book cover for Green Rider by Kristen Britain

Summer Reading No.7: Kailyn Middleton

Resource Sharing Coordinator, Kailyn Middleton, facilitates the exchange of items between networks of libraries across the globe, making her the perfect candidate for Summer Reading Recommendations. Check out her top picks among a world of options below!

Kailyn’s first recommendation is the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain (DAW Books, 2014). The first book, Green Rider, follows Karigan G’ladheon after a fateful meeting with one of the king’s infamous Green Riders. The mortally wounded Rider has Karigan agree to take his vital message to the capital in his stead. As she struggles toward Sacor City and the king, Karigan’s understanding of her world is shattered as she encounters ancient forces, races, and magics thought long extinct. Pursued by not only the hunters of the dead Rider but the Rider’s specter as well, Karigan finds herself in far more dangerous situations than she could have expected when she took message satchel and Rider brooch in hand. The best part—these books come with music to accompany the reading experience

Ever wonder what serves as the basis for shows like Forensic Files? Learn about the “mother of forensic science” in Kailyn’s second recommendation 18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics by Bruce Goldfarb (Sourcebooks, 2020). Frances Glessner was born into a wealthy family in the 19th century, but broke the traditional mold when she became fascinated with the investigation process of violent crime. In an effort to improve investigative training, she built what are known as the ‘Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death.’ These tiny dollhouse dioramas were incredibly detailed stages of violent crime that could be interacted with and studied in a way that photographs and descriptions could not be. These exercises were so successful that the methods she developed are still in use today. Find this look into early forensics and the woman who helped advance the field at Emory or a local library near you

Looking for a story with visual appeal? Kailyn’s final recommendation comes from the Japanese manga genre! Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo (VIZ Media LLC, 2020) is the story of the spy, Twilight, whose most recent mission requires that he get close to a reclusive state official—the only way to do so by infiltrating the elite school that the target’s son attends. To pull this mission off, Twilight (known as Loid Forger, therapist) must acquire a child to enroll in the school and secure a wife to make the family illusion complete.  Kailyn calls the story “just a truly fun read, but if manga isn’t your thing, the first season of the anime is currently airing, subbed, on Hulu and will be airing, dubbed, on Crunchyroll!” Find the book at a library near you

Need more suggestions? Check in next week for recommendations from a Candler faculty member!

logo for the atla 2022 annual conference

Pitts Represents at Atla Annual 2022

Members of the American Theological Library Association (Atla) have met annually since 1947 to develop their skills and connect with their colleagues in religion and theology. Atla Annual has over 300 members, exhibitors, and international guests who meet in June every year and take part in over 100 programs such as workshops, panels, exhibitor showcases, meetings, and diverse worship services.

This must-attend event for librarians in religion and theology had an impressive presence from Pitts! Attendees included Richard (Bo) Adams (Director of the Library), Armin Siedlecki (Head of Cataloging and Rare Book Cataloger), Caitlin Soma (Head of Acquisitions and Access Services), Brady Beard (Instruction and Reference Librarian), Anne Marie McLean (Reference Librarian and Outreach Coordinator), and Elizabeth (Liz) Miller (Coordinator of Digital Initiatives). 

Presentations from Pitts representatives were very well attended and incredibly well received. Brady Beard taught a 45-minute session on teaching information literacy through Biblical studies. He showed how he uses the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy as the core of his teaching workshops on Biblical studies, moving the focus away from the traditional tools approach to a more coherent (and helpful) focus on information skills and critical information literacy.

Caitlin Soma and Liz Miller presented for 45 minutes on how Pitts handled the COVID shifts in reserves and acquisitions. They offered the crowd a number of lessons learned from their initial Spring 2020 triage and their more deliberate and formal policy changes as we look forward to “normal” times. Their open questions at the end of the session generated great discussions, many of which will continue in the weeks and months to come after the conference.

In the last session of the conference, Anne Marie McLean gave a 45-minute talk about coordinating social media in a library, making the argument for the social media coordinator as a content curator rather than content creator. She presented a number of helpful ideas about how social media coordinators (who are likely wearing 15 other hats in their library!) can find content to share and encourage their colleagues to generate content from their subject matter expertise.

In addition, Armin Siedlecki was re-elected as Vice President of the Board of Directors, and Bo Adams participated in the panel with colleagues on “Managing Challenges, Changes, and Covid-19 as University-Based School Library Directors.” 

Not only did Pitts impress participating libraries and staff, they even found a “Candler Building” to have dinner in on Thursday night! 

Read more about Atla and its history at www.atla.com

book in grass with the text summer reading overlaid

Summer Reading No.6: Brady Beard

This week Pitts Theology Library’s Reference & Instruction Librarian, Brady Beard, takes the class outside for his reading and listening recommendations! When he’s not answering research questions at the Reference Desk or providing library instruction for Candler classes and beyond, Brady enjoys ‘playing in the dirt’ and gardening at home and in Atlanta’s green spaces. Let’s see what he relies on for his own instruction in the horticultural field!

