On Thursday, Sept. 10, the Villanova University Community will welcome author Reyna Grande to campus. Grande, author of the 2015-2016 One Book Villanova selection The Distance Between Us, will participate in several events on Sept. 10, including a book signing at Falvey Memorial Library from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in Speakers’ Corner on the first floor. The book signing is open to the public. See below for the detailed schedule of events during the author’s visit.

4:40 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Author’s Book Signing,  Falvey Memorial Library’s Speakers’ Corner

6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Dinner with Author and University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, ’75 CLAS in the Dougherty Dining Hall

7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Author’s Lecture, followed by Q&A, Villanova Room, Connelly Center

Reyna Grande offers us a glimpse into her life as a young Mexican girl in her book, The Distance Between Us. In doing so, she gives us the unique opportunity to witness what challenges the children of immigrants often faced when their parents left them behind in Mexico in pursuit of a better life in the United States. Growing up poor and without the guidance of her parents by her side, Grande describes how she was forced to rely on her siblings for strength. With their help and her own firm determination, Grande was able to achieve success despite her difficult upbringing. This honest and at times heartbreaking personal account highlights many issues related to immigration that are relevant today.

The Distance Between Us is the University’s 11th annual One Book Villanova selection. The program celebrated its 10th anniversary last fall with a visit by author Wes Moore, whose book The Other Wes Moore was highlighted on campus with special events throughout the academic year. One Book selections are chosen in order to stimulate close examination of a book and inspire discussion within both the classroom and community on topics that are relevant in society today. The One Book Villanova committee’s co-chairs are Terry Nance, PhD, assistant vice president, Multicultural Affairs (recently promoted to associate vice provost of diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer) and Jeffrey (JJ) Brown, director of student development. The Co-Chairs in addition to a committee of various faculty and staff members from all areas of the University choose the One Book Villanova selection each year.

Still need a book? Copies of The Distance Between Us can be purchased for $8.00 from the Center for Multicultural Affairs, the Office of Student Involvement, or can be ordered online by cash or check. Visit this page for more information.

Following her book signing in Falvey, Grande will be giving a public lecture in the Villanova Room in Connelly Center. This talk by Grande will serve as both the kick-off and the keynote lecture of our St. Thomas of Villanova weekend on campus, which is a celebration marked by service to the surrounding communities. Make sure to be a part of these landmark campus-wide events!

Article by Regina Duffy, writer for the Communication & Service Promotion team and Library Events and Program manager.

2014 was a busy year for Falvey Memorial Library. We acknowledged successes, welcomed new faculty and nationally acclaimed authors, waxed nostalgic over Choose Your Own Adventure books, said goodbye to old friends and even opened a 3D ‘automatic virtual environment’ – the first CAVE ever situated in a library setting with reserved time for public access.  The following is a sample of our year in pictures. Enjoy!

Falvey Memorial Library 2014

Who can forget “Spring” Semester of 2014…

…a wintry winter…

…that eventually thawed.

A very busy event season gave patrons lots of choices!

Poets, scholars, politicians…

Shakespeare turned 450…

Wilbur the Pig took on Oedipus…

…Peeps took over the study rooms…

…and we celebrated Smart Money Week.

We offered tips…

Help and smiles from now retired Donna Chadderton

…and opportunities to “Choose Your Own Adventure” at VU Pop II, which celebrated Interactive Fiction.

We said goodbye to some retiring old friends…Mimi DeLenge, Sue Connor and Marie R.,

Librarian Kimberley Bugg, (off to pursue a PhD!)

Graduate Assistants Kelly Forst and Corey Arnold

and Librarian Susan Markley, who retired after 35 years of service to the University.

And we miss dear ones, like former Access Service ace and proud Villanova alumni Jim Fox, who passed away this year.

And we celebrated our Falvey Scholars, including

Noor F. Shaik

…and student and community poets at our annual Open Mic Poetry exhibition.

The Class of 2014 moved on…

..and the CAVE began to move in

Along with improvements to Falvey Hall side patio

Continued progress on the daCortona masterpiece

..and kudos for Dave Uspal, here celebrating his FACULTAS award with fellow tech team members, Dave Lacy and Chris Hallberg.

Before we knew it, summer was over and we were welcoming the Class of 2018…

New Faculty Reception

Teresa A. Nance, PhD, Assistant Vice President, Multicultural Affairs Associate Professor at the annual Multicultural Student Reception in the Holy Grounds lounge, and

and the Library’s new interim director, Robert DeVos, PhD.

