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CUL Efforts Make 2006 New Student Reading Project ‘Wonderful’

Chris Philipp

It is a dress much like one Daisy Buchanan might have worn to one of Jay Gatsby’s lavish parties.

Delicately beaded and the color of spring moss, the flapper dress conjures up the image of Daisy lazily sipping a drink while listening to a discussion between her husband Tom and Gatsby at his Long Island mansion. 

The dress, which was worn by the wife of a law professor at the inauguration of Cornell President Livingston Farrand in 1921, will be on display in the rotunda area of Kroch Library in August.  It is just one of many treasures CUL plans to showcase as part of the 2006 New Student Reading Project. 

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is this year’s selection, and the Library wants to use the reading project to give incoming freshmen an early introduction to its resources.

“We want to inform them about what the Library can do for them and what an academic and research library is as opposed to a high school or public library, especially one of this size and caliber,” said Lance Heidig, reference and instruction librarian in Olin.

The reading project, which is coordinated by the Office of the Provost, began in 2001 to encourage intellectual rapport among incoming students.  As part of the reading project, students will attend a large-group symposium about The Great Gatsby and also smaller discussion groups led by faculty and staff during orientation week.

After several years of working behind the scenes on posters and Web sites rich with resources, the Library was invited to join forces with the Provost’s Office in 2004, and it has been a good collaboration.  Books, libraries, and reading, after all, have a lot in common. 

“The Library has added immeasurably to the quality of what we do for students,” said Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Michele Moody-Adams.  “We are so grateful for all the work to make the reading project a wonderful experience.”

This year’s poster, illustrated and designed by Carla DeMello, publications and graphic design manager for Library Communications, is featured prominently around campus and is also displayed in the University President’s Office.  While all the reading project posters have been excellent, Michele noted that this year’s is particularly extraordinary.

The ultimate goal of the Library is to enhance the student reading experience. Lance, Carla and Jenn Colt-Demaree, web development specialist in Library Communications, worked closely with the Provost’s Office this year in planning, designing and developing the reading project Web site and its accompanying bookmarks and posters. Direct links to Ask a Librarian, the Library help service, and the Library Gateway put the Library’s resources at the fingertips of new students.

“The Library and its resources serves as a backdrop to all this,” Lance said.  “It is a great way of introducing ourselves to the incoming class.”

Camille Andrews, instruction coordinator at Mann, agrees.  She led a student discussion group for last year’s reading project and plans to participate again this year.

“Students have limited knowledge, so having resources to point out, as well as my own knowledge, helped a great deal in deepening the discussion,” she said.  “It’s a good way to get on their radar screen early, both as a library member and part of the campus community.”

In addition to the flapper dress, Rare and Manuscript Collections (RMC) has some books and archival materials related to Fitzgerald that will be exhibited.  A first edition of Tender is the Night with an unusual inscription by the author to Cornell alumnus George Jean Nathan is among the items, according to Susette Newberry, coordinator of public programs.

Susette and Lance are also working with the Carol Tatkon Center in Balch Hall to provide materials for an exhibit on Cornell Student Life in the 1920s.  Bob Kibbee, Map and GIS librarian, has agreed to assemble a Gatsby-related map display in the lower level of Olin.

“The idea is to give a fuller sense of the historical context and make it more relevant for students,” Susette said. 

So far this year, ten Library staff members have volunteered to lead student discussion groups.  Those who have participated in the past said it is a rewarding experience.

“I find it stimulating because I do miss the classroom experience, and this gives me a chance to so something like that,” said Jim LeBlanc, head of Database Management Services in LTS, who has led student groups since 2001.  “It recharges my batteries.”

And it’s an opportunity to read a good book, which several of those interviewed said they are often too busy to do.  Camille said one of her favorite jokes about librarians is “we don’t have time to read.” 

“I signed up for the book project because it enables me to schedule time to read interesting and thought-provoking books that I otherwise don’t have time to read,” said Jill Powell, reference and instruction coordinator at the Engineering Library.  “I have to make time for them since I signed up to lead a discussion, and I find that I get really into the genre in some cases.  For example, after reading The Great Gatsby, I also read a novel by Zelda Fitzgerald, and other novels by F. Scott Fitzgerald, some of their short stories, and their biographies.”

For more information about the 2006 New Student Reading Project, visit the project Web site.

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