Vespers This Weekend

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Photo courtesy Hope PR

Christmas Vespers, a Hope College tradition, is set to take place this Saturday and Sunday, December 1-2. The first Vespers was held on Sunday, December 7, 1941, the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The event has grown since that first service, and now Hope’s College Chorus, Chapel Choir, Symphonette, and other soloists and ensembles all participate in four separate services held throughout the weekend.

“Vespers” is derived from the Latin term meaning “evening.” The term refers to a religious service typically performed at twilight by candle or lamp light. The first vespers took place as early as the fourth century, and since the sixth century has consisted of prayers, psalms, a lesson, the Magnificat, and an antiphon. The Catholic church, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches have all been known to use vesper services.

Hope’s Vespers will air on radio stations around the country this year. It was previously recorded for television in 2011, airing on WGVU and PBS affiliates throughout the US.

If you’ve missed a service, Van Wylen Library has the 2011 performance on video and audio recording. Audio and video recordings of past Vespers dating back to 1991 can be found in the catalog.

Tickets currently still remain available for two of the event’s four services: Saturday, December 1 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, December 2 at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Hope Ticket Office online or by calling 395-7890.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

Thanksgiving Break Hours

Van Wylen Library wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. The library will observe the following hours during Thanksgiving Break:

  • Wednesday, November 21: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.;
  • Thursday, November 22: Closed;
  • Friday, November 23: Closed;
  • Saturday, November 24: Closed;
  • Sunday, November 25: noon to midnight
For all library service hours, see here.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

Community Action House Drive Happening Now

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Drop off your donations at the display
on the first floor of Van Wylen.

Van Wylen Library is currently hosting a drive to benefit Community Action House, a local agency that seeks to break the poverty cycle by encouraging self-sufficiency through empowerment programs.  Community Action House provides a variety of social services to individuals and families throughout the Holland area.

Domestic poverty continues to be an issue in today’s society, affecting more and more people each year.  According to sociologists Mark R. Rank and Thomas A. Hirchl, most Americans will at some time live at least one year below the poverty line. More information about the issue of domestic poverty can be found in a CQ Researcher article on the topic, or in Van Wylen’s collection.  If you’d like to delve into the issue of hunger and food relief in the US, Van Wylen has resources in its collection to help with your research.

As a recent article in the Holland Sentinel asserts, the need for food is greater than ever. This year, the demand for food from CAH is much higher than normal, as more than 200 people a day (50 more than usual) make their way to the agency’s food bank. As the number of people seeking assistance has increased, Community Action House’s funding has decreased due to cuts from federal government programs and other sources.

The library will be accepting donations through December 20 with hopes of making two separate deliveries: one before Thanksgiving, and the other before Christmas.

Donations of the following will be accepted at the library:

Food:

  • High priority non-perishables: spaghetti sauce, rice, canned fruit, sugar, flour, canned meats, bottles of juice, dried pinto beans
  • Also accepted are: canned vegetables, noodles, boxed dinners, cereal, oatmeal, ramen noodles

Personal care items:

  • High priority items include: laundry soap, dish soap, multi-purpose cleaners, shampoo and conditioner, toilet paper, and feminine products
  • Also accepted are: diapers (size 4, 5, or 6), baby wipes, bar soap, paper towels

Community Kitchen items: 

  • #10 cans of vegetables, fruit, tomatoes, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce; large bags of rice, bulk size dried soups, kitchen supplies (napkins, cups, coffee, creamer, sugar, serving gloves)

You can drop off your donations at the display on the first floor of Van Wylen.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

November "Your Library, Your Voice" survey

This month’s “Your Library, Your Voice” survey focuses on ebooks, a hot topic in libraries today and a growing area of our collection.  We are curious about how you use (or don’t use) ebooks.  Thank you for giving us feedback!

Congratulations to last month’s survey winner, Gaylyn Foxworthy!  Interested in the results of our October survey? Click here!

Survey no longer available.

Hope Theater Presents "Sweeney Todd"

373181_125558470804396_1433369427_nHope College Theater will present “Sweeney Todd” beginning this weekend, November 9th and 10th and continuing Wednesday-Saturday, November 14-17 at 8 p.m. in DeWitt Main Theater.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, the “musical thriller” is based on the 1973 play of the same name. It tells the story of Benjamin Barker, aka Sweeney Todd, who is falsely sentenced to a penal colony by a corrupt judge.  When he returns to London, he learns that his wife poisoned herself as a result of being raped by the judge, and he decides to use his skills as a barber to exact revenge on him and any others who stand in his way.

