• Sunday, May 13 (day after commencement)
  
• Saturday, May 19
• Monday, May 28 (Memorial Day holiday)
  
• Wednesday, July 4 (Independence Day holiday)
  
• Saturday and Sunday, August 11-12
• Saturday and Sunday, August 18-19

• More about the Military Month display
• More on his work from a comics arts blogger and from his official site
• About VCU's new Military Veterans Alumni Council: Take the survey.
  

"Vogue was founded in New York in 1892 as a weekly society paper catering for Manhattan's social elite. When it was bought by Condé Nast in 1909, the publication changed dramatically: The quality of the paper, printing and illustrations improved, the frequency changed from weekly to fortnightly, the page count, advertising space and cover price all increased, and there was a new focus on fashion. The re-launched Vogue became one of the icons of the modern age: arriving at a time when the corseted gowns of the 1900s were giving way to simpler, more practical clothing for women, Condé Nast's use of eye-catching cover art by the great illustrators of the day created a similar revolution in magazine publishing. ... Cover illustration artists such as "Georges Lepape and George Wolfe Plank ... Helen Dryden, Eduardo Benito and others, were strongly influenced by the latest developments in modern art, from Klimt and the impressionists to Bakst and Modigliani, and the covers of Vogue provided a very public platform for the radical aesthetics of Art Deco, cubism and futurism in the 1920s.

These illustrated covers gave way to color photographs in the 1930s and 1940s, including extraordinarily innovative work by Horst P. Horst and Erwin Blumenfield. ...

"The contents of Vogue reflect the changing styles and culture of the postwar world, from the stylized and extravagant ultra-femininity of Dior's New Look in 1947, and the Parisian chic of Balenciaga and Balmain, to the youth-focused designers of the 1950s and 60s (Mary Quant, Jean Muir, Ossie Clark). Vogue was one of the main outlets for the new photographic style of the 1960s: the bold and dynamic handheld approach of David Bailey, Terence Donovan and others.

"The contents of Vogue are obviously of central importance to the history of fashion, from the liberating modernism of Coco Chanel to the cross-gendered experimentation of Jean-Paul Gaultier and beyond. However, it is also a rich source for other areas of modern culture, providing a record of changing social tastes, mores and aspirations in the modern world, and encompassing literary works by Kate Chopin, Evelyn Waugh, Vladimir Nabokov and Carson McCullers, articles by Winston Churchill and Bertrand Russell, wartime photojournalism by Lee Miller, features on popular cultural figures of the day from Marlene Dietrich and the Beatles to Nicole Kidman and Beyoncé, and on prominent American women from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama."

How to access VCU Libraries databases:

• VCU students, faculty and staff can access the database through either the A to Z Guide to Databases  or using this link, http://library.vcu.edu/search/1163 from any computer with a VCU IP address.
• Off-campus, VCU users must first log into myVCU, then go to the VCU Libraries home page, click on Databases and drill down the database you want. Or go directly to  http://library.vcu.edu/search/1163
• If you are not a member of the VCU academic community, you can gain access to databases on campus by joining the Friends of the Library.

 

• The American Missionary Association Archives from 1839-1882;
• The Office of the Secretary of the Interior Relating to the Suppression of the African Slave Trade from 1854-1872;
• Amistad Research Center in New Orleans covering the array of documents related to one of the most important slave rebellions and trials in American and world history.

Ultimately millions of pages of information will be available in SAS, letting VCU researchers search across all documents in each part in one seamless interface, according to Kevin D. Farley, Ph.D., assistant professor and collection librarian for the humanities. "The result will be unexpected and important contributions to the scholarly dialogue about American slavery and its local and global ramifications."

• VCU students, faculty and staff can access the database through either the A to Z Guide to Databases  or using this link, http://library.vcu.edu/search/1158 from any computer with a VCU IP address.
• Off-campus, VCU users must first log into myVCU, then go to the VCU Libraries home page, click on Databases and drill down the database you want. Or go directly to  http://library.vcu.edu/search/1158
• If you are not a member of the VCU academic community, you can gain access to databases on campus by joining the Friends of the Library.

• Sunday 1 p.m. until Saturday 10 p.m. 
• On the first Saturday of each month, Scifinder Scholar will be available until 5 p.m. and will not be accessible again until 1p.m. the following Sunday.

VCU Libraries now offers bicycles for patrons to borrow for 24 hours. The bike loan program is a joint project of VCU RamBikes and  VCU Goes Green.

The project is designed to make getting across campus easier and faster for students who have occasional need of two-wheel transportation.

The bicycles are Sun Atlas coasters with foot breaks and without gears. 

