The Irvine Sullivan Ingram Library at the University of West Georgia and the Georgia Humanities Council will host an opening reception for a new exhibit, "Speaker Tom Murphy: Steady Leadership in Changing Times," with guest speaker former Georgia Representative Tracy Stallings on Sunday, May 4, at 2:30 p.m. at the Neva Lomason Library. The event is free and the community is invited to attend.

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The public is invited to "An Evening of Poetry and Jazz" on Friday evening, April 18, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. in the library lobby. Ingram Library's Penelope Melson Society is sponsoring the event, which will feature a musical performance by members of the UWG Jazz Ensemble, a reception, and poetry readings.

"An Evening of Poetry and Jazz" celebrates National Library Week, National Poetry Month, and Jazz Appreciation Month. Poets will read from the "Eclectic: Art and Literary Magazine of West Georgia" and from other published works. Attendees will have the opportunity to become 2008 Charter Members of the new library society, developed to support the library and to extend opportunities for social and cultural interaction between the university and the community. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. William (Bill) Neal Nelson, Director of the Reese Library at Augusta State University will be the speaker for the second Charles Beard Library Lecture on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 11:30 a.m. in the Executive Dining Room of the Z6 Food Services Building at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton. His talk will be entitled "Enhancing Student Achievement: Applying Standards and Assessment in the Library."

The lecture series honors the late Charles Beard, who served as Director of University Libraries at the University of West Georgia from 1978-2004. http://www.westga.edu/~library/lecture/charlesbeard.shtml

Dr. Nelson co-authored Standards and Assessment for Academic Libraries: A Workbook, published by the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) in 2002. Dr. Nelson and co-author Robert W. Fernekes of Georgia Southern University conduct workshops nationwide and internationally on applying ACRL's 2004 Standards for Libraries in Higher Education, which emphasize outcomes assessment.

Dr. Nelson has served as Director of Library and Professor of Library Science at Augusta State since 1993. He holds the B.A. from Centenary College and the M.A., M.L.S. and Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. He is active in the American Library Association, the Southeastern Library Association, and Georgia Library Association.

Lunch will be provided for attendees. Please register with the cashier at the entrance to the campus dining area. For location information, click "Z6 Food Services" on the campus map at http://www.westga.edu/index_map.php

The public is invited to Ingram Library's Centennial Celebration and reception on Sunday afternoon January 27, 2008, in the library lobby at 2:30 p.m. The bluegrass band Bullsboro will open the program. The Carrollton High School Show Choir will perform songs from various eras of the twentieth century.

During the afternoon, University of West Georgia art students will be working on a centennial mural on the library's second floor. Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections will feature exhibits related to library and university history, and display items from Georgia's Political Heritage Program collections. The Thomas B. Murphy Holocaust Teacher Training & Resource Center will also be open for tours. Conceptual plans for Ingram Library's renovation and expansion will be displayed in the library lobby.

Attendees will have the opportunity to become charter members of Ingram Library's Penelope Melson Society and to contribute to the Second Century Collection. The library society is named in honor of Penelope (Nep) Stevens Melson, whose volunteer efforts developed and maintained the first library of the institution now known as the University of West Georgia. In January, 1908, she and her husband John Holland Melson, first principal of the Fourth District Agricultural & Mechanical School, asked the community to donate books to form a library for the new school. Mrs. Melson organized the 325 volumes collected at the book shower, and managed the growing library until the family left the A&M School in 1920.

Thomas B. Murphy served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1961 to 2003. His tenure as Speaker of the House, the longest in state history, began in 1973. Under an agreement signed in January, 2003, the University of West Georgia Foundation, Inc. accepted Speaker Murphy's papers and personal office effects. Ingram Library's Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections, which houses materials associated with Georgia's Political Heritage Program, serves as the depository for the collection.

Thomas B. Murphy State Capitol Office Installation

University of West Georgia's Ingram Library renovation and expansion plan submitted to and approved by the Board of Regents in 2007 includes the installation of the office of former Georgia House Speaker Tom Murphy adjacent to Ingram Library's Special Collections area and exhibit space to be developed part of Phase 1 of the library renovation. This area will have prominence on the main floor of the library, providing high visibility to students and faculty, and making the area particularly accessible to the general public.

These conceptual plans show general adjacencies requested in the planning process. Following the renovation phase, the Center for Public History, based in the Department of History, will re-locate from Pafford Hall to Ingram Library, providing students opportunities to work in archives and exhibit/program development in association with the Murphy office installation and other Special Collections. Exhibits and programs will enhance the office installation by highlighting key events and themes of the years Tom Murphy served in the Georgia legislature. This will enable the university to maintain the relevance of the installation over time, while building an educational component emphasizing the importance of leadership, public service and personal political involvement.