Van Wylen Library has many resources related to the musical. Copies of one of the original serialized story versions, films, and musical soundtracks can all be found in the library’s collection. To learn more about Sondheim or to read/listen to his other works, check out these resources.

Tickets for “Sweeney Todd” are $10 for regular admission, $7 for senior citizens and Hope faculty and staff, and $5 for students, and are available at the DeVos Fieldhouse ticket office.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

Nykerk Video Collection Available

On Saturday, November 3, over 2000 people will fill the Holland Civic Center to witness the 78th Annual Nykerk Cup Competition. Nykerk is a competition between the freshmen and sophomore classes in song, play, and oration.

09Nykerk63Though the general format of the Nykerk competition has remained the same since 1936, much has changed in terms of costumes, techniques, and traditions. If you’ve ever wondered what Nykerk might have sounded and looked like in decades past, you’re in luck: the Van Wylen Library has made available audio and video copies of past Nykerk competitions.

Most competitions from 1970 to 1985, and then from 1992 to 2010, are now available for check out.  Competitions from 1970 to 1985 are available as audio recordings only.  You can now enjoy Nykerk all year round and experience the changes over the years right from your living room couch!

If you’d like to find out more about Nykerk’s history, the Joint Archives has a collection of historical items. Programs, photos, play scripts, musical scores, speech transcripts and recordings from past competitions are included in the collection. A digital collection of historic Nykerk photographs is also available.

Tickets for Nykerk are $5 and are available at the Hope College Ticket Office in DeVos Fieldhouse or by calling (616) 395-7890.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

Every Vote Counts! Election 2012 Resources

Ballot-Box-clipartStill trying to decide who you’re voting for in Election 2012? Often it’s hard to find the facts about a candidate or proposal, especially when negative TV ads and biased news sources don’t provide solid evidence for their claims. However, there are some excellent online resources to help you with your decision.

  • FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.  It is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, “consumer advocate” for voters that monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases.
  • Citizens Research Council of Michigan provides an excellent analysis of Michigan’s six ballot proposals. The CRC is nonpartisan and seeks to provide as much information about each proposal as possible.
  • League of Women Voters of Michigan has a nonpartisan voter guide for Michigan voters that categorizes candidates by district and provides Q&A with candidates for the US Senate and US House, as well as State House, State Board of Education, and nonpartisan offices such as the Michigan Supreme Court.
  • Vote411.org personalizes an online voter guide based on user-provided location information. All information is provided directly from candidates and is not analyzed or promoted by any organization.
  • This list was adapted from Michigan’s eLibrary Featured Election Resources.

The election is Tuesday, November 6! Get out and vote!

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

Visiting Writers Series: Jeffrey Brown

121008djeffreybrownOn Tuesday, October 23, the 2012-13 Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series welcomes graphic novelist Jeffrey Brown for the Fifth Annual Tom Andrews Memorial Reading.

Brown published a relationship memoir entitled Clumsy. Many acclaimed graphic novels followed including Unlikely, Any Easy Intimacy, Incredible Change-Bots, Sulk, I Am Going to Be Small, and Darth Vader and Son. His newest graphic memoir, set to be released next year, is called A Matter of Life. Van Wylen has several of these memoirs available for check-out in the Featured Collections section behind the Research Help Desk.

His work has been featured in the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. “Save the Date,” a film he co-wrote, premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and will be released later this year by IFC Films. His comics are featured on his website.

01-vaderson-500x500-300x300Brown graduated from Hope College in 1997 with a major in art and went on to pursue an MFA at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. He currently lives and works in Chicago.

A multi-media reading featuring Brown, Hope students, and a band will take place at 7 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theater this evening. A question and answer session with the writer will be held in the Martha Miller Fried-Hemenway Auditorium at 11 a.m.  His work is also featured in the Hope College Alumni Show in De Pree Gallery.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

New Political Science Database

politicalsciencecompleteThis fall, Van Wylen Library added Political Science Complete (PSC) to its research database offerings.  PSC contains full text of more than 530 journals, and provides indexing and abstracts for over 2,900 titles, many of which are unique to the product.  Subdisciplines covered include: international relations, law and legislation, comparative politics, political theory, and more.  In addition, PSC includes over 400 ebooks and 36,000+ full-text conference proceedings (more info).  PSC can now be found on several of the library’s subject guides, including History, Communications, Sociology and Social Work, Women’s Studies, and of course, Political Science — top of the list!

— Todd Wiebe, Head of Research and Instruction