There are four bikes available at James Branch Cabell Library and another four bikes available at Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences.

• Bikes must be returned to the location where they were borrowed.
• Bikes are loaned for 24 hours; patrons can renew them for an additional 24 hours using My Library Record or by calling the service desk at either library (Cabell Library 828-1111; Tompkins-McCaw Library 828-0636).
  
• Overdue fines of $25 per day or portion of a day are assessed on bikes not returned by the date and time due.
• Helmets are loaned with the bikes, and are available in small/medium and large/extra large; both are adjustable.
  
• The seat height is also adjustable, and an Allen wrench (also known as a hex key) is available for patrons to use.
• Bikes are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
  
• Patrons are required to sign a waiver of liability statement before they can check out the key to the lock securing a particular bike to the rack in front of the library building.

Writers and poets may not be able to pinpoint exactly what makes Richmond a hotbed for poetry, but most would agree the city is undoubtedly a mecca for poets, with Virginia Commonwealth University at its very heart.

"Richmond is a city with a wealth not just of history, but of living, breathing talent, perhaps literary talent especially," said Gregory G. Kimbrell, membership and events coordinator with VCU Libraries and himself a poet.

"Not every historical city thrives in this way, and I would say that we have VCU to thank for much of Richmond's vivacity. The nationally ranked MFA in Creative Writing Program continually brings to the literary community fresh faces to remind us all what it means to discover oneself as a writer, that good writing is not just about beautiful or important things, but about dedication and passion."

David Wojahn called the university a rich community for poetry. "There are a lot of complementary ventures on the campus that really are focusing on trying to give requisite attention to poetry in general and poetry in Virginia, specifically," said Wojahn, a professor in the creative writing program in the Department of English.

The university's latest celebration of poetry takes place this week with a reading by Pulitzer Prize-winner Yusef Komunyakaa (pictured) on Thursday, March 22. 

Komunyakaa's often-autobiographical poems draw from diverse experiences and interests: the civil rights movement, classical literature, the Vietnam War, class struggle and jazz.

"He's really one of America's premier poets," Wojahn said. "He began in the 1980s and '90s to write a lot about his experience - and the American experience in general - about Vietnam. So he's known above all for the poems he's written about that conflict."

Events that bring writers such as Komunyakaa to campus serve two purposes: both encouraging students and offering something to the community.

"Creative-writing students need contact with the great poets in order to have examples to aspire to and to improve their work, and this means not just reading the classics, but also reading and hearing the great poets who are living and writing right now," Kimbrell said. "The community provides VCU so much moral and financial support, and we are always looking for ways of both saying thank you and inviting them to come back to visit us.

"These readings bring people from all across the city. I suppose that the stereotype of poetry readings is the coffee house in which only five people are actually paying attention to the poet sitting on the wooden stool in the spotlight, but these readings at VCU attract hundreds. In a world that often seems to think that poetry stopped being written after the beat generation, this is tremendously heartening."

The event, part of the English Department's Visiting Writers Series and sponsored by the VCU Friends of the Library, continues both entities' interest and commitment to promoting poetry in the community.

The English Department has "a nationally ranked creative writing program in poetry and in fiction. And so, we also bring a lot of visiting poets to campus," Wojahn said. "The Cabell Library has really been in recent years very interested in promoting poetry in Virginia and in trying to beef up its special collections to include a lot of poetry."

Among Cabell's more notable acquisitions are the papers of the late Larry Levis, (pictured, left) a major American poet who taught at VCU at the end of his life. 

The English Department's celebrated poets include Kathleen Graber, a National Book Award finalist whose many awards include the Library of Virginia's Literary Award for Poetry, and Wojahn, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, three-time winner of the Pushcart Prize and recipient of the Carole Weinstein Prize in Poetry.

Student and alumni poets also have earned accolades for their works.

In 2006, the online literature and arts journal Blackbird -- already a national presence among literary and poetry magazines -- scored a coup when it featured a previously unpublished poem by the late Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Sylvia Plath. That same year, VCU MFA alumni Elizabeth Seydel "Buffy" Morgan and Ron Smith were named co-winners of the first Carole Weinstein poetry prize, which rewards $10,000 to a Central Virginia poet annually for his or her contribution to the art of poetry. Smith and Morgan then became curators for the prize.

Other recent alumni honorees include Catherine MacDonald, (pictured, right), who won the 2012 Miller Williams Arkansas Poetry Prize, and Anna Journey and Allison Titus, who each won NEA Literature Fellowships.

