Library News

The 100 days of summer are almost upon us. Rest, recharge and live longer* (!?) by reading a book! Join our summer reading challenge: download a reading log, and if you read 15 minutes per day, log it. 

Every 10 days earns you one entry into our raffle for awesome library swag, including this cool Carhartt cooler that keeps beverages and snacks icy cold on those hot Moraga days:

Grab a book from our popular reading collection or check out our database NoveList Plus to find your next best read to suit whatever mood you’re in. Try out NoveList’s super fun appeal generator! 

Instructions:

⬇️ Download a reading log (or pick one up in the library)

🖍 Color in a box on the log for every day you read or listened to a book for 15 minutes or more (May 24-Sept 3, 2025).

📷 Submit a photo of your log to bit.ly/smclsr2025

🏆 Get 1 prize raffle entry for every 10 days you read. Receive 5 bonus entries for reading all 100 days!

* According to Bavishi et al. (2016), adult book readers lived, on average, almost two years longer than those who didn't read books. 

Bavishi, A., Slade, M. D., & Levy, B. R. (2016). A chapter a day: Association of book reading with longevity. Social Science & Medicine, 164, 44-48. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953616303689

*Behind-the-Scenes* Library Crawl

Wednesday, October 2

12–1 p.m.

How do library books get on the shelf?

What happens when you submit an interlibrary loan request?

How can you access hundreds of databases from anywhere in the world?
 

It seems like magic, but it's people power...plus technology!
 

Come on a quick behind-the-scenes crawl through the staff areas of the Library with our Access Services and Collections Management teams. You'll get a hands-on look at all the hard work that makes a library run, with tasty bites along the way!
 

Open to staff, faculty, and students. No RSVP necessary--drop by anytime during the noon hour. (If you enjoyed last year's library crawl, come on back for this new, behind-the-scenes edition!)

The Library and the MFA in Creative Writing invite you to Pause for Poetry

in (belated) celebration of National Poetry Month and Arab American Heritage Month:

Wednesday, May 8

1:30-2:30 p.m.

Library, Silent Study Zone

With SMC visiting poet Zeina Hashem Beck and student poets from the undergraduate and graduate creative writing programs

***

Zeina Hashem Beck is a Lebanese poet. Her third poetry collection, titled O, was published by Penguin Books in July 2022. It won the 2023 Arab American Book Award for poetry and was named a Best Book 2022 by Lit Hub and The New York Public Library. 

We invite you to experience Arab American poetics and to participate in the transformative process of reflection and creation. Please bring something to write with and on, as we engage in shared reading and individual writing.

Wikipedia is everywhere! But do you know what it is and how it works?

Join librarians Margot Hanson and Sarah Vital to go beyond reading Wikipedia articles and learn about the process of editing, updating, and expanding them to improve access to information. Update articles on your own, or even make them into class assignments!

Meet up for this workshop in the Library Learning Lab on Thursday, April 18, 2024 between 11:30-12:30.

Questions? Contact Margot at mdh15@stmarys-ca.edu or Sarah at svital@stmarys-ca.edu

Quiet Book Club is a time and space for us to sit quietly and read our own thing...together!

Leave your textbooks at home and bring something to read for fun: a novel, manga, magazine, Kindle...it's up to you.

Bring your friends or show up solo. We'll provide mochi ice cream and drinks (and books if you need one!). We'll read for an hour and then have the option to share what we're reading.

And we'll raffle off a clip-on book light!

Friday, March 15
2:00-3:00 p.m.
Museum of Art

Diversify your syllabi or personal "TBR" lists with new library resources!

• ProQuest Black Studies
• NoveList Plus
• New Play Exchange

Monday, March 11

1:30-2:30 p.m.

Library Learning Lab

Join the SMC Library and Honors Program on an outing to learn about the countless free resources available at the Lafayette Library! 

Thursday, February 22, 5-6 PM

• Bus: Meet at the SMC bus stop at 4:30 pm
• Driving yourself: Meet us at the Lafayette Library at 5:00 pm

We'll have you back to campus around 6:30 p.m.

**RSVP to save your spot!**

Welcome back to the Spring semester. We're going to start off the semester with some crafting love on Monday, 2/12 from 3-4 in the SMC Library with Valentine crafts.

You can use our supplies to make cards, weave friendship bracelets with embroidery thread, or other creations you imagine.

Everyone is welcome, it's free to attend and wheelchair accessible. Contact Margot Hanson (mdh15@stmarys-ca.edu) if you have questions.

Hope to see you there!

Calling all introverts! (And anybody who likes to read.)

Quiet Book Club is a time and space for us to read silently together.

Leave your textbooks at home, and bring something to read for fun: a novel, manga, magazine, Kindle...it's up to you!

We'll provide the sweets and mocktails (and books if you need one!). We'll read for an hour and then have the option to share what we're reading. And we'll raffle off a cozy SMC beanie!

Tuesday, January 23
6:00-7:30 p.m.
Library Silent Study Zone (1st floor)