News
What is a library?
Mar. 21, 2011—Students in Vesna Pavlovic’s photography class enjoyed a project that answered the question “what is a library?” in a number of forms. Starting with written statements of their ideas about libraries, students then explored the Peabody library to find answers in terms of architecture, knowledge, sound, silence and performance. The resulting work, exhibited last spring...
Flood of 1937
Mar. 11, 2011—On the first Saturday in May 2010, the rain began to fall. It kept on falling through Sunday, and when it finally stopped, Nashville was hit by a thousand-year flood. The Cumberland River rose to 51.86 feet, a level not seen since 1937. This photo shows two WSM reporters working from a boat to cover...
Can you hear me now? Exploring noise in libraries
Mar. 11, 2011—What is a library? A place for quiet reflection or a place to exchange ideas—or everything in between? Mel Ziegler’s art installation class pondered that question recently as part of a project called “Can You Hear Me Now?” exploring noise in libraries. A recent library survey showed that noise was a topic that needed further...
Student workers celebrated with special day
Mar. 11, 2011—Staff-made desserts, gift bags and thank yous took the place of shelving books and helping with research for student library workers at the first Student Library Worker Appreciation day this spring. The nearly 170 student library employees who work at the nine libraries on campus were thanked by Dean Connie Vinita Dowell and leaders from...
Michael Aurbach’s termites
Mar. 11, 2011—A small swarm of cardboard termites staged a stealth assault on the “Tree of Learning” on the Library Lawn earlier this year. Students of Professor Michael Aurbach fashioned the swarm, dubbed “bronze-eating termites made by ACME Art and Termite,” during their spring assemblage class. The three-hour attack, which left the tree unscathed, is the third...
Online journal publishes undergrad research
Mar. 11, 2011—The Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal (VURJ), an online publication, offers students the opportunity to be published during their undergraduate career. VURJ is a joint venture among faculty, students and administrators and is the university’s premier venue for multidisciplinary student research. “VURJ gives undergraduate students an opportunity to showcase the results of their research.” says Jody...
Dr. Robert S. Stempfel Jr. donates additional 250 volumes of modern literature
Aug. 23, 2010—Dr. Robert S. Stempfel Jr.’s (MD’52) recent gift to Vanderbilt of 250 volumes of modern literature complements his existing collection at the library and also gives the library a starting point for collecting other modern American authors. This gift includes more Updike works, like the copy of Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu, an Updike essay...
Michele and Ronnie Wise donate collection of box sets to the Wilson Music Library
Aug. 20, 2010—Michele and Ronnie Wise recently donated a collection of box sets of pop, jazz, blues and country music to the Wilson Music Library. Ronnie, a retired library system director and founder of a nationally recognized literacy program, is a lifelong collector of books, music, film and various forms of pop culture. “To me, education is...
Joseph Earle Stewart donates more than 4,000 books
Aug. 20, 2010—Nashville’s Joseph Earle Stewart has donated his library of more than 4,000 books, many in languages other than English, to Vanderbilt. Stewart, a scholar in theology, philosophy, language and psychology who has a quarter-century association with Vanderbilt, collected his library during his years of travel, study and teaching abroad. The collection includes Daumelinchen ein Marchen...
Pascal Pia selections in the Surrealism exhibition
Aug. 16, 2010—Twilight Visions: Surrealism, Photography, and Paris, an exhibition that premiered at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, included books loaned from the Pascal Pia collection in the W.T. Bandy Center for Baudelaire and Modern French Studies. The most notable loan is Pia’s copy of Nadja by Andre Breton, signed by the author,...