Why the university has devoted so much attention to poetry is simple, Wojahn said: "I think it's a force that may not help people to live their lives in a better way, but it certainly helps them to endure their lives a little bit better. When you read a poem that you're moved by, impressed by, compelled by, you feel like the author of the poem is speaking only to you and no one else.

"As a poet myself, I feel very lucky to be in a place where I practice a discipline that's appreciated. And I think not every academician -- even in a school that has a thriving creative writing program -- would be able to say that, but I feel no reluctance in saying that about VCU."

This one-hour session will introduce faculty to this revolution in publishing of open access, peer-reviewed journals and demonstrate how to locate them in almost any discipline, as well as discuss the potential benefits of worldwide free access to faculty research. Options for faculty retention of copyright will also be discussed.

This workshop will be held in library classroom/lab 319 on the third floor of James Branch Cabell Library. No advance registration is necessary. Address questions to Dan Ream, or call 828-6545 for more information.

• The L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs offers a bachelor's of arts degree in homeland security and emergency preparedness. After introducing the B.A. in 2005, the school added a graduate certificate program and a master's program in 2007.
• The Department of Epidemiology and Community Health offers two tracks in its master of public health program, one focusing on public health practice and one focusing on epidemiology. Graduates are prepared to work on multi-disciplinary teams in government agencies at the state, federal and international levels or in service arms of private sectors.
• The Wilder School also houses the National Homeland Security Project, which researches policy and management related to security and preparedness, including assessing Virginia programs.   
• VCU is also uniquely situated geographically--in the military and intelligence crescent from the CIA in Langley to Arlington's Pentagon to Newport News' shipbuilding operations to Virginia Beach's massive naval installations. Located in the state capital, in a city that houses the Fifth District Federal Reserve and located just 100 miles south of Washington, VCU's central location offers students and faculty easy access to homeland security institutions and professionals.

The lecture is free and open to the public, but because seating is limited, registration is required. If special accommodations are needed or to register offline, please call (804) 827-1165 or (804) 828-0593 prior to March 27. Parking is available for a fee in the West Main Street and West Cary Street parking decks. A reception will be held immediately following the lecture. Doors open at 7 p.m.To register

The 27th Annual Brown-Lyons Lecture is sponsored by the VCU Friends of the Library, the VCU Center for Judaic Studies, the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond, the Richmond Jewish Foundation and the Weinstein JCC.

Dr. Jack D. Spiro holds the Harry Lyons Distinguished Chair in Judaic Culture at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is also director of the VCU Center for Judaic Studies and editor of its online publication, Menorah Review. He has earned two doctorates from the Hebrew Union College and the University of Virginia. He has authored, co-authored or edited over 30 books and written numerous articles.

www.library.vcu.edu
www.vcu.edu/judaicstudies
www.menorahreview.org

• Tuesday, Feb. 28, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, Feb. 29, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 6, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 7, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 20, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 21, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 27, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 28, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 3, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 4, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 10, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 11, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 17, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 18, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 24, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 25, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

• Apple iPads: three-day loan; Available at the Circulation and Information Services desk in Cabell Library and the Service desk at Tompkins-McCaw Library
• Nook Color e-readers: seven-day loan. Available at Cabell Library
• Kindle e-readers: seven-day loan. Available at Cabell Library 
  
• Sony bloggie 3D digital cameras: seven-day loan. Available at Cabell and Tompkins-McCaw Library
  

• The event is free and open but registration is required 
• Parking is available for a fee in the West Main Street and West Cary Street parking decks.
• If special accommodations are needed, call (804) 828-0593.
• A reception will follow the lecture.
• Event Web site
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  

This event is one of several tied to the exhibit "A Fine Romance: Jewish Songwriters, American Songs, 1910-1965" at VCU's James Branch Cabell Library Jan. 19 through Feb. 24. 

• Choice of statistical software;
• Data collection and data management strategies;
• Power analysis/sample size determination;
• Choice of appropriate statistical method;
• Understanding statistical analysis;
• Interpreting results;
• Statistical software installation/upgrade support

• Thursday, Jan. 19, 10 a.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 19, 3:30 p.m.
• Friday, Jan. 20, 11 a.m.
• Friday, Jan. 20, 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 24, 12:30 p.m. 
• Tuesday, Jan. 24, 3:30 p.m. 
• Wednesday, Jan. 25, 12 p.m. 
• Wednesday, Jan. 25, 4 p.m.
  

Special Notes

• James Branch Cabell Library is closed Jan. 1 for New Year's Day.
• Special Collections and Archives at James Branch Cabell Library closes Dec. 23-Jan. 2. Special arrangements for access may be requested on a limited basis by contacting Special Collections at libjbcsca@vcu.edu or 828-1108.
  
• Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences on the MCV Campus keeps different hours to serve its health sciences students' schedules. It will be closed Dec. 23-Jan. 2 and reopens Jan. 3, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It closes Jan. 7-8, reopens Jan. 9-13, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and closes Jan. 14-16. Hours at Tompkins-McCaw
• Starbucks at Cabell Library will be closed beginning Dec. 21 and will reopen Monday, Dec. 26. Dec. 26-Dec. 30, Starbucks will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will close for New Years Dec. 31-Jan. 2 and will reopen Jan. 3. Between Jan. 3-7, the store will be open 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
   

"The Newlyweds," created in 1904 by George McManus, was the first newspaper comic strip to feature an American family--paving the way for "Hi and Lois," "The Family Circus," "Close to Home," "The Better Half" and many others.

Published by the New York World, "The Newlyweds" centered around a young couple. In due time, Baby Snookums was added to the family. Later, the strip moved to The New York American and continued as "Their Only Child." The Baby Snookums character went onto stage and screen fame and, to some extend, endorsement fame.

Comic books started in the early part of the century and were made up of reprints of popular newspapers strips. The books were sold at newsstands. 

The comic artist McManus worked for the era's big-name publishers: He drew for Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and for William Randolph Hearst. For Hearst's papers he created his best-known strip, "Bringing Up Father." To browse the collection

# # #

This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Jennifer L. Cason, digital specialist at the VCU Libraries from 2007 to 2011.

• "One Singular Sensation: The American Jew and the Musical Theater," a lecture by Dr . Jack Spiro, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, 7:30 p.m., University Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballrooms, 907 Floyd Ave., Richmond.
• "America's Music: Funny, You Don't Sound Jewish," Klezm'Or'Ami'm, Feb. 4, 2012, 2 p.m., Richmond Public Library, 101 East Franklin St. , Richmond. This is part of the Gellman Concert Series.
• "Grasping Gershwin: The Man Behind the Music," a lecture by Dr. Patrick Smith, Feb. 9, noon, Room 250, Cabell Library
• "From Broadway, With Love," performance by Gianna Barone and Denver Walker, noon, first floor, Cabell Library
  
• "Jewish Women in the Arts" exhibition at Beth Ahabah Museum and Archives, 1109 W. Franklin St., Richmond, features Richmond songwriter Edith Lindeman Calisch. She penned "Red-Headed Stranger" and "Little Things Mean a Lot." The museum hours are Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

John Ulmschneider, university librarian and professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries, has been selected as a UNC School of Information and Library Science, distinguished alumnus for 2011.

The University of North Carolina school is ranked No. 1 in the nation in information and library sciences by U.S. News & World Reports. He earned his master's degree in library science there in 1977 and will speak at the SILS Fall commencement ceremony on Dec. 18.

According to a news release posted on the UNC-CH webite:

Established in 1981, the Distinguished Alumni Award is presented by the SILS Alumni Association. The award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated outstanding professional library or information science achievements at national, state or local levels or who have provided outstanding service to the school or its Alumni Association. He was nominated by fellow alumni.

"One thing I value most about John's leadership is the fact that he cares authentically for the people under his employ - and not just as librarians, but as human beings," said Laura Gariepy, undergraduate student programs librarian at VCU Libraries and UNC alumna. "That's a trait that is not frequently enough acknowledged, but I and many other staff members at VCU Libraries can speak firsthand to the fact that John cares for the people around him and will do everything in his power to ensure that we're in a position to succeed personally and professionally.

"In addition to all of this, John has an outstanding record of professional service throughout his career, having invested a tremendous amount of time in his work with Solinet and ASERL, just to offer a couple of examples. I think his legacy, though, will be shepherding VCU Libraries from an historically underfunded system that has struggled to meet the needs of its users to a leading research library in the Southeast region."

As director of VCU's research library system, the largest of commonwealth's three major research universities, he oversees annual expenditures exceeding $15 million, a staff of more than 135 and holdings exceeding two million volumes with more than 25,000 journal subscriptions. He has a long history of service to the profession, particularly with local and regional library organizations. 

He is past-president and Board member of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries, comprising the 39 largest academic research libraries in the Southeast; a member of the Virtual Library of Virginia Steering Committee, chair of its Outreach Committee and a key leader in advocacy efforts supporting its funding; current co-chair of the Legislative Committee of the Virginia Library Association; past member of the OCLC Member's Council and User's Council; past Board member for SOLINET and chair of its finance committee; and current president of the Richmond Academic Library Consortium. He is also a former member of the SILS Board of Visitors. In addition, Ulmschneider also concluded in November an eight-year term as a Trustee of the Richmond Public Library Board and was Chair of the Board from 2006-2008. He previously held positions at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., where he worked in concert with other library leaders to establish the NC LIVE initiative; the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA; and the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, MD.  He holds the B.A. from the University of Virginia and the Master of Science in Library Science from UNC at Chapel Hill.

