SHREVEPORT – Wizards, witches, wands and weapons abounded Wednesday at the Noel Memorial Library Open House, which engages students with the copious amounts of resources and services the library offers.
“The Magical World of Noel Memorial Library” was on full display, and fitting of the theme, the lights went dark.
No really, the campus lost power for nearly an hour during Wednesday’s thunderstorms.
But before dark magic cloaked the event, LSUS students piled in to explore more than 20 activities and booths.
“I loved the energy at this event,” said Nickea Simpson, a public health freshman. “My favorite activities were the ring toss (Career Services), the wand-making (Scholarly Communications) and exploring the Mango languages.”
Added public health freshman and friend Aniyah Doyle, “It helped to break me out of my shell more, since I’m a quiet person.”
Computer science student Chris Barientos said he learned about the library staff and each person’s specialty should he need help throughout his LSUS career.
“It helps to meet people and be familiar with everything the library does,” Barientos said. “My favorite station was guessing which decade the photo was from.”
The Northwest Louisiana Archives, with its voluminous photo collection, contains photos dating back to the late 1800s.
The Noel Collection, which houses one of the largest private collections of antiquarian books and documents in the country, shared its “Anatomy of a Spellbook” exhibit with attendees.
The library operated games involving its many services, which includes research citation, test prep, and a technology petting zoo.
The Student Success Center staff donned witch hats and welcomed students to their corner of the library with games.
The library has hosted the open house for five years now, and library dean Brian Sherman said attendance has increased with each year.
“We’re always looking to engage students in eccentric ways and to bring them to the library for something non-academic,” Sherman said. “First-year seminar students are one of our target audiences, and we like to start engaging freshmen from the first minute they set foot on campus.
“We want to normalize the use of academic resources since there’s a stigma surrounding these resources.”
