It’s September 1565, and you’ve just stepped off of a Spanish boat that recently skirmished with French sailors, who hoped to reap the benefits of Spanish treasure ships in the area. (Or maybe they were seeking the mythological Cibola, or perhaps the Fountain of Youth. Maybe that’s why you’ve braved the journey yourself.) You spotted this piece of land a few days ago, on August 28, and so your captain, Pedro Ménendez, has decided to name the spot after the Saint whose feast day occurs on that date – St. Augustine.

Chances are, you were not really there on that late summer day that witnessed the establishment of St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously occupied settlement of the continental United States. You may, however, very well be a Villanova student, faculty member, or staff member, and, if not, you’re certainly on a Villanova web page. You might not know, however, that by virtue of your patronizing an Augustinian institution, you have been adopted by a rich Hispanic Tradition that includes the foundation of the first New World mission and perhaps the first Catholic mass celebrated in North America.

This first mass occurred on September 8, 1565. It took place just south of the settlement that it meant to consecrate. Evidence of this fact comes from the Falvey Memorial Library’s Special Collections itself, from John Gilmary Shea’s History of the Catholic Church within the Limits of the United States (pictured here). The women, men and children who founded St. Augustine were not, in fact, members of the Augustinian order, but their dedication to our patron saint is an important part of understanding what in means to be Villanovan, to be a Wildcat.

To find the true roots of the Order of Augustine in the New World, we must rewind the clock roughly 30 years before that first mass to the year 1533. On March 3 of that year, seven Augustinian friars arrived at Veracruz en route to Ocuituco, Mexico (photo below). St. Thomas of Villanova himself may have dispatched this particular mission, as he was provincial-prior of Castile at the time.

(First Augustinian foundation in the Americas – Ocuituco, Mexico – founded 1533. From Lowery, Bettero & Walsh, citation below)

From there, it didn’t take long for the Mexican mission to start producing the type of humanistic scholarship for which the Augustinians are renowned. Most famously, the philosopher Alonso de la Vera Cruz took his profession to join the order in June of 1537 (photo below). It reads, “I Brother Alonso de la Vera Cruz, son of Francis Gutiérrez and Leonor Gutiérrez, make my profession and promise obedience to God and Blessed Mary and to you… [and I promise] to live without personal goods and in chastity according to the rule of our Blessed Father Augustine until death. Given on Wednesday, 20 June 1537.”

The Augustinian friars associated with the establishment of the order in the Philadelphia area did not arrive in North America until the late 18th century. They mostly came from Ireland and not up the coast of the continent itself, but the efforts of the earlier Augustinians and settlers in Florida certainly made the new, northern mission possible. The successes of St. Augustine, now the oldest parish in the United States, and the outstanding scholarship produced by the South American brothers, such as Vera Cruz, inspired the founders of such schools as Monseigneur Bonner and Villanova University and showed that the order could find success in the New World.

In the coming weeks at the Falvey Library and across campus, you have the chance to find inspiration in your own adopted Hispanic Heritage. Check out a full list of scheduled events, available here.

Dig Deeper:

In addition to exciting events and intriguing speakers, the library itself maintains materials in our collection for further exploration of our Augustinian and Hispanic Heritage. Check out these books, which were used for writing this article!

The augustinians, (1244-1994) : Our history in pictures (1995). In Lowery B., Bettero M. and Walsh M. (Eds.), Rome: Pubblicazioni Agostiniane. (Photo: Page 37).

Ennis, A. J., 1922-. (1986). Augustinian religious professions in sixteenth century mexico : A study of the earliest records of Augustinian friars professed in the new world. Villanova, Pa.: Augustinian Historical Institute, Villanova University. (Photo: Page 11).

Shea, J. G., 1824-1892. (1886). A history of the Catholic Church within the limits of the United States: From the first attempted colonization to the present time: With portraits, views, maps and facsimiles. New York: John G. Shea. (Photo Pages 136-138).

 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.

I’m William Repetto, a first-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.

