HUNTINGDON COLLEGE

News Release

December 13, 2023
For more information, contact:
Dr. Anthony Leigh, aleigh@hawks.huntingdon.edu

The Huntingdon Library: A Center of Intellectual Life

Montgomery, Ala. – Since 1929, the Houghton Memorial Library at Huntingdon College has been a hub of intellectual life for students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends in the community. It’s a place for quiet studying and group engagement in the Caroline Slawson Campus Commons, the atrium, or any small cubicle or other nook and cranny nestled in the building. It’s also the home of the Staton Center for Academic Enrichment, Student Access Services, and a dedicated faculty of College librarians and staff of library workers skilled at helping members of the College community with research projects and their extracurricular interests.

The Library is also a facilitator of events to open the minds of the Huntingdon community to new topics, to spark conversation and thought, and to introduce new skills, ideas, and experiences to students, faculty and staff. The 2023 Huntingdon calendar has been full of library-sponsored events and Professor Eric A. Kidwell, the Director of the Library, enjoys collaborating with other members of the College faculty and staff to advance scholarly thought at Huntingdon.

Professor Kidwell shared this reflection: “The role of the academic library has greatly shifted over the time I’ve been at Huntingdon (which is almost 40 years). The days of the staid, eerily quiet college library are gone. Visit us now and you will find students working in groups in one of our study rooms, studying or reading alone in one of our study carrels, working a puzzle, playing chess, engaging with the faculty and staff of the Staton Center, looking for a physical book (yes, the print book is still being used), meeting with a member of the library faculty as a class, or attending and participating in one of the many events or programs sponsored by the Library. Oh, and some come into the Library hoping to encounter Frank, our resident ghost.

We want all of our students to feel welcome in the Library and view it as a home away from home (particularly important when the majority of your student population is residential), so to this end we have given a lot of attention to the overall environment of the building. The redesign project that began with the creation of the Slawson Commons is a significant piece of this pie, but the redesign project is far from finished.

Bottom-line, my goal as the library director is for all our students to find a place in the Library and to see themselves represented, whether that be in our collections, in the design of the building, or through an observance or event. The college years are when many students are just starting to discover their interests and who they are as a person. We want to create a space that helps them along this journey.”

Here’s a glimpse of the slate of events sponsored or co-sponsored by the Library in 2023.

Spring 2023:

The Academic Showcase in February featured presentations by the winners of the annual Curator Contest sponsored by the Archives. Caroline Elliot ’23 presented on “The Life of Mary Eoyany” and Vivian Scott ‘23 shared her research on “The Evolution of The Prelude.” Students presented a proposal to create a display drawing upon materials available in the joint archives of Huntingdon and the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Additionally, during the Academic Showcase, a dedication was held celebrating the Phillis Wheatley plaque installed over the main service desk in the Library.

The Library began offering fiber arts workshops during the Spring semester with the goal of providing students an additional opportunity on campus to build connections with other students while also learning new skills and developing untapped talents. They continued in the Fall and have been very successful, drawing a diverse range of students.

In March, the Library held a Ukraine/Russia event that was co-sponsored with the Presidential Fellows Politics, Culture, and Civil Engagement Team, the History Club, the College Republicans, and the College Democrats. The guest speaker was Dr. Andy Akin, Associate Professor of National Security Studies at the Air Command and Staff College. Dr. Akin spoke on the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the current situation, future implications, and what laid the ground for the invasion.

In April, the Library featured a “How to Become a Published Author” event to meet interests expressed by students in learning about the process that leads to becoming a published author. A panel of Huntingdon faculty and staff spoke on the topic and answered students’ questions. Look for this well-received event to become a recurring one.

The Salon, a biannual event co-sponsored with the Department of Language and Literature, took place in April. The featured speaker was Dr. Jacqueline Trimble ‘83, an award-winning poet, former chair of Huntingdon’s Department of Language and Literature, the 2023 recipient of the Alumni Achievement in the Arts Award, and current chair of the Department of Languages and Literature at Alabama State University.

To celebrate Easter, the Library hosted an egg hunt with eggs crocheted by students and library faculty and staff in the Library’s fiber arts workshops. Students were lined up at the door when the Library opened excited to roam the Library looking for eggs to claim a prize.

An event presented by the Title IX Office and the Department of Communication Studies, Psychology, and Criminal Justice focused on cybersecurity. The speaker, Dr. Mikiba Morehead, is an expert on cybersafety and security, and a consultant with TNG.

Fall 2023:

In September, the Library hosted Huntingdon’s annual celebration of U.S. Constitution Day with the theme “The First Amendment and Free Speech.” The event was co-sponsored by the Huntingdon Honors Program and the Presidential Fellows Politics, Culture, and Civic Engagement Team. The featured speaker was Saundra Schuster, J.D., a first amendment expert, partner with TNG and a founding partner of the Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA).

The Library Mini-Conference was held using the theme, “Through the Looking Glass and Beyond the Wardrobe.” Launched in 2016, this annual event sponsored by the Library provides students with the opportunity to practice their research and presentation skills in a friendly conference setting. This year’s theme was in observance of the 125th anniversary of the passing of Lewis Carroll and the 125th anniversary of the birth of C. S. Lewis.

The Fall Salon co-sponsored with the Department of Language and Literature celebrated Halloween. Dr. Kyle Christensen, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, spoke on the 1974 novel and 1976 film Carrie.

Banned Books Week was recognized this year during the first week of October 1 – 7. The focus was on the current climate of book challenges and book bans occurring around the country and in Alabama.

An Honors Colloquy took place this Fall in the Library. Dr. Erin Chandler, Assistant Professor of English, worked with Professor Kidwell and Sharon Tucker in the Library Archives to deliver a colloquy for the Honors Program that highlighted a wide range of resources that can be found in our Archives (both College Archives and the Alabama-West Florida Conference Methodist Archives).

Much like the Spring’s Easter egg hunt, the Library held a ghost hunt on Halloween. Students were invited to find ghosts lurking in the building that had been crocheted by students and library faculty and staff as part of the Library’s fiber arts workshops. Once again, students were waiting at the Library’s doors when the Library fully opened on Halloween morning.

In November, the Elizabeth and Cam West Study Room was dedicated, in recognition of a gift made to the College by Huntingdon President Cam West’s sister, Sarah West, and her husband, Tom Dominick. The study room is one of five glassed-in study rooms established on the second floor of the Library as part of its continuing space redesign project.

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Huntingdon College, in accordance with Title IX and Section 106.8 of the 2020 Final Rule under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, other applicable federal and state law, and stated College policy, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.  Similarly, it prohibits discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, age and/or national origin in its education program