform our purchasing decisions, instructional approaches, and marketing efforts.

If you agree to participate, we would like you to complete an online survey (found below). Completing the survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes. You are free to stop taking this survey if you prefer not to answer any question. Confidential search data will be kept anonymous and secure. Once you complete the survey, you will be directed to a second survey for you to enter your UniqueID for a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card (your responses on the first survey are not connected to your UniqueID and are completely anonymous). The survey will close on Feb. 26.

The project has been approved by the Miami University Institutional Review Board. If you have any questions about this project, please contact Mark Shores at shoresmL@miamioh.edu

Follow this link to the Survey:

Take the survey

Or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser:  

https://miamioh.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_232BgiMJV17edZX

Mark Shores
Krista McDonald
John Burke
Jessie Long

Middletown Maker Faire: see amazing creations and learn how to make them!

Middletown Maker Faire
March 4 | 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Miriam G. Knoll Community Center (142 Johnston Hall)

Middletown Campus | 4200 N. University Blvd. | Middletown, OH  45042

See the amazing creations of crafters and makers of all kinds from the Middletown community. Attendees will be able to watch various demonstrations, take part in hands-on activities and browse unique items for sale by community makers.  Add this to your Google Calendar!

If you or your organization would like to reserve a table for the Faire to show off your own creations, use our table reservation form.

If you have any questions, please contact John Burke (burkejj@miamioh.edu) or Jennifer Hicks (hicksjl2@miamioh.edu) at 513-727-3222.  We look forward to seeing you at the Faire!

New books (and more) added to the Gardner-Harvey Library in January!

We are adding many new items to the collection each month, and making sure that you can see them on display! Take a look at our New Books shelves or skim down our new materials list of items we added to the collection in January! We added 153 books, e-books, DVDs, and other items during that time, thanks to your selections and suggestions. The list can be sorted by call number, area of our collection, or by title.

Here are eight titles from the list, to give you an idea of what we've been buying: 

• Deconstructing anxiety : the journey from fear to fulfillment / Todd E. Pressman
• Between two fires : truth, ambition, and compromise in Putin's Russia / Joshua Yaffa
• America for Americans : a history of xenophobia in the United States / Erika Lee
• Wilmington's lie : the murderous coup of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy / David Zucchino
• America's best day hikes : spectacular single-day hikes across the states / Derek Dellinger
• Uncanny valley : a memoir / Anna Wiener
• Why we can't sleep : women's new midlife crisis / Ada Calhoun
• Boys & sex : young men on hookups, love, porn, consent, and navigating the new masculinity / Peggy Orenstein

This tag will show you all of the prior lists of new materials, in reverse chronological order. We are eager to hear from you about individual items you would like us to buy, or types of items we should be on the look out for, or general subject areas we should build up in the collection.

Thank you for all of your suggestions and requests!  If you have a suggestion of something to order, please use our "Tell GHL to Buy It" form, email Amy Carmichael (carmicae@miamioh.edu), or drop by the library with your request. And pass your general suggestions or comments about the collection to us in those same ways.

Thanks again for keeping our collection vibrant and your information needs met!

Curious about what's new in the library? Check out the Gardner-Harvey Newsletter

Check out our Spring 2020 newsletter for a list of events, information on how to use our new VR equipment, and a short survey on what equipment you find most useful.

Join us for Game Night at the Middletown Library!

Come to Game Night to meet people and play some games!  We will have plenty of board games, card games, video games, and our Oculus Quest to choose from and snacks and drinks to energize the players.  

We'll meet Wednesday, February 12 from 5:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M. in the Library S.P.A.C.E. (Student Project Area & Campus Events) (GRD 014). Add this event to your Google Calendar!

The event is co-sponsored by Good Game Well Played (GGWP) and the Gardner-Harvey Library.  

Free coffee, tea, and hot chocolate at the Middletown Library during the first week of the semester!

The Library will offer free coffee, tea, and hot cocoa during during the first week of classes, starting on Monday, January 27th and lasting through Friday, January 31st. 

