November 2012 - Volume 5, Issue 3

On October 23rd, the library hosted a Listen to This! event featuring four poets from the Chattanooga Writers Guild. The gentlemen read some of their published and forthcoming works and then mingled with the students for a time of informal discussion about the writing process. For more information on our visitors, please see their bios in the previous newsletter. (photo: Author Finn Bille speaks with students after the poetry reading)

On November 3rd, nearly seventy students, faculty, and staff got together to play games in celebration of International Gaming Day. With a table full of board games (graciously lent by Bryan faculty and  staff) and three video game locations, the library was buzzing with friendly competition. Most of the feedback we received from students was in regard to extending the hours of Gaming Day and offering the event more often than once per year. (photo: students gather in the Spoede Lounge for games)
 

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Meet the Interns

This semester, the library staff is enjoying the rare privilege of having not one, but two (!) library interns: Katelyn Fletcher and Emily Hampton. These talented young ladies have been busy compiling and codifying the library's policies and procedures, shadowing each member of the library staff, participating in staff meetings, staffing the front desk, and writing weekly blogs--The Book-Box and In the Stacks--chronicling their observations of the library world. 
 

The namesake of our college ran for President of the United States in the 1896, 1900, and 1908 elections. A new second floor exhibit by Archivist Stephanie Wood examines the various ways William Jennings Bryan and his political opponents broadcast their message to voters before the media outlets of television and the internet. Also of interest are the various curios of campaign memorabilia that voters displayed to show their support for a particular candidate.
 

What are the ten most read books in the world? According to James Chapman, host at A Passion For Writing, based on availability (number of printed copies sold in the last 50 years) the Bible is overwhelmingly on top at 3.9 billion. The second, weighing in at 820 million copies is also predictable if you think about the population of China: Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, which is his personal exposition on the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party. The third, actually a series which became somewhat a phenomenon, selling 400 million copies is J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. Next up at 103 million copies is The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Number five on the list at 65 million copies is a Brazilian bestseller, The Alchemist, holds the record for most translated book by a living author (67 languages). Author Dan Brown’s book, The Da Vinci Code, takes the sixth slot at 57 million copies. The first in another series aimed particularly at young adults, Twilight – The Saga by Stephanie Meyer sold 43 million copies. Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind holds the eighth position with 33 million copies and Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich came in next at 30 million copies. Rounding out the top ten list is The Diary of Anne Frank standing at 27 million copies.

 

The breadth of the list is quite interesting, both in subject matter and genre. There really is no accounting for taste in thinking about what book may end up supplanting one of these someday. One thing is certain: the Word of God is always popular, and quite accurately predicted its solid place at the top, for it says in Psalms 68:11: “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.” (KJV)

--Gary Fitsimmons