Libraries News Blog

Postcard exhibit explores how WWI soldiers make sense of a war while living through it and how experiences are shared with loved ones back home.

Then Came a Post: Postcards and the Challenge of Communication during the Great War

June 19 - Aug. 19, 2013

Dean's Gallery

Miller Nichols Library

August 22-November 12, 2013
  Research Center Gallery,  National World War I Museum

Admission Free

In 1914, postcards were the cheapest and most effective way to connect the war front to the home front. Using postcards from the National World War I Museum’s Research Center, this exhibition explores the opportunities, limits, and dangers of this popular mode of communication. This group research project by UMKC undergraduates speaks to the theme "Why Commemorate?" as proposed by the National World War One Museum for 2013-14. Its programs and exhibitions are part of an international effort among all of the combatant nations in the coming years to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Great War.

Commemoration matters; but it did not begin after the war ended in 1918. Already during the war, soldiers struggled to give meaning to their service and sacrifice. As this exhibition shows, postcards were intended to connect soldiers to their loved ones; but they actually served to disconnect the soldiers, and the civilians alike, from the trauma of war.

Gloria Tibbs is one of 12 museum and library professionals from across the country participating in panel discussions at the White House Tuesday June 11.

The panel discussions will focus on the topic of “Creating Lifelong Learners” and will begin at 3 p.m. CDT. The panels will be livestreamed online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/live.

According to the White House announcement, “this Champions event will focus on libraries and museums who make a difference for their neighborhoods and for our nation.  The honorees are providing powerful learning experiences.  They are reaching young children and their families with early learning opportunities, offering exciting experiences for teens to develop skills in science, technology, engineering and math, helping immigrants learn English and pursue citizenship and providing services for hard-to-reach populations so that everyone can succeed in school and in life.

“The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White House to feature groups of Americans – individuals, businesses and organizations – who are doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities.”

Tibbs is a Teaching and Learning Services Librarian at UMKC’s Miller Nichols Library, where she has worked since 2001. She also serves as the Library’s Diversity Liaison, a role that enables her to diligently promote the principles of diversity, inclusiveness, and respect throughout the Libraries, the campus, the greater Kansas City community, and the profession.  read more

UMKC Libraries awarded $50,000 by the Martha Jane Starr Field of Interest Committee towards programming, design, testing, and launch of a new University of Missouri Digital Library.

The generous grant follows the Starr Committee's gift of the Martha Jane Starr Collection to the LaBudde Special Collections. Due to the nature of Mrs. Starr’s strong connections to the University of Missouri-Kansas City and her deep rooted involvement with the Women’s Council and Family Life Education, the Starr Collection is rich in documentation and showcases the breadth of her devotion to education. The next phase of the Libraries' efforts to promote use of the Martha Jane Starr Collection centers on making the photographs and other graphic material in the collection available electronically. This grant will allow that to happen.

Read more about Martha Jane Starr and the Martha Jane Starr Collection.

UMKC Libraries recognized with "Collaborative Excellence" Award at Lavender Graduate and Pride Awards Banquet, May 15, 2013

Awarded by the LGBTQIA Programs and Services office at UMKC, the award for collaborative excellence recognizes departments whose collaborative efforts have resulted in new or improved resources and services for LGBTQIA students, faculty, staff, or community members.

Jonathon Ta-Pryor, LGBTQIA Programs and Services coordinator shared the following quote provided by the Libraries' nominator:

“I have witnessed their commitment to creating an inclusive, respectful and caring community for students, staff, faculty and external constituent groups.  The work of the library on many occasions has been quiet and subtle, but very important, particularly for LGBTQIA community members. The Libraries has an open environment where LGBTQIA staff are able to be out.

UMKC Libraries is also the home of the Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid-America – a partnership between the Kansas City Museum and the LaBudde Special Collections.  To prioritize the housing of this collection of documents and artifacts reflecting the rich history of the Gay and Lesbian community again illustrates the value and commitment the Libraries hold for the representation of diverse perspectives and experiences. 

In addition, this past March, the Library co-sponsored an exhibit “Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals, 1933-1945.” This amazing exhibit was housed in a central space in the Library and afforded a wonderful reception and press response headed by the Libraries. … I am continually impressed by the decisions administrators (of UMKC Libraries) make to ensure that they produce programs that create an inclusive environment.  I use the word “decision” as I believe the work of the Libraries is intentional. The work of inclusion does not occur through happenstance – it must be undertaken with specificity and commitment and UMKC Libraries is doing just that.”

Bonnie Postlethwaite, Dean of Libraries, attended the ceremony and accept the award on the Libraries' behalf.

