Offsite Storage Facility is Ready, the Move is On!
Atkins Library’s offsite storage facility is ready for business. To provide adequate social distancing and additional space for study and research, UNC Charlotte is moving most of the journal collection and 70% of the print collection currently in Atkins Library to an offsite storage facility located 15 minutes from campus in Concord. The journals have been transferred, and the movers are working now on moving monographs.
UNC Charlotte graduate and Atkins staffer, Erika Boardman, has been named offsite collections coordinator and will work from the new facility. Stacks Maintenance staff will use a brand new van to make daily deliveries of materials requested by UNC Charlotte faculty, students, and staff. Atkins’ goal is to provide all requested materials within 24 hours Monday through Friday regardless of whether they are in Atkins or offsite storage. Background
Friends of Atkins Library Update
During the Fall 2020 semester, Atkins Library extended active Friends of Atkins Library memberships by one year. Beginning Wednesday, January 20, Atkins will be open to Friends of Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte alumni, emeritus faculty, retirees, and cooperative borrowers. Members of these groups may enter the building from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. For Friends who prefer to pick up library materials outside the main entrance, email circdesk@uncc.edu to request specific items and someone will be in touch to confirm your requests and share pickup instructions.
Frederick Douglass Book Conservation
The Library's rare 1845 copy of Frederick Douglass's seminal abolitionist autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, has been reborn. Thanks to a donation from Dr. Peter and Ashley Larkin, this book that is frequently consulted by students and researchers has received professional conservation treatments that will allow it to be read for another 175 years.
Continued use of the book over the centuries had created the need for conservation work. Most notably, the original binding had failed and many of the pages were entirely separated from it. However, as a result of our careful handling of the book in the Dalton Reading Room, all parts of the spine remained and the conservator was able to piece it together and preserve it. He also cleaned and mended the pages as he re-bound the book, and he created a custom box to provide additional protection.
For those who would like to support similar conservation work for other rare books in our collection, please contact Dawn Schmitz, the associate dean for special collections & university archives. Gifts in any amount can be added to the Peter and Ashley Larkin Preservation Endowment.
Valentine’s Gift Idea: Life & Legacy Personal Histories
Do you have a family member, friend, or colleague whose stories and recollections you would love to preserve for posterity? This Valentine’s Day, give them a Life & Legacy Personal History through the Atkins Library philanthropy program that supports our community-engaged oral history projects while preserving your own family's history.
Our oral history team will conduct and record a 1-hour interview that adheres to professional standards. We will send the recording to the interviewee in a handsome package that includes instructions for the family on how to preserve the recording for generations to come. Life & Legacy allows you to keep the voice, memories, and stories of someone special preserved for generations to come.
Personally Speaking Focuses on Falling Felines
The question of how falling cats land on their feet has long intrigued humans. In his book, Falling Felines & Fundamental Physics, Dr. Gregory Gbur, a professor in the Department of Physics and Optical Science in UNC Charlotte’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and a cat parent himself, explores how attempts to understand the cat-righting reflex have provided crucial insights into puzzles in mathematics, geophysics, neuroscience, and human space exploration.
Dr. Gbur will share the story behind the book in the next virtual Personally Speaking presentation on Tuesday, February 23, at 7:00 pm. Registration is required.
Atkins’ Wish List is on Amazon Smile
Atkins Library is now on the Amazon Smiles Charity List. Just like Amazon’s wedding and baby registries, Atkins has listed dozens of items needed in departments throughout the library. Currently, 33 items are listed and more will be added in the future. Prices range from $7 for a reusable heat-resistant craft mat to $7000 for a handheld 3D scanner. Donors go to the list and pick one or more of the items to buy, then Amazon handles the receipt and ships items directly to Atkins Library.
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