Michael Sherry Book Signing to Benefit Friends of the Library
Historian Michael Sherry will be at Old Dominion University as a speaker in
the Distinguished Presidential Lectures in History Series. On Thursday, February
26, from 4 to 5 p.m., he will sign books in the University Book Store. Barnes
and Noble will donate to the Friends of the Library a percentage of the Sherry
books sold at the store.
Dr. Sherry, a professor of history at Northwestern University, will speak on
Wednesday evening, February 25, at 8 p.m. in the Mills Godwin, Jr. Building
Auditorium. His talk is titled "In the Shadow of World War II." Sherry is the
author of In the Shadow of War, The Rise of American Air Power, and Preparing for the Next War: American Plans for Postwar Defense, 1941-1945.
Please come to the Bookstore on Thursday to meet Dr. Sherry, have your books
signed by him, and support the Friends of the Library. The Friends thank the
ODU Book Store for their generous support.
Library Construction Nears Completion
The main library addition and renovation, a 2 ½ year construction project,
is fully occupied by library users and staff at this time. While new furniture
and equipment continue to arrive for installation, the added space for users
and books, the new service areas in periodicals and digital services, and the
re-designed public service areas are fully available and are heavily used already.
Old Dominion University Celebrates the Opening of the Diehn
Composers Room
The opening of the F. Ludwig Diehn Composers Room was a gala occasion. On December
19, 1997, Friends of the Library joined members of the Diehn family and community
members for a champagne reception to celebrate this beautiful addition to the
Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Building.
The Composers Room, designed as a research facility for scholars, conductors,
and performers, houses the papers of Ludwig Diehn and those of other contemporary
composers. As well as housing special collections in 20th Century
music, the Diehn Room contains the library’s musical listening facilities with
collections of recordings and scores for research and class use.
Two Women and a War to be Talk at Annual Author
Dinner — April 9th
The fourth annual Author Dinner will be Thursday, April 9, at 6:30 in the River
Rooms of Webb University Center. Guest speaker Dr. Joyce Hoffmann in her talk
"Two Women and a War" will discuss two American journalists whose reportage
from Vietnam was so distinctive that their names are indelibly linked with the
war. Plan to join the Friends for this important event. Reserve early, as each
year, the dinner has been a sell-out. Seating is limited.
Hoffmann, Assistant Professor of Journalism at Old Dominion University, published Theodore White and Journalism as Illusion in 1995, which won the Frank
Luther Mott Kappa Tau Alpha Award as the year’s best researched book on journalism
published that year. Prior winners of this award include Arthur Schlesinger
and David Halberstam.
As a free-lance journalist, Hoffmann’s work has appeared in the Washington
Post, Chicago Tribune, and New York Times. As reporter
and editor, she received many awards, among them the Keystone Press Awards’
first prize for investigative reporting for "Lean Times in the 1980s," an examination
of the local economic consequences of Reaganomics.
On a travel grant from Old Dominion University’s Office of International Programs,
Hoffmann did interviews with journalists in New York, Paris, and Bonn, and toured
Vietnam for a month in connection with her new book on women and the Vietnam
War. Her talk April 9th is based on this research.
At the dinner, the Friends will present its Outstanding Achievement Award to
a person affiliated with Old Dominion who has made a significant literary contribution
through published works. This year the award will be presented to Dr. Maurice
Berube, Eminent Professor in the College of Education and author of several
books on education. Among them are American School Reform: Progressive,
Equity, and Excellence Movements 1883-1993 and American Presidents and Education. Previous Outstanding Achievement Awards were presented to
Alf Mapp, Jr., Dan Sonenshine, and Helen Rountree.
Both Dr. Hoffmann and Dr. Berube will be available to sign books after the
dinner.
Again this year, book clubs may reserve seating for members who wish to come
together. The reservation form sent out in early March will have a space to
mark for such reservations.
Baskets for Books a Huge Success
The Friends of the Library and the Athletic Department sponsored the annual
Baskets for Books event at Scope. On January 17 at 10:00 AM , fans and library
supporters met for brunch at the Encore Restaurant. After dining well, the fans
cheered for Old Dominion University in its match with Virginia Commonwealth.
In the half-time Shoot-out, a free throwing contest, President Koch and Tony
Mercurio of Score, WGH- 1310 went one on one. In the one-minute time limit,
Koch made ten free-throws, Mercurio three. The radio station contributes $25
for each basket made; WGH gave the Friends of the Library a check for $325.
The Friends also received a percentage of the proceeds from ticket sales. As
in past years, Baskets for Books was a huge success: it was a great chance for
fans to join together to support the team, and it was a financial boost for
the Friends. Plan to join us again next year.
Book Sale Benefits Library Student Workers
Several Friends of the Library helped with the Annual Book Sale in November.
We are happy to report that the proceeds from the Book Sale enabled the Library
to award a total of $2,355 in University Bookstore gift certificates to 31 student
workers. Thanks to everyone for their support!
Over the Holidays, the Faculty Read…
Bob Ake: The Pillars of Hercules, by Paul Theroux (travel in the
Mediterranean)
Judy Mercier: The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe (non-fiction, astronauts)
Mark Elliott: Falling Up, by Shel Silverstein (poetry for children
AND adults); Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and It’s All Small Stuff,
by Richard Carlson
Joyce Hoffmann: Big Trouble, by J. Anthony Lukas (non-fiction, assassination
of an Idaho governor - mining, class and labor issues)
Bob Rose: The Naturalist, by E. O. Wilson (autobiography of an evolutionary
biologist and spokesman for the environment)
Jeff Richards: Mobocracy, by Gary Gilje (non-fiction, a study of
rioting in NYC in the 18th and early 19th centuries)
Joanne Paul: The River Beyond the World, by Janet Peery (fiction
- the story of two women and their relationship across cultural and social
borders)