Brady’s first recommendation is A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future by Benjamin Vogt, PhD (New Society Publishers, 2017). Dr. Vogt is a passionate advocate for creating sustainable and native focused perennial gardens. Trained in poetry and fine arts, his writing is both passionate and artful. Brady especially “appreciate[s] the urgency with which Vogt writes and his optimism that we can, together, make small, positive impacts for our world in our own yards, parks, and shared spaces. A New Garden Ethic will radically change the way you think about the landscapes around you.” Find a print or electronic copy of this book at a library near you!

Brady’s second recommendation is The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden (Timber Press, 2014) by Roy Diblik , a garden designer, plant grower, and nursery owner. He specializes in perennial garden design and takes much of his inspiration from paintings and other visual arts. While this book focuses less on native plants, his garden plans, especially “Monet’s Water Lillies” is easily adaptable for native plants and incredibly beautiful. Roy simplifies gardening. Brady notes “I especially love that each plan comes with plant suggestions, color and foliage schemes, and an approximate number of plants needed. Each plan is for a 10 x 14 foot plot, but can easily scale up or down!” Visit your local library to get a copy of this must-have for gardeners.

Finally, Brady suggests tuning into the podcast Nature Revisited, hosted by Graham Noorden. In each 30 minute episode Noorden interviews guests with unique insight into the natural world. His guests include NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver,  who discusses the Highline Park in NY; Doug Tallamy, entomologist, author, and creator of Homegrown National Parks; Meg Lowman “Canopy Meg” who is the executive director of  The Tree Foundation. Brady explains “I’ve learned so much from Graham (including some of my new favorite authors) and find Nature Revisited incredibly enlightening. The most important thing I’ve learned is how closely we relate to our natural world. To quote Graham, ‘Remember we are nature.'”

Like what you see? Check out all Summer Reading Recommendations here, and don’t miss next week’s issue with top picks from Pitts’ Coordinator of Resource Sharing, Kailyn Middleton! 

book cover for There There: A Novel by Tommy Orange

Summer Reading No.5: Carmen Toussaint

Pitts’ Summer Reading Recommendations continue this week with Candler’s Contextual Education Senior Program Coordinator, Carmen Toussaint! Carmen recounts “my eight years with the Contextual Education at Candler have brought me great joy in helping students during their MDiv journey.” However, after her first five years in the position, Carmen took a six-year sabbatical to fulfill a lifelong dream: to create and direct a Writer’s Residency. Carmen explains “My delight in meeting writers from all genres and backgrounds brought my love of reading to a whole new perspective.”

Carmen’s first recommendation is author Tommy Orange’s first novel, There There: A Novel by Tommy Orange (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2018). The story follows twelve characters from native communities, a chorus of voices that tells of the plight of the urban Native American. Characters grapple with a complex and painful history, an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, communion, sacrifice, and heroism. As the book jacket says, Carmen admits that she can’t say it better than the book jacket: “Here is a voice we have never heard – a voice full of poetry and rage, exploding onto the page with stunning urgency and force.” Find this novel at Emory in print, as an audiobook, or at your local library!

A memoir that Carmen recommends is Deep Creek: Finding Hope in The High Country by Pam Houston (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2019). As summed up in the author’s own words, “How do we become who we are in the world? We ask the world to teach us.” Carmen reflects that “Pam’s rich story of connecting to a piece of land is written to help us understand the value of this search and how we can live through a world that can bring overwhelming obstacles. If you want to take a journey in the high country this summer, take time to read this book.” Deep Creek is available at Emory Libraries or at your local library.

Shifting gears, Carmen introduces us to a blog by Mary Laura Philpott. Mary Laura Philpott is the author of the new memoir Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives (April 2022), deemed “masterwork” by the New York Times and a “beautifully wrought ode to life” by the Washington Post. She is also the author of the national bestseller I Miss You When I Blink, named one of NPR’s Favorite Books of 2019 and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize. Her essays examining the overlap of the absurd and the profound in everyday life have been featured by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and many other publications. Additionally, Mary Laura is a former bookseller and was an Emmy-winning co-host of A Word on Words, the literary interview program on Nashville Public Television. Keep up with new publications, event opportunities, and more on this blog!

Carmen’s final recommendation to connect the mind and body as you take a walk along the shoreline or mountain path is the Rubin Museum’s Mindfulness Meditation Podcast. Led by a prominent medication teacher, this podcast includes an opening talk and a 20-minute meditation session for beginners and skilled participants alike. Check it out at rubinmuseum.org/events/series/mindfulness-meditation!

Join us next week to hear more recommendations from a Pitts Librarian!