Celebrating the Life of C. S. Lewis

This month, the Davis Library is celebrating the life and literary legacy of C. S. Lewis.

C. S. Lewis, November 29, 1893-- November 22, 1963

The library is fortunate to have a generous donor who has provided us with a comprehensive collection of works by and about Lewis.

Torrie Richardson, Fine Arts

In honor of the anniversary of Lewis' birthday this month, we held a contest among our visual arts students to create a piece of art commemorating Lewis that would be featured on a bookmark commissioned by our donor.

Hunter Longley, Graphic Design

Ryan Ivey, Graphic Design

We had some incredible entries from very talented students.  Lindsey Hall, Graphic Design major, had the winning design.

Lindsey Hall, Featured Artist

Our donor hoped to put one of the finished bookmarks in the hands of every Freshman on campus, which we attempted to accomplish with the help of our professors.

We currently have displays in the library featuring each of the entries for the contest, as well as a timeline of C. S. Lewis' life and major works.



From the bookmark:                                                       

"Through the gift and direction of a generous local donor, University Library has added 86 titles by and about C. S. Lewis (1898—1963) since January 2012. The enhanced collections attempt to provide a complete catalog of novels, poems, theological and philosophical monographs, literary criticism, children's books, essays, and memoirs by this highly influential Christian scholar. The aims for the collection now include adding audio books and DVDs, a process that has already begun, as well as secondary works about Lewis.

"It's hard to overestimate the influence Lewis had and continues to have on generations of scholars and the public. His science fiction, children's literature, and devotional writings persist in popularity, while his scholarly works continue to be studied and analyzed. Derivative works such as movies and plays entice young audiences and lay the foundation of a generous and beautiful Christian theology. Lewis' prodigious body of work can be found throughout the library."

The Davis Library welcomes you to stop by and take a look at the featured art of our talented students as well as portions of the fantastic collection of Lewis' works that we have here at the library.

Library Hours for Thanksgiving Week

"Male north american turkey supersaturated".
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Male_north_american_turkey_supersaturated.jpg#mediaviewer/
File:Male_north_american_turkey_supersaturated.jpg

It's almost Thanksgiving, everyone!  

Here are the library's hours for next week:

Monday, 11/24-  7:30am until Midnight

Tuesday, 11/25-  7:30am until 6:00pm

Wednesday, 11/26-  8:00am until 2:00pm

Thursday, 11/27 through Saturday, 11/29- CLOSED

Sunday, 11/30-   6:00pm until Midnight

Stay tuned for our extended Finals hours.

You can always find accurate opening and closing times for the library under the "Hours" tab at library.samford.edu, or here: http://library.samford.edu/about/hours.html 

We wish the entire Samford family a safe and happy holiday!

P.S. Did you hear that story about Benjamin Franklin suggesting that the North American Wild Turkey be the National Symbol? Well, it's not entirely true. Find out more about the symbols on our Great Seal of the United States here: http://diplomacy.state.gov/documents/organization/101201.pdf

A Look Back: The Laws of Howard College 1846

Cover of the Laws of Howard College published in 1846. Call Number: LD2281.24.L3 1846

Howard College, now Samford University, was founded in 1841. Classes began in 1842 and started with nine students. The student body grew, but remained very small in the early days. 

In 1846, the college published a document entitled, “Laws of Howard College, Enacted September 18th, 1846” (Call Number: LD2281.24 .L3 1846). This very slim document outlines the procedures of Howard College beginning with the board of trustees, briefly covering the student enrollment and admission. The dining hall is, of course, discussed and then the document talks about the library. 

Being a library ourselves, it’s interesting to read the rules of Howard College’s Library in 1846. For example, students were permitted only to check out two books and admonished from lending them to other or taking them out of the town. 

You can read the full text of the library rules below. 

Laws of Howard College 1, Caption: Page 7 of the Laws of Howard College, LD2281.24 .L3 1846

Laws of Howard College 2, Caption: Page 8 of the Laws of Howard College, LD2281.24 .L3 1846

After the library rules are completed, there are a few other rules, such as one forbidding students from throwing trash out of windows. That seems reasonable enough. 

If you’d like to see the whole document, feel free to come down to the Special Collection and ask for the Laws of Howard College (call number: LD2281.24 .L3 1846). 

Thanks to Rachel Cohen of the Special Collection for text and photographs.

The Howard College Library Club in 1949

Generally, Special Collection struggles to identify large group photos, so we couldn't have been more pleased when we found this photo of the Library Club of 1949 with every member identified.

Library Club tea held January 16, 1949. Left to right: Miss Mabel Willoughby, Librarian, Mrs. Burton (tea table), Betty Shaffield, Gloria Tucker, Ellen Hall, Virginia Casey (secretary), George Ricker (President of the Library Club), Carolyn King, Peggy Baker, Violet Fuson, Jimpsky Marphree, Mary Vesta Barnard, Miss Evelyn Sellers, Dean of Women (seated)

 A fun vintage photo of campus activities in the late 1940's.