Las Cruces: A Photographic Journey Book Receives State Preservation Award
Date: April 30, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
The book Las Cruces: A Photographic Journey, a collaborative project of the Las Cruces Bulletin and the NMSU Library’s Archives and Special Collections Department, has been awarded the Heritage Preservation Award by the Cultural Properties Review Committee and the Historic Preservation Division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. Individual awards will be presented to Charles Stanford and Dean Wilkey of the Library and David and Jaki McCollum of the Las Cruces Bulletin at a May 18 ceremony in Santa Fe.
Las Cruces: A Photographic Journey
Dr. Rick Hendricks, Chair of the Cultural Properties Review Committee, said “many elements of lost Las Cruces history are now available to a wider audience because of the book.”
The pictorial history was published just in time for the celebration of New Mexico’s centennial, and it has become a collector’s item and heirloom for families throughout this area. The 288-page book full of photographs and history of the Mesilla Valley offers a tour of the first 100 years of New Mexico statehood through the eyes of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County.
Of the nearly 1,200 photos in the volume, more than 500 are from the archival photo collection of the Library’s Archives and Special Collections Department.
To order the book, contact the Bulletin at (575) 524-8061. For more information on the award, contact Wilkey at (575) 646-4727.
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Zuhl Library Offers Extended End of Semester Hours
Date: April 26, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
The NMSU Library announces extended end of semester hours at Zuhl Library only:
Monday, April 30 through Thursday, May 3, 7:30 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Friday, May 4, 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday, May 5, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday, May 6 through Wednesday, May 9, 7:30 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Thursday, May 10, regular hours
Friday, May 11, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Branson Library will maintain regular hours during finals week. Both libraries are closed Saturday, May 12 through Sunday, May 13.
Coffee will be served during the evening hours at both Branson and Zuhl libraries starting Thursday, May 3 through Thursday, May 10.
The full schedule of Library hours is available at http://lib.nmsu.edu/aboutlib/libhours.shtml and on a voice recording at (575) 646-4749.
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NMSU Library Announces El Dia Programs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
The New Mexico State University Library announces two free public programs in celebration of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day).
Joe Hayes
Author Joe Hayes will read from his award-winning children’s books at the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library on Saturday, April 28, at 10:30 a.m. All ages are invited. Each child will receive a free book while supplies last.
Hayes will present a storytelling workshop for adults at NMSU’s Branson Library Fourth Floor on Saturday, April 28, at 2:00 p.m. Adults are invited to attend the “In the Arms of a Story” event for expert guidance on the well-told tale. Participants in this lecture/demonstration/participation session will increase their awareness of the power of storytelling and build greater confidence in their own skill as tellers.
The Library is also collaborating with the Children’s Reading Foundation of Doña Ana County to have a booth at NMSU’s Children’s Village Fair celebrating the Week of the Young Child. In addition, the Library is working with NMSU student organizations on an initiative for students to visit elementary classrooms in Las Cruces to read stories. Each classroom will also receive a free book.
The celebration is funded by a grant from NMSU’s Southwest and Border Cultures Institute.
El dia de los ninos/El dia de los libros was founded by Pat Mora in 1997. The day’s purpose is to celebrate children, families, reading and multiculturalism.
For more information, contact Mardi Mahaffy at (575) 646-6925 or Sarah Baker at (575) 646-6087.
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Molly Molloy Receives New Mexico Library Leadership Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
Molly Molloy
New Mexico State University Librarian Molly Molloy received the New Mexico Library Leadership Award from the New Mexico Library Association during the association’s annual conference in Las Cruces.
The conference was held April 11-13 at the Las Cruces Convention Center.
Since 1992, Molloy has served as the Latin American and Border Studies Librarian at the NMSU Library. She provides reference and instructional services, develops the Library’s collections in her assigned areas and works closely with faculty and students conducting research on border issues and/or Latin American studies.
Molloy’s advocacy of border issues has extended far beyond her professional job duties, while these professional duties have informed and have given shape to her activism. She has been tireless in her efforts to share information and to encourage critical thinking about the complex realities of border life and to seek fairness and justice for individuals whose voices are frequently missing from the larger national debate.
Before coming to NMSU, Molloy wrote and edited bilingual publications sharing news about Nicaragua, and learned about the complexities of immigration issues as a paralegal and document counselor in Louisiana and California. After beginning her career as a librarian, Molloy recognized the power of the Internet as a tool for sharing information and fostering what she deemed “communities of affinity” through which geographically dispersed people could come together around issues of common concern.