Ingram Library is proud to announce the return of our successful Lunch & Learn program! We begin this year's series with Dr. Elane MacKinnon (History Department), Ms. Tara Pearson (Institutional Research & Planning)and Ms. Ineke Reed (Risk Management and Environmental Health) as they present "On the Question of Cat on Campus". The program begins at noon, Wednesday, October 17 in the Ingram Library Conference Room, second floor.

Are you concerned about the feral cats that run wild on campus? Or, do you simply enjoy the warm exchange of conversation with peers? Then, bring your lunch and we'll provide veggies, chips, dip, assorted drinks and desserts thanks to a generous donation from Carroll EMC! The program begins at noon, Wednesday, October 17 in the Ingram Library Conference Room, second floor.

Special thanks also to our UWG family and Carroll EMC for supporting Ingram Library's first Student and Faculty/Staff Lunch and Learn during our Banned Books Week Celebration. Dr. Hynes' presentation was enjoyed by our largest audience to date with more than 125 students, faculty and staff attending.

Haunt Your Library on Halloween with Drs. Jane Hill, David Newton and Emily Hipchen of the English Department as they present "A Frightful Read", Wednesday, October 31st, in the Ingram Library first floor lobby.

Have you ever wanted to be part of something truly worthwhile? Volunteer to serve on the Ingram Library Centennial Celebration Planning Committee or the forthcoming Society of Friends Library Planning Committee. If interested in attending the first informational committee meeting scheduled for Nov. 1st, at 4:00 p.m., R.S.V.P. to Julie Dobbs at 678-839-6498.

Mark your calendars now for Friday, November 9th, as Ingram Library joins Dr. Jeff Rooks in celebrating Veteran's Day!

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Watch Video about Banned Books Week

Thursday, October 4th, 12:15 p.m.
"Banned Books and the Power of Ideas"
Dr. Tim Hynes, Professor and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Join us for pizza after this lecture in the library lobby.
PowerPoint for Banned Books and the Power of Ideas
Watch Video - Banned Books and the Power of Ideas

Friday, October 5th, 1:00 p.m.
"Fahrenheit 451"
Join us for this film, based on the novel by Ray Bradbury, in the library's second floor conference room.
This 1966 drama directed by Francois Truffaut, shows a future society in which books are burned and citizens are controlled by being subjected to information broadcast over loudspeakers and screens.
American Film Institute Catalog on Fahrenheit 451

This year the American Library Association released a list of the "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books between 1990-2007" of which the top 20 titles appear below.

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel

To learn if one of your favorite novels appears on the challenged list, visit Ingram Library's Banned Book Display, Sept. 29 through October 6th, and cast your vote for UWG's favorite Banned Book. For additional information and an extensive history of persecuted authors and banned books, see the attached story or go to http://www.ala.org . "Exercise your Freedom to Read" today!

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The official observance of the University of West Georgia's Centennial will come to a close 365 days after it began with a sealing of a time capsule and the presentation of a Centennial quilt on Friday, Aug. 17, at 3:30 p.m. in the Ingram Library.

Dozens of donated items from faculty, staff and students will be carefully stored in a stainless steel canister and locked in a cabinet with instructions to future UWG personnel to open the time capsule in 2057.

"It's a fairly decent representation of the university and its Centennial celebration," said Dr. Steve Goodson, interim chair and professor of history and chair of the time capsule sub-committee. "We began meeting in March 2006, so we have been working on this for awhile. In a way, we will be extending the celebration for half a century. I'll be 98 years old when it is opened. I may miss that ceremony."

The capsule, a 14-inch-wide and 24-inch-tall container, will be filled with approximately 50 items carefully preserved in archival boxes, folders and acid-free tissue paper.

Candid photographs of students provide a glimpse of the fashion, hairstyles and lifestyle on campus in 2007. UWG Centennial memorabilia, a Wolves sticker and ceramic tile, Goo Goo Dolls tickets and posters, and jewelry are a few of the other items that were chosen for posterity.

Letters from faculty and administrators were written to share their job descriptions with their 2057 counterparts. Goodson said that composing a letter to people of the future was a daunting task.

"This was an opportunity to speak to posterity about the issues that are important to individual departments and to articulate hopes for the future," Goodson explained.

The capsule will be stored in a storage and display case constructed on the third floor of the library across from the Special Collections room. A plaque will commemorate the time and place of the occasion.

Committee members decided against literally burying the capsule because of the too often occurrence of losing track of the location, said Diane Fulkerson, Special Collections librarian at UWG.

"There have been quite a few time capsules that can't be found," said Fulkerson. "We figured the third floor of the university would be a safe place."

