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Blueprints: Falvey LibraryContents: October 2000
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"Leap Frog on a Level, or Going Headlong to
the Devil." |
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"A Palpable Bolt. The Danger of Putting a high
Spirited Animal upon His Mettle." A large, healthy horse representing the spirit of the Reform Bill pulls a "State Tax Cart" carrying Lord Grey, Althorp and Durham. Each politician registers apprehension that the movement will hurt the state. Chained under the cart is a dog representing "Ireland" as designated on its collar. Far behind the action is the Duke of Wellington who admits that he is stuck in the mud. (From exhibit caption) |
By Susan Markley
Many have written about the Age of Imperialism, but Dr. Lawrence Little, assistant professor, Africana Studies and history at Villanova, has provided a unique look at this subject by examining the attitudes on imperialism from an elite segment of the black community in America at that time, the members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Basing his research on original documents from the AME, Dr. Little discussed his interesting and informative book, Disciples of Liberty: The African Methodist Episcopal Church in the Age of Imperialism, 1884-1916, at Falvey Library’s Faculty Book Talk on Sept. 12.
Dr. Little was originally interested in America’s first war of subjugation, the Philippine-American War in 1899, which involved the use of black soldiers serving in segregated units, during his undergraduate days at Coppin State College. This interest continued as he did further research in graduate school. A visit to the archives at nearby Wilberforce University in Xenia, Ohio, a small, black college founded by the AME Church in 1856, further piqued his interest in American imperialism and the black community’s reaction at that time to the oppression of "people of color throughout the world."
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Providing a visual aid, Dr. Little holds up the box of note cards he prepared as he researched his book. |
Researching primary sources in the archives of Wilberforce, including proceedings of the general conferences of the AME Church, newspapers, sermons and missionary records, Little expanded the scope of his work into a master’s thesis and later a doctoral dissertation. Writings from the AME Church provided numerous documents demonstrating black concern and identification with oppressed people throughout the world, including the Dutch in the Boer Wars, the Catholics during the Irish Rebellion, the Jews in Tsarist Russia and the Chinese in the Boxer Rebellion. Black voices were raised to condemn these forms of imperialism and mistreatment of others.
At the same time, the AME faced the dilemma of supporting a strong belief in American-style liberty when racism was rampant in the United States. They found it hard to reconcile "the promise of U.S. ideals with reality" and their desire to expose the hypocrisy of U.S. race relations. In addition, the AME Church, which was heavily evangelistic, was sending its own missionaries to many countries and across the United States and its Indian territories. The AME found itself in the conflicting position of sympathizing with oppressed people, no matter what their color or religion, while still promoting the spread of American liberty, Western ideas and Christianity to the rest of the world. Their rationale was that imperialism brought many people of color under the American flag, thus giving non-white Americans more influence in American politics and society because of their greater numbers.
Although the AME Church, which mainly represented the elite of the black community in America between 1884-1916, had limited political power "to influence domestic and world opinions," their voice, joined with many white voices, became a "chorus" that appealed to presidents and Congress to change imperialistic policies.
Dr. Little provides a rare glimpse into the imperialistic era of American history by delving into the mind of a group of largely ignored Americans who fought hard to demonstrate the true spirit of American-style liberty while combating oppression around the world.
Susan Markley is head of the Periodical Department.
On August 22, Falvey threw a farewell party for Joe McDonnell, Circulation Department
evening supervisor, acknowledging appreciation for his contributions over the years
supporting the services of Falvey Library. Joe had been with Falvey Library since 1973
when he was hired as a door checker. In 1984, he assumed the position of Circulation
supervisor working evenings and weekends and taking primary responsibility for the library
building, including Circulation desk functions, supervision of student staff, building
monitors and door checkers, assisting library patrons and securing the building at
closing.
Joe has not departed Villanova, however. He will continue his position as science building supervisor at Mendel Hall.
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Merrill Stein, head, Access Services, and Joe McDonnell. |
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A pyramid of Falvey FLASH mugs on display at the Circulation desk
advertised a raffle for students to win a mug or a Dining Services certificate. The Falvey
FLASH mugs and certificates were donated by Dining Services to help
Falvey promote the use of the Falvey mug in the library, as well as promote the Holy
Grounds coffee shop at Falvey. The display and raffle was coordinated by Falvey’s
Enhancement Team, Luisa Cywinski, Chris Foster, Laura Hutelmyer, Kathleen O’Connor
and two new members, Teresa Bowden and Darren Poley.
By Jacqueline Mirabile
Are political ads turning you off but you want to be able to make an educated choice in the voting booth? Falvey Library can provide you with books and links to Web sites and databases such as ABI/Inform and Lexis/Nexis which provide full-text articles on the candidates and issues.
Falvey has books by and about the major candidates. For example, you can read Pat Buchanan’s The Great Betrayal: How American Sovereignty and Social Justice are Being Sacrificed to the Gods of the Global Economy (HF1455.B83 1998); George W. Bush’s A Charge to Keep (F391.4.B87A3 1999); Al Gore’s _common Sense Government: Works Better and Costs Less (JK468.P75G562 1995); and Ralph Nader’s No Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the Perversion of Justice in America (KF299.I5N33 1996).
There are numerous Web sites which can provide both current and historic information. On the library’s home page click on E-Resources by Subject/Political Science/Selected Web sites. Here you will discover links to the Democratic, Green, Reform and Republican parties’ home pages. Another quite comprehensive link is for Presidential Campaign 2000 (http://special.northernlight.com/election/) which has information on the candidates, issues and the conventions. This site can lead you to others such as DemocracyNet (http://www.dnet.org/), provided by the League of Women Voters. Try SpeakOut.com if you wish to transmit your own opinion on a variety of issues.
