Research and Instruction Librarian Allison Read has been recognized for her outstanding achievements in community engagement by USC Upstate faculty, staff, students, and community partners. She is this year's winner of the Faculty Excellence in Volunteerism Award. The award was presented to her on April 4 by Dr. Dave Marlow, Director of Engage Upstate: Service Learning & Community Engagement, at the USC Upstate Celebration of Community Engaged Education 2024.
Allison is actively engaged in several community initiatives both as a participant and as a leader. One of these is the Spartanburg Period Project. This organization provides menstrual products to people in need in Spartanburg County, especially in area schools. Allison volunteers with the Period Project throughout the year, creating menstrual product packs, which she then distributes to schools and community centers.
The USC Upstate Library holds an annual menstrual product drive each fall, collecting products and money from donors across campus. The library's Outreach Committee began this effort in 2020. Through the efforts of Allison and others, each year since the library has collected and distributed hundreds of dollars' worth of menstrual products to people in our community. The library has also hosted "period packing parties" at which library employees and other volunteers create menstrual product packs for distribution.
Allison also volunteers with the League of Women Voters, serving on the board of the Spartanburg County chapter. She is an active planner and participant in voter registration drives and has participated in voter registration drives at USC Upstate and at Spartanburg Methodist College.
Allison also contributes her professional expertise as a librarian to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spartanburg (UUCS) Archives Committee. This committee maintains the history of the UUCS and ensures that the Spartanburg County Public Library has UUCS historical information in their archives.
Allison has served as a full-time Research and Instruction Librarian at USC Upstate since 2019.
Congratulations, Allison, on this much-deserved recognition!
***
Image courtesy of USC Upstate. From left to right: John Siegel, Coordinator of Library Instructional Services; Allison Read, Research and Instruction Librarian; and USC Upstate Chancellor Bennie Harris.
USC Upstate faculty who want to publish in Springer Nature hybrid journals under the principles of Open Access to research literature do not have to pay fees to do so. These Open Access fees will be covered thanks to an agreement made between Springer Nature and the Carolina Consortium (CC).
The USC Upstate Library is a member of the Carolina Consortium (CC), which is primarily composed of academic libraries in North and South Carolina. The library’s membership qualifies USC Upstate faculty to participate in this agreement. USC Upstate faculty must be corresponding authors affiliated with the university and must use their USC Upstate email address to be eligible.
This agreement will continue through December 31, 2026.
Read more about the CC/Springer Nature agreement by following this link.
Questions? Please contact Springer Nature at this email address.
To learn more about the principles of Open Access to research literature, please follow this link to an article by Peter Suber, Senior Researcher at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.
Image: Open Access logo, designed by PLoS. This image is made available under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 University Public Domain Dedication. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The University of South Carolina Upstate's spring Day of Giving is set for Tuesday, April 9.
The library encourages you to make a charitable concentration to support the university. There are a number of excellence funds that you can donate to, which provide extra funding to the library's colleges (the George C. Johnson College of Business, the Mary E. Black College of Nursing, the College of Science and Technology, et al.). Follow this link to read more about these funds.
One of these funds is the University Libraries Excellence Fund, which supports all aspects of the USC Upstate Library. This includes funding for the acquisition of new books (both print and electronic); magazines, journals, and other periodicals; and e-resources and digital collections. These resources support the learning, teaching, and research needs of USC Upstate's students, faculty, and staff.
The fund also pays for needed upgrades to library computers and equipment. Gifts to this fund help in the upkeep of individual study rooms and library facilities. Gifts also provide funding for library programs and events.
We encourage you to give as you are able, whether to support the library, other USC Upstate units and services, or the university as a whole. The Day of Giving represents one way to support the library and the university--but there are additional ways you can do so. Click here to read more about how you can give to the USC Upstate Library. You can read more about the university's giving program by following this link.
Thank you for your support of the USC Upstate Library and the University of South Carolina Upstate!
Image courtesy of USC Upstate. Library Dean John Barnett and the students, faculty, and staff of USC Upstate thank you for your support of the university's Day of Giving.
As Spring Semester 2024 draws to a close and we move toward final exams, the USC Upstate Library will be open more hours, including weekday overnights and Friday evenings.
Beginning Sunday, April 14, the library will operate on an 24/5 schedule:
On Tuesday, April 30 (Graduation Day), the library will open at 7:30 am and remain open until late in the evening to accommodate students and their guests.
When the library is open overnight, a security officer will monitor the building from 12 midnight to 7:30 am. When the library is open Friday evenings, a security officer will monitor the building from 5 pm to 12 midnight. During these times, library users must use their USC Upstate ID card to access the building.
At other times when the library is open, USC Upstate Library employees will be on hand to provide research services, library instruction, course reserves, check-in/check-out of materials and resources, and other services.
We look forward to accommodating your late night and overnight study and computing needs. For the latest information on hours and services, please click here to see the library's online calendar.
Image by Kameron Perensovich, "Male Northern Saw-whet Owl," CC BY-SA 2.0, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; click here to view the original image.
It's happening!
The ground has finally been broken on a $21 million addition to the USC Upstate Library building. Construction on the new addition will start in May 2024 and continue until summer 2025. The South Carolina General Assembly provided the funding for this building, the first new construction on the USC Upstate campus since 2009.
The new addition will provide a campus focal point for student success services, such as advising, tutoring, study hall, and career management, and the Center for International Education.
In the current architectural plan, a bridge will connect the addition to the existing library's 2nd floor. Student Success, Career Management, and other Academic Affairs operations currently located on the library's 2nd floor will relocate to the new building once it is complete.
Once those services move to their new home, another round of library renovations will begin. Future renovations include improved access to the library from the parking lot, more study rooms and improved quiet study space, and a digital learning lab/makerspace.