Library News

Jonathan P. Doh, Ph.D., will discuss his recent research on the role of multinational enterprise, governments, and nongovernmental organization on the process and outcomes of development, as part of the Endowed Chair Lecture series.

Dr. Doh, professor of management and operations at the Villanova School of Business, will review the recent developments related to the changing balance of global economic influence and the emergence of developing countries as major players in the world economy.

This featured talk will take place on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 1:00 p.m. in Falvey Memorial Library’s first floor lounge.

In the past, human societies across the globe established economic ties with neighboring countries. Lately, the pace of global integration has significantly increased and has encompassed a range of social, political and economic changes. Dr. Doh will conclude with some implications of his research findings for public policy, corporate strategy and civil society. (more…)

On October 27, Falvey Memorial Library will host the inaugural lecture in the “Alfred F. Mannella and Rose T. Lauria-Mannella Distinguished Speakers Series.” Richard Juliani, Ph.D., sociology department, will describe his four decades of research on the Italian experience in Philadelphia, highlighting both challenges and future opportunities. His talk will begin at 7 p.m.

Alfred S. Mannella

In 1996, Falvey Memorial Library’s friend and supporter Alfred S. Mannella, ‘58 VSB, established two endowed library funds to support the purchase of books and other research materials as memorials to family members.

Now one of those funds will also support a lecture series.

The Speakers series honors Mr. Mannella’s parents, Alfred F. and Rose T. Lauria-Mannella. His father, the son of immigrants, was born in Philadelphia in 1904 and established himself as a tailor. An avid sports fan, he developed an interest in Villanova football starting in the 1930s when Maurice J. “Clipper” Smith was the coach.

His mother was the grandchild of immigrants and grew up in south Philadelphia. (more…)

Two glass cases of botanical prints, next to the first floor elevator, provide a tempting introduction to this visually rich exhibit. Go to the second floor to see the full display of large colorful botanical prints from Flora de Filipinas. Written by Rev. Manuel Blanco, O.S.A., “the premier botanist of the Philippines,” Flora de Filipinas is the culmination of his study of the 1200 plants he collected during his forty years in that country.

The bulk of the exhibit - twelve cases - is on the second floor in front of Special Collections. Here you will find numerous large color prints featuring plants identified by their botanical names; in some, there are also small line drawings of details.

Flora de Filipinas was first published in 1837 and, because of its popularity, a second edition was published in 1845, followed by a third, deluxe seven volume posthumous edition, published between 1877 and 1883. (more…)

The Scholarship@Villanova series continues on Wed., Sept. 30 at 12:30p.m. in Falvey Memorial Library’s first floor lounge with Heather J. Hicks, Ph.D. discussing her book, The Culture of Soft Work: Labor, Gender, and Race in Postmodern American Narrative. Dr. Hicks explores the meaning of being a worker in America as she highlights general labor issues of postmodernism and industrialism.

Undeniably, labor issues, general or specific, have influenced the works of contemporary writers who show how these issues represent the experience of American workers. The Culture of Soft Work captures the decline in local economy and the deterioration of the labor movement system. (more…)

Falvey Memorial Library is featuring a display to coincide with the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, September 26 to October 3. The Banned Books Display shows that books on all subjects and for all age groups can be targets for supposedly containing objectionable material.

Neither a child’s book such as Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are nor adult reading such as Knowles’ A Separate Peace are immune from being banned. A book can be humorous such as Adams’ A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a fantasy such as Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings trilogy or a serious adult novel such as Chopin’s The Awakening.

The reasons for a book being banned are numerous, including politics, race, religion and sex. For example, the sex and racism in Morrison’s Beloved and the “free love” and cannibalism in Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land landed them on the list. The non-fiction book, The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine, was banned for its political views.

As an unintended consequence, when someone or some group attempts to ban a book, this action draws more attention to that book.

If you see a book in the display that interests you, please check it out. (more…)

Although World Religions Day was celebrated campus-wide only on September 16, there will be an extended celebration in Falvey Memorial Library. A large window display, “World Religions Day-Religion in the Workplace: Understanding Religious Diversity,” near the library entrance, provides information about the religions of peoples across the globe.

