JMU Libraries MAGAZINE Volume 2 | 2023
CARRIER LIBRARY’S NEWEST CHAPTER (PAGES 4, 6, 8) STUDENT SUCCESS STORY (PAGE 11) THE MAKERY: IF YOU CAN DREAM IT YOU CAN MAKE IT (PAGE 15) MAKING TEXTBOOKS MORE AFFORDABLE (PAGES 10, 14) AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS (PAGE 22)
Rose Libr Library ary aatt Sunse sunset. t.
A WORD FROM THE DEAN
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elcome to our second biennial JMU Libraries Magazine! We’re delighted to share stories and accomplishments from the past two years with you. Our biggest news is that we’re embracing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to renovate and expand Carrier Library. The new Carrier will serve not only as an intellectual crossroads for JMU, but as a physical crossroads as well, connecting people, ideas, and campus precincts. As we lovingly restore the building’s original features and provide increased access to Libraries expertise and 21st-century research resources in gleaming new spaces, it will also help connect JMU’s history with its future as a national university. In the following pages, you’ll see many ways the Libraries supports our campus community, including stories about how we help JMU faculty make a difference to our students. This happens through technology-enhanced teaching and learning, our efforts in textbook affordability, and the access we provide to materials, equipment, and expertise. I especially hope you’ll enjoy learning how we bolster experiential learning at JMU, including through the alumni interview “Video Production for Good” and our makerspace story, “If You Can Dream It, You Can Make It.” We also share exciting offerings from the Libraries’ newly-created department of Digital Scholarship & Distinctive Collections,
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including unique photos and manuscripts documenting Shenandoah Valley history and an interactive online exhibit on JMU’s beloved Marching Royal Dukes. This exhibit was created in partnership with our Music Library—where you can also find over 80 years of JMU music performances, freely streaming for your enjoyment. Finally, we’ll introduce just a few of our award-winning JMU Libraries faculty and staff, share news about grants and honors, offer a glimpse at the Libraries “by the numbers,” and show how your gifts are making a difference in the lives of our student scholarship winners. As always, we couldn’t meet our mission without the partnership and support of wonderful campus collaborators and generous donors like you. On behalf of the whole JMU Libraries team—thanks for believing in us!
Dr. Bethany Nowviskie Dean of Libraries, Professor of English, and Chief Academic Technology Officer at JMU
MSC 4601, 1251 Carrier Dr. Harrisonburg, VA 22807 540-568-6150 Phone libraries@jmu.edu www.lib.jmu.edu 2023 Fans of Carrier Library left comments and signatures when the building closed.
Our mission
To engage with JMU’s diverse communities in their creation and search for knowledge through academic resources, physical and virtual spaces, and educational and research services.
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CARRIER LIBRARY’S
NEWEST CHAPTER
JMU
is opening an exciting new chapter with the renovation, expansion, and restoration of Carrier Library. The addition of nearly 57,000 square feet will feature a stunning new entrance facing Grace Street. This project will make Carrier more accessible and welcoming to JMU students and our broader community. The new library will include a 24-hour student study space, beautiful reading rooms, outdoor terraces, a café and consultation and group study rooms. Other features include a makerspace and experimental technology classroom, video and audio podcasting studios, new collections areas and Special Collections facilities, and a lab for the conservation of books and manuscripts. “Whether you enter through the preserved 1939 historic entrance or one of two new grand entrances, designed for maximum accessibility, you’ll find light-filled, airy spaces where you can read, research and create,” said Bethany Nowviskie, dean of JMU Libraries. “We want to create a welcoming library for all members of our community.” Furious Flower Poetry Center will also have a new home inside the library, merging the work of the nation’s first academic center devoted to Black poetry with ongoing efforts to digitize and preserve the center’s unique audiovisual, print and manuscript collections held by JMU Libraries Special Collections. The renovation and expansion are made possible by funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Construction began in summer 2023. Plans are to re-open the building for the fall semester of 2026.
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SIZE ✦ ✦
56,887 square feet of new construction 138,224 square feet of renovation
GRAND RE-OPENING ✦
Fall 2026
ARCHITECTS: Moseley Architects CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: Kjellstrom + Lee
Rendering of a future open study space on the first floor of the expansion.
A rendering of Carrier Library facing D-Hall.
A rendering of Carrier Library facing Grace St.
PRESERVING THE PAST; CREATING NEW FUTURES The Carrier Library of 2026 and beyond will enable Dukes and community members to learn from the past and create new futures. Whether exploring well-preserved local history materials or designing a virtual reality landscape, students and researchers will benefit from the spaces and services made possible by this renovation and expansion. The new Carrier Library will be one that befits JMU’s status as a national university.
AN INTELLECTUAL AND LITERAL CROSSROADS FOR CAMPUS By providing connective paths between nearby buildings and removing physical barriers to access, the design of the new Carrier Library encourages the flow of people, ideas, and creativity. A library is an intellectual crossroads for any community or institution that it’s a part of, and the new Carrier Library will be a literal crossroads for JMU.
