Library News & Events

This week's Flashback Friday is a sequel to one of our previous posts! If you remember our Flashback Friday from October 21st, 2022 (click HERE to view it), we had shared photos of vinyl records that contain music from the Findlay College band and choir. We have found the original audio from these records, and we would like to share it with you! Click on the links below to listen to these unique compositions.

Campus Music from the Findlay College Band and Choir (1961)

PART 1

PART 2

We will share the audio from the second record, "The Findlay College A Capella Choir" at a later date. Stay tuned!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We hope that today will be a fun day for everyone. We have a cool Flashback Friday item to share with you this week that aligns well with the holiday.

We do not know too much about this deck of playing cards (photos below), but they are preserved in the University Archives as an artifact from UF's 1999 spirit week. Sponsored by the Campus Program Board, the cards were likely handed out to students during homecoming as a way to get them involved in campus events. Based off the tops of the cards, it appears that the theme of spirit week in 1999 was "good luck." The deck is still sealed, so they have never been played with! If there is further interest in these cards, we can open them and share more photos!

Check out the photos below to see for yourself, and let us know if you want to see more of these cool cards!

"Get Lucky" Playing Cards (Spirit Week 1999)

Back of Bottom Card

Side of Card Box

Just a reminder that Shafer Library will be hosting Book Trope Bingo tonight at 6:00PM! It will be held in the basement of Shafer Library, in the gaming area. Come enjoy some snacks and win prizes with us!

".read" by .brioso. is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Were you an avid reader before college assigned reading took up all of your time? Maybe you never really read for fun but are looking to pick up a new hobby. Now reading for fun doesn't mean just sitting down and trying to read all of War and Peace by Tolstoy in one go, you can also grab a magazine or a newspaper. Heck, to this librarian podcasts and audiobooks count at pleasure reading! This series of posts are going to walk you through how to find books or other reading materials for fun, how to get them, and the benefits of extracurricular reading. Let's start with the benefits!

The Benefits:

Reading for pleasure during college is important for a variety of reasons. Benefits of reading include:

• Reduces stress
  • A 2022 article by Levine et al. specifically looked at the effect of recreational reading on college students , finding that the majority that read for fun did see a positive correlation in stress reduction as the semester progressed.
• Reading before bed can improve sleep
  • This might seem strange, but a research study in Ireland found that for a good portion of people reading before bed can help you fall asleep better and give you a better quality of sleep. While it may not work for everyone, if you have trouble falling or staying asleep, maybe pick up a book in addition to that cup of sleept yime tea! (Finucane et al, 2021).
• Improved performance in classes 
  • Studies show that reading for pleasure can improve your academic success, helping you understand written texts such as textbooks better and help improve your own writing (Whitten at al. 2016)! Other studies even show that reading for fun can improve critical thinking skills (Elder and Paul, 2004).
• Increases empathy
  • Reading for fun can help you walk a mile in someone else's shoes. Bal and Veltkamp (2013) argue that "because fiction is a simulation of social experiences, in which people practice and enhance their interpersonal skills" and lets you live multiple perspectives and even feel sadness over the people and characters in the books.
• Getting a cat

"Sossi loves books" by bibliothekarin is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Kidding! You can't have cats in your dorm rooms! You can read about cats, though. Ever heard of the Warrior Cats book series? There's 14 of them! All of them Game of Thrones meets cats.

Audiobooks vs Print:

"AudioBooks" by Colette Cassinelli is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

So here's the thing about audio books. You may see people online arguing over if listening to audiobooks or podcasts counts as reading, you always see the back and forth on Twitter for example, and you know what the answer is? YES! 

If reading a print book or e-book just can't keep your attention, or you have trouble with it, or even if you simply enjoy the sound of someone telling you a story then by all means download an audiobook! Not only do some narrators completely captivate and draw you in (I'm looking at you, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy narrated by Stephen Fry),  studies show that audiobooks have similar cognitive and emotional benefits to reading print.

What next?

Now that we've gone over some of the benefits of reading, its time for the hardest part- figuring out exactly what you want to read. Check out our next post in the series here when it becomes available!

Sources:
Bal PM, & Veltkamp M (2013) How Does Fiction Reading Influence Empathy? An Experimental Investigation on the Role of Emotional Transportation. PLOS ONE 8(1): e55341.

Best, Emily. Audiobooks and literacy: A rapid review of the literature. National Literacy Trust, 2020.

Finucane E, O'Brien A, Treweek S, Newell J, et al.. Does reading a book in bed make a difference to sleep in comparison to not reading a book in bed? The People's Trial-an online, pragmatic, randomised trial. Trials. 2021 Dec 4;22(1):873. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05831-3. PMID: 34996514; PMCID: PMC8740874.

Levine SL, Cherrier S, Holding AC, Koestner R. For the love of reading: Recreational reading reduces psychological distress in college students and autonomous motivation is the key. J Am Coll Health. 2022 Jan;70(1):158-164. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2020.1728280. Epub 2020 Mar 9. PMID: 32150516.

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2003). Critical Thinking... and the Art of Close Reading (Part I). Journal of Developmental Education, 27(2), 36–39.

Whitten, C., Labby, S., & Sullivan, S.(2019). The impact of Pleasure Reading on Academic Success.Journal of Multidisciplinary Graduate Research Vol.2 No.1

Welcome back from spring break, Oilers!

Shafer Library has been getting some publicity recently! A group of students in Dave Essinger's ENGL 106 course created a promotional video of Shafer Library for a class project. Check it out by clicking HERE!

Thank you for creating this lovely video promoting our services to the campus. We are so glad that you chose the library for your project!

Yay for reading! March is National Reading Month and together with the UF Writing Center, CTE, and the Findlay-Hancock Public Library, we are bringing you events and activities all month long to celebrate and get reading!

Friday, 3/10 10am-2pm
     Help us kick off National Reading Month by welcoming the Findlay-Hancock Public Library's Bookmobile @ Mazza Museum Parking Lot. By getting a public library card,      students, faculty, and staff will be able to access thousands of books, audiobooks, ebooks, and streaming services for music and film through Hoopla and Kanopy. The public library also hosts a robust series of classes and special events, ranging from book clubs to tax assistance. Just be sure to bring 2 forms of I.D.: one photo ID and one showing their current address.

Week of 3/13-3/17
     Reading time 8am-10am @ the Writing Center. Stop by the writing center to participate in a 'free read.' Books will be available if you want to try something new!
Thursday, 3/16 6pm
     Book Trope Bingo @Shafer Library. Stop by and enjoy a few rounds of bingo with the Shafer Librarians. Snacks and prizes will be available.
Thursday, 3/30 6pm
     Join us for a Book Talk @ Shafer Library with the Findlay-Hancock Public Library. As a part of the Public Library's CommunityRead program, we will be reading 'The Invisible Husband of Frick Island' by Colleen Oakley. Get a copy at the Public Library or request one here. You can also meet the author in a special event at the Public Library in April, more information on the Public Library's website here.

Be sure to stop by the Library and Writing Center (or keeps tabs on our Instagram) throughout the month for quick activities and fun facts on reading! 

Want to get into reading for fun? Check out our helpful guide here!