Dear students,

There are many ways the library can help you prepare for the stress that accompanies the end of every semester. Whether you have a handful of final exams or one large research paper, we know that it can be a lot to handle. But Falvey Library can be an incredible source of academic help and support. The list of excellent and peer-reviewed primary and secondary scholarly sources accessible to all Villanova students grows everyday. Additionally, no matter what your major, there’s a librarian who specializes in instructing you on how to access articles, books, and information you need to succeed. Stop by and meet your subject librarian soon…you’ll be glad you did!

During December, we’re counting down to the holidays by featuring a new Falvey Library acquisition every day…sort of like those fun Advent calendars you enjoyed as a kid! Have fun discovering the latest choices here at your library!

The Library Book by Susan Orlean; recommended by Linda Hauck, Business Librarian

On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’”

The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who?

Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.

Check the blog tomorrow for another new resource!