"John forms meaningful partnerships with groups including the James River Writers and Jewish groups that sponsor an annual lecture," said another VCU colleague. "And, in a city full of wonderful museums and collections and archives, one focus of VCU Libraries collections is on "new" social history and collections from often overlooked communities-- African American, Latino, LGBT, and social movements. Something of a Renaissance man, he is an avid cyclist who is plugged into the literary and poetry scenes."

• AccessAnesthesiology
• AccessEmergencyMedicine
• AccessPharmacy
• AccessSurgery

• The Big 10 in Richmond Magazine 
• Q&A with David Gordon in Boomer magazine
• Cabell First Novelist Award Celebrates 19th Anniversary
• Cabell First Novelist Award Winner Discusses the Creative Process

Nearly 2,000 employees, who have been with the university from five to 20 years, were honored at receptions held on both campuses. A separate reception, followed by a special Theatre VCU performance of "Grease," was held for faculty and staff with 25 or more years of service. The list of 2011 honorees

"These awards honor out greatest asset --you," President Michael Rao, Ph.D., said at the MCV Campus reception. "I can't thank you enough for the work you do every day."

VCU Libraries staff honored were:

30 Years

Linette Fields, library specialist, Cabell

25 Years

Alice Chambliss, network analyst, Cabell

Larry Ohree, network analyst, Cabell

Daniel Ream, director of outreach and distance education, Cabell

Lynne Turman, head, TML collections, Tompkins-McCaw

20 Years

Edward Blease, library specialist, Cabell

Nita Bryant, library specialist, Cabell

Karen Cary, head, collection management, Cabell

Reginald Davenport, library specialist, Cabell

Mary Dyer, catalog librarian for digital asset management, Cabell

Patricia Selinger, head, preservation, Cabell

Shirley Thomas, head, resource delivery services, Cabell

15 Years

Helen Jackson, archival assistant for comic & digital collections, Cabell

10 Years

John Birch, AV equipment specialist, Cabell

Charles Morrison, evening/weekend supervisor, Cabell

5 Years

Gay Acompanado, archival assistant for the arts, Cabell

Andrew Bain, special collections assistant, Tompkins-McCaw

Samuel Byrd, digital collections systems librarian, Cabell

Elijah Christman, fiscal technician senior, Cabell

Margaret Henderson, library specialist, Tompkins-McCaw

Patrick Hurley, special projects assistant, Tompkins-McCaw

Jasmine Kenney, document delivery specialist, Cabell

Dana Ladd, Community Health Education Center librarian, Tompkins-McCaw

Thelma Mack, research & education coordinator, Tompkins-McCaw

Danielle Maitland, library specialist, Tompkins-McCaw

Elizabeth McDaniel, catalog librarian for special collections, Cabell

Denise McGee, holds/registration specialist, Cabell

Trinette Moseley, administrative office specialist, Cabell

Cristina Ramirez, social and behavioral sciences collection librarian, Cabell

Michael Rawls, budget and assessment director, Cabell

Sheraffaz Reed, library assistant, Cabell

• revamped image viewer
  
• improved ability to zoom in and pan across images and display them                
• full-screen capability
  
• faster page load performance
• easier navigation between searches and results
• easier, expanded print and download functions
• new social features allowing patrons to comment, rate, share and tag content.
• RSS feeds for individual collections that allow researchers immediate notice by email of additions to the collections
  

• Users of the new system are invited to send feedback.
• Landing page for digital collections
• Feature story about VCU Libraries digital collections

• "First and Last Novels: Rumblings About Writing and Publishing in the 21st Century:" NPR book critic Alan Cheuse speaks
• "Building a Career After Winning an Award:" Tom De Haven, award co-founder, leads a panel with Cheuse and previous recipients Michael Byers, Maribeth Fischer and Victor Lodato
• Reception and book signing

Celebration of the 2011 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award Winner

• David Gordon reads from "The Serialist."
• "Inside the Business: Bringing a Book to the Public:" Susann Cokal, award administrator, moderates a discussion among Gordon, his agent and editor--Douglas Stewart of Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. and Karen Thompson of Simon & Schuster--and Victor Lodato
• Reception and book signing

• All events are free.
• Parking: West Main Street and West Cary Street decks
• Festival Web site
  
• To register or to request special accommodations, please use our online registration system or contact VCU Libraries membership and events coordinator Gregory Kimbrell at (804)-828-0593 or kimbrellgg@vcu.edu.
• About current and past winners
  
• About the speakers:

Alan Cheuse is widely known as the voice of literary criticism and publishing for NPR's "All Things Considered." He is the author of five novels, including "Song of Slaves in the Desert," (Sourcebooks, 2011), three collections of short stories, and a book of travel essays. His stories have appeared in many magazines and journals. He teaches creative writing at George Mason University.