“In every job that must be done
There is an element of fun.”
–Mary Poppins (1964)

A close friend of mine turned 52-years-old this past weekend, her name: Mary Poppins. The character herself dates back to a series of books written by P.L. Travers during the 1930s, but I’m speaking here, of course, about Julie Andrews’ rendition of the character in the 1964 Disney epic. While writing this blog post most certainly did not involve inviting my other ’cat friends over to the library for a viewing party, which also did not involve copious amounts of ice cream or pajamas, I do understand that some readers may need a refresher.

Mary Poppins takes place in early 20^th-century Britain. The titular character herself descends from the clouds when the Banks children, Jane and Michael, wish for a nanny with a cheerful disposition. As the film goes on, the audience comes to understand that the children’s father, George Banks, has unreasonable expectations of punctuality and propriety due to his monotonous job at the Dawes Tomes Mousley Grubbs Fidelity Feduciary Bank. While George Banks mistreats both his children and his staff of maids, his wife, Winifred Banks, is easily distracted and spends time marching for women’s suffrage.

(Meanwhile, the children have some adventures of their own – credit: allmoviegifs.tumblr.com)

In the end, the children cause a bank rush at their father’s bank, and he loses his job, but in losing his job, George realizes the value of his support system at home and of the admiration of his children. When he finally realizes his own faults as a father and a person, he begins to understand the meaning of Poppins’ most recognizable phrase: “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

The very beauty of this closing sequence underscores why the film remains popular today and why it is important to talk about here in this blog. You see, as a college students or as a young professional, one easily forgets about the importance of his/her supporting staff. With classes, and clubs, and internships, and activities on our mind, we sometimes even forget that a whole cast of people happily admire our own accomplishments and wish for nothing more than our continued success.

Those who support us are often those who have found considerable success in their lives as well. Note very well that the main characters of Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins and Bert, work jobs that are typically seen as background roles: a nanny and a chimney sweep – no mistake that they’re portrayed by the most recognizable actors on the cast: Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. Even those actors themselves recognized the importance of their supporting cast. A picture below shows them spending time with the Sherman Brothers, songwriters for Mary Poppins who would go on to write score for The Jungle Book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Aristocats and even The Tigger Movie.

(Photo Credit: Disney; Accessed at businesswire.com)

College students and most young professionals certainly do not have nannies, maids or songwriters as supporting staffs, but we do have two forms of support that sometimes go unnoticed. First and foremost is family; in my own years as an undergraduate, I know that the bustle of everyday college existence often chimney-swept me far away from the obligations of family. While their résumés may not be as impressive at the Sherman Brothers, families know our needs and personalities the best and are certainly the most excited to help out.

Another supporting cast that many of you wildcats may not know about is the team of experienced librarians who wait here in the Falvey to help you on your way to completing your next term paper, to nailing that next interview, or perhaps to finishing your research for your big thesis/dissertation. We have librarians dedicated to the humanities, to nursing, to business, and even to theology and philosophy. (Okay, so our curriculum vitae may actually be just as impressive as the Sherman Brothers.)

In a world that tells us that it’s every one for him or herself, the truth is that support systems surround us every day. Call home to check in and you won’t hang up without a pep talk. Stop in the Falvey, and leave with all the resources our brilliant librarians can muster. Don’t be a George Banks who walks around certain of his own ability to complete each task using only his own acumen. Reach out for some help, you might just find that it’s, well ­– supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

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.

I’m William Repetto, a first-year graduate student at Villanova University. This is the “‘Cat in the Stacks” column. I’m your new ‘cat, stepping in for the very talented Michelle Callaghan. I’ll be posting about college life, about learning and growing here at Villanova, and, of course, about the Falvey Library’s role in all of this.

“Then we saw him step in on the mat!
We looked!
And we saw him!
The cat in the hat!”
– Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

The morning alarm snatches all of us out of the deep recesses of blissful sleep. Our hours of rest interrupted by that dreaded sound. The next few minutes bring with them deep blinks and furrowed brows as the world slowly comes into focus along with the remembrance of various tasks that must be completed today.

Full school years begin this way as well. The rude academic calendar reminds us that, yes, the time has come to get back to work. Syllabus weeks begin with the coming into focus of the college friendships that may have been neglected over the summer in exchange for dreamlike reliving of high school’s camaraderie. Once we actually look at the college syllabus, though, we remember what needs to be done, what needs to be accomplished this year.