OPENING UP AND WELCOMING ALL A beautiful and accessible new entrance facing Grace Street and a welcoming arc at the redesigned existing entrance near D-Hall will visibly demonstrate JMU’s openness and commitment to engage with the broader community and the world. Whether entering through the preserved 1939 entrance or one of these two new grand entrances, visitors will be welcomed by light-filled, airy spaces that lead intuitively to various features of Carrier Library. L
FEATURES ✦
Exceeds the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
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New home for the Furious Flower Poetry Center
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24-hour student study space
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Quiet, inspiring reading rooms and browsable book collections
New facilities for Special Collections and a lab for the conservation of books and manuscripts
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Terraces and outdoor spaces
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Café and social space
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Consultation and group study rooms
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Student kitchenette and vending machines
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Universal restrooms on every floor
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Lactation space and relaxation room
New library and educational technology service desks
Makerspace and experimental technology classroom
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New spaces for library instruction, innovative educational technology, digital scholarship, and distinctive collections
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Video and audio/podcasting studios
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THE GREAT CARRIER LIBRARY MOVE:
HOW WE DID IT!
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ere’s a riddle: How do you move 100+ staff offices, over 3,000 furniture and technology items, and a whopping 400,000 books out of a busy JMU building without disrupting the students studying there? This was the enormous task we undertook in preparation for the long-awaited renovation and expansion of Carrier Library. The answer? Develop a clear plan, engage a strong team, and activate a fantastic network of partners! Our massive move out of Carrier began in Fall 2022 after final exams. During Spring 2023, we moved staff offices, furniture, artwork, technology, and books (including the rare, fragile, and valuable Special Collections) in over fifteen sequenced phases designed to minimize disruption. JMU Moving & Delivery and professional book movers did the heavy lifting (literally!), with help from Libraries staff. Together, we finished emptying Carrier soon after Commencement, allowing construction to start on time. That’s not all: we also set up an entirely new library location
to serve JMU and the local community while Carrier is under construction! JMU Libraries Express will provide library services and study space until Carrier Library reopens. By thoughtfully redistributing Carrier’s existing furniture, equipment and technology to other campus buildings, we achieved an estimated cost avoidance of $1,095,000 for the university. Kelly Miller-Martin, the Libraries’ Director of Facilities Operations, and her stellar team inventoried everything in Carrier and analyzed how it could best be used by others on campus. She explained,
We furnished most interim Libraries spaces with items from Carrier. We repurposed “Carrier’s shelving to store our books and collections in our interim storage location. Knowing students still need study spaces on campus while Carrier is under construction, we prioritized furniture redistribution to campus departments that could enhance or increase study space seating.
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Caption: The second floor of Carrier Library vacant of books. Note the original carpet where the shelves had been.
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Photo captions: (Top left) Workers move crates of books from Carrier Library. (Top right) Books arrive in Rose Library where they are placed carefully—and in order—on the shelves. (Left) Shelves with library books in their temporary home, a former dining facility on campus. (Below) Even before Carrier closed, we created a new service point in Rose Library for faculty, staff, and students seeking help with educational technology and instructional design services. In January, the Learning Innovations & Design Desk opened.
With Carrier’s furniture, JMU was able to create multiple new study spaces and enhance or expand others. We even helped create a JMU Study Spaces Map to support students looking for new study spots! With this move, we successfully kick-started the transformation of Carrier Library into the intellectual and physical crossroads that will befit JMU’s status as a national university. We’re proud of our hard work to prepare the building for this new chapter in a thoughtful and cost-effective way, knowing that generations of Dukes and the local community will benefit for many years to come. L
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CLOSING THIS CHAPTER OF CARRIER LIBRARY
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eading up to the closing of Carrier Library, feelings for this building and the memories made in this place poured out on our physical and virtual memory walls. The sharing culminated on May 11, 2023, with a gathering of hundreds of students, Libraries employees, faculty and staff emeriti, and donors to celebrate Carrier and learn about the renovation. Using a self-guided tour, attendees wandered throughout the building and reminisced about time spent in these spaces, and some left their mark one last time. While the building will reopen in three years even better than before, we made sure to honor the past even as we look toward an exciting future for this building. L (Below) Dean Bethany Nowviskie with a 3-dimensional architect’s model of the future Carrier Library.
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Captions: (Large photo) Attendees shared memories of Carrier Library on a banner in the lobby. (Top left) Standing in a space that saw thousands of student study hours and faculty meetings, attendees previewed the future Carrier Library. (Top right) Historical photographs of Carrier Library and staff members were on display. (Bottom right) Attendees made buttons commemorating Carrier Library.
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WORKING TO MAKE COLLEGE MORE AFFORDABLE WITH
OPEN EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS
Dr. Diana Galarreta-Aima, an Associate Professor in JMU’s Spanish for the Professions program.
