Copley Connects Fall 2023

Message From the Dean

STUDENT ASSISTANT SPOTLIGHT

Reflecting on the current surge of banned books in school libraries and attacks on public libraries, I have thought about my days in library school where the emphasis was on the expanse of published literature, not banning books. The faculty asserted that as an academic librarian, I needed to understand the breadth of collections and how to find information. Accordingly, I took various literature courses, such as humanities, sciences and government documents. Students in the public library track took children’s literature courses. I recall that one reference course assignment required us to name all the journals we could remember. The aim was to instill in us that there was a wide array of titles and that we needed to be familiar with as many as possible. Neither my classmates nor I came close to listing the infinite number of existing journal titles. I have never forgotten that assignment. It helped me realize that as a future librarian, I would manage a vast array of resources. I only knew that mastering Ms. Constance Winchell’s Guide to Reference Books would allow me to answer reference questions. I understood that access to information was everyone’s right, and my job was to assist students, faculty and patrons in gaining answers to their questions and directing them to books without fear of censorship. Moreover, I learned that a library collection should contain books on all perspectives of a subject. As a librarian, I reveled in the innovative changes that widened customers’ access to information. Innovations included the automated catalog, a national interlibrary loan network, OCLC and WorldCat, statewide and local consortia, digital databases and e-books. The San Diego County Public Library’s OverDrive Libby app is a popular e-book app that is available to all San Diego residents with a library card. The inventions of the last three decades have made it easier for libraries to provide information to the public and our users. Banning books is anathema to the American way of life. Libraries are a public good. Libraries bring about equity between the haves and have-nots by providing books, films and Internet access. In keeping with the university’s Catholic social justice spirit, the public can enter and use Copley Library’s resources. Libraries are unbiased and impartial. They provide free access to information and are necessary to educate the citizenry to participate in democracy. While in library school, I discovered how public libraries helped with immigrant literacy at the turn of the century. America’s values are synonymous with libraries and the freedom BOOK BANNING IS ANATHEMA IN AMERICA Celebrating Ten Years of Copley Connects: 2013-2023 Over the past ten years, Copley Library has thrived. The central focus of the library is collections, services, and space. Print remains vital, but Covid made digital-first in all formats popular. In 2013, students engaged with Reference Librarians in-person. However, today they work with librarians in-person and virtually through our chat reference service and Springshare’s 24/7 reference cooperative. The library initiated the Digital Initiatives Librarian position and joined the institutional repository (IR) and open movement. This year, we reached 2 million IR downloads of faculty’s and students’ research being accessed worldwide. In 2020, we began participating in JSTOR’s Open Communities Collections initiative featuring three of our marquee collections: Japanese Bookplates, Paris Exposition Postcards, and the San Diego Lowrider Archival project. Like many of the schools in USD, Copley Library has matured. In 2015, former President Lyons granted us our tenure process. The faculty holds its own elections. We became Faculty Senate members in 2018. The faculty taught 1,433 instruction sessions and 217 workshops. They gave 97 conference presentations and published 21 articles, 4 book chapters, 7 conference proceedings, 8 book reviews, 1 book and 3 short stories. The faculty has grown, and their expertise strengthened with embedded librarians located in the schools and liaison librarians in the College. Moreover, the library organization has benefitted from creating positions, such as the Associate Dean for the Library and the Associate Dean for Student Success and Diversity. Seminal Library Moments 2013-2023 • Purchased the JSTOR Alumni Databases, 2013 • Started the Digital Initiatives Symposium, 2014 • Offered $1,000 OER Stipends to Four Faculty, 2015 • Compiled the first Annual Report, 2016 • Joined USD’s Annual Senior Survey, 2017 • Launched the Copley Library Retreat, 2018 • Renovated the Building, Fall 2017-Spring 2020 • Impacted by Covid, March 2020-August 2021 • Assisted with the Faculty Research and Scholarship Recognition Reception, 2023 For additional highlights, see the timeline on p. 4-5. MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8