It will be set up in our entrance area from 8:00am to 8:00pm, Monday through Thursday, and from 8:00am to 5:00pm on Friday. Please drop on by and enjoy a cup!

It's our way of welcoming you to the campus this spring and making the start of the semester a bit more relaxing. 

Thanks for being a part of our library community!

The image above was provided through a Creative Commons CC-BY-2.0 license by fronx.

Dr. Tammie Gerke’s National Park Talks: Yellowstone (at Middletown)

For our first Park Talk of the spring, Dr. Gerke will review the geology and majestic views at Yellowstone National Park. 

Join us on Wednesday, February 19 at 4:45pm.  Add this event to your Google Calendar!

The event will be held in the Library S.P.A.C.E. on the lower level of the Gardner-Harvey Library.

All are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be provided.

"Approaching Yellowstone" by bgwashburn is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Open House at the TEC Lab Makerspace!

Tuesday, February 4  •  11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Gardner-Harvey Library

Middletown campus

Need a Valentine’s Day gift for someone special? The Library TEC Lab can help. 

Join us in the library makerspace to try your hand at woodburning or laser engraving your beloved’s name on a wooden heart, making a duct-tape rose, creating a special card or even a piece of jewelry! 

There will be an opportunity to sign the user agreement to operate the TEC Lab independently. Free event. No RSVP needed.  Add this event to your Google Calendar!

February's Middletown book discussion group title: Razor Girl

The MUM Book Discussion group will next meet on Monday, February 24 to discuss Carl Hiassen's Razor Girl.  We will meet at 12 pm in Room 124 in the Library.   Add this event to your Google Calendar.

Here is a brief summary of the title, along with links to request the book from Miami, OhioLINK, and SearchOhio libraries (Just click "Request" and choose "Miami University" from the dropdown list.  Then enter your UniqueID and password, and the library from which you would like to retrieve the item):  

"When Lane Coolman's car is bashed from behind on the road to the Florida Keys, what appears to be an innocent accident is anything but. Behind the wheel of the offending car is Merry Mansfield -- nicknamed Razor Girl for her unique, eye-popping addition to what might be an otherwise unexciting scam."

OhioLINK and SearchOhio

Read the book (or read something else interesting), then come along to our discussion to share what else you've been reading/watching/listening to/experiencing, and help us plan our future readings.  

Have an idea for a book to discuss?  Let us know and check out our page of past and future reads at http://www.mid.miamioh.edu/library/bookdiscussion.htm

"Key West" by bunnygoth is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

New books added to the Gardner-Harvey Library in December!

We are adding many new items to the collection each month, and making sure that you can see them on display! Take a look at our New Books shelves or skim down our new materials list of items we added to the collection in December! We added 150 books, e-books, DVDs, and other items during that time, thanks to your selections and suggestions. The list can be sorted by call number, area of our collection, or by title.

Here are eight titles from the list, to give you an idea of what we've been buying: 

• Revolution of values : reclaiming public faith for the common good / Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
• The hidden history of Burma : race, capitalism, and the crisis of democracy in the 21st century / Thant Myint-U
• Across the color line : reporting 25 years in Black Cincinnati / Mark Curnutte
• The revolution that wasn't : how digital activism favors conservatives / Jen Schradie
• They take our jobs! : and 20 other myths about immigration / Aviva Chomsky
• The factory / Hiroko Oyamada
• Ducks, Newburyport / Lucy Ellmann
• Hotbox : inside catering, the food world's riskiest business / Matt Lee and Ted Lee

This tag will show you all of the prior lists of new materials, in reverse chronological order. We are eager to hear from you about individual items you would like us to buy, or types of items we should be on the look out for, or general subject areas we should build up in the collection.

Thank you for all of your suggestions and requests!  If you have a suggestion of something to order, please use our "Tell GHL to Buy It" form, email Amy Carmichael (carmicae@miamioh.edu), or drop by the library with your request. And pass your general suggestions or comments about the collection to us in those same ways.

Thanks again for keeping our collection vibrant and your information needs met!