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hirteen years ago, Diana Galarreta-Aima was adjusting to life in the United States and still learning English when the H1N1 swine flu pandemic hit. Then she got sick. When she arrived at the emergency room, she recalls, “I spoke English, but it wasn’t that good. I felt lost. You are in the most vulnerable time in your life when you’re already sick or someone that you love is sick, especially when you don’t even understand what’s happening.” No one told her she needed a medical interpreter—perhaps there weren’t any available. Now Dr. Galarreta-Aima is working with colleagues Alicia Lopez Opere from the University of Virginia and Paulina Carrion from William and Mary to address the shortage of medical interpreters. The team was recently awarded an Open Course Grant of $30,000 from VIVA (Virginia’s Library Consortium) to create an online
training program for medical Spanish. This open online resource will reduce the cost of course materials for JMU students while making this information freely accessible to aspiring interpreters and medical providers who serve patients with limited English proficiency across the globe. And JMU Libraries is helping. Dr. Galarreta-Aima is leveraging the Libraries’ video production services, instructional design workshops, open textbook publishing platform (Pressbooks), and the expertise of our Open Education Librarian. Dr. Galarreta-Aima’s online training program for medical Spanish will be developed over the next five years in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team, including faculty and staff from the JMU Libraries! The Pressbook is slated to be ready for use in the fall of 2024. L
“[We don’t] think about the cost of textbooks for students. It adds up, you know? And sometimes students might feel shame disclosing that they cannot afford the textbook, and their education obviously gets affected by that. This initiative tries to make education open and available. I think that’s what education and universities are for, right? To share education and ideas.” ~ DR. DIANA GALARRETA-AIMA 10 JMU Libraries Magazine
VIDEO PRODUCTION FOR GOOD: A STUDENT SUCCESS STORY
A screenshot from Sean Khuon-Page’s virtual reality (VR) short film on the therapeutic effects of VR. (Below) Sean works with a camera. Photos courtesy of Sean Khuon-Paige.
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s a JMU undergraduate, Sean Khuon-Paige (‘19) helped faculty to make videos as a student employee in JMU Libraries. Now a freelance videographer in Portland, Oregon, he has worked on video projects for Netflix, Nike, Discovery Channel, and Google.
“That kick started my whole video career,” Sean recalls. “It was the first job I had doing video production. We basically coordinated with departments throughout JMU to help them make videos. There’s a studio in Rose Library where professors or staff would come in, and we would set up all the lights, cameras, everything, and film whatever they needed.” Sean’s passion for storytelling through video drew him back to JMU after several years in the military to finish his studies in digital video and cinema. Now he works with Desert Island Studios, a collective of freelance filmmakers with a focus on social justice and telling the stories of underrepresented communities.
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Sean (top left) on the set of a feature film with several crew members from Desert Island Studios. Photo courtesy of Desert Island Studios.
(Right) Sean and a crewmember filming from a boat. Photo courtesy of Sean Khuon-Paige.
Tell us more about your video career in Portland! “The Portland film community is like a miniature version of Hollywood. We may not have Hollywood-sized budgets, but there are a lot of people who are really passionate about storytelling. I have made a living now for the last year freelancing in the film industry.”
“I recorded one or two events for the Furious Flower Poetry Center, and I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is really cool. I didn’t know poetry was cool!’ I would have never gone to a poetry anything in my spare time, but going to it for work was a great opportunity. They’re a bunch of really talented people that gave me a better appreciation for poetry. Furious Flower was dope.”
How has it been different from what you expected?
What else did you experience in the Libraries besides your job?
“I’ve had a lot of really neat opportunities up here. Not anything that I thought it would be like after graduating and getting a film degree. At first I thought, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna go to LA and make big movies,’ and I’m not doing that at all. This is way more fun. Last year I joined Desert Island Studios, which is a whole collective of freelance filmmakers who focus on supporting underrepresented creatives. I did not think I would be getting this type of work within like a year or two of graduating, but I guess all of that networking really pays off. Now I have producer friends that will be like ‘Hey, there is this project coming up. Can you work on it?’ and I’m like ‘Uhh, yes!?’”
I was in a brand new film studies class taught by Dennis Lo— it was the first of its kind—and we had to make our own fiveminute virtual reality (VR) film. [I took] several tutorials and classes on how to use these 360 GoPro cameras. Then we used The Makery that had all the different VR equipment to make our films and edit them. It was by far the hardest class I ever had to take, but it was so cool. I don’t know anyone else that got to do anything like that. So that was like the main project, and it was showcased in the library.”
Okay, so tell us more about your job as a student in the Libraries! “I was a Media Production Assistant in JMU Libraries. Working there was like the mini collegiate trial run of basically what I do now. I do every aspect of filmmaking, even setting up all of the lights.” Sean (right) behind the camera on a Media Production Services production at JMU. Photo courtesy of Jenna Polk.
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What was your favorite project you worked on?