David Gordon is the recipient of the 10th VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for "The Serialist" (Simon & Schuster). He attended Sarah Lawrence College and went on to earn a master's degree in English and comparative literature and a master of fine arts in fiction writing, both from Columbia University. He has worked in film and publishing, as well as in several genres of fiction. "The Serialist" is a rollicking story, part thriller and part paean to writing itself, about a writer stuck grinding out pulpy serial novels about vampires and space adventurers. His life begins strangely to imitate his stories when he agrees to ghostwrite a killer's memoir.

Michael Byers received the 2004 award for "Long for This World" (Houghton Mifflin). In 2010, Henry Holt published his second novel, "Percival's Planet." He teaches creative writing at the University of Michigan.

Susann Cokal directs the nationally ranked creative writing program at VCU and is the author of two novels. 

Tom De Haven teaches fiction and screenwriting in the creative writing program at VCU and is the author of 18 books. 

Maribeth Fischer received the inaugural award for her 2001 novel, "The Language of Good-bye" (Plume). In 2007, Simon & Schuster published her second novel, "The Life You Longed For." She founded a writers' guild in Delaware and also directs an annual writers' conference.

Victor Lodato is the 2010 award winner for "Mathilda Savitch" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) and is one of the judges who selected  the 2011 recipient. Known also as a poet and playwright, he is a Guggenheim Fellow, as well as the recipient of the Weissberger Award for his play "Motherhouse."

"Cavemen in Space," "American Barbarian" and "Barbra in the Sky with Neil Diamonds" might sound like the punch lines to a bad joke, but to the folks at AdHouse Books, they're serious business.

Founded in 2002, the boutique publishing house has printed 45 art books, graphic novels and comic books. While it might be small, the Richmond-based company has established quite a name for itself in the comic realm. Books published by AdHouse have won almost every award in the industry, including honors from Domtar, Ignatz, Communication Arts, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, AIGA and two Eisner Awards for James Jean's "Project Recess 2: Portfolio."

Publisher Chris Pitzer says while the company could print five to six projects a month, it prefers to be more selective, usually releasing five to six books a year. "Hopefully the quality of our library reflects that," he says.

One standout from the AdHouse canon is "Afrodisiac" by Brian Maruca and Jim Rugg. The book is an anthology for a fictional blaxploitation character as he progressed from a newspaper strip and into the big time.

"It's a love letter to blaxploitation comics -- if they existed," Pitzer says. "That was a very proud moment."

"Afrodisiac" was nominated for an Eisner in 2010 for best humor publication. "The books are absolutely beautiful. Chris puts a lot of thought and care into the design of the book," says Cindy Jackson, an archival assistant at Virginia Commonwealth University's Cabell Library. "We've made a concerted effort to purchase everything AdHouse puts out."

The company's next release will be "Blue Collar/White Collar," a retrospective of Sterling Hundley's illustration and painting work. Hundley, who works as a professor at VCU and an instructor at the Illustration Academy, says that this will be his farewell to illustration work so he can focus on painting.

"It's a nice, tidy way of wrapping up one chapter and embracing another one," Hundley says. For 13 years he's worked as an illustrator, with work appearing in Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and The Atlantic.

"I've always loved his work," Pitzer says. "It's always nice to see a creator who pushes his boundaries."

"Blue Collar/White Collar" gets its title from Hundley's transition from the blue-collar world of illustration into the white-collar world of painting. Wedged between the full-color pages of the book are sketches and notes made by Hundley about his work.

"I'm really pleased with what he's done with my property," Hundley says of Pitzer's efforts. "He really is an internationally recognized publisher. ... AdHouse produces some of the best artists' books that are out there."

AdHouse is breaking form this year, publishing about 10 books instead of the usual five. But don't expect Pitzer to have any big changes in mind for his publishing house. "We are a boutique, we are small press," he says, "but we're a juggernaut." 