Ever wonder about the amounts of money contributed to political parties by various groups such as the pharmaceutical or casinos/gambling industries? Connect to The Center for Responsive Politics (http://www.opensecrets.org). The Federal Election Commission (http://www.fec.gov/) also has campaign fund reports, historical statistics on voter registration and turnout and registration information for individual states.
Through Project Vote Smart (http://www.vote-smart.org/) you will find information on officials and candidates on the presidential, congressional and state levels concerning issue positions, voting records and performance evaluations. Names and telephone numbers of county election officers also can be found through this site.
Villanova’s Office of Mission Effectiveness (http://www.villanova.edu/mission) is providing a link to the U.S. Catholic bishops’ document "Faithful Citizenship: Civic Responsibility for a New Millennium" (http://www.nccbuscc.org/faithfulcitizenship/citizenship.htm). Included are 10 questions to consider for this election.
Although it takes time, there is much information to be gleaned through Falvey’s home page for those who wish to be informed citizens.
Jacqueline Mirabile is government documents librarian and reference librarian.
During the last academic year, the newly-formed Staff Council was given the task to facilitate communication between staff members and the Director's Office, to assist employees understand the workings of the various departments and to encourage more staff participation. The council was initiated by University librarian and director, Dr. James L. Mullins.
To assist the council in its new duties, all members participated in a workshop titled "Basic Principles for a Collaborative Workplace," conducted by Terry Welford and John Kelley of OPTIR. In addition, several members also attended a workshop on effective meetings led by Terry Welford. Both workshops not only reinforced the values of Villanova University, but also imparted practical solutions for working as a team.
The council conducted seven "Falvey Forums" last year. At these forums, two council members and a group of coworkers led discussions on a "current" topic, such as e-mail or the work environment. Each group of eight to 10 people were from different departments and were personally invited to attend. During the second half of the meeting, participants were free to raise other topics and to ask questions. At the end of each semester, information and suggestions gathered during these forums were summarized and passed along to the Director's Office for consideration and/or further discussion at Falvey staff meetings.
To assess its impact on the staff, an exit survey was taken after each forum. Survey questions referred to group size, meeting structure and length of forum, and space for additional comments and suggestions was also included. Over 30 surveys were returned and summarized. The answers and comments were overwhelmingly positive, and the council felt it was headed in the right general direction. Some comments were, "Bringing staff from other departments together was a great idea," and "Relaxed discussion - was well run." Any less than positive comments were discussed at a staff meeting and generally indicated a misunderstanding of the information gathering purpose of the council and its forums.
The council is composed of eight members representing all areas of the library. Newly appointed members Marie Humbert, Roberta Rosci and Steven Dixon recently joined standing council members Jim McAleer; Natalie Tomasco; Phylis Wright; Mary Heyman, vice-chair; and Diane Adamo, chair.
This year the council plans to organize and lead more forums and address the difficulty of connecting with our part-time coworkers. Hopefully, the council will promote professionalism, help us to derive more satisfaction from our work, and support us in coping with the major changes occurring in the library world.
Natalie Tomasco is a serials technician in the Periodical Department.
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Falvey Library Staff Council representatives include (left to right) Jim McAleer; Phylis Wright; Diane Adamo, chair; Mary Heyman, vice chair; Steven Dixon; Roberta Rosci; and Natalie Tomasco. Not pictured: Marie Humbert. |
In September, Ward Barnes assumed his new position as Falvey Library’s
evening supervisor at Circulation, recently vacated by Joe McDonnell. Ward has been at
Falvey since February 1999, working as door checker and monitor. Ward will now be
responsible for all evening circulation activities as well as securing the library at
closing. Originally from Iowa, Ward taught U.S. history, world history and Western
civilization at Mentor Public High School, Mentor, Ohio.
Ward Barnes
Nicholas Chiarkas joined Falvey in August as a Reference librarian, working evenings and weekends. Nicholas also is senior assistant librarian at the University of Delaware where he acts as liaison to the African and East Asian Studies Departments, and a training coordinator for UDLib/SEARCH, a statewide program in Delaware that provides access to online encyclopedias and serials databases to Delaware public middle and upper schools. Nicholas received a bachelor’s degree in history and the history of science and master’s degree in library and information studies from the University of Wisconsin.
Vince Mostardi, an employee in the Periodical Department’s bindery, celebrated his 80th birthday on Sept. 12. He has been with Falvey since 1982, binding and repairing hundreds of magazines and journals each year. He also repairs circulating books and assists with bindery shipments and newspaper recycling. Vince previously was a warehouse foreman at Crucible Steel Company of America and Stainless Steel Products.
Susan Markley, head of the Periodical Department, and Merrill Stein, head of Access
Services, Falvey Library, made a presentation at the Pennsylvania Library Association,
College and Research Division’s annual conference, Sept. 24 in Lancaster, Pa. Their
talk, "Blueprint of a Successful Collaborative Approach to Information
Literacy," reported on the Quest program involving Core Humanities and Falvey
Library, specifically its assessment through pre- and post-tests indicating the
program’s positive effects.
Also contributing to this issue of Blueprints: Donna Chadderton, Laura Hutelmyer, Judith
Olsen and Jacqueline Smith. Photographs by Bernadette Dierkes, Steve Dixon, Joe Houser and
Judith Olsen.