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A screenshot of Sean’s virtual reality short film.
”Sharing stories through filmmaking, poetry, stand-up comedy, or even a Zoom call is one of the greatest gifts we can give or receive as humans.... if you’re reading this, please share YOUR story with the world.” ~ SEAN KHUON-PAIGE That’s really awesome! What was your virtual reality 360 video about? “Whoo! My video was on the therapeutic effects of VR. So there are a lot of studies where they bring VR goggles into nursing homes and let people use them as a way to get out of the nursing home because a lot of people were either immobile or in wheelchairs. These elderly people would put on VR headsets and then be transported to like the plains of Africa or something. It helped them a lot. People could take pictures and send them to their relatives, and it could be like a 360 picture of families in their living room or whatever, so you could send like a virtual Christmas card–things like that. So it was mainly on the immersiveness and how people could use VR for good.”
Can we watch your VR video in 360? “Yeah, my project was called Virtual Remedy. If you don’t have a headset, YouTube allows you to full screen it, so you can click and scroll in 360 as well. I filmed it at my grandmother’s house. I filmed her putting the headset on and then different scenes around her house, and she had a blast doing it. You can scroll and see my grandma’s dog and cat in her house. I grew up in that house, so it’s like it’s a really nostalgic little piece for me.”
Photo courtesy of Sean Khuon-Paige.
What message would you like to share with everyone at JMU? Sharing stories through filmmaking, poetry, stand-up comedy, or even a Zoom call is one of the greatest gifts we can give or receive as humans. When most people watch a film and are moved to tears, they don’t understand why. It is because countless people have come together to pour their hearts and souls into researching and documenting the story they want to share with the world. Story-telling makes us more empathetic and helps others feel less alone. So if you’re reading this, please share YOUR story with the world. L
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JMU LIBRARIES:
WORKING TO MAKE EDUCATION AFFORDABLE
“We never want the cost of education to be a barrier for our students. The libraries are always actively looking for ways to improve costs and access to materials for students.” ~ LIZ THOMPSON, Open Education Librarian
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sk any JMU student if they’re paying too much for textbooks and you’ll hear a resounding “yes”! In fact, 34% of students say that they often don’t buy required textbooks because of the expense, or they chose different classes due to the cost of the textbooks. This puts them at risk of falling behind in their coursework and even postponing graduation. Professors also recognize the limitations of traditional print textbooks, which can go out of date quickly and don’t always fit into the course the professor wants to teach. This is why the JMU Libraries is supporting efforts to create open textbooks by offering workshops and grants for faculty to create their own no-cost textbooks. We use a book platform called Pressbooks that allows instructors to create and modify their own textbooks, which students can use at no cost. Our Open Education Librarian teaches faculty how to use this platform through workshops and consultations. Additionally, JMU faculty have the option to join a multidisciplinary fellowship on open pedagogy. Designed and offered by some of our instructional designers and liaison librarians, this new fellowship supports professors seeking to “open up” their teaching resources and practices. Professors in the fellowship deepen their experience with open pedagogy and open educational resources, improve classroom equity through their choice of materials, and co-create educational resources and scholarship with students that can be shared with a wider audience. We use several other strategies to keep education affordable and accessible for students. These include a course reserve system where faculty can place shorter checkout periods on high-demand materials, our Interlibrary Loan service that gives our users free access to materials from other libraries, and purchasing online access to some required materials. L
Making JMU’s scholarship globally available and openly accessible. In an effort to share JMU-created scholarship as far and wide as possible, the Libraries is collaborating with JMU’s Office of Research, Economic Development and Innovation to offset the cost that faculty incur to publish in open access journals. In 2022-23, twelve faculty members received funding to publish their research in open access journals. This included research projects with five student co-authors. As part of this subsidy, authors are asked to place their work for safe-keeping and free access, in the Libraries’ scholarly repository, JMU Scholarly Commons.
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IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, YOU CAN MAKE IT: A SHOE STORY
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hat does it mean for JMU that all students, faculty, and staff can use cutting-edge technologies like 3D printers, laser cutters, and 3D scanners in The Makery, a makerspace in the Libraries? For Industrial Design major Quinn Gagne, it meant getting to make his innovative footwear design a reality. In Spring 2023, visiting professor Anna Smith gave her students an ambitious assignment—to design 3 pairs of shoes in one semester. “We started with making Birkenstocks, and then deconstructing Converse to give students the experience of making shoes by hand, the way it’s always been done,” Prof. Smith recalls. “The third shoe was a concept piece. Their designs were supposed to address some kind of social issue and use artists or
designers as precedent to gain inspiration from. One was about life on Mars, a concept space boot designed with advanced materials and technology to provide exceptional performance, protection, and comfort for future expeditions on Mars. Another was inspired by the Black Widow as a muse to comment on women, who are perceived as fragile, yet are fierce and capable. We had 19 different projects by 19 different students.” The students were not required to seek help from The Makery, but Prof. Smith let them know it had a 3D scanner, large 3D printers, and staff available to help students learn how to use them. Parts of the experience were even new for Prof. Smith. “I had never used 3D printers before, personally,” she recalls. “After learning from my colleague Kevin Phaup that
Deconstructed Converse.
