With an official Renovation Reveal celebration, including ribbon-cutting, Phase 1 of the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library (NPML) first-floor renovation is now complete! On January 24th, we celebrated this milestone with Regional Chancellor Christian Hardigree, Dean of USF Libraries Todd Chavez, our NPML faculty and staff, and campus and community partners, including St. Petersburg Campus Student Governor Sean Schrader and Graphic Arts Professor Erika Greenberg-Scheider.

All of us in the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library were so excited to finally celebrate the official opening of the new first floor space - including a renovated atrium as gathering/event space, 12 new study rooms, an updated Student Technology Center and Makerspace, and a reimagined NPML Gallery - and more importantly, to begin to see it in use as a site for learning, collaboration, creativity, and as a means to partner with and support our community on and off campus in St. Petersburg and throughout #OneUSF as a whole. The opening of a new library space is certainly an exciting and momentous event, but more important is what happens in these spaces and what they allow our community to to imagine and to accomplish. As you can read in this issue, the evening was just the first event we will be hosting this semester. We are also planning a number of new initiatives detailed further below that have been spurred on by the opportunity to rethink our spaces and engagement with our users and partners.

Finally, the Reveal celebrated on January 24th is not the end of physical changes to the Poynter Library. In the coming months we will add new furniture that will ensure the flexibility of the new space and that will enhance opportunities for collaboration. I’m also looking forward to a few furniture pieces that will add another element of play and an occasion to upend and even reset one’s perceptions - so stay on the lookout for that! And Phase 2 has already begun with the debut of a new front-and-center service desk where you can go to get help and to check out materials. Next, we will begin planning for a redesigned front entrance, and, last, but certainly not least, we will debut a plant wall that will reduce noise, create a peaceful environment, and purify the air. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with your feedback and ideas as our transformation continues!

Kristina Keogh,PhD

Campus Library Dean

Nelson Poynter Memorial Library

Student Library Advisory Board - Let's Work Together!

In partnership with Student Government the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library is creating a Student Library Advisory Board (SLAB) to make sure that the library and students work together on creating a better library for everyone.

Please share with students and encourage them to complete and submit this questionnaire as part of the application and selection process for the USF St. Petersburg Campus Student Library Advisory Board (SLAB).

Question:  

In March 2006, Bob Devin Jones invited USFSP history professor Dr. Ray Arsenault and historian Dr. John Hope Franklin, best known for his work, From Slavery to Freedom, to attend a special Studio@620 program and book signing in their honor. What was the title of the book Dr. Arsenault signed for guests at that event?



Answer:

The answer can be found in this newspaper article.

Check it out at the Library!



One of the items available at the library this spring is a true dinosaur. Professor Thomas Hallock has placed a vintage Smith Corona Electra 120 typewriter on reserve. Students taking his Introduction to Literature class are encouraged to check out the typewriter and knock out a first draft of their work. So far students, and staff, have gotten a real kick out of hearing the clicking of the keys echo throughout the library. Come on in to the NPML, check out this beauty and channel your inner Hemingway!

Welcome to Chillville!

The Nelson Poynter Memorial Library has created a space on the first floor to relax, take a break from studying, or just get together to have some fun and we call it: Chillville!

We have lots of fun activities available here like games, puzzles, legos, and coloring opportunities. There are couches to sit, chat, or just relax. We will be adding to the space and continue to grow the available activities. If you have any ideas for additions to the activities in the space, please feel free to send them to Kristina Keogh.

If the library does not have an item you are looking for...

There are options!!

The Uborrow Service is great for finding print books that aren’t available through the USF Libraries collection. You can checkout books for up to 3 months + an additional 30 day renewal upon request. The books will be coming from other Florida state universities and colleges.

Interlibrary Loan is another option for getting books or articles the USF Libraries do not have access to. These items may come from other USF locations so that you don't have to go to another campus or they may come from another library around the country.

To learn more about borrowing materials not owned by USF check out this webpage.

PlaceMatters SP Lecture Series

The PlaceMatters SP lecture series is being hosted by the Nelson Poynter Library in partnership with Preserve the 'Burg. Expert speakers will highlight the places, people and stories that define St. Pete's past and future.

Kicking things off on February 22nd, Dr. Lori Collins will discuss how 3D digitization and emerging technologies like augmented reality are being used to preserve, document and showcase heritage sites around the world.

PlaceMattersSP Speaker Series with Lori Collins, co-Director of USF Libraries Center for Digital Heritage and Geospatial Information

February 22 (6-7pm)

PlaceMattersSP Speaker Series with Rachael Kangas, Regional Director for the West Central and Central Regions of the Florida Public Archaeology Network

March 22 (6-7pm)

PlaceMattersSP Speaker Series with Jenee Priebe, Director of the SHINE Mural Festival

April 25 (6-7pm)

What’s New in the NPML Gallery?

The completion of Phase 1 of the library’s first floor renovation included the debut of a new NPML Gallery. The Gallery’s inaugural exhibition, Perhaps All Magic Is, curated by USF St. Petersburg Campus Graphic Arts Professor and Master Printer Erika Greenberg-Schneider, was based on an artists’ book of the same title designed and printed by Professor Greenberg-Schneider. The artists’ book features the poems of Christian Filardo paired with abstract renderings by multidisciplinary artist, Dominique Labauvie. The exhibition showcased pages

from the book itself as well as framed prints of Labauvie’s images along the Gallery’s walls. The exhibition version of Perhaps All Magic Is formally ended with a closing reception (or, finassage) on February 2nd, but you still have an opportunity to view the artists’ book by visiting the NPML Special Collections and University Archives.

The Gallery’s newest exhibition, which opened on February 14th, is Regularly Scheduled Programming, curated by and featuring the work of the USF St. Petersburg Graphic Arts Class of 2023. Featuring posters displayed on the two walls of the gallery, the works “aim to explore the many avenues through which information is dispersed.” The posters also reflect on the history of image-making and graphic design through theater, music, book, and movie marketing. Regularly Scheduled Programming “showcases the use of graphics and typography to frame information in exciting visual ways,” according to the artists. Check out this eye-opening work by our talented St. Pete Graphic Arts students on view through the end of February, any time the library is open.



Do you have ideas for future exhibitions? Contact Kristina Keogh