The University Libraries is welcoming students back with an exhibit celebrating Big Blue. Step into the Learning Commons @ Perry Library where you’ll be able to view the many faces of Big Blue from the 1970s til now. The exhibit features photos from the University Archives and Athletics Department and borrows from a recent article by Steve Daniel, ODU Public Relations Director. The exhibit was created by Teresa Statler-Keener. Contact Teresa tstatler@odu.edu with questions or comments.

You may also view a Web exhibit.

Did you know ODU had a Tree Trail? It's new! ODU’s “Tree Trail” provides an occasion to learn about thirty of the different varieties of trees on campus. Beginning at the Kaplan Orchid Conservatory, the trail meanders along the notable Quarantine Road and behind Webb Center, passes around the Engineering and Computational Sciences building and then around the pond of the Oceanography and Physics Buildings. Signage for each tree indicates common and scientific names and a brief description.

The ODU Libraries is recognizing and promoting the Tree Trail with an exhibit in the Learning Commons featuring photos, books, and some greenery. Come see the exhibit which runs through August 22 -- and be sure to walk the trail! A Website which complements the exhibit is also available.

Did you know ODU had a Tree Trail? It's new! ODU’s “Tree Trail” provides an occasion to learn about thirty of the different varieties of trees on campus. Beginning at the Kaplan Orchid Conservatory, the trail meanders along the notable Quarantine Road and behind Webb Center, passes around the Engineering and Computational Sciences building and then around the pond of the Oceanography and Physics Buildings. Signage for each tree indicates common and scientific names and a brief description.

The ODU Libraries is recognizing and promoting the Tree Trail with an exhibit in the Learning Commons featuring photos, books, and some greenery. Come see the exhibit which runs through August 22 -- and be sure to walk the trail! A Website which complements the exhibit is also available.

And... Join the staff of the University Libraries for an informative talk and tour of ODU’s Tree Trail on Monday, August 6, 2012, 9:30 – 11:00am, in the Library Instruction Room 1306. Chad Peevy, ODU Grounds Department Supervisor, and Ed and Linda Bradley, local Master Gardeners, will talk briefly about campus trees, how the Tree Trail came about, and what things to look for when identifying trees. After that, we’ll have a walking tour of the Tree Trail.

From May 16 to June 28, 2012, “The Face of the Ghetto” exhibition will be on display in the Learning Commons at ODU Perry Library. The official opening will take place on May 16th, 6 – 8 pm, and is open to the public.

“The Face of the Ghetto” in Norfolk is a collaboration of the Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding, College of Arts and Letters; the Federal Republic of Germany; and the Old Dominion University Libraries. As part of the Holocaust remembrance activities in and around Hampton Roads, the exhibition will be on display in the Learning Commons @ Perry Library of the Old Dominion University Libraries.

During World War II, the German Nazis established the second largest ghetto for Jews in the occupied Polish city of Lodz, renamed Litzmannstadt by the German occupants. In April 1940, more than 160,000 Jews from the Warthegau region were crowded into the Litzmannstadt Ghetto which consisted of an area of 4.14 square kilometers. Later on, 20,000 Jews from the German Reich, Prague and Luxembourg were deported to Litzmannstadt. More than 5,000 Roma also were incarcerated there in 1941.

As a result of the abominable conditions, more than 43,000 people died in the Litzmannstadt Ghetto. In 1942, tens of thousands of Jews with thousands of children among them were deported and killed in the Kulmhof extermination camp. The ghetto was dissolved in August 1944, and all save a handful of remaining inhabitants were killed in the Auschwitz extermination camp.

Professional Jewish photographers were instructed by the Jewish council of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto to photograph the daily life and work. They took pictures of children playing, working and eating and produced touching portraits as well. The pictures were intended to show a functioning community and testify to the utility of Jewish workers for the German economy. A collection of 12,000 contact prints by these Jewish photographers in the Litzmannstadt Ghetto is preserved in the Lodz State Archive. For this exhibition, 50 prints were selected and enlarged. Quotations from survivor reports and from the chronicle of the ghetto accompany each photograph. A short overview of the ghetto’s history, a description of the photography as an historic source and information about the photographers provide an introduction into the exhibition.

The exhibition is composed and provided by the Topography of Terror Foundation in Berlin, Germany and is supported by the Foreign Office, Federal Republic of Germany. The exhibition was first shown in the United States at the United Nations in New York City, and is currently on tour.

A Web exhibit is available at http://www.lib.odu.edu/exhibits/faceghetto/index.htm

“Spotlight on Scholarship” is a new series sponsored by the University Libraries. Every Fall and Spring semester, the Libraries will shine a spotlight on the scholarly output of one academic department through a reception and month-long exhibit.

The Communication and Theatre Arts Department is the focus of our first “Spotlight on Scholarship.” Traditional research and creative works produced by faculty for the past 10 years are featured in an exhibit in the Learning Commons from March 15 through April 30. Selected books, journal articles, posters, and flyers are on display.

Faculty will discuss some of their recent work at a reception on Friday, March 30, from 3-5pm in the Learning Commons Conference Room.

For more information, contact Karen Vaughan kvaughan@odu.edu

ODU Perry Library is celebrating Women’s History Month 2012 with an exhibit in the Learning Commons. The national theme for this year, “Women’s Education—Women’s Empowerment,” provides a fitting opportunity to honor our ODU’s Women’s Center. Since 1976, the ODU Women’s Center has offered programs and services that empower women to overcome obstacles and achieve personal and academic success.

The exhibit, available through the month of March, features news clippings, photographs, reports and other materials that illustrate the 35 year history of the Center’s programs and services. These materials were taken from a digital archive that was recently created from Women's Center materials donated to the University Archives.

For more information, contact Karen Vaughan kvaughan@odu.edu.

The University Libraries are celebrating Black History Month 2012 with an exhibit in the Learning Commons. The exhibit features a background depicting "the labors, struggles, organization, and sacrifices of common women" that have made possible the "prominence of heralded individuals" we know today. "Black Women in American Culture and History" will be available through the month of February 2011.

The exhibit was created by Edison Simmons and Marissa Jimenez. Contact Edison esimmons@odu.edu with questions or comments.

“Celebrating the History of Virginia Opera” is now on display in the Library Art Gallery on the first floor of Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library.

The exhibit contains posters, programs, costume and wig designs, photographs and fliers from the Virginia Opera Papers, housed in Special Collections and University Archives of the University Libraries. A chronological listing, from 1975 to the present day, of the Virginia Opera’s repertoire is also on display. The exhibit will be on display until February 13th, when it will move to the Harrison Opera House.

For additional information, please contact Sonia Yaco, Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist at 757-683-4483 or via e-mail at syaco@odu.edu.