2 | COPLEY CONNECTS Cindy Espineli , Executive Assistant Jordan Kobayashi , Library Assistant, Periodicals/Serials Jennifer Bidwell , Business Librarian Naomi Reeve , Archives/Digital Initiatives Assistant Wall murals by the artist Vlady at the Biblioteca Miguel Lerdo de Tejeda . See Page 4 for more. Published twice a year by: Copley Library University of San Diego 5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, CA 92110 Copley Connects is also available on our website at www.sandiego.edu/library. Dr. Theresa S. Byrd Dean of the University Library tsbyrd@sandiego.edu Copley Connects Review Committee: Martha Adkins, Reference Librarian, Editor Hugh Burkhart, Reference Librarian and Coordinator of Instruction and Undergraduate Learning Cindy Espineli, Executive Assistant Jordan Kobayashi, Library Assistant, Periodicals/Serials Jennifer Bidwell, Business Librarian 18 Faculty and Staff News 20 Save the Date: DIS 2024 C OPLEY CONNECTS Published twice a year by: Copley Library University of San Diego 5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, CA 92110 Copley Connects is also available on our web site at www.sandiego.edu/library. Dr. Theresa S. Byrd, Dean of the University Library tsbyrd@sandiego.edu Copley Connects Review Committee: Martha Adkins , Reference Librarian, Editor Hugh Burkhart , Reference Librarian and Coordinator of Instruction and Undergraduate Learning Social Media Table of Contents Message From the Dean TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 Message From the Dean 3 Student Assistant Spotlight 4 Copley Connects Celebrates 10 Years with Highlights 6 Bookplate Tradition Honors Graduating Student Assistants 8 COPLEY READS: Book Recommendations 10 Immersive Global Reading 11 Faculty and Staff Retreat 12 Faculty Research and Scholarship Recognition Reception 14 The 9th Annual Digital Initiatives Symposium 16 Black and Women's History Month Event Copley Library Banned Books Read-Out 2023 Transformación in Mexico City: My ARLIS/NA Experience Heritage Months Habemus bibliotheca sorora! We have a Sister Library! ¡Tenemos biblioteca hermana! Copley Reads: Book Recommendations Staff Updates Save the Date: DIS 2024 Social Media

to read. We are free to read what we choose. I like reading autobiographies of famous people, black authors and history, historical

By Catherine Paolillo, Visiting Evening Access Librarian Raul Flores Torres (Class of 2023) has worked in Copley Library Access Services since Fall 2021. Throughout his 4 years at USD he’s been involved