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JMU Libraries had a 3D scanner, I scheduled a meeting with Andrew Stack [Director of Media Production and Makerspace Services]. He assisted us in making a 3D scan of a shoe mold—called a last— then the 3D design process really began.” Quinn Gagne, a student in Prof. Smith’s class, came to The Makery seeking help with printing a prototype of his shoe using a more flexible material than the 3D printers in his department could accommodate. He didn’t realize the 3D printers in The Makery were larger than the ones he had worked with before. “There I was printing these little three inch prototypes, and in walks someone else in my class with a full-scale 3D-printed outsole. That’s when I realized I could actually print the whole shoe.” JMU Libraries employee Jared Wark was working in The Makery that first day. “If you want to print with a different filament, you have to use different settings,” he explains. “It was a lot of trial and error, but we figured it out.” Jared worked with about five students on 3D printing their shoe designs. Some of the students also used the embroidery machines in The Makery to create designs on the fabric of their Converse shoes.
The Wearables Runway Exhibit. Students showing off their designs.
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At the end of the semester, a joint effort from Prof. Rob Mertens’ Fibers Studio, Prof. Smith’s Industrial Design Advanced Studio, and Prof. Mark Rooker’s Metals Studio held a Wearables Runway Exhibit to celebrate the students’ work. It was a proud moment for Prof. Smith, Jared Wark, and all the students in the JMU School of Art, Design and Art History. “The Makery does two things,” Wark explains, “it gives JMU students and faculty the opportunity to use technologies that they couldn’t access otherwise because of cost and other limitations, and it also gives people a really empowering experience of turning their ideas into something real. After the fashion show, I wrote to several of the students and told them, ‘What you’ve made is amazing! Please keep making things and getting them out into the world.’” L
JMU senior Quinn Gagne (below) created a website for his Web Design course to accompany the shoe project, OUTLIER. The website walks the user through a series of questions and image prompts that result in a unique sole design based on their responses.
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SHENANDOAH VALLEY HISTORY COMES ALIVE
IN FOUR NEW LOCAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS
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he history of the Shenandoah Valley just got more accessible! JMU Libraries Special Collections recently acquired and processed four important collections that document the history of the beautiful valley that is home to JMU. “It was really a treat to arrange and describe these materials and, through that process, gain a better understanding of the people and stories documented,” noted Tiffany Cole, Special Collections Archivist. “We’re so excited to make these local history collections available to the larger community of researchers.” Kate Morris, Head of Special Collections, said, “These newly processed collections represent acquisitions from the past few years and we are excited to make these collections available to folks interested in researching valley life.” The new collections, which researchers (and anyone!) can now use, include:
Charles Grattan Price Jr. Collection on “Tweetsie” and the Shenandoah Central Railroad
This collection documents a narrowgauge railroad and locomotive, nicknamed “Tweetsie,” that operated from 1953 to 1954 in Penn Laird. Railroad enthusiasts and country music fans will appreciate that this collection documents the “Gene Autry Deal,” a failed business agreement between the Singing Cowboy and the railroad. This collection was generously donated by C. Grattan “Butch” Price III, son of C. Grattan Price Jr.
The newly formed Digital Scholarship & Distinctive Collections (DSDC) department in JMU Libraries partners across JMU and in the surrounding communities to create, collect, and share unique collections in a variety of media types. With expertise in rare books, manuscripts, archives, preservation, conservation, digitization, and digital and immersive projects, DSDC works to further the understanding of our shared cultural heritage.
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Tisinger Family Collection of Shenandoah County Land Surveys
Hundreds of nineteenth-century Shenandoah County land deeds, surveys, and more are available in this collection from William Tisinger (1816-1887), a teacher and land surveyor. Specific locations covered by the land surveys include Orkney Springs, New Market, Edinburg, and others.
Rupp Family Papers
One family’s existence in New Market in the nineteenth century is documented in this collection, featuring correspondence, photographs, drawings, and more. Notably, the collection covers the work of William F. Rupp (1834-1908), a German-born painter. Rupp’s work includes frescoes in Rader’s Lutheran Church in Timberville and the Shenandoah County Courthouse in Woodstock.
George M. Neese Papers
In this collection, dating back to 1859, are the personal papers and correspondence of a Confederate soldier, George M. Neese (18391921), of New Market. One of the items in the collection is the draft manuscript of a book based on Neese’s diaries about his experiences during the Civil War. This book, Three Years in the Confederate Horse Artillery, was published in 1911.
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Images from the online exhibit celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Marching Royal Dukes.