One’s eye is first drawn to the large central image of a girl who looks at the viewer; she stands with her hands pressed together at chest level in what may be a gesture of prayer. Flanking her are various objects and books, and the display is framed on each end by panels with symbols of the various religions. The symbols on the far left within the display represent (from top to bottom) Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Jainism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. On the right side of the display are symbols for Taoism, Bahaism, Native Spirituality, Sikhism, Islam, and Shintoism, as noted in the photograph. (more…)

The Scholarship @ Villanova series kicks off this academic year on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 4p.m. in the first floor lounge in Falvey Memorial Library with Sally Scholz, Ph.D., discussing her acclaimed book, Political Solidarity. In her book, she explores the definition of solidarity in a political context using the transformational roles of advocacy groups, such as the civil rights and women’s rights movements, in society.

Undoubtedly, social movements, radical or otherwise, have brought about substantial change in American politics and have molded the fabric of our society. From civil rights to international trade, activists for social change are engaging in a wide variety of efforts to advance their cause for justice. Dr. Scholz’s book captures the essence of social activism. (more…)

Falvey Memorial Library’s Special Collections and Digital Library proudly present the fully digitized autobiographical manuscript of 19th century American Samuel Alanson Lane. Leather-bound and handwritten in ink, this one-of-a-kind manuscript has become a historical gem among the many treasures digitally donated to the Digital Library. But perhaps what is the most priceless feature of this manuscript is the unique insight this autobiography offers historians and history lovers: a depiction of 19th century American life by an average man.

Born on the 15th of June in 1815, Samuel Alanson Lane would become yet another witness to the scientific and technological progress and revolutionary social change that occurred in the 19th century.

Curated by Johanna Hibbs (Father Thomas Middleton Digital Library Intern 2008), with graphic design by Christopher Barr, this fascinating online exhibit includes Lane’s complete digitized manuscript, a transcription of his memoir, the exhibit bibliography, Lane’s biography and a timeline of Lane’s life.

Johanna Hibbs’ commentary, “Oh, the Humanity! Time travel and the search for the “human” in the “history” within the pages of S. A. Lane’s autobiography,” also offers her unique and thoroughly readable perspective as an intern curator.

What do Maneki Nekos, dragons, crows, coins, horseshoes, rabbits’ feet, acorns, rice, crickets, salt, pigs, jade, bamboo, ladybugs, broken mirrors, dragons, four leaf clovers, stars and umbrellas have in common? They are all part of a large, colorful window display to welcome the Class of 2013.

Because thirteen is considered a lucky number in some countries and unlucky in others, Joanne Quinn, the cultural windows designer, decided to focus on superstitions, a fun and fascinating subject to research. Each item noted above is associated with a superstition, and Joanne accompanied all with informative cards.

Joanne even broke the mirrors included in the display but said she limited herself to two; she couldn’t afford more than fourteen years of bad luck!

She collects Maneki Neko cats, Japanese cats which are also known as Welcoming Cats, Lucky Cats, Money Cats and Fortune Cats. These cats are good luck charms, and the ones in the window are part of her own collection.

In addition to the objects, Joanne included numerous books from Falvey’s collections. Pot of Gold and Other Stories, Shamrock and Spear, How Superstition Won and Science Lost, The Encyclopedia of Superstitions and Amulets and Superstitions are a few of the books included in the exhibit. Joanne noted that there are many more on Falvey’s shelves.

Kathleen O’Connor, Systems librarian, and Marie Roman, Resource Management specialist, also loaned objects for the display. Ann Stango, Interlibrary Loan specialist, helped mount the display.

This fascinating exhibit has a wealth of colorful objects, large and small, to please the eye and information to satisfy the mind - a wonderful welcome to both our new and returning students.

By Alice Bampton

Barbara Quintiliano welcomes librarians and staff members from St. Joseph's, LaSalle and Villanova universities.

Participants from the university libraries at Villanova, LaSalle and St. Joseph’s gathered on July 16 at Falvey Memorial Library to talk about “Electronic Outreach for Orientation, Instruction and Just Plain Fun.”

Topics on the program included newsletters and blogs, digital projects, library guides and toolkits, Facebook, video tours, classroom technology and in-house statistics. Barbara Quintiliano, Falvey’s instructional services librarian, served on the program’s organizational team and demonstrated SynchronEyes, a software for classroom management.

Other Falvey presenters included Michael Foight, Alfred Fry, Linda Hauck, Laura Hutelmyer, Jackie Mirabile, Jutta Seibert and Natalie Tomasco