Congratulations to Jonathan Fugitt, the winner of our $50 drawing in celebration of Coe Library’s 50th anniversary. You can’t fake that kind of smile!

And a huge thank you to all the wonderful guests who attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the ILLC addition to Coe last Friday — we appreciate your support!

We could not be more excited about groundbreaking for the new addition to Coe Library on Friday! Join UW dignitaries and the rest of us for the ceremonial shoveling of earth and the delicious shoveling of cake. MMMM.

Win fabulous prizes at the Circulation Desk all day, including a chance at $50 to celebrate Coe Library’s 50th birthday!

The ceremony marks the beginning of construction for the Information Literacy and Learning Center (ILLC) pictured below.

The official details:

Please join the University of Wyoming Board Of Trustees, President Tom Buchanan, and Dean Maggie Farrell to celebrate this monumental event Friday, October 5, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. at William Robertson Coe Library. A reception will immediately follow.

Two of my favorites so far in my 50 books for 50 years resolution make their way to the list today…

#7 Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford

This biography lingered on my to-read-list forever. At the public library book sale this year I finally turned up a used copy and dove in. What a treat! Knowing nothing of Millay before reading it, I was astonished at her fascinating personal life and the beauty of her poems. Anyone feeling a wild streak should read her story; her life remained full and controversial until the very end. Milford does an exquisite job of capturing all of Millay’s charms and, shall we say, interesting decisions.

Now completely enamored of the poet, I turned immediately to

#8 Collected Sonnets of Edna St. Vincent Millay

I can not think of better reading for a beautiful summer day than her sonnets.

Sonnet 1 from Renascence and Other Poems (1917):

Wow, my 50 books for 50 years resolution started to look grim. But! The tide has turned of late, so look for more updates in the two weeks. I may get close to reading all 50 books yet.

#5 Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcon

Set in a fictional South American country after years of civil unrest and guerrilla warfare, Alarcon addresses the pain of loss and alienation. Radio announcer Norma takes names of lost relatives, friends and lovers from her listeners and reads them on the nation’s most popular program, “lost city radio”. Her soothing voice and occasional tearful reunions make her a hero, and so orphaned Victor seeks her out, traveling to the city with a list of names from his jungle village.

Alarcon does an amazing job of conveying the lingering horrors of war. I felt this book could have been set in almost any country.

#6 Finn: A Novel by Jon Clinch

Clinch takes as his subject Huck Finn’s father. Fans of Twain’s book remember that the older Finn offered few redeeming qualities. This imagining of his life takes his hatefulness to new heights. He is one of the most despicable characters I’ve come across, making the book a difficult read after a while. Clinch lacks Mark Twain’s wicked humor (don’t we all), but in the end gave me food for thought and made me want to read Huckleberry Finn again.

Stay tuned for more books, I promise they were not all this grim.

Two library employees deserve our hearty congratulations this week:

Government Documents librarian Bob Staley, winner of the Agnes Milstead Award for Distinguished Librarianship

and InterLibrary Loan supervisor Diane Trotter, winner of the Outstanding Service Award.

Both were recognized at a gala event Thursday. The party offered a 50s theme to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Coe Library. Former employees joined in the fun for a reunion. Pete Simpson reminisced about the early days of Coe, and all the library faculty and staff enjoyed the food, games, music and all around great time. A huge thank you to all the party planners for their hard work and a big congratulations to this year’s honored guests!

UW Libraries invite you to Finals Freakout for all students Monday night, April 23rd, from 8-10 p.m. Stop by the first floor of Coe for a free cuppa coffee and Coe 50th birthday cupcakes (Yay! Coecakes!)

Librarians will be there and ready to help with last minute research questions and citation trouble.

Happy studying!

The UW Libraries rely on over 70 student employees to take care of essential duties, from checking out books to shelving books and journals to sending materials out in interlibrary loan to repairing damaged items.

This week we send a huge THANK YOU to all our student workers for their hard work and dedication. Below are photos from the Coe Library pizza party. Prizes were given in honor of Coe’s 50th anniversary. Jennifer Smith won the coveted $50 grand prize, congratulations Jenn!

Wow, I am way behind on my 50 Books for 50 Years goal. Books 3 and 4 were vacation books that I squeezed in between the Carnaval festivities in Mazatlan

and Spanish lessons with my tutor Marco.

Book 3: Kampung Boy depicts the Malaysian childhood of beloved author Lat, one of Southeast Asia’s favorite graphic novelists. He offers a great glimpse of his Muslim childhood and village life in the 1950s. His story made me miss some of my favorite library patrons from Seattle Public Library, many of them first generation immigrants from Malaysia and Cambodia.

Book 4: Oh gosh. I’m embarrassed to even write it. The Devil Wears Prada. Let’s just say the movie was better but I still enjoyed every trashy moment.

What are you reading? Any recommendations? I still have 46 books to go, I can use some advice.