Elaine Heras, Associate Director of Aubrey Watzek Library, retired this month after 26 years of service to Lewis & Clark College. Elaine was the longest serving member of the library staff.

In the Fall of 1984 Elaine started working as a temporary reference librarian and a year later was hired as the Online Services Librarian. Elaine was promoted to Associate Director in the early 1990s and served as the interim director on two occasions during that decade. She oversaw the conversion of the library's holdings from the card catalog to electronic format and was deeply involved in the building renovation of the mid 1990s. In the last decade she continued in her Associate Director role as the manager of the library's budget and the leader of public services.

We will all miss Elaine's good humor, astute budget management skills, passion for space planning, and of course her seafood cookouts on the coast.

A retirement party for Elaine and Reference Librarian Betty Ann Smith, who will retire in December, will be held Monday, November 15 from 3:30-5:30 in Smith Hall. The campus community is invited to attend.

This Saturday, it's game on at Watzek! Video games on the big screen, Twister in the Library Atrium, old-school board gaming, and more.

November 13, 2010, hundreds of libraries throughout the country will showcase gaming programs and services in support of NGD10. Watzek Library is supporting the American Library Association's initiative to reconnect communities through, "the educational, recreational, and social value of all types of games," by hosting game day on Saturday, Nov 13, 12-6 pm. Check out this article in American Libraries for more information about National Gaming Day.

Throughout the month of November, check out the Diversions display for a selection of books about food, glorious food. Peruse cookbooks to find recipes for Thanksgiving trimmings, read up on the global history of the pancake, and explore the interplay of food and culture.

The 7th annual Watzek Rocks concert will be happening the first Thursday of Spring semester, January 20th, in Watzek Library. Watzek is currently seeking campus bands to participate in the show. Please submit CDs, MP3s, myspace links, etc to Nikki Williams at the Circulation Desk or circ@lclark.edu. Deadline is Wednesday, December 1, but the sooner the better if your band is interested in playing.

Interested in becoming a savvy researcher? Join us on Nov. 3 at 4 pm for an introduction to the Library's services and resources.

This College Success Skills Workshop is offered in collaboration with the Office of Student Transitions & Experiences, and registration is required. We hope you can join us in the Library Classroom!

The monks of Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey have been binding Watzek's journals, dissertations, and theses for almost a decade. As a portion of their monastic work, Trappist monks provide bindery services to several institutions throughout California, Washington, and Oregon.

At the end of each month, Watzek Library sends a shipment to the Trappist bindery. And as a service to L&C departments, we can include items from these departments with our monthly shipments. If you'd like to take advantage of this service, contact Robyn Ward (robynw@lclark.edu) for more info.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey is located in Lafayette, OR. In addition to running the bindery, the Trappists support their community by operating a bakery, providing wine storage for local wineries, and offering retreats. Check out their website for more information about their order and abbey.

For Diversions this month, we have selected a number of books that support the themes of L&C's 13th Annual Symposium on Environmental Affairs, Following the Food Chain. Check out our selection on the Diversions bookshelf, located by the Mac Lab.

The full schedule of events for the Environmental Affairs Symposium, which runs October 11-14, can be viewed here.

Sophomore Claire Askew will read from her book Generation V on October 15 at 2:00 in the Library Classroom. Generation V: The Complete Guide to Going, Being, and Staying Vegan as a Teenager is a comprehensive guide to veganism for aspiring, current, and seasoned teenage and college-age vegans. Claire blogs for youthful youths and vegan vegans at Generation V.

The last week of September is Banned Books Week, a time to celebrate the freedom to read and the importance of the first amendment. Check out this list of the most frequently challenged books of the last decade, and exercise your freedom to access information and express ideas. For more information about banned and challenged books, visit the American Library Association site.

Watzek's digital image database currently has 832 Buddhist art images, and more are coming!

Access them in MDID with your LC user name and password, then Browse by "Project Name" --> BuddhistArt. Images can be downloaded or printed for use in presentations or papers by clicking on the floppy disk icon or printer icon. These images are great for Art, History, East Asian Studies, Religious Studies, SoAn, Foreign Language and Literatures, and more!

Contact Stephanie Beene (sbeene@lclark.edu) for assistance.