Conan and friends invade Miller Nichols Library

New exhibit details the depiction of “the barbarian” in popular culture in the late 20th century.

Barbarians in Comics and Culture: Modeling Manhood from the 1970s to Present

May 13 - June 14, 2013

Dean's Gallery

Miller Nichols Library, 2nd flr

The exhibit is a capstone project researched, curated, and designed by History major Christina Tomlinson.

Christina is former Student Assistant and intern for  LaBudde Special Collections and Marr Sound Archives, and we are so proud to be able to exhibit her work.

Give me a Little Credit: How your credit score affects your life goals

April 25, 2013

12:00 - 1:30 pm

iX Theatre, Miller Nichols Library

Bring your lunch to this free informational session and learn from experts:

• how you earn your credit score,
• how to improve your credit score,
• steps you can take to maintain a good credit score, a
• and much more!

Presenter Bios:

Margaret Norman has been with Experian for 9 years. She works with financial institutions in the Midwest on credit education and implementation. Margaret is also a member of the Kansas City FDIC Alliance for Economic Inclusion and supports many credit education initiatives in that group as well. David Dayton also is with Experian and has worked in the financial services industry for over 20 years.
                            
David Dayton has been with Experian for 15 years. He has worked for various organizations in the financial services sector for over 25+ years. David has been directly involved in developing and facilitating credit education initiatives to a wide spectrum of the community, and is passionate about ensuring that consumers are armed with the right knowledge and skills to deal with all aspects of managing their personal finances.

Money Smart Week® is a public awareness campaign designed to help consumers better manage their personal finances. This is achieved through the collaboration and coordinated effort of hundreds of organizations across the country including businesses, financial institutions, schools, libraries, not-for-profits, government agencies and the media. These groups come together once a year to stress the importance of financial literacy, inform consumers about where they can get help and provide free educational seminars and activities throughout the week. Programming is offered to all demographics and income levels and covers all facets of personal finance from establishing a budget to first time home buying to estate planning. The effort was created by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in 2002.

Check out other Money Smart events taking place around Kansas City.

National Partners: American Library Association and Financial Planning Association

$35,000 gift from Friends of the Library supports collection development

Since 1966, UMKC Friends of the Library have presented the University Libraries and the UMKC community with an Annual Gift. The 2013 awards were announced at the Friends annual celebration on April 4 at Grand Street Cafe.

For their 48th Annual Gift, the Friends donate $35,000 for the purchase of books, DVDs, recordings, data sets, periodical back files, and music scores. The cumulative amount of the Friends’ Annual Gifts exceeds $1.3 million.

This year the Friends received 22 proposals with requests totaling nearly $36,000. The Selections Committee carefully consider  each proposal and may recommend no, full, or partial funding of proposals. A complete list of recipients is available online.

The Annual Gift is made possible through endowment distributions, membership dues, and book sale proceeds.

Congratulations Fu Zhuo!

April 9, 2013 - Fu Zhou was honored with the "Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Diversity" at the UMKC Celebrating Excellence Faculty & Staff Awards Ceremony.

Zhuo was recognized for his ongoing work in support of UMKC's international students. He is Research and Instruction Librarian at Miller Nichols Library.

See a complete list 2013 Faculty and Staff awardees.

Neha Shah, UMKC School of Pharmacy student, awarded $500 towards Fall 2014 tuition and fee.

April 4, 2013    UMKC Friends of the Library announced Shah as the fifth recipient of their annual scholarship at their 48th annual celebration, "FOL 2.0" at Grand Street Cafe.

The Friends scholarship is available to degree seeking students of any level from any school or discipline, with preference given to those with a cumulative gpa of 3.0 or higher.

To apply, students were asked to submit and original piece written in response to the statement "How UMKC's libraries are a VALUE and why they are VALUABLE to me."

Neha's essay was selected from 23 entries.

BrowZine is the easy way to stay current with the journals you read most.

BrowZine lets you:

• Read scholarly journals in a format that is optimized for tablets.
• Create a personal bookshelf of favorite journals.
• Be alerted when new issues of a journal are available.
• Bookmark articles for reading later.
• Easily save to Zotero, Dropbox, or Mendeley.

Watch this video demo to see BrowZine in action.

To get started, download BrowZine from the Apple Store. The first time you use it select "University of Missouri - Kansas City" in the list of institutions, then enter your UMKC username and password. After that you will remain logged in on your device.

Not all of the library's journals are currently available, but the developer is working with publishers to add content. Check the list of participating publishers often if you are looking for a particular journal.

BrowZine is only available for iPad at this time, but an Android version is in the works and should be available soon.