VIRGINIA’S FINEST:
50 YEARS OF THE MARCHING ROYAL DUKES This past fall, JMU’s Marching Royal Dukes (MRD) marked 50 amazing years! To celebrate the band reaching this new height, folks from across campus teamed up to create an interactive online exhibit: Virginia’s Finest: 50 Years of the Marching Royal Dukes. This exhibit includes interviews with MRD alumni, 3D scans of MRD uniforms, historic photographs, and an interactive timeline. Be sure to visit the online exhibit at https://sites.lib.jmu.edu/mrd to read about the MRD’s international performances, participation in presidential inaugurations, and their many awards and accomplishments. In addition to the online exhibit, the Music Library displayed photographs documenting the MRD’s 50-year history. L
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STREAMING JMU PERFORMANCE RECORDINGS FROM 1943-PRESENT
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he JMU Music Library is home to an impressive collection of performance recordings. This collection is a growing set of videos and audio files that include nearly all of JMU’s School of Music performances from 1943 to the present. You can stream most of the nearly 3300 recordings online! The original recording formats include VHS videotapes, reel-to-reel tapes, cassette tapes, compact discs, and more. Staff from multiple departments in JMU Libraries worked hard to make these recordings findable, usable, and accessible online! Search or browse the collection at https://www. lib.jmu.edu/music/recitals/. You might even find a recording in which you or a fellow Duke performed! L
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JMU LIBRARIES:
LEADERS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT AND INNOVATION
We work with faculty to make professional-quality video recordings.
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ot all universities provide learning software and hardware through the library, but at JMU Libraries, we go above and beyond to support students and teachers with state-of-theart educational technologies. Our team provides topnotch support and training for using Canvas, the go-to course management platform for thousands of JMU courses and just one of the many educational software packages we provide. We also install and manage the projectors, microphones, and other technology in over 470 classrooms across campus. But we don’t just stop at hardware and software - we’re also here to help instructors create amazing multimedia products in a professional studio and a makerspace. And we partner with faculty in the development of courses and assignments that integrate appropriate pedagogical practices, along with the integration of a variety of educational technologies to increase student engagement and learning. With the recent introduction of our new Learning Innovations & Design Desk at Rose Library, accessing our cuttingedge educational technology offerings has never been easier. Our commitment to excellence in educational technology is truly a win-win for both students and teachers at JMU! L
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3D printing unleashes the imagination of students and faculty alike.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS With your help, we have achieved exceptional success. We invite you to join us in a celebration of the JMU Libraries’ incredible awards and accomplishments.
SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS We awarded eleven student employees scholarships for the coming year. These competitive awards are made possible thanks to the generosity of library donors—including current faculty and staff—who make gifts to the Libraries. Enjoy these thankful sentiments from some of our scholarship recipients. Caitlin Leek
Noemy Galeb-Ferrufino “I am so grateful for the opportunity to work at the libraries here at JMU and am so thankful to be a recipient of the scholarship.”
Rachel Stromberg “Thank you so much! I really appreciate this. It will help me tremendously.”
“Thank you so much for your generous donation. I really appreciate every chance I can get to help make my education more affordable.”
Morgan Brown “Being a recipient of this scholarship has put me one step closer to paying my own way through college without accumulating any student debt. Thank you for your generous donation and for helping me along my journey at JMU.”
Katherine Burgess Charlotte Miller “Your support has allowed me to focus on my studies and has inspired me to work hard and give back to the community in the future. I am committed to using my education and skills to make a positive impact on society, and I hope to one day help others achieve their dreams, just as you have helped me. I will cherish this award and the opportunities to come of it.”
“Working in the library has become one of my favorite parts about being here at JMU and I appreciate receiving this scholarship which will help enhance my educational experience.” Meghan Willey “Working at the JMU Music Library has been an amazing experience. I’ve met so many wonderful people and learned so many things that will help me in my future career as a musician. I am proud to be a member of the JMU School of Music community as well as the JMU Libraries Community. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
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SOME OF OUR RECENT GRANTS The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded James Madison University $2 million over four and a half years to secure the digital future of the Furious Flower Poetry Center, the nation’s first academic center devoted to Black poetry. This generous grant will support the Center’s internationally recognized leadership and provide for archival description, digital preservation, and global access to an extensive archive of Furious Flower poetry and spoken word performance videos held by JMU Libraries Special Collections. Learn more about this project at https://www.lib.jmu.edu/flowerings.
JMU Libraries is also part of a newly awarded, $150,000 planning grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the “Sacred Work: Wintergreen Women Writers Collective” project. Wintergreen Women is a 35-year-old collective centering the encouragement of Black writing and culture and dedicated to supporting and promoting women writers of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience. Caitlin Birch, Director of Digital Scholarship and Distinctive Collections in the Libraries, serves as co-PI with Professor Emerita Joanne V. Gabbin, documenting the history of the collective and assessing its archival holdings for future preservation.
