On Exhibit -- Flannery O'Connor: Letters from Andalusia

Starting today, the exhibit "Flannery O'Connor: Letters from Andalusia" will be open in the Library's Ferguson Gallery, highlighting the writer's unique relationship with the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. It is free and open to the public, and can be viewed during the library’s regular hours. For a full description, as well as a list of related events, including short story discussion groups, lectures and a film screening, please see the exhibit website: http://flanneryoconnor.lndlibrary.org/.

Gift Funds Addition of the Saint John's Bible to LNDL's Collection

The Library is honored to announce the acquisition of the magnificent 7-volume Heritage Edition of the Saint John’s Bible for our permanent collection, thanks to a gift of $130,000 from Mary C. Mangione and her family in memory of her late husband Nicholas B. Mangione. For the full announcement, please see the press release issued by Loyola University Maryland.

Our newly acquired Heritage Edition will be on display at the Baltimore Basilica on Tuesday, April 5, from 7 – 9 p.m. during a Lenten celebration of Jesuit meditations, choir performances, and Benedictine chants in anticipation of the Easter holiday. For more information on this event, please contact Melinda Timlen at 410-532-3179 or mtimlen@ndm.edu.

E-Book of the Week: Growing the Game

Klein, Alan M. Growing the Game: The Globalization of Major League Baseball. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006.

Major League Baseball (MLB) is becoming an increasingly international enterprise, seeking out talent and business opportunities not only in areas such as Asia and Latin America where the sport is well established, but also in Europe and Africa where interest is still marginal and development is necessary. Indeed, Klein argues that globalization is “imperative” to ensure MLB’s future prosperity, but to succeed it must be a “decentralized global enterprise” and not a form of neo-colonialism. He focuses on the efforts of the Dodgers and Royals, as well as the Commissioner’s Office; his final chapter poses the intriguing question, “When Will There Be a Real World Series?”

Previewed by Jack Ray, Associate Director. Click here to read this book.

Italian Week at the Library

From February 21 to March 1, Loyola's Department of Modern Languages and Literatures is sponsoring Italian Week. This year the focus is on Dante, and the celebration will kick off with a screening of "Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic." Rather than being a straight adaptation of the poem, this film falls squarely into the genre of horror, playing fast and loose with details to tell a story inspired by the Inferno. The film will be shown on Monday, February 21 at 6:30pm in the Library's Ridley Auditorium.

Several other events have been planned, including a lecture by Dr. Dennis R. Looney of the University of Pittsburgh, who will speak about his forthcoming book "Freedom Readers: The African-American Reception of Dante's Divine Comedy." This lecture will be held on Monday, February 28 at 4pm on the Loyola campus, in the 4th Floor Programming Room of the Andrew White Student Center. For additional information on Italian week, please visit the Cultural Events page on the department's website.

For more information on Dante, please visit the library's Dante Resources page, where you'll be able to quickly find background information and a bibliography of important critical works. We've also mounted an exhibit of books on Dante and Italian culture -- you'll find them underneath the Italian flag mounted on the main level.

E-Book of the Week: Women and Romance

Weisser, Susan Ostrov. Women and romance a reader. New York: New York University Press, 2001.

Here’s an e-book to read during the month honoring romantic love. This academic, but engaging and lucid, compilation of readings explores the subject which the editor states as the “female urge to experience the pleasure and endure the pain of romantic love.” Susan Ostrov Weisser provides short, insightful introductions to a range of essays and excerpts from longer pieces of literature by many notable feminist theorists and other important writers, which together form a broad historical, psychological and sociological perspective on the endlessly fascinating and enduring topic of womens’ love with/without the male of the species.

Previewed by John McGinty, Library Director. Click here to read this book.

E-Book of the Week: Approaching the Apocalypse

Court, John M. Approaching the Apocalypse: A Short History of Christian Millenarianism. New York: I. B. Tauris, 2008.

John M. Court’s Approaching the Apocalypse is a fascinating history of the ideas and passions concerning the “end of days” and the coming of the Kingdom of God within western cultural history (alternately referred to as Millenarianism, anticipating the Apocalypse/End of Days/Second Coming, or Christian eschatology). The book’s scope includes examples all the way from the Book of Daniel (though Approaching the Apocalypse is primarily concerned with Christian millenarianism, as opposed to Jewish anticipation of the Messiah) to the Left Behind novels. The book covers a wealth of historical and textual material, and reveals, through striking examples of apocalyptic leaders, cults and movements, 2000 years of Christian eschatological thinking. This lively historical survey is recommended for undergraduate and graduate courses in apocalyptic ideas or millenarian movements, or just for anyone interested in the history of the influence of Christian ideas and philosophy.

Previewed by John Breitmeyer, Research & Instruction Librarian/Web Support Specialist. Click here to read this book.

E-Book of the Week: Globesity

Delpeuch, Francis, Bernard Maire, Emmanuel Monnier and Michelle Holdsworth. Globesity: A Planet Out of Control? Sterling, VA: Earthscan, 2009.

Globesity illustrates how obesity is not just a problem facing the United States, but one that is affecting the entire world—underdeveloped and developed countries alike. This book looks at the large-scale causes of obesity, as well as the related impact this epidemic has on personal health, the economy, and the environment. In addition to raising awareness of the problem, the writers offer effective solutions to addressing the issue.

Previewed by Julie Nanavati, Research & Instruction Librarian. Click here to read this book.