Library Hours • Fall Break

Library Hours • Fall Break 
Archer Library Hours for fall break are: 

• Thursday, October 12: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 
• Friday, October 13: 8 a.m. to 4p.m. 
• Saturday, October 14: Closed 

Archer Library's fall hours schedule resumes on Sunday, October 15th, we will be open 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. A complete listing of library hours and updates is available on our website and the main library calendar. Have a safe and enjoyable fall break!

ATS Receives ATLA Grant

Congratulations to librarians Sarah Thomas and Daniel O'Brien.

During the third round of funding of the OER Grant Program, ATLA awarded Ashland Theological Seminary a grant to create a multimedia resource on Christian Church history consisting of an interactive timeline linking to informative and educational elements. The resource was developed as a LibGuide and is now available under a CC-BY-NC for use and adaptation by anyone who may be seeking OER in church history.

The grant team consisted of six persons from Ashland Theological Seminary’s faculty, library and other support staff: Dr. Jason Barnhart (Assistant Professor of Historical Theology), Sadie Vanderzyden (Grant Assistant), Dr. Pidge Bannin (Senior Instructional Designer), Karen Reaume (Associate Program Director), Sarah Thomas (Theological Librarian) and Daniel O’Brien (Circulation & Digital Services Librarian). 

The team created a visually appealing interactive timeline that includes informative text and images to illustrate the subject. Dr. Barnhart explains “This interactive church history timeline will provide a free resource to both students taking church history courses, and those looking to increase their knowledge of key people, events and places that have shaped the Christian story. Instead of costly books of charts and maps, students will now have a resource available through the online presence of our library. My hope would be for this resource to expand further with more church history data along with historical data from the Old and New Testaments and the intertestamental period. With photos, charts and videos, students will be able to immerse themselves in both the biblical and ecclesiastical stories of Christianity.”

Read the grant announcement and explore the LibGuide:

• Atla Announces Publication of Grant Funded Open Educational Resource on Church History
• LibGuide:  Christian Church History Timeline

Announcement originally posted on MyAU 10/5/23

Banned Books Week • October 1 - 7, 2023

Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022 

"ALA documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. Of the record 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, these are most challenged, including reasons cited for censoring the books" (2022 Book Ban Data). 

Banned Books Week Display

Visit our Banned Books Week display on Archer Library's second floor, directly outside of the Instructional Resource Center. We have free bookmarks, buttons, word search puzzles, and flyers. Stay tuned to the IRC Blog, more Banned Books Week posts are planned. 

Celebrate Constitution Day with the Archer Library!

Check out the library's LibGuide celebrating Constitution Day at the following link: https://libguides.ashland.edu/constitution. Since so many of the resources are gov docs, we've added it to the government document subject area on the main LibGuide page. 

The Archer Library is featuring a Constitution Day display that is setup on the ground floor of the library. The display will run 09/11/23-09/19/23. Please feel free to visit the display and pickup your own copy of the U.S. Constitution.

If there are any questions, see Sarah Thomas, (419) 289-5168 or sthomas4@ashland.edu.

 

AUthor Spolight: Yoe Suarez

 

With our new display on the 5th floor, we are spotlighting an author who is now a part of the AU community: Yoe Suárez

For the summer of 2023, Suárez was Ashland University’s Writer-in-Residence where he worked on a book “about very brave pastors in Cuba who are preaching the good work of the Lord and not putting aside what is happening in Cuba” and “the clash between the Christian ethic and the socialist ethic … to inspire people, letting them know that there are people in Cuba telling the truth.”  He also gave a presentation, “Faith Under Totalitarianism in the 21st Century: Cuba, Freedom and the Church,” on August 2nd in a conversational format with AU President Carlos Campo, whose father came to America from Cuba in 1940. 

Three of the author's books are now a part of our Special Collections, so they are available for AU community members in the future. Let us know if you are interested in checking them out.

A Quick Biography of our Spotlighted Author

Yoe Suárez (1990) is from Havana, Cuba where he was a journalist who has been working with non-state media outlets in Cuba since 2014. He has written and documented the human rights and freedom of religion issues in Cuba, and as a result he and his family have been regularly subjected to intimidation tactics, threats and interrogations by authorities. He, his wife who was also a Cuban journalist, and their son entered the US last summer and have applied for political asylum to stay in the US.

Suárez has published with both English and Spanish media outlets including The Hill, Newsweek, Univision, El Español, and El Espectador. He won the Hypermedia Editorial Reporting Award (USA) 2017 and 2018 and the Gabo Grant for Cultural Journalism 2018. His books have been translated into English and Italian. He produced, wrote and directed documentaries in Cuba, including the feature film Cuba Crucis (2022), about the lack of religious freedom under totalitarianism, filmed clandestinely on the island.

Bibliography

• *No Te Llamas Desierto Testimonio (2015)
• La Otra Isla/The Other Island (2016) -Michael Jacobs Scholarship Finalist, 2016; International Book Latino Award, 2019
• Charles en el mosaico/Charles in the Mosaic (2018)
•  En esta ribera mi cuerpo - Casa de las Américas Award Mention, 2018
• *El Soplo del Demonio: Violencia y Pandillerismo en La Habana/The Breath of the Devil: violence and gangs in Havana (2020)
• *Leviatán: political police and socialist terror (2021) - Iliad Award, 2021

* are the books that are now in the AU collection

Resources:

https://www.ashland.edu/news/political-refugee-and-independent-journalist-describes-life-cuba-crowd-ashland-university

New • ProQuest CultureGrams

Introducing ProQuest CultureGrams 

Our newest OhioLINK database, ProQuest CultureGrams Online provides concise, reliable, and up-to-date cultural information on countries across the globe. Read country reports on daily life and culture, including the background, customs, and lifestyles of the world's people. Reports are written and reviewed by in-country experts and are updated as new information becomes available. CultureGrams is available from Archer Library's A to Z Database List and is currently featured as a new resource.

About CultureGrams 

 "CultureGrams is a leading reference for concise and reliable cultural information on the countries of the world. With world events increasingly affecting our lives, it's more important than ever to educate students about the world around them, and for college students and business people to stay up-to-date." Learn more about CultureGrams on the ProQuest LibGuides content page.

Hours Update • Labor Day

Holiday Hours • Labor Day

Archer Library hours for the Labor Day holiday weekend are noted below. 

• Saturday, 9/2:  Closed
• Sunday, 9/3: Closed
• Monday, 9/4: Closed

The library's fall hours schedule resumes on Tuesday, 9/5. A complete listing of library hours and updates is available on our website.