UofS Football Archives now online

The University of Scranton’s football team may no longer be around (in fact, it’s famous on campus for being “undefeated since 1960″), but at the Weinberg Memorial Library, UofS football is back in a big way.  This week, the Library is proud to announce the University of Scranton Football Collection, a digitized version of our football archives.

The collection includes over a thousand photographs of University of Scranton (and St. Thomas College) football teams, players, coaches, and games – as well as photos of the cheerleaders and marching bands who cheered them on.  The collection also features a set of football game programs.  The programs, produced for each home game, have team rosters, statistics, and game analysis.  Most of the materials come from the years 1900 through 1960, when the varsity football team was disbanded.

This collection isn’t just for UofS football fans, though.  The game programs in particular are a rich resource for researchers interested in the history of Scranton and its surrounding area.  The programs were sponsored by local businesses (like the Hotel Casey), so the booklets serve as miniature “time capsules” showing slices of Scranton life over time.

We invite all students, staff, alumni, and community members to browse and search the collection at www.scranton.edu/library/football.  You may also want to take a look at our brief history of University of Scranton football.

P.S. While we have identified many of the photographs, some are still mysteries.  If you recognize a player, please let us know!  You can contact the Digital Services department at 570-941-7003.

Many thanks to librarian Kay Lopez, library systems specialist Jennifer Maher, and digital services assistant Kevin Pheasey, who all dedicated many hours of hard work to this project.

Distinguished Author William Bernhardt

William Bernhardt, “master of the courtroom drama,” came to campus this Saturday to receive the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author award.  Bernhardt gave a reading and several comments on his latest publication, Capitol Offense, and also made time to sign books for attendees.  The event benefitted the Friends of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Memorial Library Endowment Fund, so many thanks to all who participated!

We’ll be adding photos as we get them to our Flickr page.

Thomas Childers Book Signing

This Thursday, November 12, the Schemel Forum is hosting a lecture and book signing by University of Pennsylvania professor Thomas Childers, author of Soldier from the War  Returning: The Greatest Generation’s Troubled Homecoming from World War II.

The lecture will be held at 7:15pm on campus in Brennan Hall, Room 228, but you can also join Dr. Childers at a cocktail reception from 6-7pm at Catlin House (232 Monroe Avenue, Scranton) prior to the lecture.  Both the cocktail reception and lecture are free of charge.  For more information, contact Schemel Forum director Sondra Myers at myerss2 (at) scranton (dot) edu.

P.S. The Weinberg Memorial Library doesn’t have a copy of Soldiers from the War Returning quite yet, but you can borrow it from another library using Interlibrary Loan.  We do have some of Dr. Childers’ other books available in our own stacks, including The Formation of the Nazi Constituency, 1919-1933 and The Nazi Voter: The Social Foundations of Fascism in Germany, 1919-1933.

Nay Aug Park photos

We’ve just added some old photographs of the amusement park at Nay Aug Park in Scranton to our Flickr collection.  Please take a look and either help us date/describe them, or just post some of your memories of Nay Aug!

The photos were contributed by Weinberg Memorial Library Associate Director Bonnie Strohl, whose father and uncle owned the park (called Nay Aug Amuseument Company).

Schemel Forum – Fall 2009

The Weinberg Memorial Library’s Schemel Forum has just released its Fall 2009 schedule, and as usual, there are several great opportunities for University and local community members to learn, think, share, and discuss.  This year, offerings include three evening courses, five luncheon seminars, and the second annual University for a Day.

One of the Forum’s highlights will be a lunch seminar on “U.S. Foreign Policy: Ten Months into the Obama Era,” presented by Scranton alum Harvey Sicherman of the Foreign Policy Research Institute.  (Side note: we couldn’t resist looking Dr. Sicherman up in the 1966 Windhover.  Not only was he a Dean’s List and Honors student, he also worked on the Aquinas and the Royals’ Historical Society’s semi-annual publication of Retrospect.)

We’re also looking forward to Atty. Morey Myers’ evening course on “Church & State or Church v. State?,” since his series last fall on the American Presidency was so engaging.

For more information or to register for Schemel Forum events, contact Kym Fetsko at 570-941-7816 or fetskok2 [at] scranton [dot] edu.

Fourth of July closing

Photo courtesy of Stephen Baack, under a Creative Commons license

The Weinberg Memorial Library is closing at 10:00pm today for the Fourth of July weekend.  We’ll reopen on Monday, July 6, at 8:00am.   Enjoy the holiday!

P.S. Looking for a place to celebrate? The Scranton Times-Tribune has a guide to NEPA fireworks displays.

P.P.S. Wired has a great how-to wiki on photographing fireworks using a point-and-shoot camera, a digital SLR, or even your iPhone.

Schemel Forum Event: Democracy’s Challenge

There are only 10 spots left for Democracy’s Challenge: Reclaiming the Public’s Role, the latest event in our Schemel Forum series.  The session will be a discussion moderated by Steven Jones, Ph.D., the University of Scranton’s Associate Provost for Civic Engagement and Academic Mission.

The discussion will be held Monday, June 15th at 5pm.  It’s free to all participants, but since the number of participants is limited, reservations are required.

To register, contact our Schemel Forum Events Coordinator, Kym Fetsko, at 570-941-7816 or fetskok2 (at) scranton (dot) edu.

Image courtesy of Gwen’s River City Images, under a Creative Commons license.

Book sale success!

The University of Scranton Weinberg Memorial Library’s annual Book and Plant Sale, held over the weekend, was a big success!  The sale raised over $6,500 for the Friends of the Library, more than last year’s sale.  We enjoyed great weather and a constant stream of shoppers all weekend long.

Thanks so much to the Friends of the Library, all of our staff and faculty who helped out at the sale, and, of course, all of our book buyers for your support.

P.S. Check out more photos from the book sale on our Flickr page!

Countdown to the Book & Plant Sale, Part 2

Only 18 more days until the 2009 Weinberg Memorial Library Book & Plant Sale!

Save the Date! Countdown to the Book & Plant Sale

Mark your calendars for April 25th and 26th!  We’re just 63 days away from the Weinberg Memorial Library’s annual Book and Plant Sale, and the Library’s already buzzing with plans for this year’s event, which will be held in the 5th floor Heritage Room.  As always, the Book and Plant Sale benefits the Friends of Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Memorial Library Endowment Fund.

Right now, we’re collecting donations of books, plants, and tag sale items.  If you’d like to donate, you can drop off your books or other contributions at the Library, in the boxes just inside the Monroe Avenue entrance.

Shoppers browse the 2008 Book Sale

We’re also looking for volunteers.  If you’d be willing to help us sort books and set up/take down the sale, please let us know!  Give Barb E. a call at 941-4078, and she’ll add you to the volunteer list.

This year’s sale starts on Friday, April 24th with a special “Preview Sale” for current Friends of the Library and Schemel Forum members (and current University of Scranton students – bring your Royal Card!) from 4pm – 9pm.  The sale is open to the public on Saturday, April 25th from 9am – 9pm and on Sunday, April 26th from 12pm – 4pm.  We’ll see you there!