Library News & Events

Hey there, Oilers! Happy (almost) Valentine's Day! In lieu of candy and flowers, we here at Shafer bring to you 10 book recommendations featuring some complicated romances. Be it the stresses of college to the danger of what lurks beneath the sea, these stories are not your average romances! Stop on by the library to pick one of these up from our physical display, but hurry, they're flying off the shelves! 

Click on each item to be taken to our catalog for more information on its availability. Missed out on a book you NEED to read? Track down another copy here on SearchOhio or stop by the Library to see if we can track one down for you or find something else you might enjoy!

Hey there, Oilers! Looking for some new books to enjoy over break? Check out these new editions to the Pleasure Reading Collection here at Shafer!

".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

Announcing the new Shafer Library workshop series! These workshops are here to help you learn effective research techniques and resource evaluation skills both for your college career and your day to day life in order to become a more well-rounded and information-literate learner. Join us every 7th and 21st of the month at 2pm in the Shafer Library Learning Commons and check out our website for more information on the workshop topics.  

We are also holding a series of workshops for faculty focused on conducting and using archival research in the University archive. See below for more information.

This is a reminder to finalize and SHARE your stories from "The Magic of Writing" event on Instagram this week! All you have to do is upload any text and photos as a regular post (do not post it on your Instagram story), tag the UF Writing Center and use the hashtag #UFwritingday22. We need you to tag us and use the hashtag so we can find your story! We will be selecting a winner later this week.

The event also made it to The Pulse! Check it out here.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the event last week. We hope you enjoyed it, and we hope to bring back the event next year!

Happy Banned Books Week Oiler Nation!

Through September 18-24th Shafer library will be participating in the annual Banned Books Week. 

Launched in 1982 in response to a sudden increase in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries, Banned Books Week emphasizes the value of free and open access to information. It "celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. For 40 years, the annual event has brought together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship (ALA website)."

Every year, the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The lists are based on information from media stories and voluntary reports sent to OIF from communities across the U.S.. You can find the lists going back to 2009 on the ALA website. However, the OIF has data going back to 1990 when the began recording the data.

The Top 10 lists are only glimpse at book challenges. Surveys indicate that 82-97% of book challenges – documented requests to remove materials from schools or libraries – remain unreported and receive no media.

To learn more, head on over the Banned Books Week website or the American Library Association (ALA) website.

Throughout the week, check out the #BannedBooksWeeks on twitter for participating events and libraries and to head on over the the official Banned Books Week Twitter for more facts, digital events (lectures, workshops, readings), and news.

Also be sure to stop by Shafer library to check out our displays and participate in our 'Guess the Banned Book" drawing. We will also be posting Banned Book trivia to our Twitter and Instagram throughout the week so be sure to follow!

@ShaferLibrary and shaferlibrary