For freshmen, accomplishments may come in the form of joining new clubs and discovering new interests. The sophomores and juniors among us may be interested in building their résumés, while those lackadaisical seniors hide career woes and ambitions behind frivolous façades. No matter the character of the person or the loftiness of the goal, all of these goals deserve equal respect, and all of these goals come crashing back into consciousness this time of year.

The ‘Cat in the Stacks and all the other wonderful animals wandering around these bookshelves understand the importance of sharpening one’s focus this time of year. We know that waking up from the ‘cat-nap called summer vacation makes some of us want to curl back up on the perch and drift back off until the weather warms up again.

This year, however, features some big improvements here at the Falvey that require us to put our paws on the floor and get moving, not least of those the opening of a new reading room, featuring the recently restored “Triumph of David.” Some of my fellow library ‘cats brought this painting back to its former sharpness just last year. To do so, they meticulously analyzed each piece of the painting and brought the picture back into focus brushstroke by brushstroke, sometimes even removing old attempts at restoration.

The simple fact is that personal initiatives (whether they be one thing or two) can be taken apart and looked at in the same way as the “Triumph of David.” Personal triumph does not often come in the form of broad strokes, guessing at the hidden picture behind the experience. Accomplishments mostly come through attention to detail and a keen aesthetic eye.

Fortunately for us Wildcats, our campus library has all the journals, books and resources we need for finding and thinking through those small details. Soon enough, we’ll have a gorgeous space garnished with a reminder that even the smallest people (David) can summit their largest challenges.

Within this new space, you will find the essence of what a library can be: a place where you can wake up to new information, a building that can help you get a clear picture of the meaning underlying your college experience, a community of scholars dedicated to helping you work off the morning fog of fall semester.

These converging focal points bring me back to the Dr. Seuss poem from which this blog takes its name. Just when Sally and her friend thought they ran out of options for getting through their rainy day, a certain something came wildly into focus. As the line breaks of the poem suggest, our protagonists did not instantly realize the exciting opportunities their guest provided, but after letting him come into focus, the boredom and lethargy and tedium of a rainy day rinsed away and fun could be had. Take your first few hard blinks, Wildcats, and we’ll put the coffee on here at the Falvey.

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.

What better way to spend summer’s longest day (June 20 this year) than with a really long book? Since it is summer reading, let’s look at fiction (written in English).

How do you find a really long book? You could peruse the shelves at a library or a book store. Or you could let your fingers do the walking—go online and search. That search brings up interesting choices: whose list do you believe—Wikipedia’s, Amazon’s, Mental Floss’s, ListVerse’s or someone else’s? They share some selections, but not others. How are the book lengths determined—by the number of pages, characters or  words? All three are used, but counting the number of words seems to be the most accurate.

The longest novel written in English is The Blah Story (2007-2008), a twenty-three volume work by Nigel Tomm, which contains 11,338,105 words in 17,868 pages. Merriam Webster defines novel as “an invented prose narrative that is usually long and complex and deals especially with human experience through a usually connected sequence of events.” Elements of fiction include character, plot and theme. Broadly defined, The Blah Story includes these elements, but Tomm’s work isn’t something that most of us would choose to read for pleasure. “Overwhelmingly creative, Nigel Tomm demolishes the barrier of words and meaning, giving vitality and expressive strength to the pattern of his most exclusive novel—The Blah Story. It is a new way of conceiving text that frees the imagination, allowing you to personalize each and every word by your own creativity.” This is the description provided by Amazon.com (emphasis added by this writer—nice sales pitch, Amazon!) for the first volume of the novel and, although there are now twenty-three volumes, The Blah Story is considered a single novel. Creative Tomm may be, but do you really want to read even the first volume’s seven hundred twenty eight pages, in which the bulk of the text consists of the word “blah” interspersed with nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs, leaving it up to the reader to substitute words for the “blahs” in order to create logical sentences?

Let’s look at somewhat more traditional long novels and, for this blog, consider only works originally written in English. Very long books written in another language and then translated into English, such as Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time (approximately three million words), Thomas Mann’s Joseph and His Brothers (no word count given on Amazon’s list) and Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (560,391words), therefore, aren’t on my list but are mentioned here just in case one of these huge books appeals to you.

