I’m William Repetto, a second year graduate student at Villanova University. This is the “’Cat in the Stacks” column. I’m your ’cat. I’ll be posting about college life, about learning and growing here at Villanova, and, of course, about the Falvey Memorial Library’s role.

Given the strange, savage, and seemingly omnipresent American political landscape, many may find giving thanks a strangely difficult task this Thanksgiving season. Typically you would expect the ’Cat in the Stacks to walk you through some sappy way to find the silver lining. In true Michelle Callaghan form, though, I would like to offer some irreverent ways to get through the holiday season with family members.

I mean seriously, as much as I have loved taking over the ’Cat in the Stacks persona, Callaghan’s declaration of “thankfulness month” and her “(un)helpful tips” were second to none blog-post-wise.

I would now like to introduce the…

Falvey Thanksgiving Break Survival Kit 

Popular Reading

In the past, I have urged you to get help with the subject librarians and utilize the databases to the most effective extent possible. I’m telling you today to check out a fun read. Yes, the Falvey Memorial Library is more than just your campus intellectual center. We have Grisham and Brown and, gasp, even Nicholas Sparks. Stop in, grab a book, and tone out the family nonsense.

eBooks

So you packed your things and ran out of the dorms to your car so quickly that you forgot to stop by the Falvey for one of our popular reading books. That’s okay! You can still access resources at the library via your phone, tablet, or laptop. You simply need to follow this link and login from home. On the EBSCO eBook collection you can even find cookbooks, in case, you know, mother’s cooking really isn’t anything to, well, write home about.

Two of your newest hobbies! You’re looking more intellectual already!

Pick up a new hobby

If popular reading and eBook cookbooks aren’t your thing, then I suggest picking up a new hobby while you’re on break. If your business degree has prevented you from the appreciation of history you crave, take up reading Making of the Modern World. If engineering assignments have stunted your film watching, take a look at EBSCO’s Film & Television Index. These scholarly hobbies may impress family members, especially when Uncle Larry brings up his beer-can airplane collection for the umpteenth time.

‘Cat in the Stacks

Surely when you get home, your family is going to want to know if you’ve met the Internet celebrity sensation of Villanova – the ‘Cat in the Stacks. You don’t want to embarrassingly say that you’ve never heard of him, do you? So get caught up on ‘Cat in the Stacks! We have some good ones this semester. And while you’re clicking around, learn something new with our Dig Deeper series of posts.

Your Thanksgiving survival tool. You’ll find us on Facebook, too!

Tweet us

You can do this from your phone at the Thanksgiving table if you’d like, and tell your parents that you’re texting all your new friends from school. We young PR professionals are bound to answer at any time of the day or night – but more probably on Monday, Nov. 28, when we return to our desks. But we would love to know your #NovaGivesThanks, so shout us out on twitter @FalveyLibrary.

These five tools should get you through the short break back home before classes pick up heading into the final stretch of the semester. Unwind and enjoy the company of those who love you, Wildcats. We’ve almost made it through another fall semester, and before you know it, we’ll be celebrating the start of 2017. I’m very thankful for all my readers and thankful for having the opportunity to write for you all.

Article by William Repetto, a graduate assistant on the Communications and Marketing Team at the Falvey Memorial Library. He is currently pursuing an MA in English at Villanova University.