• Tuesday, Oct. 11, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 12, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, Oct. 18, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 19, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, Oct. 25, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 26, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 1, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, Nov. 2, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 8, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, Nov. 9, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 15, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, Nov. 16, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 29, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, Nov. 30, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, Dec. 6, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, Dec. 7, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
  

• Artist bio and background, official publisher's information
• How to Read Love & Rockets, an advisory from the publisher
  
• The Artists on Video. Gilbert, Jaime and Mario Hernandez talk about Love & Rockets and Citizen Rex; moderated by Kristy Valenti and filmed by Justin Bloch and Eric Nath at the Comic-Con International: San Diego 2011. 
• Reliving Love and Rockets, a June 2011, in-depth interview by Mother Jones magazine with Jamie Hernandez

• Good Muslims will begin to forever be slandered by extremists.
• I became a firefighter.
• I decided to join the FBI.

This National Library of Medicine exhibit offers a glimpse into the lives of 19th century practitioners in the Shenandoah Valley. 

The Henkel Family Correspondence collection (MS C 291; 1.5 linear feet) consists of 828 letters and is largely the product of Caspar C. Henkel's (1835-1908) life. This digital edition is divided into five-year blocks for ease of navigation and contextual narrative. The family was based in New Market.

Items dating before 1850 were written by ancestors of both Caspar and his wife, Margaretta. The bulk of the correspondence, however, is directly related to Caspar and Margaretta. Caspar retained letters written to him while he was away at medical school and in the field during the Civil War. Upon returning home from these extended absences, he also collected several letters he himself had written to New Market. He also kept letters written to him from his two brothers during their medical training and afterward when they lived and practiced away from New Market. Letters written to Margaretta from her sisters during the late 1860s and early 1870s are also included.

Unfortunately at some point before the Library's acquisition the segment of correspondence coinciding with the battle of New Market in 1864 was removed, leaving no accounts of the battle in this collection.

For more information

• Eighteenth Century Collections Online
• Methods in Enzymology
• New England Journal of Medicine
• American History in Video
• Classical Scores Library
• Classical Music Reference Library
• African American Music Reference
• Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online
• Berg Fashion Library
• International Bibliography of Art
• Stratfor
• The Left Index
• Alternative Press Index
• Index Islamicus
• Designinform
• Access Medicine
• Access Science
• Access Engineering
• Material Connexion
• SPIE Digital Library
• Grzimek's Animal Life encyclopedia
• Underground Comics & Graphic Novels
• World News Collection
• LWW Nursing Health Assessment Video Series

The article by Dale Brumfield:

Much has been written of Richmond's paranormal past, but 50 years ago, one particular Ghost spoke out against segregation, brutal local police tactics and the College of William and Mary's patronizing stranglehold on what one day would be Virginia Commonwealth University.

Nine issues of The Ghost were "published when needed" between February 1960 and August 1961 by self-described 20th-century scalawag Edward H. Peeples and his friend, transplanted New Yorker Richard Kollin. Arguably the city's first modern-era true underground publication, the Ghost was passed around the Fan and Richmond Professional Institute, known colloquially as RPI, at the height of the civil rights era.

The Ghost was launched out of Peeples' acute frustration with a bigoted racist philosophy dubbed the Virginia Way, coined by Douglas S. Freeman of the Richmond News Leader, supported by the Byrd political machine and endorsed through vitriolic pro-segregationist editorials by the News-Leader's James J. Kilpatrick; Virginians, as The Ghost proclaimed sarcastically, were able to "segregate like gentlemen," not like those "rubes in Alabama who give segregation a bad name."

"We feel that The Ghost should be provocative and 'newsy' and that it will become the overt voice of your wishes and desires of RPI and the Fan district," the 1960 debut issue announced. The magazine's primitive mimeographed layout belied its authoritative skewering of sacred Richmond cows, including the tacit acceptance of social injustices against women and blacks that largely had gone unchanged since post-Civil War days. "Challenging segregation and the Virginia way was our main goal," Peeples explained.

A varsity basketball starter, 1957 RPI graduate and self-professed "spy for the black community," Peeples participated in the infamous early '60s lunch counter sit-ins with other Richmond notables, including Doug Wilder and Edward Meeks Gregory. "I was never arrested," the Richmond native insists, "but I have been thrown out and fired from a lot of places, including RPI."

RPI -- the grandfather of Virginia Commonwealth University -- was considered a brash, blue-collar school -- "'College for the rest of us'," according to Peeples, and "a hotbed of slanderous stereotypes" according to the News Leader -- scorned in its own city and virtually ignored by W&M overseers. Embracing its reputation as a working-class upstart, RPI students maintained a strong sense of college pride while attracting a large number of Northerners, mostly because of the enormous respect that RPI art school founder Theresa Pollak commanded in New York.