Marienbad My Love, “the world’s longest ‘open source’ novel” can be downloaded as the original 2008 edition. A later edition is available in print and for a Kindle. Marienbad My Love by Mark Leach consists of seventeen volumes and 17.8 million words. This book appeared on only one list.

Mission: Impossible to read in one sitting

Not quite as long, L. Ron Hubbard’s Mission Earth (1985-1987) has only ten volumes containing 1.2 million words. Sometimes seen as a series of novels, Hubbard intended Mission Earth “to be a single novel, published in ten volumes.”

A Dance to the Music of Time (1951-1975) by Anthony Powell follows Mission Earth with fewer than one million words in twelve volumes. It is “sometimes regarded as a novel sequence” which begs the question: is Dance a single novel, as Hubbard’s Mission Earth claims to be?

Traditional in format and first published in 1794 , Clarissa; or, the History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson, is merely 984,870 words in one thick volume.

Poor Fellow My Country (1980) by the Australian author Xavier Herbert is another lengthy work—852,000 words! Slightly less wordy is Women and Men (1987) by Joseph McElroy at 850,000 or 700,000 words (both are estimates). If you want to sample McElroy’s work in a shorter format, Falvey owns his Lookout Cartridge (531 pages, no word count available).

A close contender to Women and Men in number of words is Madison Cooper’s Sironia, Texas (1952) with 840,000 words. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (1965) by Marguerite Young has either 750,000 or 576,000 words – that’s quite a variation, but I’m not planning on counting the words myself to verify either total!

Varney the Vampire, originally published as a series of “penny dreadfuls” from 1845 to 1847 and then as a book in 1847 has 667,000 words. The author is either James Malcolm Rymer or Thomas Preskett Prest. Varney is still in print although not in Falvey’s collections. (Ed. note: We noticed that Varney is currently being offered free for Kindle devices at this link. Read at your own risk!).

With only some 22,000 fewer words, Atlas Shrugged (1957) by Ayn Rand is almost as long as Varney the Vampire although Atlas Shrugged was first published just over one hundred years later.

Published in 1994, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth has only 593,674 words—a veritable light weight book! David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest (2006) comes in at either 543,709 (Wikipedia) or 484,001 (Amazon) words—that’s quite a difference in the word count! Remembrance Rock (1948), written by Carl Sandberg follows with 532,000 words. And James Clavell’s Jai-Jin, not on all lists, is even shorter at 487,700 words—who counted these?

How do these novels compare in size with such well known ones such as War and Peace (1869) written by Leo Tolstoy in Russian and later translated into English? War and Peace contains about 560,000 words; that puts it near the bottom of this list. And where does Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind (1936) rank? At over 400,000 words, it is at the bottom of this list.

If nothing on this list appeals to you, there is always “The New York Times” list of best sellers. Books are divided into categories such as print (hardcover and paperback), e-book, fiction, non-fiction and more. They are ranked by popularity—if you are looking for a super long book, you are on your own.

Article by Alice Bampton, digital image specialist and senior writer on the Communication and Service Promotion team. Graphics by Joanne Quinn. 

Fans of James Joyce and his novel, Ulysses, commemorate the Irish author and that novel on June 16: Bloomsday. Named for Leopold Bloom, the main character in Ulysses, Bloomsday is celebrated on that date because Ulysses spans a single day—June 16—in Dublin.

Why June 16?—So that’s the reason Bloomsday celebrations occur on June 16. But why did Joyce set his story in June 16? The date, when Joyce chose it, did not coincide with the anniversary of a major world event. Nor does it appear to carry significance to Joyce in his personal life.

Could Joyce have chosen June 16 to commemorate the beginning of his romance with Nora Barnacle? Or perhaps he selected that date because it would not be in competition with that of a significant anniversary or holiday. Could Joyce have imagined that setting the actions for Ulysses on a neutral date would result in his novel receiving its own commemoration every June 16?