Copley Library Banned Books Read-Out 2023 By Christopher Marcum , Head of Access and Outreach Services The Legal Research Center and L to R: Misty Jones , Director San Diego Public Library; Dr. Scott Walter , Dean University Library, San Diego State University; Judith Lihosit , Director of the USD Legal Research Center; Dani Cook , Associate University Librarian, Learning and User Experience, University of California San Diego; Dr. Theresa Byrd , Dean of the University Library, University of San Diego. in Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (M.E.Ch.A), Beta Theta Pi, and Student Support Services (SSS) while being employed at Copley Library, the One Stop Student Center, and operating as CEO of his family business. He’s a proud first-generation student and will be the first of his immediate and extended family to graduate from a 4-year institution. He served on the M.E.Ch.A e-board for 2 years as Programmer and External Representative where he helped organize multiple events such as General Body Meetings, Family Reveal, Virgen de Guadalupe Mass, Farmers Workers Mass, Fiesta Night, a Chicano Park tour, and social events, with the other M.E.Ch.A de San Diego chapters. Through his involvement in M.E.Ch.A, he’s been able to not only impact the USD and San Diego communities, but also his hometown by partnering with Santa Barbara City College and his high school AVID program. As a SSS mentor for the Class of 2024, Raul helped freshmen and transfer students transition to USD. He’s also been a member of Beta Theta Pi since the Spring of 2021 and has served as the Community Service Chair. He was awarded the Beta Award last semester for exemplifying the chapter’s commitment to mutual aid and assistance. Raul will graduate this spring with a Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Accountancy. He has accepted a full-time position at Ernst & Young as a tax accountant in La Jolla, San Diego. In addition, he’s the CEO of his family business, Flores Hardware and Lighting Inc, in Santa Barbara, California, and will be working with his family to grow the business. For the past two semesters, Raul has served as our Social Media & Outreach Student Assistant, where he was able to use his interest in photography to create content for our social media platforms, newsletters, annual reports, website, and more. I recently caught up with Raul to ask about his creative process, his experience working in Copley Library, and what he’s looking forward to after graduation. YOU'RE AN ACCOUNTING MAJOR, HOW DID YOU GET INTERESTED IN PHOTOGRAPHY? Yes, I’m an Accounting and International Business major. I was in junior year of high school when I picked up my first camera. My cousin introduced me to the photography world; he was the first person out of the whole family that was a photographer. Seeing his posts on Instagram made me interested in photography, and pushed me to get a camera of my own. I haven’t stopped shooting since then. I’m self-taught, so YouTube is how I learned. Eventually I took a photography class at Santa Barbara City College in my hometown, but everything they taught I already learned from YouTube. Copley Library joined our San Diego Circuit partners at UCSD libraries, SDSU libraries, San Diego Public Libraries and San Diego County Libraries in sharing support for the freedom to read and highlighting the dangers of censorship during this year’s Annual Celebration of Banned Books Week sponsored by the American Library Association. Thank you to all the USD students, faculty members, and staff that took the time during Banned Books Week 2023 (October 1-7) to read from their favorite frequently challenged or banned book and to share inspiring words about the importance of making sure we all have the freedom to seek and express ideas through the written word. Dr. Theresa Byrd speaks at the event at the San Diego Public Library Central Branch.

fiction and non-fiction, and the occasional novel. Conversely, a colleague or neighbor may prefer to read science fiction, mysteries or poetry. We all should have the right to read what we desire regardless of the theme or content contained within. Every book has value, and the librarian must maintain strict confidentiality of patron checkout records. In California, we sometimes think we are immune to the country’s ills. Did you know that the movement to forbid certain books reached a San Diego Public Library’s LGBTQ book display during Pride Month? The public supported the library, which quelled the dissenters. The most frequently challenged books are by LGBTQ, BIPOC and indigenous people. Every day, I hear on the news or read about another attempt to suppress books, so there is a danger that a few could decide what the many read. Libraries provide books for the masses. Let’s keep it that way. Copley Library upholds intellectual freedom principles and fosters reading through KPBS’s One Book, One San Diego, a communitywide reading program, and several other literary events. In addition to our significant collections of print and e-books, we have a popular bestseller collection on the ground floor located next to the Access Services desk. Book banning is odious. It has no place in a civil society. Academic libraries may be the last guardians of intellectual freedom because of the academy’s commitment to academic freedom. Whether it’s Steinbeck, Angelou, Walker or Orwell, I invite you to read a banned book. Here’s a list: https://www.ala. org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/ decade2019. Professional development and connection to library professional organizations helped the library advance and deliver services to the university’s consitituencies. We are affiliated with SPARC, CRL, CNI, HathiTrust, NISO, and Lyrasis. The Artwork Committee assists with selecting art and installing exhibitions that create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all students. Our December AlumniWorks 2022 exhibition featured 13 alumni artists. Three of these diverse artists’ works now hang on the library’s walls. Copley closes the period from 2013-2023 by focusing on accessibility; a changing collection development model; fake news and misinformation; diversity, equity, and inclusion; affordable learning materials; and artificial intelligence. The library is meeting the needs of an evolving USD, and its faculty. Our scope is even bigger with the demands of the university’s R2 status. Dr. Theresa S. Byrd DEAN OF THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Here’s to another ten years of Copley Connects informing the USD community of Copley’s milestones and services. Theresa S. Byrd, DEAN OF THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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