AWARDS Liana Bayne-Lin was one of three JMU recipients of the 2022 Provost Award for Administrative Excellence. In her role as Executive Assistant to the Dean of the Libraries, Liana provided excellent support for the operations of the Libraries. She was recognized for her positive and cheerful attitude, her willingness to do what it takes to keep the Libraries running, and her efforts to strengthen the many collaborations that exist between the Libraries and other units at JMU. Since receiving this award, Liana, an American Library Association emerging leader, was hired as one of two Science and Math librarians for JMU Libraries. Kathy Clarke was the 2022 Distinguished Service Award winner for the Libraries. A Liaison Librarian in our Research & Education Services Department, Kathy is recognized for her consistent service to the students at JMU through the General Education Program. No JMU student graduates without benefiting from Kathy’s work with General Education. Whether it is her continuous refinements to the Madison Research Essentials Skills Toolkit—the primary means through which students develop the ability to discover and apply knowledge—or her careful alignment of Library support for the General Education curriculum, Kathy’s service benefits everyone at JMU.
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Dr. Brian Flota received a professional development award from the African, African American, and Diaspora (AAAD) Studies Center in 2022 to continue his research and scholarship on Black comic books. As Humanities Librarian, Brian has been instrumental in developing the JMU Libraries Special Collections comic book collection, both as a donor of 10,000 pieces from his personal collection and as a scholar of the genre. In addition to providing a wealth of primary source material for the study of comic books, Brian has collaborated with several faculty members to develop a rich collection of vintage Black comic books, one of only three such collections in the country. Rebecca French received the 2022 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Research & Scholarship. One of eight faculty at JMU to receive this award, Rebecca is recognized for her “steady stream of innovative software, publications, [and] significant technical and intellectual advances.” Rebecca is the Head of Metadata Analysis & Operations, a position from which she works to make the rich resources in the JMU Libraries discoverable by the world.
AWARDS Jessica Lantz is the 2023 Provost Award Winner for Excellence in Research and Scholarship for JMU Libraries. Jessica is an Instructional Designer in the Libraries’ Learning Innovations and Design unit. Since she joined JMU Libraries in 2019, Jessica has worked with many faculty at JMU to assist them in integrating new technologies and universal design principles into their courses. She has also published five book chapters, two articles, and has edited two research books to help contribute to the field of Instructional Design. As a proud triple Duke, Jessica brings her passion for improving equity, access, and inclusion in online learning to every collaborative design project and research project she completes. Dr. Juhong Christie Liu is the 2022 Madison Scholar for the JMU Libraries. This award recognizes excellence in scholarly achievement. Dr. Liu is an Associate Professor and the Director of Instructional Design for the Libraries. She is an active scholar and collaborator at JMU as well as in the national and international arenas. Beyond the seventeen journal articles, fourteen book chapters, and two NSF- and VIVA-funded OER textbooks that Dr. Liu has authored and co-authored, she has lent her leadership skills and scholarly acumen to supporting open education initiatives.
Susan Thomas received the 2023 Provost Award for Administrative Excellence. Susan is the Human Resources & Student Employment Coordinator for the Libraries. Susan has worked for the Libraries since 2006, and during that time, she has assisted with hundreds of searches for student employees, classified staff members, and faculty. She is respected among her colleagues in the Libraries as a fair, discreet, and reliable collaborator who is “…laser-focused on improving the work life experience.” Michael Trocchia has won the 2023 Provost Award for Excellence in Part-time Teaching and JMU’s Community ServiceLearning Award for Learning Partner of the Year. Michael, who serves in the Libraries’ Collections Administration unit, was recognized by the Provost for his work as an adjunct instructor of philosophy. “Students find Michael an instructor of unusual warmth…with a focused pedagogy of teaching the practice of philosophy through building close personal connections.” Michael was also recognized for his support to JMU students through the Alternative Break Program. This student-run community service-leaning program offers opportunities for students to engage in direct service, and it has benefited from Michael’s engaged participation for several years.
REGIONAL AND NATIONAL AWARDS Our Carrier Renovation & Expansion Website recently won two awards! The American Library Association gave JMU Libraries a national award that “recognizes the very best public relations materials produced by libraries in the past year.” The site also won a “Summit Award” (from the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America), honoring “outstanding public relations efforts.” Visit our award-winning site at http://www.lib.jmu.edu/renovation to learn more about the exciting transformation of Carrier Library!
Tiffany Cole, Kate Morris, and Bodeene Amyot Cairdeas, of JMU Special Collections, worked with graduate students Grace Thomsen, Mariam Ismail, and Kayleigh Bishop on arranging, describing, and digitizing JMU’s collection of ESPN College GameDay Posters. The finding aid for the collection, “A Guide to the ESPN College GameDay Posters, 2015, 2017,” recently won the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference Finding Aids Award! MARAC gave the award to Grace Thomsen, noting that the guide does an “excellent job of serving as a model for collections of ephemeral material, especially of material that would not be understood in the future without contextual information.”