Fall brought a new ACS display, a collaboration between First Year Experience Librarian Robert LeBlanc and ACS program faculty mentor Gregory Hoskins, PhD,

multiple WWI centennial exhibits, including Home Before the Leaves – wwionline.org – a collaboration between our Digital Library and other Great War scholars,

A visit from Wes Moore, author of the One Book Villanova 2014-15 selection, The Other Wes Moore,

…and the opening of the CAVE facility.

As fall semester rolled on

We reminded students to text a librarian,

…ask questions!…

..and NOT get their pretzels in a twist over finals!!

We said congrats to Access Services’ Bill Greene for his 40th Year Service Anniversary (here he’s getting a congrats kiss from Ann Stango!)

Business librarian and USC rep Linda Hauck made a beautiful contribution to the Villanova Holiday Bazaar (thanks, Linda!),

…and we decorated a tree!

As 2014 rocks on into 2015, we want to thank all of the Villanova Community for a wonderful year. As Edith Lovejoy Pierce once said, “the book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” Let’s all embrace this new, blessed opportunity to get it right.

Falvey Memorial Library was pleased to host a book signing for Wes Moore on Thursday, September 25 as part of the OneBook Villanova’s tenth year anniversary. Close to one hundred students and members of the community turned out for the occasion. Moore signed books for over an hour, with the line for those waiting to meet and greet the genial author snaking out past the elevator bank.

Posters of book covers for each of the OneBook Villanova selections since the program began in 2004 were hung in the windows surrounding the Speakers’ Corner. Moore signed the oversized cover of The Other Wes Moore, and took home his ‘Big Head‘ decoration reportedly to show it to his mother!

Photo by Alice Bampton.

The One Book Villanova Program is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year!  In honor of this landmark occasion, the One Book Villanova committee  proudly announced the 2014-2015 book selection: The Other Wes Moore by author Wes Moore. The book follows the lives of two young men who are about the same age, live in the same city and who also share the same name. Despite their many striking similarities, the young men’s lives take very different paths: one Wes grows up to be a scholar, war veteran, White House aide and prominent business leader while the other Wes becomes a convicted criminal serving a life sentence for allegedly committing murder. The Other Wes Moore leads the reader to contemplate how these two people turned out so differently despite some of their remarkably similar circumstances growing up in poverty-stricken Baltimore.

Throughout the past ten years, the Villanova One Book selections have varied greatly in topic and theme and have led readers through many diverse cultural settings and landscapes.
– Good Kings Bad Kings took us to Chicago and showed us the harsh realities of institutional life for adolescents with disabilities.
– Little Princes exposed the human trafficking issues that orphaned children face in Nepal.
– Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet described for us what the Japanese Internment camps were like for families during WWII.
– The Unforgiving Minute placed us in the shoes of a West Point educated soldier as he led his platoon through the savagery and uncertainty of combat in Afghanistan.
– Rooftops of Tehran described life in Iran under its oppressive regime.
– In The Glass Castle, we learned what it was like for the author to grow up homeless with highly dysfunctional parents.
– Left to Tell poignantly described one woman’s experience surviving the Rwandan genocide.
– In Blood Done Sign My Name, we witnessed the civil rights struggle in the American south.
– In The Kite Runner, our very first One Book selection in 2004-2005, we traveled to both Afghanistan and America and experienced the harsh Taliban takeover of the country and felt the hardships of immigration.
Each of these book selections has helped to strengthen the ties of the Villanova Community and has also forced us to confront the sometimes harsh realities of human nature. The One Book Villanova Committee hopes to continue this tradition with the tenth anniversary One Book Villanova selection, The Other Wes Moore.

All rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors received a copy of the 2014-2015 One Book Villanova selection in early May, and all incoming freshmen were mailed a copy of the book over the summer. In addition, the One Book Villanova Committee decided to change the format and timing of the program. The author’s visit will occur on Thursday, September 25, as part of the St. Thomas of Villanova weekend festivities. The entire Villanova Community is encouraged the read The Other Wes Moore in preparation for the author’s visit on September 25! Those students, staff and faculty who were not able to pick up a copy of the book in early May should visit the Office of Student Development (Room 214/217 Dougherty Hall), the Office for Multicultural Affairs (Room 102 Dougherty Hall), or Falvey Memorial Library anytime during normal business hours to receive a book. For students, the book is free of charge and for faculty and staff the cost is $6 per book.

Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore

The One Book Committee is also in the midst of planning a series of topical programs throughout the academic year in support of the 2014-2015 book selection and to promote the tenth anniversary of the program.

More information about the author’s visit and One Book Villanova tenth anniversary programming can be found on the One Book website.

Article by Regina Duffy, writer for the Communication and Service Promotion team and library events and program coordinator for the Scholarly Outreach team.