Answers could be found at the following Free, Local Event—

The Rosenbach Museum & Library, which has a manuscript of Ulysses— handwritten by Joyce—in its collection, hosts a Bloomsday celebration every June 16. This event includes a reading of Ulysses. Beginning at 9:30 a.m., Philadelphia area dignitaries, librarians and celebrities will each read a passage of Joyce’s novel. This year’s roster features longtime Philadelphia radio personality, David Dye and Jane Golden, executive director of the Philadelphia Mural Arts program, who appeared at Falvey in 2014.

To Dig Deeper, explore the following links, prepared by Sarah Wingo, team leader: Humanities II and also subject librarian for English, literature and theatre:

Free Downloadable audiobook of Ulysses
The Cambridge companion to James Joyce
Joyce Reading from Ulysses
Our Special Collections holdings for Joyce
The James Joyce Centre website

Sarah Wingo
Team Leader: Humanities II
Falvey Memorial Library
Villanova University
610-519-5183

Article by Gerald Dierkes and Alice Bampton.

Jonathan Fabriziani:  To study for the  OAT [Optometry Admission Test], organic chemistry. … All over, this is one of my favorites [second floor lounge].

Kristian Richardson:  To print out pictures for my bulletin board.  … Speakers’ Corner – the chairs are very comfortable.

Luke LaBarge:  Homework. … Usually third floor. Today I didn’t feel like going upstairs.

Caitlin Beggs:  I’m a PhD nursing student in the middle of a summer intensive and working on papers. … Speakers’ Corner.

Serah Nthenge:  It’s nice, it’s quiet, I can concentrate.

Chase Young:  I’m doing my calculus homework; that’s why I’m here.

Photographs by Alice Bampton, Communication and  Service Promotion team.

A brief history of the Memorial Day holiday

Memorial Day or, more accurately, Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer. Memorial Day itself is now celebrated on the last Monday of May. However, this was not always true, so below is a bit of the history of this holiday.

A number of locations claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, Boalsburg, Pa., among them. Often called Decoration Day, it was established as a day to decorate with flowers the graves of those who lost their lives in the Civil War. Approximately 620,000 men lost their lives in the war so most families, North and South, had some personal relationship with the dead or injured.

On May 5, 1868, Major General John Alexander Logan (1826-1886) and an organization of Union veterans, declared that May 30 should be the day on which the graves of the war dead should be decorated with flowers. That year a large ceremony, presided over by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and various Washington, D.C., officials, was held at Arlington National Cemetery. Congressman James Garfield of Ohio was one of the speakers. At the conclusion of the speeches, members of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and children from a nearby orphanage for children of Union veterans placed flowers on the graves of more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers while singing hymns and reciting prayers.

The back story for this: an anonymous writer had sent a letter to the GAR adjutant general, a letter in which the author told the adjutant general that in his native Germany it was a custom to place flowers on graves in the spring. The adjutant general, Norton P. Chipman, sent this information to Logan. Logan then expanded upon the idea and sent an order to all GAR posts to observe May 30 as a day to honor the Civil War dead. This date, May 30, became the first nationally observed commemoration held in more than 200 locations, mostly in the North.

There are other claimants for the establishment of Memorial Day. In Richmond, Virginia, women formed the Hollywood Memorial Association of the Ladies of Richmond and they helped to establish the Oakwood Memorial Association; the purpose of these two groups was to decorate the graves, both those of Union and Confederate soldiers, in the Hollywood and Oakwood Cemeteries. The same year, 1865, Confederate veterans organized, but the decoration of graves remained women’s work.

From the 1870s on some observed the holiday as commemoration and others chose to enjoy themselves. By the 1890s May 30 had become more a popular holiday, less a memorial to the Civil War dead who had been forgotten by many. Congress declared Memorial Day a federal holiday in 1889.

Recent history

President Lyndon Johnson and Congress declared in 1966 that Waterloo, N.Y., was the birthplace of Memorial Day, based upon a ceremony held there on May 5, 1866, honoring area veterans of the Civil War. Other claimants are Boalsburg, Pa.; Macon and Columbus, Ga.; Carbondale, Ill; Columbus, Miss.; and others.In 1968 Congress changed the date of Memorial Day from May 30 to the last Monday of May. This change was strongly encouraged by the travel and resort industries; a three day weekend was an invitation to travel for many.