After a post-graduation stint in the Navy, Peeples rejoined Richmond's counterculture in 1959, excited to be "connecting with the Richmond radicals -- both of them." He patronized the 900 block of West Grace Street, where -- according to The Ghost -- 85 percent of all Richmond's 1959 felony arrests occurred.

"The Village Restaurant was the gathering place," Peeples says, explaining that the communists, leftists, beats and artists all staked out their corners of the restaurant to pontificate on their pet causes. Nearby on that block was the Meadow Laundry and art gallery (where the Village Restaurant stands today) and the reopened Lee Theater: "The Ghost offers three hearty cheers to the Lee Theater opening, and particularly, for [Ingmar Bergman's film] 'Wild Strawberries.' We need the Lee Theater, and they need us." Also on this strip -- and a possible reason for the high number of arrests -- was the presence of a gay beer joint, Eton's. 

Peeples and his small number of like-minded radicals worked tirelessly to drive their egalitarian causes into the hearts of the Richmond aristocracy. "We were shakers, but not movers," he says, laughing, recalling an Adlai Stevenson rally organized in Monroe Park in 1960 that drew "about a dozen supporters" -- and sadly, no Adlai.

During its brief run, The Ghost was fearless in exposing racial inequities in college sports. One scheduled basketball game between RPI and Union Theological Seminary was "mysteriously called off" because there was a "negro player" on Union's team. "There is a vague policy," The Ghost opined, "enforced by some vague bureaucrat somewhere in the W&M administrative scheme, restricting RPI and Norfolk Division from competing against anyone but bright blue-eyed Aryans."

Suffocating rules enforced on female RPI students by dorm mothers was another thorny issue. The Ghost noted, "We still enjoy the puritanical delusion that a thick, gooey subterfuge of archaic rules will preserve chastity and repute." Women who served as army WACS weren't permitted to live in the RPI dorms, the mag reported. "It seems the administration feels these girls are much too worldly for OUR little women!"

A regular feature, "Les Gendarmes," charted the actions of the Richmond police. It featured a cartoon of a snarling police dog, along with a caption: "The Ghost submits this drawing to city council as a possible substitution for the present Richmond city seal." Some articles remind us that times haven't changed. One recalled how the police's "intolerant, tactless handling of noise complaints" resulted in students getting dismissed from the institute.

The editors eventually accepted future author and then-recent RPI graduate Tom Robbins into their fold. "Robbins was not interested in the social issues," Peeples recalls. "He just enjoyed savaging Southern culture. ... My friendship with Robbins ended when he said that using drugs was OK."

By August 1961, Peeples became heavily involved in numerous civil rights causes, including documenting the Prince Edward County school closings. Kollin, meanwhile, went back to Columbia University for his master degree (he died last year). This forced an end to The Ghost.

Peeples is now retired, as emeritus associate professor of preventive medicine and community health at VCU, but he remains as fiercely loyal to his alma mater as to the social causes he pursued more than 50 years ago. "Ed is one of VCU Libraries' biggest supporters and is a wealth of knowledge," says Special Collections archivist Ray Bonis, who maintains a large, collection of papers in the James Branch Cabell Library documenting Peeples' work in civil rights. This includes four surviving copies of The Ghost, housed in Cabell's Special Collections.

"We [in the movement] nailed and eliminated the de facto expressions of white supremacy. ... We took that as far as we knew how," Peeples says of the seminal tract. "We now ask this generation to kick democracy up another notch." S

Note:This article has been corrected from the print edition.

Art and science mix for painter and scholar Victor A. Yanchick, dean of the VCU School of Pharmacy.

His paintings will be on display during the fall semester through Nov. 23, at Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, 509 N. 12th St. 

Watercolor is the pharmacy educator's medium of choice, and work on display includes landscapes, pastoral scenes, still lifes and themes from the American Southwest. He started painting 11 years ago. A self-described lifelong learner, he said, "I wanted to do something totally different from what I do on a day-to-day basis. Painting is a way of expressing one's self."

Yanchick, who has served as dean of the School of Pharmacy since 1996, has been a leader on the national level as president of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. He studied pharmacy at the University of Iowa and received his Ph.D. in pharmacy from Purdue University. His wide-ranging interests in the pharmacy profession have included medication use in the elderly and inter-professional education. He has guided several programs through a time of rapid change with a personal commitment to improve patient care outcomes through advances and innovation in pharmacy education.

Yanchick donates his watercolors to help raise funds for student scholarships and philanthropic organizations.

For special accommodations, please contact Thelma Mack at (804) 828-0017 or mackta@vcu.edu.

For more information, please see the event website.