A second highlight of the closing ceremony is the presentation of a Centennial quilt created by the West Georgia Quilters Guild.

Approximately 25 community members contributed to the handmade piece of art. Bruce Bobick, UWG emeritus professor of art, designed the 10-panel quilt to represent the theme of the Centennial year, "From Rural Roots to Global Reach."

"Practically, by having the quilt pieced in sections, ten groups were permitted to work simultaneously on the piecing and embroidery," Bobick noted. "It is hand-quilted and was sewn together using various techniques including hand-piecing, applique, reverse appliqué and embroidery."

The quilt is composed of 10 bands of different colors, symbolically representing the decades comprising the existence of the institution. The images in the lower sections are tree roots drawn from life on the West Georgia campus. The roots are metaphors for the university's humble beginnings as the Fourth District Agricultural and Mechanical School.

Other images on the quilt include a tree trunk that metamorphoses into a pillar of the Bonner House, which was built in 1843 and is the oldest building on campus; the McIntosh Stone, a horse mounting stone that served for a time as the logo of West Georgia and moved in 1916 from the McIntosh Reserve to the A & M School; and the Kennedy Chapel dedicated by the former Attorney General Robert to his brother, President John F. Kennedy in 1964. Built in 1893, it is the second oldest building on campus.

Items placed in the time capsule include:

• DVD of presentation by Dr. Sethna at June 2007 Learning Festival
• May 2007 Commencement program
• University Police Pin in the shape of a police badge
• UWG blank student ID card
• Posters from the Townsend Center Centennial Performances
• UWG Theater Brochure
• Playbill from the performance of The West Georgia Stories: From Rural Roots to Global Reach
• Playbill from performance of Episodes in Sexuality; Respect: Personal, Local, and Global
• Goo Goo Dolls Ticket
• Copy of 2007 Eclectic
• Centennial Banner
• UWG Fact Book 2006-2007
• Goo Goo Dolls Concert Tent Card, postcard and poster

The Centennial quilt will be on permanent display in Special Collections. For more information, call 678-839-6042.

On April 18th, The Ingram Library Lecture Series surpassed all expectations with a standing-room-only crowd and a formal announcement from Lorene Flanders, current University Libraries Director, inaugurating the event as the Charles E. Beard Lecture Series, in honor of the late Ingram Library Director who died in 2004. Guest speakers for the event included Richard Meyer, Dean and Director of Libraries at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Brian Mathews and Bonnie Tijerina, authors of the Georgia Tech Information Center Plan which recently received the Association of College and Research Libraries' Excellence in Academic Libraries Award. Their presentation entitled "How to Become an Information Center of Excellence" is available in entirety.

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According to Lorene Flanders, Director of University of West Georgia Libraries, plans to recreate former Speaker Thomas B. Murphy's office are proceeding ahead of schedule as the Sizemore Group, http://www.sizemoregroup.com, an Atlanta architectural firm specializing in educational facilities, met with UWG officials on May 31st, to finalize a document outlining and costing renovation and expansion needs for Ingram Library. Flanders additionally announced that Lily del C. Berrios, AIA, who holds membership in the American Library Association,a well as consultant, Jay Lucker, former Director of Libraries at MIT, were both assigned to the Sizemore project.*

Announcements to move forward with a multi-tiered plan to recreate the Speaker's office began March 9th following the opening of an exhibit in the Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections to honor the Speaker's 83rd birthday. Murphy was born March 10, 1924 in Bremen, Georgia.

Thomas B. Murphy served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1961 to 2003. His thirty-year tenure as Speaker of the House, the longest in state history, began in 1973. Under an agreement signed in January, 2003, the University of West Georgia Foundation, Inc. accepted Speaker Murphy's papers and personal office effects. Ingram Library's Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections serves as the depository for the collection. The library also houses the Thomas B. Murphy Holocaust Teacher Training & Resource Center on its second floor. http://www.westga.edu/~holocaus/about.htm

The Murphy exhibit was also featured on April 20th during the "Public Citizen Award Ceremony" hosted by Ingram Library, the Thomas Murphy Center for Public Service and the Georgia Political Heritage Project. The Honorable Justice P. Harris Hines and former Governor Roy E. Barnes were this year's award recipients and guest speakers for the event.

The Public Citizen Award Ceremony was recorded in entirety and available for viewing.
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For more information about Thomas B. Murphy:

• "Thomas B. Murphy" article in The New Georgia Encyclopedia
• "Speaker Of The House: The Thomas B. Murphy Story," a GPTV documentary, is available in streaming video through Georgia Public Broadcasting's web site

*(Note: The May 31st meeting was a preliminary step to developing a program document from which floor plans can be drawn when funds are secured for that stage.)