Since the late 1960s Memorial Day has become a major commercial activity. Originally many businesses closed, but this is no longer true. Now there are numerous Memorial Day sales – my email is filled with advertisements for these as are newspapers.

Congress passed a law, signed by the president, in December 2000 to honor the fallen of all wars: “The National Moment of Remembrance Act.” There are also Confederate Memorial Days still observed in many Southern States: Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Each of these states set its own date to honor its Confederate dead.

Picnics and memories

On a personal level, I grew up hearing Memorial Day referred to as Decoration Day, perhaps a regional or generational custom. I lived in western Maryland, south of the Mason Dixon Line, but an area more Northern than Southern in its history. I remember going with my family – grandparents, parents and younger sister – to visit a small, very rural hilltop cemetery where the adults spent the day clearing weeds and other debris from the graves and, when lunch time came, we had a picnic right there (Mom’s homemade meatloaf, kept warm by wrapping it in multiple layers of newspaper, and potato salad). Flowers, cut from my grandmother’s flowerbed, were placed in front of the tombstones. I knew an older widow who cut peonies from her garden to take to the cemetery to place on her husband’s grave. None of the graves in that old family cemetery belonged to Civil War soldiers, nor was the widow’s husband a Civil War veteran. Even today I know family members who visit cemeteries to leave flowers on Memorial Day. Is this a local custom?

Many communities do have Memorial Day events with speeches honoring those who fell serving the United States, parades, picnics and other activities. How will you spend your Memorial Day?

Dig Deeper: Falvey resources

The National Memorial Day: A Record of Ceremonies Over the Graves of the Union Soldiers, May 29 and 30, 1869. 1870. E. F. M. Faehtz.
Memorial Lessons: A Sermon Preached at King’s Chapel, Boston, on Sunday, May 29, 1870, with a List of the Sons of the Church Who Entered the Service of the Country. 1870. Henry Wilder Foote.
Memorial Day, May 30, 1870, Oration by Gen. I. F. Shepard (Adjutant General of Missouri) at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Mo. 1870. I. F. Shepard.
 A History of Memorial Day: Unity, Discord and the Pursuit of Happiness. 2002. Richard P. Harmond.
Honoring the Civil War Dead: Commemoration and the Problem of Reconciliation. 2005. John R. Neff.
Celebrating America’s Freedoms. (Online) 2009. United States Dept of Veterans Affairs.

Cemetery photos and story by Alice Bampton. Waterloo, NY photo credit: Joseph Sohm/Visions of America/Corbis.

Today is a special day at  Falvey Memorial Library as we celebrate the retirement of staff member Bill Greene. Bill’s varied spectrum of interests and skills makes him one awesomely multifaceted person! We are rerunning a ‘Monday Mood Board’ blog post from 2015 to commemorate the day. Read on to learn more about Bill, dinosaurs, science fiction, and to follow some links to great books and resources.

Hi, Bill! So I saw on Facebook that you had a major work anniversary recently. How many years have you been here now?

40. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?

What is your earliest Falvey memory?

Actually, it wasn’t much of a memory, but it was my first day here. I was a student. Way back—I can tell you the date! I was a student. I knew it was gonna be a life-changing thing, y’know. The date was May 7, 1968. It was a Wednesday, and I was working in acquisitions. I was working with books in print. I was checking the orders to make sure they were correct. The whole first day was really strange, because the previous day, I had known nothing about working in a library. But then my mother said to me “[one of our neighbors] called, and she wanted to know if you’d like to work at Villanova’s library. “ So I said, “Yeah, why not?” I just could’ve said, you know, “Nah, forget it, I don’t wanna do that” and that would’ve totally changed my life. But I said yes. Next day, I was in there, that quick. It just grew from there, it wasn’t planned.

And forty years later, look at you!

Yeah, still here!

What are the first three words that come to mind when you think of Falvey Memorial Library?

Fun. Novel.* People.

*”I was considering, I still am, writing a novel with this place as the background. With so many experiences, I have plenty to pick from.”

Read any periodicals, magazines, journals?