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ADDITIONAL AWARDS Two projects honored with state government awards: Juhong Christie Liu and Kevin Hegg represented project partners all across the Libraries and JMU, receiving Commonwealth Technology Awards at the Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium award ceremony earlier this year. Dozens of people collaborate on and help sustain these interdisciplinary projects, described below, ultimately benefiting instructors, students, and researchers at JMU and beyond.
The Learning Access Through Universal Design (LAUD) project received the “Best Customer Experience Initiative” award in the Education category. Developed in collaboration with College of Health and Behavioral Studies (CHBS), LAUD blends a self-paced course with seminars for JMU faculty who want to apply fundamental principles of universal design for learning (UDL) to create a more inclusive learning environment. BJ Bryson (CHBS) and Juhong Christie Liu wrote and submitted the award application.
From left to right: Ayasakanta Rout, Amy Russell Yun, Valerie Schoolcraft, Lori Gano-Overway, Juhong Christie Liu, Andrew Strack, BJ Bryson, Andrea Adams, Dayna Henry, Jessica Lantz, Samantha Joy Whiteaker, Anthony Miles, Chelsey M. Bollinger, Costel Constantin, and Stephen Abiodun Ijeluola. Photo by Josh See.
The Histories Along the Blue Ridge project received the “Innovative Use of Technology” award in the Local category. The online platform offers curated historical records from the Rockingham County Court and surrounding counties. JMU History faculty and graduate students, local government officials, and others maintain this growing digital archive. Megan Schoeman (Rockingham County Court’s Deputy Clerk of Historic Archives and Law Librarian) and Kevin Hegg wrote and submitted the award application. L
Left to right: Robert Osmond (Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth), Kevin Hegg, Megan Schoeman, Chaz Haywood, and Joyce Reed (Deputy Secretary, Secretary of Administration Office). Photo by Ben Delp.
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QUICK FACTS: Fiscal Year 2022 879,799 in-person visits Services to people:
445
10,109
281,791
Instruction sessions
Consultations and reference questions answered
Views of online research guides
470
80
68
technology classrooms supported
Media production projects completed
WordPress websites created
Online teaching and learning support: Canvas courses supported
13,519
Course sections evaluated
12,171
Faculty enrolled in Design for Learning Institute
374
Faculty enrolled in Learning Access through Universal Design
109
Streaming videos created
13,494
Streaming video views
540,371
Streaming videos hosted
43,201
Textbook affordability efforts:
7,124
Students impacted in fiscal year 2022
$637,127
Total cost avoidance for students in fiscal year 2022
$1,247,341
Total cost avoidence for students since program inception
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QUICK FACTS: Fiscal Year 2022 Collections Inventory: Books (title count) - Physical
500,646
Books (title count) - Electronic
1,601,416
Databases 374 Equipment (item count)
455
Media - Physical
38,102
Media - Electronic
325,344
Journals and Other Serials - Physical
5,379
Journals and Other Serials - Electronic
174,165
Music Scores - Physical and Electronic
60,851
Manuscripts and Archives
642
Items Held in JMU Scholarly Commons institutional repository
24,415
Expenditures: Academic software/technologies $1,008,342 Materials/services $4,544,235
Personnel $10,508,199 Operations $1,242,959
Collections Usage: Circulation - Physical, not including Equipment
14,887
Circulation - Equipment
1,439
Circulation - Electronic
198,139
Downloads + streaming from JMU Scholarly Commons
871,863
Interlibrary Loans Provided to other Libraries
11,938
Interlibrary Loans Received for JMU
9,441
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THANK YOU
Thank you for supporting the JMU Libraries. We are grateful for all of the support you have shown, and we hope you are as excited about the future of Carrier Library as we are. Your gifts help fund our student employee scholarships, enable us to acquire rare materials documenting the history of the Shenandoah Valley, support curriculum development and creative programming for the entire JMU community, and more!
If you would like to make a gift, please visit our website at https://www.lib.jmu.edu/ giving/ or scan the QR code.
You will have a chance to support JMU Libraries on Giving Day, February 22, 2024. Watch your mailbox for more details To learn more about opportunities to support the future Carrier Library, please reach out to: ✦ Dean Bethany Nowviskie (nowvisbp@jmu.edu; 540-568-5382) ✦ or Cynthia Cline (clinecd@jmu.edu; 540-568-3195)
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For more photos and updates documenting the loving renovation of Carrier Library, visit our award-winning website at https://www.lib.jmu.edu/renovation
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Artist’s rendering of a future entrance to Carrier Library as seen from the perspective in this aerial photograph.
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“Libraries and librarians make the impossible simple, the undoable achievable, the inaccessible delivered right to your department mailbox.” ~TIM LAPIRA, JMU PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
Libraries
MSC 4601, 1251 Carrier Dr. Harrisonburg, VA 22807 540-568-6150 Phone libraries@jmu.edu www.lib.jmu.edu 2023