In the early 1990s, Molloy developed online guides for Latin American and Border Issues (http://nmsu.libguides.com/border), which became popular among scholars and community residents. Her Web guides receive 10,000 to 15,000 hits each month, receiving well deserved national and international acclaim.
A more recent effort to share information about social justice on the border is found in Molloy’s work on the Frontera email list, a border news service she created several years ago which has nearly eight hundred subscribers. Molloy’s work on the Frontera list is highly valued by her readers. University of Puerto Rico professor Victor Federico Torres applauds Molloy’s efforts, saying that the Frontera news list is “the most comprehensive, up- to-date source of narco-related violence on the U.S.-Mexico Border.”
Many articles are provided and/or translated by Molloy herself. She is unstinting in her efforts to provide journalists and other list subscribers with the best data sources available to help them understand and convey stories about current border events. Her work on the list has informed articles that have appeared in publications including the Houston Chronicle, the Wall Street Journal and In these Times.
Interviews with Molloy have appeared in the New York Times, the Nation, the Guardian and the Observer as well as the nationally-syndicated radio program, Democracy Now and National Public Radio’s Hearing Voices series on Ciudad Juárez. These articles and interviews have all highlighted the significance of Molloy’s work, and have clarified and provided context to the complex and bloody situation on the border that many in the United States do not understand.
Recently Molloy collaborated with journalist Charles Bowden and filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi on the award-winning documentary The Sicario—Room 164. This film, which premiered at the Venice Biennale in September 2011, continues to garner praise. The film provides a first-hand account of the life of a hit man for the Juárez cartel, and it was also the basis for the book, El Sicario: The Autobiography of a Mexican Assassin (Nation Books, 2011), which Molloy translated and edited with Bowden.
Molloy inspires New Mexico librarians by example, going each day beyond her daily duties by tracking and document the daily murders in Ciudad Juárez. The list of the dead that Molloy keeps signifies that someone cares enough to make sure these victims have a voice and that their deaths will not go unnoticed. Molloy provides access to information from the borderland that would otherwise be lost because of its limited distribution outside of her Frontera list. She provides an invaluable service not only to today’s border researchers but to those of the future.
For more information, contact Molloy at (575) 646-6931 or mollymolloy@gmail.com. For more information on the conference, visit http://nmla.org/annual-conference/.
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Talk on Mexican Revolution Features Library of Congress Resources
Date: April 4, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
Barbara Tenenbaum, a Specialist in Mexican Culture in the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress, will give a presentation, “Vámonos: The Mexican Revolution in Sights and Sound at the Library of Congress,” on Wednesday, April 4, at 4 p.m. at NMSU’s Nason House.
The presentation will feature the Library of Congress’s Web site “Distant Neighbors: The United States and the Mexican Revolution” (http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/mexico/intro_a.html).
In her talk, Tenenbaum will answer such intriguing questions as why Pancho Villa didn’t fight at night, how Tex-Mex food got started and why Mexicans soldiers understood fighting better than U.S. forces.
Tenenbaum is the author/editor of many books and articles about Mexico and the Library of Congress Hispanic collections. She recently donated many books from her personal collection to the NMSU Library.
The lecture is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact NMSU’s Center for Latin American and Border Studies at (575) 646-6814 or email sewilson@nmsu.edu.
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National Library Week 2012: You Belong at Your Library
Date: March 29, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
The New Mexico State University Library joins libraries nationwide in celebrating National Library Week, April 8 through 14. The week’s theme for 2012 is “You belong @ your library.” National Library Week is an annual celebration of the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians. All types of libraries–school, public, academic and special–participate.
Bestselling author Brad Meltzer, honorary chair of National Library Week 2012, said “Without librarians I wouldn’t be a writer today.”
Also celebrated during the week are the release of the State of America’s Libraries Report (April 8), National Library Workers’ Day (April 9), National Bookmobile Day (April 10) and Support Teen Literature Day (April 11). The entire month of April is School Library Month.
The first National Library Week was observed in 1958 with the theme “Wake Up and Read,” and it has continued every year since. The 50th anniversary of National Library Week was celebrated in 2008. National Library Week is observed each year, usually on the second full week in April.
