Comments Off on National Library Week

By hahoward, April 12, 2015 12:22 pm

This week, Butler University Libraries join libraries in schools, campuses and communities nationwide in celebrating National Library Week, a time to highlight the changing role of libraries, librarians and library workers.

Libraries today are more than warehouses for books. Instead, libraries and librarians are change agents within their communities – transforming lives through innovative educational resources and forward-thinking programming. Libraries are doing their part to close the digital divide and level the playing field by providing free access to information and technologies that many in their communities would be hard pressed to find elsewhere. Libraries help to ensure the American dream and promote democracy by providing service to all regardless of race, ethnicity, creed, age, ability, sexual orientation, gender identity or socio-economic status.

Librarians work with elected officials, small business owners, students and the public at large to discover and meet the needs of their communities. Whether through offering e-books and technology classes, materials for English-language learners, programs for job seekers or offering a safe haven in times of crisis, librarians listen to the community they serve, and they respond.

Butler University Libraries serves Butler University by providing library instruction to our students, providing high quality learning spaces (and working hard to improve these all the time), providing digital and physical collections that meet the needs of Butler students and faculty, and collaborating with faculty and staff in the area of Scholarly Communication and digitizing, curating, and archiving scholarly works in the library’s institutional repository.

The library has always been a place of unlimited possibilities. Whatever your interest or need, the library and the library staff are here to provide you the resources you need to accomplish your goals and dreams.

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Comments (8)

By hahoward, April 1, 2015 8:36 am

We are excited to announce that the Irwin Library has received a grant from the Indiana Audubon Society that will match the capital funds the university is giving us in 2015/2016! This grant will allow us to not only fix some structural issues with the building, but will allow us to transform our atrium into a multipurpose space where sunlight flows in through the glass ceiling, students study at tables, trees soar towards the stacks, and flamingos frolic in the fountain – the Irwin Library and Bird Sanctuary!

Imagine yourself attending a fall meeting with a student with all of the glorious birds and wildflowers on display at the sanctuary, or picture yourself drinking a coffee and reading the paper under a soaring palm to the soothing sound of birdsong. Or, thinking of Butler 20/20, envision organizing living-classroom teaching, creating programs for wildlife study and developing curriculum based around the local and exotic species we will be helping to save.

This grant should allow us to hire a full time Avian Caretaker, and Transplant, our current plant vendor, will be able to assist with our increased plant care needs. We are hoping to gain accreditation with both the American Sanctuary Association (ASA) and the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS). Construction on the space will begin in May immediately following graduation.

Artist’s rendering of new space

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Comments Off on Celebration of Scholarship, Research and Creativity Pictures

By hahoward, March 24, 2015 12:00 pm

Butler Libraries and the Butler Institute for Research and Scholarship’s Celebration event was held Wednesday, March 18, 2015. With wine, appetizers, live music, and brief remarks by the Provost, faculty and staff gathered to view each other’s scholarship, creative work, and grant funding over the past year and meet up with colleagues.  It was a welcome break to appreciate and learn of colleague’s professional achievements.

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Comments Off on Remembering Patty Lyons

By hahoward, March 18, 2015 10:42 am

All at Butler Libraries are saddened by the death of our former coworker, Patty Lyons, on Wednesday, March 4, 2015. Patty worked as a Cataloging Assistant in Technical Services in the Irwin Library for 33 years and retired in February of 2014. During her time with the library, she processed every new item that entered the collection. Prior to her tenure at Butler, she worked at the Hesburgh Library at the University of Notre Dame. The Lyons’ are tied to Butler University’s history, with Patty’s husband Edwin also working for the university for several years, serving as the Director of the Physical Plant from 1981-1988, and the family residing in the Carter House prior to it becoming the president’s residence.

Her obituary can be found here. Patty made a lasting impact on the Butler Libraries and will be greatly missed.

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Comments Off on Founder’s Week – Catharine Merrill

By hahoward, February 5, 2015 9:57 am

Founder’s Week – Catharine Merrill

Yesterday we told you about the Ovid Butler‘s daughter Demia, for whom the Demia Butler Chair of English Literature is named. Today we’d like to tell you about the first holder of that chair, Catharine Merrill (1824-1900). Merrill came from a prominent Indiana family, served as a volunteer nurse during the Civil War, was friends with conservationist John Muir, and was an innovator in the classroom, being the first to use the lecture method for courses other than science.  Remembered as providing a model in scholarship and character, she retired from Butler in 1883, but continued teaching privately until shortly before her death. This obituary, published in the June 9, 1900 edition of the national publication The School Journal, shows how influential she was on the community:

Catharine Merrill’s portrait, by Indiana artist T.C. Steele, hangs in Robertson Hall.

Catharine Merrill (1824-1900)

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