I read Discover Magazine, because mainly, it’s science, which I am interested in. It’s science, but they write it so I can understand it. Once in a while I read Scientific American… and I wonder, why did I bother reading this? I didn’t get anything out of it. They’re too technical, I think, in some cases. Discover is a good magazine, especially if you find an article on something you care about.

What’s your favorite dinosaur?

My favorite dinosaur is Triceratops. Do you have any idea what Triceratops looks like?

 I do!

Very good! I figured you would. He’s one of the more common ones, the three horn face, that’s what it stands for in Latin, I guess. I couldn’t tell you why I like him. My favorite dinosaur is not Tyrannosaurus Rex because that’s who everybody’s favorite dinosaur is. [Triceratops] is always defending himself against Tyrannosaurus Rex, supposedly.

I can’t even pronounce my favorite.

Yeah, what is it?

 I think it’s… Parasaurolophus?

Parasaurolophus, you like him? He’s cool! Thinking about this question [of my favorite dinosaur], he came up. Parasaurolophus is the one with the horn. He’s the one they’re thinking, recently, in the past five years or so, they’re figuring, the reason for the horn? All of the duck-billed dinosaurs, which she is one of, went around making noises and the different noises they made could tell each one what individual was from his group, what species it was from. The air went through the horn, and made all kinds of honking noises.

That would be so neat to hear!

Wouldn’t it? A herd of ‘em?

Current favorite poet? Any poet you’ve read, new or old, that makes you think “yeah, them!”

One that pops to mind is Coleridge. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” “Kubla Khan.” When I was reading him, he hit me right away.

What is your information routine? How do you get news and info?

Most of my news I probably get from TV. I don’t get any papers, because they all come to the library. I don’t have time from it, for one thing. Yeah, the news. Channel 6 is what I usually have on.

Do you visit any websites on a regular basis?

Amazon. Goodreads.

What are you going to do after this interview?

Probably going to continue work. A lot of the things I do, I have to wait for someone to bring it to me, like the mail, and the stuff from UPS, and the stuff that’s over in Garey waiting to come over to be scanned. But chances are pretty good that I’ll probably go down and start scanning stuff. Lot of books to scan, articles.

Can I mention something you haven’t asked me? I’m a big science fiction person.

Great! When did you discover you love science fiction?

I was around 12, give or take a year. I think the first book I read was R is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury, short story collection. And I read the whole book, and I kept thinking – this is just my state of mind at the time, you know, I’m 11 or 12 – I’m thinking, “gee, these are good stories, he writes them so well and they’re good, but they all end badly! I don’t like that, they all end badly!” And now I’m coming from a different perspective, being as old as I am; they do end badly, but you know, they’re really cool stories. I wish I had written them. It doesn’t bother me quite as much, and I can see why he did it the way he did it. ‘Cause it would’ve been a stupid story if it didn’t have a bad ending.

What is your favorite Bradbury work?

Fahrenheit 451, of course.

Any other favorite science fiction authors besides Bradbury?

Alfred Bester, Theodore Sturgeon. Any of the best [science fiction] novels are written back in the fifties, I think, because now science fiction just can be anything. How do you define science fiction anymore? There is a definition for it, but a lot of the science fiction today is really on the edge. There’s no science in it! So what if it takes place on Mars? There’s no science in it.

I just read a book called The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber. The thing that makes it different is it’s a combination of science fiction and romance, and I’m thinking, I can’t think of any books, good books, like that. I would highly recommend it.

Thanks for chatting with me, Bill!

Article by Michelle Callaghan, graduate assistant on the Communication and Service Promotion team. She is currently pursuing her MA in English at Villanova University.

A panel of four elite Villanova University scholars participated in a discussion on “The Global and the Interdisciplinary: ‘Education and Privilege’” on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 4:30 p.m. in Falvey Memorial Library’s Speakers’ Corner. The panel, co-sponsored by The Global Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies and Falvey Memorial Library, determined the reasons why current issues of race and identity exist in society and also explored ways in which we can take action to challenge the status quo.