The NMSU Library is asking you to choose National Library Week as the occasion to make your next gift to the Library. Libraries play important and diverse roles in the lives of students, faculty and the broader community. Today the NMSU Library is more relevant than ever to the needs of our users. Your contributions truly help the Library provide world-class resources for students
Library Development Officer Kristina Martinez invites you to visit the NMSU Library at any time. Let her know in advance that you are coming and she will gladly provide a personal tour. Martinez can be contacted at (575) 646-3642 or krismart@ad.nmsu.edu.
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Archives Hours Announced
Date: March 29, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
NMSU Library officials have announced that beginning on Monday, April 2, the Caroline Stras Reading Room of the Library’s Archives and Special Collections Department will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Beginning on Monday, April 9, the reading room will be open by appointment only each Monday for the remainder of this Spring Semester. Researchers are requested to call (575) 646-3839 or email archives@lib.nmsu.edu to make an appointment one day in advance. Tuesday through Friday, the reading room will be open from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Beginning on Wednesday, May 6, and throughout the summer, the reading room will be open by appointment only.
Regular service from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, will resume during Fall Semester 2012.
For more information, call (575) 646-3839.
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Library Begins Journal Cancellations
Date: March 16, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
The NMSU Library will need to conduct a journal cancellation project during Spring Semester 2012 due to the rising costs of journal subscriptions that continue to outpace the Library’s flat base budget. As purchasing power declines, the Library must balance its FY13 budget by reducing subscriptions.
Annual journal subscription cancellation projects are a reality that the Library will face on a continuing basis unless there are changes in the costs of scholarly publishing, the Library’s budget or both.
The estimated shortfall this year is $200,000, an amount based on inflation projection for serials (7%) and databases (5%), as well as cancellation penalties. Serials and databases account for 91% of the Library’s materials budget expenditures.
The NMSU Library is not alone in facing these difficulties. The cost of maintaining the current scholarly publishing system has challenged academic and research libraries across the country. For the NMSU Library, the system has become unsustainable without an increase to its base budget.
Professors Susan Beck, Collection Development Coordinator, and John Sandstrom, Acquisitions Librarian, will work with all Library subject specialists to develop a preliminary cancellation list by mid-March.
The criteria used to guide decision-making for this project are: high cost-low use titles, low or no use titles, and titles for which full text access has become available through other database subscriptions.
The preliminary cancellation list will be shared with the campus community so there is time for review and questions. Library staff members will also offer sessions at each NMSU college to explain the process used to build the preliminary list and to answer questions.
Above all, staff will work closely with the Library’s constituents to minimize consequences for teaching and research. All documents will be made available on the FY13 Library Cancellation Project Web site at http://nmsu.libguides.com/budgetcuts.
The process of identifying titles for cancellation will be completed by May 1, 2012, in order for licensing agreements, contracts and subscriptions to be cancelled for FY13. The Library will release the final cancellation list at that time.
The Library is working closely with the University Administration to identify options for strengthening the Library’s budget to better support NMSU’s growing research and teaching programs.
Thank you for your assistance with this challenging project.
For more information, contact Beck at susabeck@nmsu.edu.
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McKee Foundation Gives $6,000 to NMSU Library
Date: March 16, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
The New Mexico State University Library has received a gift of $6,000 from the Robert E. and Evelyn McKee Foundation of El Paso. The gift will be used for the 
purchase of current engineering reference materials for the Library’s collection.
Engineering Librarian Paula Johnson said that the gift will enable the Library to purchase more than fifty new engineering titles. These include Bioelectronics, Biomedical, and Bioinspired Systems; Disorder and Strain-induced Complexity in Functional Materials; and Geotechnical and Geophysical Site Characterization.
The McKee Foundation has supported the Library since 1995. Robert E. McKee is remembered as the “master builder” whose construction company, McKee Construction, built seven buildings on the NMSU campus. McKee also built major structures in El Paso as well as Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta and other cities.
The selection of the engineering resources is being conducted by Johnson. For more information, please contact her at paulacj@lib.nmsu.edu or (575) 646-7251.
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Archives Offers Research by Appointment Only During Spring Break
Date: March 15, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
NMSU Library officials have announced that beginning on Monday, March 19, the Research Room of the Library’s Archives and Special Collections Department will be open by appointment only during Spring Break.
Researchers are requested to call (575) 646-3839 or email archives@lib.nmsu.edu to make an appointment one day in advance.
Operational hours and walk-in service will resume on Monday, March 26, when the Research Room will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For more information, call (575) 646-3839.
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