The Start of a New Academic Year

The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coasts Libraries would like to welcome all incoming students and new faculty members.

Classes for the 2008-2009 Academic Year started just the other day and, from what I can tell, it looks like this will be a busy and productive year. According to President Saunders, enrollment is up for the university as a whole, including on the Gulf Coast. And, as always, the Library is here to provide the information needs of students, faculty, staff, and, yes, the community at large.

This year, we are proud to welcome Sahvannah's Coffeehouse to the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Park campus. We hope that everyone will visit and enjoy the simple pleasure of a cup of coffee and reading a good book, studying, or doing research.

Saturday, August 23, the Gulf Park campus will have a Jazz and Blues Festival, and, yes, the Gulf Coast Library will be open to the public. We are extending our hours that day from 2:00pm to 8:00pm. Everyone is welcome to stop by and tour our beautiful library.

On Wednesday, August 27, the Katrina Research Center will be holding a book talk and signing with author Ken Murphy. He will be talking about his new book "My South Coast Home", from 12:00pm to 1:00pm in the Gulf Coast Library Conference Room.

On Thursday, August 28, the Katrina Research Center will be having the grand opening of "Backyards & Beyond: Mississippians and their Stories -- One Year After Katrina" by artist H.C. Porter. The exhibit will run through November and will be a series of three shows, so be sure to stop by early and often.

The Writing Center will start business on Wednesday, September 3. Their hours will be Monday - Thursday: 10:00am - 7:00pm, Friday: 11:00am - 3:00pm. If you need help in writing your paper, make an appointment; they will be happy to assist you.

We now have a video podcast describing our services. You can view it here along with the video podcast about Cook Library on the Hattiesburg Campus.

The Public Services will be selling testing supplies (blue books and Scantron sheets) as well as USB flash drives. We are also changing the laptop check-out policy from two weeks to 24 hours. This is both a return to pre-Katrina policies as well as to keep in line with the check-out policies with Cook Library.

So be sure to come into the library and experience all the things we have to offer and check back on our blog for more events and information.