Panelists included Jerusha Conner, PhD, Department of Education and Counseling; Carol Anthony, MA, Center for Peace and Justice Education; Jill McCorkel, PhD, Department of Sociology and Criminology; and Bryan Crable, PhD, Department of Communication. Each panelist described their perspective on why issues of race and inequality persist and the steps we can take to make a difference.

Maghan Keita, PhD, professor of History and director of the Institute for Global Interdisciplinary Studies made opening remarks.

To kick-off the panel discussion, Dr. Jerusha Conner discussed her approach the problem of race integration by utilizing her background in the field of education. She stressed the need to educate and empower students to be activists in order to initiate social change. In addition, Conner cited that a group of current Villanova students participate in a service partnership with inner-city schools. By going to the core of the problem, she believes that the students are able to take action and promote change.

Dr. Jill McCorkel, who actively studies the inequalities that exist in the U.S. prison system, emphasized that a vicious cycle exists for students who come from lower-income families; they tend to go from school directly to prison. Dr. McCorkel called it a “school to prison pipeline.” She believes people from certain groups are considered scapegoats and are unfairly treated. The privileged don’t always recognize this inequality. In addition, Dr. McCorkel cited her belief that forms of punishment are connected with our racial history and recommends that we explore the ways that this connection resonates with other countries.

Examining the problem from a social justice perspective, Professor Carol Anthony discussed the need to question the ways we rationalize the morality of conditions in our society. She stressed reasons we should question our justification of violence and inequality as the norm.

Dr. Bryan Crable, an expert in the study of rhetorical theory, talked about race, identity, power and privilege, utilizing his background in the study of communication. He discussed his close examination of the relationship between Kenneth Burke and Ralph Ellison, two influential American writers. Dr. Crable views this relationship as a reflection of the racial divide that still clearly exists in society.

Jerusha Conner, Jill McCorkle, Carol Anthony and Bryan Crable participated in the panel discussion. (From left to right)

So, what steps can we take to successfully integrate all members of society? How do we avoid reinforcing the ever-present racial divide? The panelists agreed that we do a lot as a community, but that we are capable of doing much, much more. Some solutions include providing prison inmates with education, hiring more diverse students and faculty, and presenting more opportunities to students who come from lower-income families with more attention given to how racial diversity is presented in schools. It is also important to continue to be open to learning and make a conscious effort to self-educate. They believe that with knowledge we are better suited to tackle this problem.

On Tuesday, Oct. 27, several elite Villanova scholars presented on: “The Global and the Interdisciplinary ‘Gender and Imperialism’” as part of the Reading Villanova series. (Click here for a quick review about what was discussed at the first event in the series on “Education and Privilege.”) The second event in the series took place in Speakers’ Corner to a packed crowd of faculty, staff and students.

Amy Way, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Communication; Chiji Akoma, PhD, associate professor, Department of English; and Catherine Warrick, PhD, associate professor, Department of Political Science shared their thoughts at this second event in the Reading Villanova series. Yeoryios Stavris, a student of Maghan Keita, professor of History and director of the Institute for Global Interdisciplinary Studies, moderated the panel. Check out the video recording of the event here!

Pictured (from left to right) is student moderator, Yeoryio Stavris, Dr.Chiji Akoma, Dr. Catherine Warrick and Dr. Amy Way.

On Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 4:30 p.m. in Speakers’ Corner of Falvey Memorial Library, three prominent Villanova scholars presented: “The Global and the Interdisciplinary ‘Diversity’” as part of the Reading Villanova series. Camille Burge, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Political Science; Brighid Dwyer, PhD, director, Program on Intergroup Relations, Multicultural Affairs; Katina Sawyer, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Psychology shared their thoughts with us at this event, which was the final event in the Reading Villanova series of the fall semester.

Bridget Black, student moderator; Brighid Dwyer, PhD, director, Program on Intergroup Relations, Multicultural Affairs; Katrina Sawyer, PhD, assistant professor, Dept. of Psychology; and Camille Burge, PhD, assistant professor, Dept. of Political Science

Camille Burge, PhD

Katrina Sawyer, PhD

Photographs by Alice Bampton

Photos from Falvey Christmas parties featuring staff we remember fondly:

For “How to” videos about the Library, click the “Help” button on Falvey’s homepage.