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Meet Our Newest Staff Member: Brittany Berwanger in Government Documents (7.12.2016) #ChesnuttLibrary #BroncoPride #fdlp

  Brittany graduated from Fayetteville State University with a B.A. in Geography. She likes cats, flowers, and books. Brittany works in Government Documents on the 4th floor. The Fayetteville State University’s, Charles W. Chesnutt Library, has been a senatorial designated depository library for U.S. government publications since 1973. Government documents are freely available to the pubic at…

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#FayettevilleInfoLit: Presentations of 6th Cohort of #ChesnuttLibrary Fellows (5.13.14)

This morning Chesnutt Library will host the sixth cohort of the Chesnutt Library Fellows. Presentations by Fayetteville State University faculty will commence at 9:15am in the J.C. Jones Board of Trustees Room.

Participants will present and discuss the process of collaborating on the ACRL standards, modification of their syllabi for the Spring 2014 semester, their collaborative meetings with…

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Chuck Tryon will talk about his book at 12pm

Sydney Pash will talk from 12:30-1:30

Light refreshments will be provided by the Friends of Charles W. Chesnutt Library.

Learn more about National Library Week here.

Mr. Velappan Velappan, Head of Access Services at Charles W. Chesnutt Library, participated in a presentation with five other librarians from other universities at the 2016 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference on Saturday, June 25th 2016 at 1:00PM-2:30 PM in Orlando, FL.  The theme of the presentation was “FEAST: Future & Emerging Access Services Trends” and Mr. Velappan’s particular topic was “Click It, No More Tick It: Using “Gimlet” Desk Statistics to Improve Services at the Charles W. Chesnutt Library.”  Approximately 150 people attended his presentation.  Click here for more details on Mr. Velappan’s presentation.

The ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition was held in Orlando, FL from June 23 – June 28, 2016 at the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC).  The American Library Association, the oldest and largest library association in the world, holds its Annual Conference & Exhibition each summer in different places around this country.  The largest such convention in the world is attended by more than 25,000 librarians, library supporters, educators, writers, publishers, friends of libraries, trustees and special guests from all over the world.  The conference includes more than 2,000 meetings, discussion groups and programs on various topics affecting libraries and librarians.  Approximately 850 exhibiting companies feature the latest in books, online services, automation software, furniture and other materials vital to today’s libraries and librarians. ALA units display professional exhibits highlighting the various aspects of the profession.   

The goal of this Tumblr is to bring our Archives and Special Collections to life, one item at a time. 

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On February 20^th, 2014, we spoke with the University Archivist, Craig Tuttle.

The topic: the Chesnutt family Bible that is housed in the Archives and Special Collections Department on the 4^th Floor of Chesnutt Library.

 Charles W. Chesnutt played a significant role during the nascent stages of what is now Fayetteville State University. And among other accomplishments, Chesnutt is regarded as a forerunner of Black American literature.

In today’s post, Mr. Tuttle discusses the importance of the family Bible, education in the South, the process of tanning leather, the historical energy that archived documents possess, as well as a few other tidbits about the archival process.

(The text set off in bold is a transcript of the conversation we had with Mr. Tuttle in Archives.)

It was the Chesnutt family Bible and they made notations there [in the Bible] in terms of births, marriages, and deaths…which, you know, with family Bibles, that’s pretty much what people did as a way of documenting important dates in the family. They would either do it in the back or the front.

Often times, [Bibles were] the only book that you would find in a house. And still even during that period of time, a lot of people were either illiterate or had an extremely limited scope in terms of what they could read or write. Often times, they could read or write a few basic things and sign their name…and that would be it. The South wasn’t big on education, except if you had a lot of “dough.” Then, of course.

But I think each one (Bible) is distinctive in that it holds the information with regard to the family that owned it…They may be the same print Bible, but each one gives you different feel, a different sense. And maybe that’s just me, but I think items do kind of hold something of the energy of those who have used it. But I could be called daft because of that; I still feel that that’s the case.

Does that Bible have family names in it?

It does. It doesn’t have as much as I thought it would, but it obviously has been used well.

And, of course, few people, even now, know the proper care. So the fact that it has lasted as long as it has is really quite remarkable. I think it speaks to the quality of the Bible to begin with because the paper is pretty decent; it’s not absolute top-grade, but it’s not bottom- grade either. [The paper] is more middle to high in paper quality and the leather binding is pretty good too. And it’s not the vegetable tanning that was used later on by the mid-1870s. Those are the ones where you find the reddish, brown [dye] that will come off…and it has the powder—that’s from the vegetable tanning that is a low-grade tanning process of leather. It was done on the cheap and they could make a big profit. But this [Chesnutt family Bible] is quality leather. And it would have cost significantly more for that reason.

Mr. Tuttle explained the value that objects obtain over time and when they are used for historical events. He gave the example of a pen that President may have used to sign legislation being placed in a valuable display.

Their value, their distinctiveness has been transformed by that one thing alone. Now, it’s no different than that Bible out there. And I think in the case of the Bible, even more so, because it was being handled and used, and been a part of someone’s life far, far longer than just a piece of legislation. So I think that when you interact with documents for as long as I have, you get to realize that they are distinct and they have had a life of their own in a way. And when you organize and put them together, you’re going to help building on that energy. It’s a marvelous way of learning a living…it really is.

You can visit the Archives and Special Collections here.

Last Thursday, March 19^th, it was crunch time. Six students sat scattered in a dimly-lit auditorium style classroom in Taylor Science. We sat in the front row observing the Model United Nations Vice President, De’Vonicia Mickens, presiding over the meeting. She was addressing the participants, though this wasn’t the entire team.

FSU Model UN members with Librarian Diana Amerson (Thursday, March 19th, 2015)

The abbreviated team of students met to make final hour preparations and plans with faculty advisors Diana Amerson (Librarian, Bibliographic Instruction), Wesley Fountain (Government and Community Affairs), and Dr. Jilly M. Ngwainmbi (Department of Sociology).  Students were being shifted and moved around: who would serve on what committee, who would serve as a moderator, who was assigned to which country.

Questions were asked, clarifications given. Mrs. Amerson stood at the classroom podium, navigating the LibGuide that she created and continuously curates for the NCCIIE Model United Nations Conference. She reminded students how to access key information and resources that would be beneficial.

The Model UN Conference hosted its 26^th cohort March 26^th-28^th, 2015 at the Embassy Suites Conference Center in Fayetteville, NC. Fayetteville State University was the host institution; Chancellor Anderson served as the keynote speaker to the Assembly Delegates.

[New on the blog]: Librarian Diana Amerson Remains a Vital Asset to FSU Model UN Delegates, Students Win 8 of 11 Awards at 26th Conference (3.31.2015) Read more on the #ChesnuttLibrary blog! #FayState #FSUBroncos #academiclibrary #librarylife #LibChat #BroncoPride

A video posted by Charles W. Chesnutt Library (@chesnuttlibrary) on Mar 31, 2015 at 11:51am PDT

With the ongoing guidance of Mrs. Amerson and fellow advisors, FSU’s student delegates surpassed their competitors, winning 8 of 11 awards. Below you will find a list of FSU award recipients:

Librarian Diana Amerson (center) pictured with FSU student delegates and FSU faculty advisors

FSU student delegates, award recipients

For more information about the NCIIE 26th  Model UN, you can visit the Model UN LibGuide.